document_title: Britain's Got Talent

question_text: where are bgt semi finals held this year

text: Britain's Got Talent

text: History[edit]

text: The show's format was devised by X Factor creator and Sony Music executive, Simon Cowell, who was involved in the creation of other Got Talent programmes across several different countries. To showcase his idea, a pilot episode was filmed in September 2005, with the judging panel consisting of Cowell, Fern Britton (at the time, presenter of This Morning), as well as tabloid journalist Piers Morgan.[6] The pilot was not broadcast on television until it was shown as part of a documentary series entitled The Talent Show Story in January 2012.[6]

text: The original plan for the show was for it to be aired within 2005–2006, before the broadcast of America's Got Talent, with Paul O'Grady presenting the programme under the title Paul O'Grady's Got Talent, after having hosted the pilot. His selection as the host in the original production plans was due to the popularity he was attaining from his teatime chat show, The Paul O'Grady Show.[7] However, complications arose when O'Grady was involved in a row with ITV and refused to appear on another of the broadcaster's programme, eventually defecting to Channel 4 to continue hosting his teatime show and effectively putting plans for the show on hold.[8] In a 2010 interview, O'Grady commented about the row by stating:[9]

text: "I did the pilot for Britain's Got Talent – which was originally going to be called Paul O'Grady's Got Talent. But I told the producers they were having a joke if they thought I would front a show with that title. The original panel of judges was going to be Simon Cowell, Fern Britton and Piers Morgan. I was the host. Then when I had the row with ITV I was banned from the studios. I remember I rang Simon and told him he had a huge hit on his hands, but there was no way I could do it. I said, if I am banned I have to be banned from everything. I can’t be a hypocrite and come in and do this. I had to bow out."

text: On 12 February 2007, following the success of America's Got Talent the previous year, ITV announced their intentions for a British series of Got Talent. Their announcement revealed changes to the original plan for the programme, with Ant & Dec revealed to be the hosts for the new programme. While Cowell remained as part of the judging panel, the new plan intended for David Hasselhoff and Cheryl Cole. However, both resigned before the programme was due to air, leading to Morgan being part of the panel as originally planned, and actress Amanda Holden joining him and Cowell as a judge; Hasselhoff would later join the panel for the programme's fifth series after being a part of the panel for America's Got Talent, while Cowell later employed Cole to be a replacement for Sharon Osbourne on The X Factor. At the same time, the broadcaster also announced that the show would be accompanied by a sister show on ITV2, entitled Britain's Got More Talent, with Stephen Mulhern as its presenter.

text: Format[edit]

text: Auditions[edit]

text: The show holds two rounds of auditions for contestants. The first round, referred to as the "open auditions", are held across several different cities around the UK during the Autumn months. The second round, referred to as the "Judges' Auditions", are held the following year during January and February, prior to the broadcast of the show later that year during spring or early summer - these auditions consists of the contestants who made it through the first round, and are held within a select set of cities, which has commonly included Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and London. For the Judges' Auditions, each site used for these is located within a theatre or convention hall. These sites are primarily chosen for the purpose of having facilities that can handle large volumes of contestants, with each set up into three arrangements when auditions are taking place: a waiting area for contestants to prepare and await their turn to perform, with monitors to allow them to see the performances of other contestants; the wings, where a contestant enters and leaves from, and where friends and family of the contestant can view them from; and the main stage, where the contestant performs their act before the judging panel, who are located in front of the stage. The main stage area is usually modified to include the judges' panel desk, along with a special lighting rig above the stage, consisting of Xs that each have the name of a judge under them.

text: Each contestant that auditions is given a number by the production team and remains in the waiting area until called out into the wings, giving them a certain amount of time to prepare their act. Upon being allowed onto the main stage, they will usually be asked by one of the judges for their name and what they plan to perform, along with other details such as age, occupation, personal background, and what they wish to achieve if they won. After this, they are then given three minutes to conduct their performance before both the judges and a live audience, with some acts being supported by a backing track provided by the production team. If at any time, the judges find the performance to be unconvincing, boring or completely wrong, they may use the buzzer before them, which changes the Xs from white to red; if all the judges press their buzzers, then the performance is immediately over. However, a judge can retract their buzzer's use if they felt they had done so prematurely before witnessing a contest's performance to the end; this is true if the performance appears to look bad, but later turns out to have been good in their eyes.

text: Once a performance is over, each judge will give an overview of what they thought about the act, before casting a vote. If the contestant(s) receives a majority vote of "Yes", they then proceed onto the next stage in the contest, otherwise they are eliminated from that series' contest. In Series 8, a new feature was added to the auditions, which had been previously used on Germany's Got Talent, called the "Golden Buzzer".[10] Situated in the centre of the judges' desk, the Golden Buzzer allows a judge to effectively send the contestant(s) into the live semi-finals, regardless of the opinions of the other judges, if they felt that a contestant's performance was outstanding; when pressed, the judge's X turns gold and the stage is showered in gold glitter strips. However, as a general rule, they may only press it once per series and cannot press it again in later auditions; the hosts of Britain's Got Talent may also press the Golden Buzzer for a contestant, but must also adhere to the same rule.[11][12]

text: Filming for the show begins during the Judges' Auditions, with footage that is recorded in these being edited into a series of episodes that are aired on a weekly schedule before the live semi-finals, and featuring the best highlights of the auditions, including those from the best performances the judges saw, to the worst that appeared, whether funny, poorly conceived or generally bad, and in some cases totally inappropriate. These episodes also include interviews with the contestants in a separate area, as well as additional interviews conducted within the wings before and after a performance, that are conducted by the hosts, who also give personal comments about a performance while watching from the wings.

text: Judges' decisions[edit]

text: This stage takes place after the auditions have been completed, and is also referred to as Deliberation Day, in which the judges look through the acts that have successfully made it to this stage, and begin whittling them down to those who would stand a fair chance in the live semi-finals. The amount that goes through has varied over the show's history, though usually consists of a number that can be divided equally over the semi-finals being held in a series. Once the judges have decided on who will go through, all contestants that have reached this stage are called back to discover if they will progress into the live semi-finals or not. After this has been done, the acts are divided up between the semi-finals that the series will have; usually eight in each series, except for the sixth to tenth series which had nine acts per semi-final.

text: For the fifth series, some acts were asked to perform again, as the judges had had difficulty coming to a final decision on the semi-finalist, and thus needed to see their performance again in order to make up their minds; it is only time in the show's history that this has happened, and has not been repeated since.[13]

text: Semi-finals and Final[edit]

text: Contestants that make it into the semi-finals by making it through the auditions and being chosen by the judges (or, from series 8, received the Golden Buzzer during their audition), perform once more before an audience and the judges, with their performance broadcast on live television. Until the tenth series, live episodes were broadcast from The Fountain Studios in Wembley, the same site used for The X Factor, but following its closure in 2016,[14] the show relocated its live episodes to Elstree Studios in 2017, before moving to Hammersmith Apollo the following year. Like the Audition stage of the contest, each semi-finalist must attempt to impress by primarily conducting a new routine of their act within the same span of time; the judges can still use a buzzer if they are displeased with a performance and can end it early if all the buzzers are used, along with giving a personal opinion about an act when the performance is over. Of the semi-finalists that take part, only two can progress into the final, which is determined by two different types of votes - a public phone vote, and a judges' vote.

text: The phone vote, which occurs after all the semi-finalists have performed, determines the first winner of the semi-final and takes place via a special phone line over a short break from the programme. During this time, the public votes for the act they liked best, through a phone number in which the final two digits are different for each semi-finalist - these digits are primarily arranged by the order of their appearance. Once the lines have closed and the votes have been counted, the programme airs a live results episode, in which the semi-finalist with the highest number of votes automatically moves into the final. The second winner is determined by the judges' vote, which held after the results of the phone vote have been given out, and determines whether the second or third most popular semi-finalist in the public vote moves on to the final. The judges' vote, held after the result of the phone vote, determines the second act that wins this stage, and is conducted between the second and third most popular acts the public voted on. After the number of judges was increased to four, the rule on the judges' vote was modified - if the vote is tied, the semi-finalist with the second highest tally of public votes automatically moves on to the final. For the eleventh series only, the judges' vote was not used, meaning that the finalists were determined by the public vote only - the semi-finalists in each semi-final for this series with the highest and second-highest tally of votes, moved on to the final. From the start of the sixth series, the show introduced a new format known as the "Judges' Wildcard", in which the judges can reinstate an act that had been eliminated from the semi-final, through a private vote conducted before the airing of the final. This format was later expanded to include a "Public Wildcard", in which the public could vote on an act that had been eliminated in the semi-finals during the judges' vote and reinstate it for the final; although used in the ninth and tenth series, this format was dropped for the eleventh series.

