Canadian comedy act Kevin Finn imitated a variety of different British accents, but his attempts to impress the native audience this evening fell flat. Britain’s Got Talent fans were left cringing with embarrassment as they begged for his act to be over quickly.
Meanwhile, Simon Cowell made a return to his straight-talking Mr. Nasty persona from his X Factor days, as he warned a deflated Kevin: “You’re going to be disappointed when you watch this back.
“We feed off the audience and when a comedian is working, you can feel it within about ten seconds. Without being rude, the audition felt like it went on forever!”
Fans on Twitter echoed his views, with one exclaiming: “It did feel like time had stopped… #BGT #BritainsGotTalent.” Another chimed in: “Omg I’m cringing so bad at Kevin Finn – please hurry up and finish!” A third exclaimed: “Not funny at all.#BGT.”
Others commented that they’d seen the act on TikTok already and were no more impressed this evening than they had been watching him online. Meanwhile, fiery Bruno Tonioli tried to pay him a compliment, but admitted that he’d been confused by the “accent marathon”.
“[You put on] accents I didn’t even know existed – I didn’t understand quite a few of them!” he confessed.
Amanda Holden sympathised that comedy was a “difficult genre” and that “tonight just didn’t go your way”, after he failed to connect with the often silent studio audience.
Alesha Dixon was the most encouraging towards Kevin, who had playfully mocked the Cockney accent multiple times throughout his act – but the overall reaction wasn’t promising.
When Ant and Dec asked him if there was anything he’d like to say in response to the judges, he declined, telling them: “No, I’m fine, I’m good.”
He momentarily looked close to tears of embarrassment, although he perked up as the number to vote for him was announced.
Meanwhile, it wasn’t just Kevin who received an ice-cold reception: many viewers who took to Twitter afterward revealed that the entire semi-final segment had left them unimpressed.
“Possibly the worst #BGT semi-final ever? Not a single bit of talent in sight,” exclaimed one in disbelief.
Another agreed: “Wouldn’t put any act through to final, got to be the worst live semi-final I’ve ever watched #BGT!”