# Australia's Got Talent season 8

Australia's Got Talent is an Australian reality television show, based on the original UK series, to find new talent. Nine announced that the show would be returning in 2016 for an eighth season. It is the second season to air on Nine after it was axed in 2013. Auditions opened in September and October 2015. On 28 October 2015, it was announced that Kyle Sandilands, Geri Halliwell, Dawn French and Timomatic have been replaced with a new panel of judges, they are Ian "Dicko" Dickson, Sophie Monk, Kelly Osbourne and Eddie Perfect. Julia Morris did not return as host as she is committed to another show and was replaced by Dave Hughes as the host. For the first time, this season introduced the Golden Buzzer. The season premiered on 1 February 2016.

## Changes
### Golden Buzzer

This series saw the introduction of the new golden buzzer. During the auditions, as well as the standard buzzers, there was a golden buzzer placed in the centre of the judges' desk. Each judge was allowed to press this buzzer only once, and it would send that auditionee straight through to the live semi-finals regardless of the opinions of the other three judges.

### Wildcard

This season will see the introduction of a viewer-voted Wildcard entry to send one lucky performer directly to the Grand Finale. Contestants who are not taken through to the semi-final by the celebrity judges can be voted back into the finals by viewers as Wildcards.

## Semi-finalists

| Key | Winner | Runner up | Finalist | Golden Buzzer | Wildcard |
| Participant | Genre | Act | Semi-final | Finished |
| Alysha Jones | Singing | Opera Singer | 1 | Semi-Finalist |
| Bosko & Honey | Singing | Singing Duo | 2 | Semi-Finalist |
| Callum The Heavy Metal Kid | Singing | Singer and Guitarist | 4 | Finalist |
| Carter | Dance | Dancer | 2 | Semi-Finalist |
| Chris Tamoway | Singing | Guitarist and Singer | 5 | Runner-up |
| Erik The Dog | Variety | Novelty Act | 3 | Finalist |
| Equals | Dance | Dance Group | 4 | Finalist |
| Fletcher Pilon | Singing | Singer and Guitarist | 5 | Winner |
| Gentlemen of Deceit | Magic | Magicians | 2 | Finalist |
| Irma & Sisko | Animals | Dog Act | 4 | Semi-Finalist |
| Jan Van De Stool | Comedy | Comedian | 4 | Semi-Finalist |
| Jessie Daley | Magic | Magician | 3 | Semi-Finalist |
| King Social | Singing | Band | 3 | Runner-up |
| Matt McLaren | Singing | Singer and Pianist | 2 | Runner-up |
| Mick & Emma | Acrobatics | Acrobatic Duo | 1 | Semi-Finalist |
| Minnie Cooper & The Tiny Teeny Tappers | Singing | Drag Act & Tap Dancers | 5 | Semi-Finalist |
| NOA | Music | Rapper | 5 | Semi-Finalist |
| Pardeep Kumar | Dance | Dancer | 1 | Semi-Finalist |
| Phly Crew | Dance | Dance Group | 1 | Finalist |
| Raw & Rugged | Dance | Dance Group | N/A | Finalist |
| Rothomatic - Australia's LED Robot | Variety | Novelty Act | 5 | Semi-Finalist |
| Showko | Comedy | Ventriloquist | 3 | Semi-Finalist |
| Sisters Doll | Singing | Band | 1 | Runner-up |
| Subih Brothers | Singing | Band | 4 | Semi-Finalist |
| Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa | Variety | Spoken Word Poet | 2 | Semi-Finalist |
| Suzie Jay & Joe Ace | Singing | Singing Duo | 3 | Semi-Finalist |
| The Elliot Sisters | Singing | Singing Trio | 2 | Semi-Finalist |
| The Henry Twins | Dance | Dance Duo | 3 | Semi-Finalist |
| The Shake Man | Dance | Dancer | 4 | Semi-Finalist |
| TJ | Music | Drummer | 5 | Semi-Finalist |
| Violeta Bozanic | Singing | Singer and Pianist | 1 | Semi-Finalist |

## Semi-finals Summary

    Buzzed Out | Won Public Vote | Won Judges' Vote

### Semi-final 1 (22 February)

| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Result |
| Semi-Finalist | Order | Dickson | Monk | Osbourne | Perfect | Result |
| Phly Crew | 1 | | | | | Advanced (Won Judges' Choice) |
| Violeta Bozanic | 2 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Mick & Emma | 3 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Pardeep Kumar | 4 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Sisters Doll | 5 | | | | | Advanced (Won Public Vote) |
| Alysha Jones | 6 | | | | | Eliminated |