text: For the final of each series, the format of the contest operates in exactly the same manner as the semi-finals, including being broadcast live on television, though this time the winner is determined purely by a phone vote, with the finalists attempting to secure more votes than the others by performing a new routine at their best. Upon the result being given, the top two acts are brought onto the stage, with the hosts announcing which of them received the most votes. The winner of each year's contest receives a cash prize, and earns the opportunity to perform in the Royal Variety Performance later that year.

text: For the show's scheduling, the live episodes are usually arranged to take place over the course of a week, with the semi-finals aired mainly on weekdays, and the final aired on the weekend; in some series, the schedule featured a break between the live episodes of the semi-finals, due to coverage of live events. All live episodes are divided into two parts when they are aired - the first half focuses on performances, each beginning with a short clip of the semi-finalist/finalist's background, and ending with comments by the judges; the second half occurs after voting is closed, usually after another programme has aired between the two parts, and focuses on the results of the phone vote, with a guest performance taking place prior to the announcement of the results. This format was initially used for the live finals only, up until the start of the semi-finals in the fourth series.

text: Judges[edit]

text: For the first four series after the show began in June 2007, the judging panel consisted of music executive and television producer Simon Cowell, television and West End star Amanda Holden, and newspaper editor and journalist Piers Morgan. In 2009, the producers made plans to alter the show's format to allow for a fourth judge when the third series was set to begin, with plans for Kelly Brook to be the new judge on the panel.[15] Less than a week after the series began, the producers dropped this change on the belief that this alteration to the show's format would complicate it, resulting in Brooks being credited as a guest judge for that series.[16][17][18] In 2010, Cowell fell ill during filming of the fourth series and was unable to attend the Birmingham auditions, leading to Louis Walsh stepping in as a guest judge in his place, until he had recovered.[19]

text: In 2011, the panel saw its first major change, when Morgan revealed he was leaving the show to travel to America and begin filming of his new show.[20] As Cowell had announced he wouldn't be present for the fifth series' auditions, due to his busy schedule with launching The X Factor USA,[20] the show's producers decided to amend the panel, and recruited comedian Michael McIntyre, and actor, singer and former America's Got Talent judge David Hasselhoff, to join Holden during the auditions,[21][22] with Walsh returning as a guest judge for the London auditions due to Hasselhoff's commitments with a pantomime at that time. When the series entered its live episodes, Cowell returned to oversee the acts as a fourth judge. Later that year, in October 2011, both Hasselhoff and McIntrye declined to return for the sixth series, while Cowell announced he was returning full-time to the show.[23]

text: On 2 January 2012, the producers revealed its decision to adopt the use of a fourth judge for the programme's format, announcing that both Cowell and Holden would now be joined by David Walliams and Alesha Dixon for the sixth series, with the latter moving to the talent show after deciding to leave BBC's Strictly Come Dancing.[24] During filming in February, Holden was unable to attend the London auditions, due to having given birth to her daughter at that time which had led to her suffering some after-effects from her pregnancy. As a result, the producers brought in actress and model Carmen Electra as a guest judge until she recovered. In subsequent series, the line-up remained as Cowell, Holden, Walliams and Dixon, with no further incidents except for the eighth series in 2014 - Cowell missed the first day of the Manchester auditions, leading to Ant & Dec filling in for him, and was also absent for the final day of the London auditions - and the tenth series in 2016 - Cowell was late for an audition, and was temporarily replaced by Walliam's mother Kathleen, who was attending it.

text:
Series

Main Judge

Guest Judge

1

2

3

4

1

Simon1

Amanda

Piers

N/A

N/A

2

3

Kelly2

4

Louis3

5

Michael

David H.

6

Alesha

David W.

Carmen4

7

N/A

8

Ant & Dec5

9

N/A

10

Kathleen6

11

N/A

12

text:
^  Cowell was not present for auditions in the fifth series; he served as a judge for the live shows only.
^  Brook was credited as a guest judge for the Manchester auditions, after the producers dropped plans for her to be a permanent judge in this series.
^  Walsh served as a guest judge in place of Cowell during the fourth series, and Hasselhoff during the fifth series.
^  Electra served as a guest judge in place of Holden, during the sixth series.
^  Ant & Dec served as guest judges in the eighth series, substituting for Cowell on the first day of the Manchester auditions.
^  David Walliams' mother, Kathleen Williams, served as a guest judge in place of Cowell, while attending a session in the tenth series.

tag: ol

text: Series overview[edit]

text:
Series

Start

Finish

Winner's prize1

Winner

Runner-up

Third place

Ave. UK viewers(millions)

1

9 June 2007

17 June 2007

£100,000

Paul Potts

Connie Talbot

Damon Scott

8.38

2

12 April 2008

31 May 2008

George Sampson

Signature

Andrew Johnston

10.21

3

11 April 2009

30 May 2009

Diversity

Susan Boyle

Julian Smith

13.36

4

17 April 2010

5 June 2010

Spelbound

Twist and Pulse

Kieran Gaffney

11.05

5

16 April 2011

4 June 2011

Jai McDowall

Ronan Parke

New Bounce

10.40

6

24 March 2012

12 May 2012

£500,000

Ashleigh and Pudsey

Jonathan and Charlotte

Only Boys Aloud

10.07

7

13 April 2013

8 June 2013

£250,000

Attraction

Jack Carroll

Richard & Adam

9.71

8

12 April 2014

7 June 2014

Collabro

Lucy Kay

Bars & Melody

9.84

9

11 April 2015

31 May 2015

Jules O'Dwyer & Matisse

Jamie Raven

Côr Glanaethwy

9.31

10

9 April 2016

28 May 2016

Richard Jones

Wayne Woodward

Boogie Storm

9.43

11

15 April 2017

3 June 2017

Tokio Myers

Issy Simpson

Daliso Chaponda

9.12

12

14 April 2018

3 June 2018

Lost Voice Guy

Robert White

Donchez Dacres

8.33

text: ^  In addition to the cash prize, winners also earn the opportunity to perform at the Royal Variety Performance in the year they win.

text: Series 1 (2007)[edit]

text: The first series was aired during 2007, between 9–17 June. Auditions for this series took place within the cities of Manchester, Birmingham, London and Cardiff, between January and February earlier that year. The series had 3 live semi-finals, featuring a total of 24 semi-finalists, all of whom were vying for a chance to perform at the Royal Variety Performance, as well as claiming a £100,000 cash prize. The series was won by opera singer Paul Potts; the results of the other finalists were not announced.

text: Series 2 (2008)[edit]

text: The second series was aired during 2008, between 12 April to 31 May, and featured notable differences. Not only did the series run for much longer, auditions took place in Blackpool and Glasgow, the latter following complaints that Scotland hadn't been visited during the previous series, along with Manchester, Birmingham, London and Cardiff. In addition, the show had five live semi-finals, featuring a total of 40 semi-finalists. The series was won by street-dancer George Sampson, with dual dance group Signature coming in second, and singer Andrew Johnston placing third.

text: Series 3 (2009)[edit]

text: The third series was aired during 2009, between 11 April to 30 May, with auditions held in the same five cities as before. Initially, the producers intended to change the format by including a fourth judge on the panel, but this was later dropped a few days after auditions began. The series was won by dance troupe Diversity, with singer Susan Boyle coming in second, and saxophonist Julian Smith placing third.

