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The winner of Britain’s Got Talent has been announced, with Sydnie Christmas walking away with the title, the £250,000 prize and an upcoming spot at the Royal Variety Performance.
Following her victory, fans noticed that the performer has also broken a record after 17 years of the ITV series… shockingly becoming the first solo female artist to take the crown without a dog as part of the winning act.
After five semi-finals were held this week, the 10 finalists for this season were Abigail & Afronita, Northants Sings Out, Jack Rhodes, Haribow, Innocent Masuku, Ssaulabi Performance Troupe, Mike Woodhams, Sydnie Christmas, Alex Mitchell and Trixy.
The group were also joined by wildcard act, the Trickstars.
Throughout the week all kinds of weird and wonderful acts took to the stage stage in front of judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, and Bruno Tonioli, with the standout’s chosen by the judges and viewers watching on at home.
When it came down to the final, the top three acts were Abigail & Afronitaaa, Jack Rhodes and Sydnie Christmas, with viewers eventually deciding that 28-year-old singer Sydnie was their favourite.
After being announced as the winner, Sydnie jumped up and down in excitement before crying and being lost for words on Sunday night’s show.
She then thanked everyone who had backed her: ‘I cannot believe the amount of love I have felt. I am overwhelmed with love. It’s amazing thank you so much.’
Following her final performance, which saw her sing Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz, Amanda labelled Sydnie as ‘spellbinding’ and ‘utter perfection’.
‘That was just gold dust,’ she added.
Bruno declared it was a ‘show-stopping performance’ and declared she had ‘taken my breath away’.
‘You just radiate hope and joy and light and there was something about that performance and emotion and I just felt it move through my body. That was glorious and such a beautiful moment,’ Alesha added.
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Wrapping up the judges comments, Simon said it was ‘really something special’ to witness.
‘I actually felt very emotional.’
After Sydnie’s win was announced, BGT viewers rushed to share their well wishes on social media.
‘Very deserving! Wonderful voice!’ Jamie posted on X.
‘Congratulations to Sydnie Christmas on winning BGT 2024. A very special talent & a very deserving winner. A fantastic final once again showing Britain but also the world really does have talent,’ Daniel added.
As others pointed out, Sydnie was the first solo female act without a dog to ever win the contest.
Previous female winners include Ashleigh and Pudsey the dog, and Jules O’Dwyer & Matisse.
There have also been other winning acts which had women in their groups, including shadow theatre group Attraction and the gymnastic troupe Spelbound.
The grand final finishing positions of the rest of the acts were as followed: Jack Rhodes, Abigail & Afronitaaa, Innocent Masuku, The Trickstars, Trixy, Mike Woodams, Alex Mitchell, Northants Sings Out, Ssaulabi and Haribow.
Earlier in the show, Simon said this was the best final he could recall in years.
‘Everyone has stepped up their game but we also have acts from all over the world competing which has made people need to step up,’ he said.
As she explained ahead of her final performance, she is working hard to be cast in a West End show and ‘couldn’t believe’ everything that had happened since auditioning for BGT.
‘Singing at the Apollo was life changing. I’ve clung on to everything the judges have said because I didn’t believe fully in myself,’ she said.
‘Winning would mean I’ve done the right thing in going for my dreams.’
Sydnie was the first act this season to receive the Golden Buzzer, courtesy of Amanda Holden, who was left astounded by her rendition of Tomorrow from Annie during the first episode.
The BGT final also saw performances from the West End cast of Mamma Mia!
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Britain’s Got Talent is streaming on ITVX.
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