### Semi-final 2 (28 February)

| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Result |
| Semi-Finalist | Order | Dickson | Monk | Osbourne | Perfect | Result |
| The Elliot Sisters | 1 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Carter | 2 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Gentlemen of Deceit | 3 | | | | | Advanced (Won Judges' Choice) |
| Bosko & Honey | 4 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa | 5 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Matt McLaren | 6 | | | | | Advanced (Won Public Vote) |

### Semi-final 3 (29 February)

| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Result |
| Semi-Finalist | Order | Dickson | Monk | Osbourne | Perfect | Result |
| The Henry Twins | 1 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Jessie Daley | 2 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Susie Jay & Joe Ace | 3 | | | | | Eliminated |
| King Social | 4 | | | | | Advanced (Won Public Vote) |
| Showko | 5 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Erik The Dog | 6 | | | | | Advanced (Won Judges' Choice) |

### Semi-final 4 (6 March)

| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Result |
| Semi-Finalist | Order | Dickson | Monk | Osbourne | Perfect | Result |
| Irma & Sisko | 1 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Subih Brothers | 2 | | | | | Eliminated |
| The Shake Man | 3 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Callum The Heavy Metal Kid | 4 | | | | | Advanced (Won Public Vote) |
| Jan Van De Stool | 5 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Equals | 6 | | | | | Advanced (Won Judges' Choice) |

### Semi-final 5 (7 March)

| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Buzzes | Result |
| Semi-Finalist | Order | Dickson | Monk | Osbourne | Perfect | Result |
| Minnie Cooper & The Tiny Teeny Tappers | 1 | | | | | Eliminated |
| TJ | 2 | | | | | Eliminated |
| NOA | 3 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Chris Tamwoy | 4 | | | | | Advanced (Won Public Vote) |
| Rothomatic – Australia's LED Robot | 5 | | | | | Eliminated |
| Fletcher Pilon | 6 | | | | | Advanced (Won Judges' Choice) |

## Finals Summary
### Final – Top 11 (13 March)

The top 11, (including Raw & Rugged who received the Judges' wildcard), performed once more for a spot in the Grand Finale. An audience vote followed after the show and only five acts returned for the Grand Finale with new performances.
| Finalist | Order | Result |
| Equals | 1 | Eliminated |
| Callum The Heavy Metal Kid | 2 | Eliminated |
| King Social | 3 | Advanced |
| Gentlemen of Deceit | 4 | Eliminated |
| Matt McLaren | 5 | Advanced |
| Raw & Rugged | 6 | Eliminated |
| Erik The Dog | 7 | Eliminated |
| Chris Tamwoy | 8 | Advanced |
| Phly Crew | 9 | Eliminated |
| Fletcher Pilon | 10 | Advanced |
| Sisters Doll | 11 | Advanced |

### Grand Finale (14 March)

Guest Judge: Jack Black
Guest performer: Cosentino
| Finalist | Order | Result |
| Chris Tamwoy | 1 | Eliminated |
| King Social | 2 | Eliminated |
| Matt McLaren | 3 | Eliminated |
| Sisters Doll | 4 | Eliminated |
| Fletcher Pilon | 5 | Winner |

## Ratings

| Episode | Episode | Original airdate | Timeslot | Viewers (millions) | Nightly rank |
| 1 | "Auditions" | 1 February 2016 | Monday 7:30 pm | 0.865 | 10 |
| 2 | "Auditions" | 7 February 2016 | Sunday 7:00 pm | 0.914 | 6 |
| 3 | "Auditions" | 8 February 2016 | Monday 7:30 pm | 0.896 | 9 |
| 4 | "Auditions" | 14 February 2016 | Sunday 7:00 pm | 0.740 | 9 |
| 5 | "Auditions" | 15 February 2016 | Monday 7:30 pm | 0.775 | 10 |
| 6 | "Auditions" | 21 February 2016 | Sunday 7:00 pm | 0.633 | 9 |
| 7 | "Semifinals" | 22 February 2016 | Monday 7:30 pm | 0.703 | 14 |
| 8 | "Semifinals" | 28 February 2016 | Sunday 8:00 pm | 0.748 | 9 |
| 9 | "Semifinals" | 29 February 2016 | Monday 7:30 pm | 0.671 | 13 |
| 10 | "Semifinals" | 6 March 2016 | Sunday 8:00 pm | 0.630 | 13 |
| 11 | "Semifinals" | 7 March 2016 | Monday 7:30 pm | 0.594 | 19 |
| 12 | "Final – Top 11" | 13 March 2016 | Sunday 8:00 pm | 0.599 | 11 |
| 13 | "Grand Finale – Top 5""Winner Announced" | 14 March 2016 | Monday 7:30 pm | 0.7850.961 | 127 |