text: Series 4 (2010)[edit]

text: The fourth series was aired during 2010, between 17 April to 5 June; a single episode of this series, intended for airing on 22 May, was pushed back to 23 May, in order to avoid it clashing with live coverage of the UEFA Champions League Final that year. The auditions were once more held across the same five cities as before, though the series also held auditions with Newcastle upon Tyne; the city had been originally planned to hold auditions for the previous series, but these were cancelled before this could happen. Owing to illness, Cowell was unable to attend the Birmingham auditions, which led to Louis Walsh being in brought in as a guest judge for these.[25] The series was won by gymnastic troupe Spelbound, with dancing duo Twist and Pulse coming in second, and drummer Kieran Gaffney placing third.

text: Series 5 (2011)[edit]

text: The fifth series was aired during 2011, between 16 April to 4 June, and was the first to be broadcast completely in high-definition; like before, a single episode intended for airing on 28 May, was pushed back to 29 May, to avoid it clashing with live coverage of the UEFA Champions League Final that year. Auditions took place across the same five cities, though also included Liverpool. This series saw a change in the judging panel, following Piers Morgan's departure from the show,[26] with Holden joined by David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre during the auditions; Cowell appeared during the live episodes of the series with the rest of the panel,[27][28] while Louis Walsh returned as a guest judge for the London auditions when Hasselhoff couldn't attend due to other commitments at the time.[29] The series was won by singer Jai McDowall, with singer Ronan Parke coming in second, and boyband New Bounce placing third.

text: Series 6 (2012)[edit]

text: The sixth series was aired during 2012, between 24 March and 12 May. For this series, the cash prize was increased from £100,000 to £500,000, and a new feature was introduced called the "Wildcard", in which the judges could select one of the acts eliminated in the semi-finals, to return and compete in the finals. The show also increased the number of semi-finalist for the semi-finals to 45, with nine acts per semi-final, and the number of judges for the entire contest to 4; the previous series also featured four judges, albeit for the live episodes only. In addition, the show attempted to bring in a new way of voting for the semi-finals via a mobile app, but this was suspended for the series after it suffered technical problems during the first live semi-final.

text: This series featured an open audition in London, along with inviting other acts to audition via YouTube, before holding Judges' Auditions within Birmingham, London, Manchester and Cardiff, Blackpool and Edinburgh. As both McIntyre and Hasselhoff announced in late 2011 they wouldn't be returning,[23] the show announced on 2 January 2012 that they would be replaced by David Walliams and Alesha Dixon,[30] and join both Holden and Cowell for the new series, the latter having announced he would be returning as a full-time judge on the show.[31][32] Holden was unable to attend some of the auditions due to her pregnancy that year, leading to Carmen Electra stepping in as a guest judge for these. The series was won by trainer and dog duo Ashleigh and Pudsey, with opera duo Jonathan and Charlotte coming in second, and Welsh boys choir Only Boys Aloud placing third.

text: Series 7 (2013)[edit]

text: The seventh series was aired during 2013, between 13 April to 8 June; the show took a break on the 29 May, due to live football coverage of England's friendly with the Republic of Ireland. While the show retained the new features introduced in the previous series, the cash prize was reduced to £250,000, with the series featuring auditions within five cities - Birmingham, London, Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester. The series was won by shadow theatre troupe Attraction, with comedian Jack Carroll coming in second, and opera duo Richard & Adam placing third.

text: Series 8 (2014)[edit]

text: The eighth series aired during 2014, between 12 April to 7 June. This series was the first to introduce the "Golden Buzzer", and for the first time since the first series, auditions were not held in Scotland, instead being held in Northern Ireland within Belfast, along with Cardiff, London, Birmingham and Manchester; Edinburgh joined these cities to hold open auditions in late 2013, along with Blackpool and Brighton, with additional open auditions held in various local branches of Morrisons within "Talent Spot" tents, owing to the show's sponsorship deal with the supermarket chain at the time. The series was won by boy band Collabro, with opera singer Lucy Kay coming in second, and rapper duo Bars & Melody placing third.

text: Series 9 (2015)[edit]

text: The ninth series was aired during 2015, between 11 April to 31 May. This series saw the "Wildcard" feature updated; along with the judges being able to put forth an eliminated act from the semi-finals into the final (referred to as the Judges' Wildcard), the show now also allowed the public to vote between the three most popular eliminated acts, with the one with the highest number of votes going forward into the final - this act is referred to as the Public Wildcard. Audition took place within Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, and London, with the latter three cities holding open auditions in late 2014 along with Newcastle, Cardiff, Portsmouth, Leeds, Norwich, and Bristol. The winner of the series was trainer and dog duo Jules O'Dwyer & Matisse, with magician Jamie Raven coming second, and Welsh choir Côr Glanaethwy placing third.

text: Series 10 (2016)[edit]

text: The tenth series was aired during 2016, between 9 April to 28 May. Auditions were held within Liverpool, Birmingham and London, with all three holding open auditions in late 2015 along with Cardiff, Glasgow, and Manchester. It was the last series to hold live episodes within The Fountain Studios, before its closure at the end of the year. The series was won by magician Richard Jones, with singer Wayne Woodward coming in second, and dance group Boogie Storm placing third.

text: Series 11 (2017)[edit]

text: The eleventh series was aired during 2017, between 15 April to 3 June; the final was originally planned for 4 June, but this was moved forward to avoid it clashing with the One Love Manchester benefit concert that day.[33] The series saw two major changes: the first saw the total number of semi-finalist reduced to 40 with eight per each semi-final, as it had been prior to the sixth series; the second saw the Judges' vote being dropped, with the two semi-finalists with the highest number of public votes moving on into the final. In addition, the live episodes were now broadcast from Elstree Studios, owing to the closure of the previous site. Auditions were held within Salford, Birmingham, London, and Blackpool, with the latter two cities holding open auditions in late 2016, along with Peterborough, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Kingston upon Hull, Lincoln, Reading, Manchester and Luton. The series was won by pianist Tokio Myers, with magician Issy Simpson coming second, and stand-up comedian Daliso Chaponda placing third.

text: Series 12 (2018)[edit]

text: The twelfth series was aired during 2018, between 14 April to 3 June.[34] Following the previous series, the Judges' vote was brought back into the show's format, while the live episodes were aired from Hammersmith Apollo and presented solely by Declan Donnelly; although Anthony McPartlin had stepped down from his TV commitments in March 2018, he still appeared in the series' audition episodes, which had been filmed during January and February that year.[35] Auditions were held within Manchester, Blackpool and London,[36] with two of these cities holding open auditions in 2017, alongside a number of locations within the United Kingdom and Ireland, including Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dublin, and Inverness.[37] The series was won by stand-up comedian Lost Voice Guy, with comedy singer/pianist Robert White coming second, and singer Donchez Dacres placing third.

text: Britain's Got More Talent[edit]

text: Britain's Got More Talent is a companion sister show that is broadcast on ITV2, and is aired after each episode of Britain's Got Talent since the main show began in June 2007. Hosted by Stephen Mulhern (with occasional appearances by Ant & Dec), the programme operates in a similar manner to the former spin off show The Xtra Factor (the companion show of The X Factor), in that it features interviews with contestants and behind-the-scenes footage, though what is shown depends on what the main show is focused on during its broadcast. When the auditions stage is being broadcast, its sister show focuses on highlights of acts that couldn't be shown on the main show, with Mulhern operating in a similar manner to Ant & Dec by viewing the performances in the wings and giving comments, as well as interviewing contestants before and after their performance. When the main show begins broadcasting live episodes, its sister show conducts live "after-show" episodes, featuring interviews with the semi-finalists/finalists, as well as chatting with the judges.

text: In addition to this format, each year also sees Britain's Got More Talent broadcasting a special set of compilation episodes featuring the best and worst auditions from that year's contest, entitled Britain's Got Talent: Best and Worst, which are presented by Mulhern who introduces each clip shown.

