NIC VANI’S GOLDEN BUZZER SNUB ON BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT HAS FANS LIVID: ‘HE DESERVED IT!

Britain’s Got Talent viewers insisted one singer was “robbed” of a golden buzzer. Thousands of yellow toy ducks ‘race’ for charity

The ITV talent competition returned this evening, with Stacey Solomon stepping in for Simon Cowell as she joined KSI, Alesha Dixon, and Amanda Holden on the judging panel. Saturday night’s variety show featured yet another round of auditions, with a stuntman, a magic trio, and a school group all taking to the stage.

Closing out the episode, father-of-three Nic Vani from Kent left audiences spellbound with his rendition of The Lion King’s Circle of Life.

“In my music career, I’ve always been at the back, so now I think it’s time for me to be in the spotlight,” he said, reports the Mirror.

Following his remarkable performance, the judges were utterly astounded, with KSI remarking, “Nic, I’m speechless, you weren’t in the thick of it, you owned it. That was phenomenal, your vocals were so crisp, clean, and made the crowd go crazy.”

He further commented, “You’re not a backup, you are the main event.”

Amanda gushed: “I couldn’t agree more, the clarity of your voice, you’ve got such an amazing tone, I mean, you really, really made that song your own, it’s obviously a very familiar song, but I don’t know why, it felt like I was hearing it for the first time. What a star.”

Article continues below

Stacey enthused, “I loved every bit of that. You’ve got such a powerful voice, the fact you can get that high was just incredible.”

“Loved the polished tone to your voice, absolutely superb, can’t wait to see more of you, you deserve to be at the front of that stage,” Alesha said.

Article continues below

Audiences were largely in agreement, though many were outraged that Nic had been denied a golden buzzer, which would have sent him straight through to the live semi-finals.

Ordinarily, each judge along with Ant and Dec are each permitted to press the buzzer for one act during the audition stages, with Stacey having already awarded hers to a group of schoolchildren earlier in the same episode.

Article continues below

One disgruntled viewer fumed: “#BritainsGotTalent golden buzzer baffles me. Actual talented people don’t seem to get it.”

Another hit out: “Sorry, how did he not get a golden buzzer??? ‘No one had any left’ idgaffffff Bruno used two before, pretty sure Simon’s used two as well, they make their own rules, bro, he deserved one.”

Article continues below

One viewer gushed: “Nick, you have one of the most beautiful male voices I’ve ever heard. Such a beautiful tone. What a star!”

A further incensed viewer wrote: “ROBBED SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN THE GOLDEN BUZZER.”

“Now THAT was a Golden Buzzer act!!” agreed another, with a fellow viewer echoing: “Now THAT is golden buzzer worthy!!!!”

Article continues below

“GOLDEN BUZZER WORTHY,” yet another wrote, while one viewer added: “This is giving me goosebumps.”

Elias Koteas plays detective Alvin Olinsky in just over 100 episodes of “Chicago P.D.” This is in addition to a combined eight episodes as the character on “Chicago Justice,” “Chicago Fire,” and “Chicago Med.” Between his debut in the “Chicago P.D.” pilot and his departure in Season 5, Episode 22, Alvin is a core member of the show’s cast and the One Chicago universe at large. In his final appearance, however, Alvin dies, meaning that the episode’s May 2018 air date marks Koteas’ definitive exit from the franchise.

After that final episode of “Chicago P.D.” Season 5 first aired, TVLine interviewed showrunner Rick Eid about the decision to kill off Alvin. “From a creative perspective, it was a decision that evolved organically,” he said, detailing how the series’ writers landed on Alvin’s death as a byproduct of a key storyline.

“From a business perspective, however, this was an extremely difficult decision,” Eid continued. “Elias is a terrific actor and a good person. He’s also been an important part of the show since the very beginning. So this part of the process was really challenging. But Elias handled the news like a true professional and remained committed to the show and his character until the final shot. We will miss him dearly.”

Koteas’ “Chicago P.D.” departure, then, was not the result of an interpersonal conflict or even a desire to move on to other work, but the notion that Alvin’s death was what was best for the series’ story at the time.

The Chicago P.D. writers’ room at one point considered Alvin’s survival

In his TVLine interview, Rick Eid characterized Alvin Olinsky’s death as a plot point the “Chicago P.D.” writers’ room decided would best serve the character’s storyline going into the Season 5 finale. He echoed this sentiment in another interview published around the same time by Entertainment Weekly. That said, during this latter conversation, Eid revealed that Alvin surviving that episode’s events was, at least at one point, something the writers’ room considered. “I think everything was on the table,” he said. “We went through practically every iteration we could think of, and we all just kept coming back to this idea as a really powerful idea. That’s ultimately how it all came about.”

Furthermore, Eid emphasized that accepting the “Chicago P.D.” team’s decision to kill off Elias Koteas’ character wasn’t easy. “Ultimately, the final decision is just really hard because everybody loves Elias, and he’s a great actor and a great person. It’s hard,” he said.

Based on these comments, Alvin’s death was something the “Chicago P.D.” writers decided made so much sense it was worth overcoming what was otherwise an aversion to writing Koteas off of the show.