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Britain's Got Talent has been nominated for a number of National Television Awards in the category of 'Most Popular Talent Show' since 2007. But has lost out to its sister shows The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing. Ant and Dec have won the award for 'Most Popular Entertainment Presenters' at the same awards for twelve consecutive years (as of January 2014). Britain's Got Talent has also been nominated for two British Academy Television Awards in 2008, but failed to win any awards. In 2007 and 2008, the show was nominated at the TV Quick and Choice Awards in the 'Best Talent Show' category, losing out to The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing respectively.

text: In 2008, it was a recipient of a Royal Television Society Programme Award for its technical achievements. It has also won four Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards from five nominations. In 2009, it won its first ever Digital Spy Reality Award for George Sampson for 'Favourite Reality Contestant'. The show was further nominated in the 'Reality Show' category, but lost out to The X Factor in the 'Reality TV Presenter' category for Ant & Dec and two nominations in the 'Reality TV Judge' category for Cowell and Morgan.

text:
Year
Group
Award
Nominee
Result

2007

National Television Awards

Most Popular Talent Show

Britain's Got Talent

Nominated

Most Popular Entertainment Presenter

Ant & Dec

Won

Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards

Best Reality Show

Britain's Got Talent

Nominated

Best TV Presenters

Ant & Dec

Won

TV Quick and Choice Awards

Best Talent Show

Britain's Got Talent

Nominated

2008

National Television Awards

Most Popular Talent Show

Nominated

Most Popular Entertainment Presenter

Ant & Dec

Won

Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards

Favourite Winner

George Sampson

Won

British Academy Television Awards

Lew Grade Award

Britain's Got Talent

Nominated

Audience Award

Nominated

Royal Television Society Programme Awards

Best Production Design-Entertainment

Dominic Tolfts

Won

Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards

Best TV Presenters

Ant & Dec

Won

Best Family TV Show

Britain's Got Talent

Won

Best TV Baddie

Simon Cowell

Won

2009

TV Quick and Choice Awards

Best Talent Show

Britain's Got Talent

Nominated

Digital Spy Reality TV Awards

Favourite TV Reality

Nominated

Favourite TV Reality Judge

Simon Cowell

Nominated

Piers Morgan

Nominated

Favourite TV Reality Presenters

Ant & Dec

Nominated

Favourite Reality Contestant

George Sampson

Won

2010

National Television Awards

Most Popular Talent Show

Britain's Got Talent

Nominated

British Academy Television Awards

Best Entertainment Programme

Won

2011

National Television Awards

Most Popular Talent Show

Nominated

TV Choice Awards

Best Talent Show

Won

2012

National Television Awards

Most Popular Talent Show

Nominated

2013

Broadcast Awards

Best Entertainment Programme

Nominated

National Television Awards

Most Popular Talent Show

Nominated

2014

Nominated

2015

Nominated

TV Judge

Simon Cowell

Nominated

David Walliams

Won

2016

Most Popular Talent Show

Britain's Got Talent

Nominated

2016 British Academy Television Awards

Best Entertainment Programme

Britain's Got Talent

Nominated[38]

2017

22nd National Television Awards

Talent Show

Britain's Got Talent

Nominated[39]

TV Judge

Simon Cowell

Nominated[39]

David Walliams

Nominated[39]

2017 British Academy Television Awards

Best Entertainment Programme

Britain's Got Talent

Nominated[40]

Diversity in Media Awards

TV Programme of the Year

Britain's Got Talent

Nominated

2018

23rd National Television Awards

Talent Show

Britain's Got Talent

Nominated

TV Judge

Simon Cowell

Nominated

David Walliams

Won

2018 British Academy Television Awards

Best Entertainment Programme

Britain's Got Talent

Won[41]

text: Controversies and criticism[edit]

text: The show was criticised by psychologist Glenn Wilson, who referred to it as a "freak show". He stated that "[contestants'] deficiencies and shortcomings are as important as their talent. We enjoy the stress we are putting these people under – will they or will they not survive?"[42]

text: The treatment of contestants at the audition stage was heavily criticised by the Daily Mail, which described applicants being kept waiting for over 10 hours with no food or drink provided, with no certainty of being allowed to perform more than a few seconds of their act. It also detailed how staff intentionally built up the hopes of low-quality performers in order to maximise the dramatic effect of the judges' put-downs, and the fine points of the contracts performers must sign, which gives the show infinite freedom to "modify" the footage for their own purposes, and to use the footage indefinitely for whatever purpose they choose.[43]

text: In two separate interviews in 2012, MC Kinky said "Shows like X Factor and Britain's Got Talent reduce the art of making music and practising your craft to the level of a low rent game show with huge financial backing and support. It's a means to make money, not a means to produce ground breaking or interesting artists that demonstrate what they are feeling or are compelled to do. It's corporate"[44] and "it's a churn 'em out fast food form of putrid shit that I have no affiliation with".[45]

text: In 2013, Bruce Forsyth questioned the show's allowing children to audition. He said, "I don't think that's entertainment. I don't think they should put children on that are too young. If you're going to do that, have a separate show. Have a children's show, British Children Have Talent."[46] Cowell responded to Forsyth, stating that: "someone, Mr Grumpy, said we shouldn't have children your age on the show", after the performance of dance troupe Youth Creation.[47] Jessie J joined the debate, declaring: "I cannot agree with kids having to go through three or four auditions when it's purely for ridicule. I don't understand why it's legal, I think it's wrong".[47]

text: In 2013 it was revealed that up to 50% of acts on the televised shows had been headhunted by producers. In 2012, electropop band Superpowerless were approached to appear in the semi-finals. They attended the audition after assurances that the act would be portrayed in a positive light. On the day they felt that all interviews, especially those with Stephen Mulhern, were conducted in a manner intending to portray them in a negative light, reducing their act to a novelty/comedy routine intended for ridicule and humiliation. While many newspapers wrote articles on this topic, very few were published as the news outlets were told that running the story would cut that publication out of any advance coverage of the show in the future.[48]

text: Live tour[edit]

text: Between 2008 - 2011, several of the show's semi-finalists, finalists, and winners from various series, took part in a live tour entitled "Britain's Got Talent Tour". The event consisted of several shows held across various UK cities during the Summer months, with site locations including Cardiff, Liverpool, Birmingham, Belfast, Sheffield, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Nottingham, London, and Manchester. When the first live tour, hosted by Stephen Mulhern, was announced on 17 April 2008, demand for tickets for the thirteen dates set for it was high. This led to an extension in the number of performances for it, increasing the overall number from twelve - the ten finalists from that year's series and two of the semi-finalists, Tracey Lee Collins and Anya Sparks - to twenty two, including matinées, and a duet with Faryl Smith and Andrew Johnston. In 2009, Mulhern hosted a new live tour, which initially featured four dates before it was later increased to run for eighteen shows, and included performances by Diversity, Flawless, Aidan Davis, Shaun Smith, Stavros Flatley, Hollie Steel, 2 Grand, Julian Smith, Shaheen Jafargholi, Susan Boyle, Darth Jackson, DJ Talent and the 2008 winner, George Sampson. In 2010, a third live tour was created, featuring a much larger schedule and taking place across 16 cities and 23 shows. It was hosted by comedian Paddy McGuinness, and featured performances by that year's finalists of Britain's Got Talent - Spelbound, Twist & Pulse, Kieran Gaffney, Tobias Mead, Tina & Chandi, Paul Burling, Christopher Stone, Janey Cutler, Liam McNally and Connected.

text: In 2011, a fourth live tour was created. Hosted by Mulhern, it featured performances by the finalists of that year's Britain's Got Talent - Jai McDowall, Ronan Parke, New Bounce, Razy Gogonea, Michael Collings, Paul Gbegbaje, Steven Hall, James Hobley, Les Gibson and Jean Martyn.[49] However ticket sales were drastically reduced due to low interest in the tour was as a result of the financial climate that year. Because there were raised concerns a new tour would flop if sales failed to improve, the tour was axed in 2012.[50]

text: Merchandise[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: There are 6 pieces of related merchandise:

text:
Best of The Auditions DVD (2009)
The Electronic Board Game (2009)
The Magic Set (2009)
Finalists of 2009: Annual 2010 (2009)
Be the judge buzzer (2010)
Finalists of 2010: Annual 2011 (2010)

text: BGT App[edit]

text: Since 2010, a Britain's Got Talent app has been available on Apple's App Store and Google Play. The features of the app vary from year to year but always include an interactive feature (e.g. a buzzer, polls or quizzes), relevant social media feeds and clips from the show. In 2015, free in-app voting was introduced. This means viewers are able to vote free of charge for five acts of their choice per voting window during the semi-finals and final rounds.[citation needed]


document_title: Woody Woodpecker (2017 film)

question_text: who plays woody woodpecker in the new movie

root

text: Woody Woodpecker (2017 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: In the Pine Grove forest in Washington state, Woody Woodpecker toys with two taxidermist poachers, brothers Nate and Ottis Grimes, and eventually cause them to tranquilize each other. In Seattle, Lance Walters, a real estate lawyer, gets fired after a video of him claiming wildlife conservation is unprofitable goes viral. He tells his girlfriend Vanessa that he intends to build an investment home on a large piece of property located near the Canadian border, left to him by his grandfather. Meanwhile, Lance's ex-wife Linda leaves their son Tommy with him and Vanessa, since she needs to visit her hospitalized father in Philadelphia.

tag: p

text: At the Pine Grove forest, Lance, Tommy, and Vanessa meet the park ranger named Samantha Bartlett. As Lance and Vanessa unpack, Tommy goes into the forest for a walk. There, he discovers and befriends Woody after he gives him peanut butter crackers. Woody visits the family at lunchtime and eats almost all of the food. Lance tries to shoo Woody away, but he accidentally wrecks the table and hits Vanessa in the face with a broom. The next morning, construction on the investment home begins, prompting an agitated Woody to cause chaos at the site. Later, in a nearby town, Tommy befriends a young musician named Jill, who persuades him to join her band in the annual Firefly Festival. Tommy is then saved from two bullies by Woody.

text: As days pass, Lance grows more agitated because of Woody's constant interference with his project, and he goes to meet Samantha at the ranger station. She reveals that the woodpecker is an endangered species known as a red-crowned pileated woodpecker, which Native Americans saw as a god of mischief and chaos. Lance continues with his work, but Vanessa leaves him after Woody blows up their RV with her inside as a prank. Samantha eventually advises Lance to get along with Woody. Lance reluctantly attempts to surrender to Woody by giving him crackers, but Woody agrees to let him and the workers continue with their construction, as long as he is given crackers every day. Eventually, the investment home is completed despite excessive payment and extended scheduling.

text: At the town's Firefly Festival, Tommy and Jill's drummer Lyle comes down with indigestion, prompting Woody to take over using a homemade drum kit. The performance is a hit, and Lance is surprised to hear that Woody gave Tommy some friendly support. Realizing that having humans around again isn't a bad idea, Woody heads back to the investment home and carves a mural above the fireplace. However, as he signs his name into the carving, he accidentally burns the house down after hitting exposed wiring. Ashamed of his mistake, he flies back to his tree. Infuriated by this, Lance hires Nate and Ottis to hunt Woody down. The brothers find him and tase him unconscious. As they leave, Tommy reprimands his father and runs away. He then forms a plan to rescue Woody and heads to Grimes' shack with Jill and Lyle, as the brothers try to sell Woody at an online black market auction.

text: Lance finds the mural that Woody had created. Having a change of heart, he enlists Samantha's help and they set out to find both Tommy and Woody. However, everyone is captured by the brothers. As Nate grabs a tranquilizer, Lance tilts his cage towards Woody's so he can free him. After beating the brothers, Woody chases them as they attempt to flee to Canada. He carves a hole in the middle of a bridge, and the brothers fall into the river below, where they are later arrested. Later, Lance apologizes to Woody for not knowing that the house fire was an accident and therefore replaces Woody's cut-down tree with a birdhouse. Woody accepts both the gift and the group to be called his new family, much to their generosity. That night, as Lance and Tommy fall asleep in a tent, Woody carves the words "Home Sweet Home" into the new birdhouse, only to accidentally make it topple onto the tent.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Eric Bauza as the voice of Woody Woodpecker, a mischievous rare pileated woodpecker.
Timothy Omundson as Lance Walters, a Seattle lawyer who is Tommy's dad and Linda's ex-husband.
Thaila Ayala as Vanessa, Lance's girlfriend.
Graham Verchere as Tommy Walters, Lance's son. He befriends Woody whenever he visits him.
Jordana Largy as Samantha Bartlett,[5] a park ranger at Pine Grove National Park.
Scott McNeil as Nate Grimes, an evil poacher who plans to sell Woody on the black market. He serves as the main antagonist of the film.
Adrian Glynn McMorran as Ottis Grimes, a dimwitted poacher who is Nate's partner and younger brother.
Chelsea Miller as Jill Ferguson, a musician who becomes Tommy's friend.
Emily Holmes as Linda Walters, Tommy's mom and Lance's ex-wife.
Jakob Davies as Lyle, a drummer who becomes Tommy's friend.

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: In the early 2010s, Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment planned a Woody Woodpecker feature film. John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky (King of the Hill) were in talks to develop a story,[6] but in July 2013, Illumination canceled the project.[7] In October 2013, Bill Kopp announced that Universal Pictures had hired him to direct an animated feature film with three interwoven stories.[8] On July 13, 2016, Cartoon Brew reported that Universal 1440 Entertainment was filming a live-action/CG hybrid film based on Woody Woodpecker in Canada. Filming began in June 2016, and ended later in July of that year.

text: In December 2016, a teaser trailer for the film was leaked by Universal Pictures Brasil with the Brazilian Portuguese dub.[9] A trailer for the original English version premiered in the US on December 13, 2017.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The film received an approval rating of 17% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on six reviews.[10] Common Sense Media rated the film a 1 out of 5 stars, stating "Inanely cruel villains, an unoriginal story, ham-handed performances, and reliance on farts and burps are the low lights of this awkward effort to bring back a less-than-engaging cartoon bird."[11]

text: Box office[edit]

text: As of February 22, 2018, Woody Woodpecker has grossed $13.4 million. It debuted at $1.5 million, finishing second at the Brazilian box office behind Blade Runner 2049. The movie increased by +45.4% in its second weekend, moving to first place to $2.1 million.


document_title: No-hitter

question_text: who has most no hitters in mlb history

question_tokens: who has most no hitters in mlb history

text: No-hitter

text: Major League Baseball no-hitters[edit]

text: Definition[edit]

text: A no-hitter is defined by Major League Baseball as follows: "An official no-hit game occurs when a pitcher (or pitchers) allows no hits during the entire course of a game, which consists of at least nine innings."[1] This definition was specified by MLB's Committee for Statistical Accuracy in 1991, causing previously recognized no-hitters of fewer than nine innings or where the first hit had been allowed in extra innings to be stricken from the official record books. Games lost by the visiting team in 8½ innings but without allowing any hits do not qualify as no-hitters, as the visiting team has only pitched eight innings.[2][3]

text: Frequency[edit]

text: Major League Baseball has officially recognized 296 no-hitters thrown since 1876; only 23 of those were perfect games. Two no-hitters have been thrown on the same day twice: Ted Breitenstein and Jim Hughes on April 22, 1898; and Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela on June 29, 1990.

text: Eight no-hitters were thrown by major league pitchers in the 1884 season. In the modern era (since 1901), seven no-hitters were thrown in 1990, 1991, 2012, and 2015.

text: The longest period between any two no-hitters in the modern era is 7003114000000000000♠3 years, 44 days between Bobby Burke on August 8, 1931, and Paul "Daffy" Dean on September 21, 1934. There was a drought of 3 years, 11 months, without a no-hitter after the first National League no-hitter on July 15, 1876, pitched by George Bradley. The most recent year without any no-hitters is 2005.

text: The greatest span of games without a no-hitter anywhere in the Major Leagues is 6,364, between Randy Johnson's perfect game on May 18, 2004, for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Aníbal Sánchez's no-hitter on September 6, 2006, for the Florida Marlins. The previous record was a 4,015-game streak without a no-hitter from September 30, 1984, to September 19, 1986.

text: Individual[edit]

text: The pitcher who holds the record for the most no-hitters is Nolan Ryan, who threw seven in his long career. His first two came exactly two months apart, while he was with the California Angels: the first on May 15, 1973, and the second on July 15. He had two more with the Angels on September 28, 1974, and June 1, 1975. Ryan's fifth no-hitter with the Houston Astros on September 26, 1981, broke Sandy Koufax's previous record. His sixth and seventh no-hitters came with the Texas Rangers on June 1, 1990, and May 1, 1991. When he tossed number seven at age 44, he became the oldest pitcher to throw a no-hitter.

text: Only Ryan, Sandy Koufax (four), Cy Young (three), Bob Feller (three), and Larry Corcoran (three) have pitched more than two no-hitters.[4] Corcoran was the first pitcher to throw a second no-hitter in a career (in 1882), as well as the first to throw a third (in 1884).

text: Thirty-six pitchers have thrown more than one no-hitter, combined no-hitters not counting. Randy Johnson has the longest gap between no-hitters: he threw a no-hitter as a member of the Seattle Mariners on June 2, 1990, and a perfect game as an Arizona Diamondback on May 18, 2004.

text: The pitcher who holds the record for the shortest time between no-hitters is Johnny Vander Meer, the only pitcher in history to throw no-hitters in consecutive starts, while playing for the Cincinnati Reds in 1938.[5] Besides Vander Meer, Allie Reynolds (in 1951), Virgil Trucks (in 1952), Ryan (in 1973), and Max Scherzer (in 2015) are the only other major leaguers to throw two no-hitters in the same regular season.

text: Jim Maloney also had two no-hitters under the previous rules in the 1965 season, both of them taken into extra innings. On the first one on June 14, he gave up a home run to Johnny Lewis to open the top of the 11th inning, turning 10 innings of no-hit ball into a 1–0 loss to the New York Mets. According to the rules interpretation of the time, this was considered a no-hitter.[6] On August 19, a home run by Leo Cárdenas in the tenth inning allowed Maloney to earn a 1–0 10-inning no-hit win over the Chicago Cubs.[7]

text: Roy Halladay threw two no-hitters in 2010 – a perfect game during the regular season and a no-hitter in the 2010 National League Division Series. He is the only major leaguer to have thrown no-hitters in regular season and postseason play.

text: Two pitchers missing their non-pitching hand have thrown no-hitters; Hugh Daily, of the Cleveland Blues, defeated the Philadelphia Quakers 1–0 on September 13, 1883, and Jim Abbott, of the New York Yankees, defeated the Cleveland Indians 4–0 on September 4, 1993. Daily lost his left hand in a gun accident as a child, and Abbott was born without a right hand.

text: Edinson Vólquez of the Miami Marlins is the most recent pitcher to throw a no-hitter, the thirty-fifth player to do so, on June 3, 2017.

text: The record for most no-hitters caught by a catcher is four, a record shared by Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek and Philadelphia Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz. Varitek caught no-hitters for Hideo Nomo, Derek Lowe, Clay Buchholz, and Jon Lester.[8] Varitek also caught a rain-shortened, five-inning unofficial no-hitter for Devern Hansack on October 1, 2006.[9] Ruiz caught two no-hitters for Roy Halladay, including a perfect game, as well as one for Cole Hamels, and a combined no-hitter for Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman, Ken Giles, and Jonathan Papelbon.[10] Before MLB redefined "no-hitter", Ray Schalk had long held the record of catching four no-hitters, but his first nine-inning no-hitter had ended with a hit in the tenth inning.[9][11]

text: Five pitchers have thrown a no-hitter in both the American League and the National League: Cy Young, Ryan, Jim Bunning, Nomo, and Randy Johnson. Only five catchers have caught a no-hitter in each league: Gus Triandos, Jeff Torborg, Darrell Porter, Ron Hassey, and most recently, Drew Butera.[12] Triandos caught Hoyt Wilhelm's 1958 no-hitter and Jim Bunning's perfect game, Torborg caught Koufax's perfect game and Ryan's first no-hitter, Porter caught Jim Colborn's 1977 no-hitter and Bob Forsch's second no-hitter in 1983, and Hassey caught Len Barker's and Dennis Martínez's perfect games. Butera caught a 2011 no-hitter by Francisco Liriano and a 2014 no-hitter by Josh Beckett.[12]

text: Team[edit]

text: No team has thrown no-hitters in consecutive games, although it has happened once on consecutive days: On May 5, 1917, Ernie Koob of the St. Louis Browns no-hit the Chicago White Sox, and teammate Bob Groom repeated the feat in the second game of a doubleheader the following day.

text: On two occasions, there have been back-to-back no-hitters thrown by each team in a series. On September 17, 1968, Gaylord Perry of the San Francisco Giants no-hit the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Cardinals' Ray Washburn no-hit the Giants the following day. On April 30, 1969, Jim Maloney of the Cincinnati Reds no-hit the Houston Astros, and the Astros' Don Wilson no-hit the Reds the following day. Surprisingly, it was both Maloney's and Wilson's 2nd no-hitter in their careers.

text: Teams have thrown two straight no-hitters, with no other teams pitching one in the interim, 19 times; most recently by the Los Angeles Dodgers (Josh Beckett and Clayton Kershaw in 2014). The only team to throw three straight no-hitters was the Milwaukee Braves, with Lew Burdette, followed by consecutive no-no's by Warren Spahn, in 1960 and 1961. Individual pitchers have thrown two straight no-hitters seven times: Addie Joss 1908 and 1910; Vander Meer in 1938; Allie Reynolds in 1951; Warren Spahn in 1960 and 1961; Ryan twice, first in 1973, then in 1974 and 1975; and Bailey. All seven instances were with the same team.

text: The Tampa Bay Rays are the only MLB team to fail to get a hit in three games in a span of 12 months or fewer. No-hit by Arizona's Edwin Jackson on June 25, 2010, the Rays were also the victims of two perfect games: the first by White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle on July 23, 2009, the second by Oakland's Dallas Braden on May 9, 2010. On August 15, 2012, the Rays were once again on the losing end of a perfect game, this time at the helm of Félix Hernández and the Seattle Mariners.[13]

text: Combined no-hitters[edit]

text: The vast majority of no-hit games are finished by the starting pitcher, but eleven MLB no-hitters have been thrown by a combination of the starting and relief pitchers. The first such combined no-hitter occurred on June 23, 1917, when Ernie Shore of the Boston Red Sox relieved starter Babe Ruth, who had been ejected for arguing with the umpire after walking the first batter of the game. The runner was subsequently caught stealing and Shore retired the next 26 batters without allowing any baserunners. This game was long considered a perfect game for Shore, since he recorded 27 outs in succession; current rules classify it only as a combined no-hitter. Another major league combined no-hitter did not occur until April 30, 1967, when Stu Miller of the Baltimore Orioles recorded the final out in relief of Steve Barber in a 2–1 loss to the Detroit Tigers. The most recent combined no-hitter occurred on September 1, 2014, when the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 7-0, as Cole Hamels threw 108 pitches through the first six innings; then Jake Diekman, Ken Giles, and Jonathan Papelbon successively pitched perfect innings to preserve the no-hitter.

text: The only combined extra inning no-hitter to date occurred on July 12, 1997. Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers Francisco Córdova (9 innings) and Ricardo Rincón (1 inning) combined to no-hit the Houston Astros, 3–0. Victory was secured with a three-run walk-off home run by pinch hitter Mark Smith in the bottom of the tenth inning.

text: On June 11, 2003, the Houston Astros set a record with six pitchers involved in a combined no-hitter. On that day, Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel, and Billy Wagner combined to hold the New York Yankees hitless. Oswalt was removed after one inning due to injury. Munro pitched the most innings, 2⅔. He also allowed five of the six baserunners, giving up three walks, hitting a batter and seeing another reach on an error by third baseman Geoff Blum. The only other baserunner was allowed by Dotel, who threw a third-strike wild pitch to Alfonso Soriano with one out in the eighth; Dotel went on to record the forty-fifth four-strikeout inning in regular-season play.[14] Lidge, who retired all six hitters he faced over the sixth and seventh innings, earned the victory. On June 8, 2012, the Seattle Mariners tied this record when Kevin Millwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League, and Tom Wilhelmsen combined to no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers. Millwood pitched 6 innings before he was taken out due to a groin injury.

text: Only one pitcher has thrown a no-hitter as a starter and contributed to a combined no-hitter as a reliever. On September 30, 1984, Mike Witt threw a 1–0 perfect game for the California Angels against the Texas Rangers. On April 11, 1990, pitching the eighth and ninth innings in relief of Mark Langston, Witt earned a save in another 1–0 no-hit victory for the Angels over the Seattle Mariners.

text: Vida Blue, Kent Mercker, Kevin Millwood, and Cole Hamels are the only pitchers to start both a complete game no-hitter and a combined no-hitter. Vida Blue no-hit the Minnesota Twins on September 21, 1970, while pitching for the Oakland Athletics. He combined with Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad, and Rollie Fingers to no-hit the California Angels on September 28, 1975. While with the Atlanta Braves in 1991, Mercker, Mark Wohlers and Alejandro Peña no-hit the San Diego Padres in the National League's first combined no-hitter. Mercker threw a complete game no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 8, 1994. In addition to the game above in which Millwood and the Seattle Mariners tied the record by using six pitchers in a no-hitter, Millwood previously threw a complete game no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants on April 27, 2003, while with the Philadelphia Phillies. Both Mercker and Blue were All-Stars in the seasons of their combined no-hitters, and Blue also won the Cy Young Award and the Most Valuable Player Award during his career.

text: Combined no-hitters are considered unofficial by Nippon Professional Baseball.

text: Earliest, latest, title-clinching, and postseason no-hitters[edit]

text: Hideo Nomo threw the earliest no-hitter based on calendar date: April 4, 2001, the second game of the season for the Boston Red Sox, against the Baltimore Orioles. The Cleveland Indians' Bob Feller left the Chicago White Sox hitless in the 1940 season opener on April 16, the only official Opening Day no-hitter.

text: There have been five no-hitters thrown on the final day of the regular season. Bumpus Jones of the Cincinnati Reds ended the season by no-hitting the Pittsburgh Pirates on October 15, 1892; this is also the latest calendar date for a no-hit game thus far. On September 28, 1975, four Oakland A's pitchers (Vida Blue, Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad, Rollie Fingers) combined for a season-ending no-hitter against the California Angels. Mike Witt of the California Angels threw a perfect game against the Texas Rangers on September 30, 1984. Henderson Álvarez of the Miami Marlins no-hit the Detroit Tigers on September 29, 2013, to close the regular season. Jordan Zimmermann of the Washington Nationals no-hit the Miami Marlins on the last day of the 2014 season, September 28.

text: The latest regular-season no-hitter by calendar date in the modern era is October 3, achieved by Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals in 2015.

text: The Houston Astros' Mike Scott no-hit the San Francisco Giants on September 25, 1986, a victory that also clinched the National League West title for the Astros; this is the only such occurrence in Major League history to date. In the first game of a doubleheader on September 28, 1951, Allie Reynolds of the New York Yankees pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox which clinched a tie for the American League pennant (the pennant was clinched outright in the doubleheader's second game).

text: There have been two postseason no-hitters in MLB history, one by a pitcher from each league. For the AL, on October 8, 1956, Don Larsen of the New York Yankees threw a perfect game in Game 5 of that year's World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. The feat had nearly been accomplished nine years earlier by the Yankees' Bill Bevens, who came within one out of a no-hitter (though not a perfect game) against the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 4 of the 1947 World Series, only to lose the game on a pinch-hit double by Cookie Lavagetto. There have been other one-hitters in the World Series, with the lone hit coming earlier in the game than in Bevens' effort. On October 6, 2010, Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies, in the first postseason appearance of his career, threw the second no-hitter in postseason history, and first in the NL, in Game 1 of the Phillies' NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds.

text: Rookie no-hitters[edit]

text: Twenty-two MLB rookies have pitched a no-hitter since 1901. Three pitchers have thrown a no-hitter in their first major league starts; two others have done it in their second major league starts.[15]

text: Bumpus Jones of the Cincinnati Reds threw a no-hitter on October 15, 1892 in his first major league game. Jones pitched only eight games in the big leagues, finishing with a career win/loss record of 2–4 and a career earned run average of 7.99.

text: Ted Breitenstein pitched a no-hitter in his first Major League start on October 4, 1891, however, it was not his first Major League game.[16] He later threw a second no-hitter on April 22, 1898.

text: On May 6, 1953, Bobo Holloman pitched a no-hitter for the St. Louis Browns in his first major league start (also not his first major league game). This game would prove to be one of only three major league wins that Holloman achieved, against seven losses, all in 1953. Bill Veeck, then-owner of the Browns, in his autobiography described the 27 outs of Holloman's no-hitter as consisting of hard-hit ground balls, screaming line drives, and deep fly balls. At the other end of the spectrum, there are nine 300-game winners—Grover Cleveland Alexander, Kid Nichols, Lefty Grove, Early Wynn, Steve Carlton, Don Sutton, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens and Tom Glavine—who failed to pitch a no-hitter.

text: On August 11, 1991, Wilson Álvarez of the Chicago White Sox pitched a no-hitter in his second career major league start. During Alvarez's first career start, he had allowed three runs on a pair of home runs and did not retire a single batter. Unlike Jones and Holloman, Alvarez went on to win 102 games over a 16-year career.

text: Clay Buchholz pitched a no-hitter for the Boston Red Sox in his second major league start on September 1, 2007 at Fenway Park. The game ended in a 10–0 victory for the Red Sox over the Baltimore Orioles.

text: Chris Heston, pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, threw a no-hitter in a 5-0 victory over the New York Mets on June 9, 2015.

text: Nine-inning no-hitters in a losing effort[edit]

text: Unlike a perfect game, in which no batters reach base, in regular no-hitters batters can reach base in other ways, such as a walk, an error, or a hit batsman, thus it is possible for the team pitching the no-hitter to lose. On April 23, 1964, Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt .45s became the only pitcher to lose a complete game no-hitter in nine innings when he was beaten, 1–0, by Cincinnati. The winning run was scored by Pete Rose in the top of the ninth inning via an error, groundout, and another error.[17]

text: On April 30, 1967, Steve Barber and Stu Miller of the Baltimore Orioles pitched a combined no-hitter, but lost 2-1 to the Detroit Tigers.[18]

text: On July 1, 1990, Andy Hawkins of the Yankees pitched an eight-inning no-hitter (the Yankees were the away team) against the Chicago White Sox and lost the game 4–0 after an eighth inning which saw three errors.[19] The four runs that the White Sox scored are the most by any team in a game in which they had no hits.[20] Because Hawkins only threw eight innings, this game is not recognized as an official no-hitter by Major League Baseball; however, it was considered a no-hitter at the time it was pitched. Years after the game, the rules regarding no-hitters, (and rules regarding other statistics), were changed and applied retroactively in order to "clean up the record book". The Hawkins "no-hitter" failed on at least two provisions of the new standards. To be classified a valid no-hitter, the pitcher must face opposing batters in at least nine innings.

text: Jered Weaver and José Arredondo of the Angels also combined for eight innings of no-hit baseball in a 1–0 road loss to the Dodgers June 28, 2008, where Matt Kemp reached on an error, stole second, advanced to third on another error, and scored on a sacrifice fly. However, since the Angels only pitched eight innings, this game is not recognized as an official no-hitter.

text: On August 23, 2017, Rich Hill of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched a nine-inning no-hitter, but his team lost 1-0 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Hill had a perfect game in the ninth inning until a fielding error by Logan Forsythe. Later, Hill would have his no-hitter broken up on a walkoff-homerun by Josh Harrison in the bottom of the 10th inning.[21]

text: Shortened no-hitters[edit]

text: A game that cannot continue due to weather or darkness may be considered a completed official game, as long as at least five innings have been completed. Until 1991, any such game in which a pitcher held the opposing team without hits was considered an official no-hitter; however under the current rule, a no-hitter must last for at least nine innings to count. As the rule was applied retroactively, thirty-six games in which a no-hitter was interrupted by weather or darkness, with lengths ranging from 5 to 8 innings, are no longer considered no-hitters.

text: If the home team leads after the top of the ninth, they do not bat in the bottom of the ninth, thus the visiting team only pitches 8 innings. Since it is possible to score runs without getting hits, a visiting team can complete a full game without allowing a hit but not be credited with an official no-hitter. This has happened four times in MLB history: Silver King (1890), Andy Hawkins (1990), and Matt Young (1992) pitched complete games without allowing a hit, but pitched only 8 innings as the losing pitcher from the visiting team, and thus are not credited with a no-hitter.[22][23] On June 28, 2008, Jered Weaver and José Arredondo of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim threw 8 no-hit innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, but lost the game, 1–0, and are not credited with a no-hitter. This is the first near no-hitter of this kind in which more than one pitcher was involved.

text: No-hitters lost in extra innings[edit]

text: A game that is a no-hitter through nine innings may be lost in extra innings. Under current rules, such a game is not considered an official no-hitter because the pitcher did not keep the opponent hitless for the entire course of the game.

text: On May 2, 1917, a game between the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds reached the end of nine innings in a hitless scoreless tie,[24] the only time in baseball history that neither team has had a hit in regulation. Both Hippo Vaughn of the Cubs and Fred Toney of the Reds continued pitching into the tenth inning. Vaughn lost his no-hitter in the top of the tenth, as the Reds got two hits and scored the winning run. Toney retired the side in the bottom of the tenth and recorded a ten-inning no-hitter. This game was long considered a "double no-hitter", but Vaughn is no longer credited with a no-hitter under the current rules.

text: Of the thirteen potential no-hitters that have been lost in extra innings, two were perfect games until the inning when the first hit was surrendered. On May 26, 1959, Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched a remarkable twelve perfect innings against the Milwaukee Braves before losing the perfect game on an error and then the no-hitter and the game in the thirteenth inning. On June 3, 1995, Pedro Martínez of the Montreal Expos pitched nine perfect innings against the San Diego Padres before giving up a hit in the tenth and exiting the game, which the Expos then won, 1–0.[25]

text: On August 23, 2017, in a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Pirates, Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill pitched nine no-hit innings, only to lose his no-hit bid (and the game) on a walk-off homer by Josh Harrison in the 10th inning.[26] This was another potential perfect game; the perfect game was broken up by a ninth-inning error, the first time this had happened in MLB history.[27]

text: No-hitter droughts[edit]

text: Only one existing franchise in Major League Baseball has not had a pitcher toss a no-hitter: the San Diego Padres, who have gone 46 years without a no-hitter since they entered Major League Baseball in 1969. Their closest bid came against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 18, 1972; Steve Arlin came within one out of a no-hitter before Denny Doyle broke up the bid with a single. On July 9, 2011, five Padres pitchers combined for  8 2⁄3 innings of no-hit pitching against the Los Angeles Dodgers before Juan Uribe hit a double, which was followed by a Dioner Navarro single that won the game, which had been scoreless up to that point.

text: Of all the teams that have thrown at least one no-hit game, however, the Cleveland Indians, as of August 2017, have had the longest drought; the last such game thrown by the team was by Len Barker on May 15, 1981, which was also a perfect game.

text: The New York Mets, who began play in 1962, went without a no-hitter until Johan Santana pitched one on the night of June 1, 2012, against the St. Louis Cardinals at home at Citi Field. The 8–0 victory closed out their era as the oldest franchise without a no-hitter and ended a drought that lasted 8,019 regular-season and 74 post-season games. Mets pitchers have thrown 39 one-hitters.

text: The longest no-hitter drought in Major League history was suffered by the Philadelphia Phillies between May 1, 1906, and June 21, 1964, a span that encompassed 8,945 games.

text: The Washington Nationals achieved their first no-hitter on September 28, 2014.[28] The franchise has four previous no-hitters in its history as the Montreal Expos, including a perfect game by Dennis Martínez.

text: Six current NL teams—the Braves, Dodgers, Giants, Phillies, Cubs and Reds—all pitched their first no-hitters before the advent of the American League in 1901. Among the early National League teams still playing, the last to get their first no-hitter was the St. Louis Cardinals, when Jesse Haines pitched one on July 17, 1924. Of the original American League teams, the last team to get their first no-hitter was the New York Yankees, when George Mogridge pitched one on April 24, 1917. There are a number of short-lived Major League franchises from the nineteenth century that folded without ever recording a no-hitter.

text:
Date of No-hitter
Pitcher(s)
Franchise
Time Since No-hitter

June 25, 2010
Edwin Jackson
Arizona Diamondbacks
7003263900000000000♠7 years, 82 days

April 8, 1994
Kent Mercker
Atlanta Braves
7003856100000000000♠23 years, 160 days

July 13, 1991
Bob Milacki (6 IP)
Mike Flanagan (1 IP)
Mark Williamson (1 IP)
Gregg Olson (1 IP)
Baltimore Orioles
7003956100000000000♠26 years, 64 days

May 19, 2008
Jon Lester
Boston Red Sox
7003340600000000000♠9 years, 119 days

April 21, 2016
Jake Arrieta
Chicago Cubs
7002512000000000000♠1 year, 147 days

April 21, 2012
Philip Humber
Chicago White Sox
7003197300000000000♠5 years, 147 days

July 2, 2013
Homer Bailey
Cincinnati Reds
7003153600000000000♠4 years, 75 days

May 15, 1981
Len Barker
Cleveland Indians
7004132720000000000♠36 years, 123 days

April 17, 2010
Ubaldo Jiménez
Colorado Rockies
7003270800000000000♠7 years, 151 days

May 7, 2011
Justin Verlander
Detroit Tigers
7003232300000000000♠6 years, 131 days

August 21, 2015
Mike Fiers
Houston Astros
7002756000000000000♠2 years, 25 days

August 26, 1991
Bret Saberhagen
Kansas City Royals
7003951700000000000♠26 years, 20 days

May 2, 2012
Jered Weaver
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
7003196200000000000♠5 years, 136 days

June 18, 2014
Clayton Kershaw
Los Angeles Dodgers
7003118500000000000♠3 years, 89 days

June 3, 2017
Edinson Vólquez
Miami Marlins
7002104000000000000♠104 days

April 15, 1987
Juan Nieves
Milwaukee Brewers
7004111110000000000♠30 years, 153 days

May 3, 2011
Francisco Liriano
Minnesota Twins
7003232700000000000♠6 years, 135 days

June 1, 2012
Johan Santana
New York Mets
7003193200000000000♠5 years, 106 days

July 18, 1999
David Cone
New York Yankees
7003663400000000000♠18 years, 59 days

May 9, 2010
Dallas Braden
Oakland Athletics
7003268600000000000♠7 years, 129 days

July 25, 2015
Cole Hamels
Philadelphia Phillies
7002783000000000000♠2 years, 52 days

July 12, 1997
Francisco Córdova (9 IP)
Ricardo Rincón (1 IP)
Pittsburgh Pirates
7003737000000000000♠20 years, 65 days

n/a
n/a
San Diego Padres
7004176930000000000♠48 years, 161 days

June 9, 2015
Chris Heston
San Francisco Giants
7002829000000000000♠2 years, 98 days

August 12, 2015
Hisashi Iwakuma
Seattle Mariners
7002765000000000000♠2 years, 34 days

September 3, 2001
Bud Smith
St. Louis Cardinals
7003585600000000000♠16 years, 12 days

July 26, 2010
Matt Garza
Tampa Bay Rays
7003260800000000000♠7 years, 51 days

July 28, 1994
Kenny Rogers
Texas Rangers
7003845000000000000♠23 years, 49 days

September 2, 1990
Dave Stieb
Toronto Blue Jays
7003987500000000000♠27 years, 13 days

October 3, 2015
Max Scherzer
Washington Nationals
7002713000000000000♠1 year, 347 days

tag: table

text: Avoiding no-hitters[edit]

text: All modern-era MLB teams have experienced at least two no-hitters pitched against them. The record for the longest period of time without being no-hit is held by the Chicago Cubs, who succeeded in getting at least one hit in every game since Sandy Koufax's perfect game against them on September 9, 1965, until they were no-hit by Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies on July 25, 2015, a period of 7004182150000000000♠49 years, 318 days (7951 games – including 31 Post Season games). The second-longest streak without having an official no-hitter pitched against them is held by the New York Yankees, who had a gap of 7004163340000000000♠44 years, 263 days between nine-inning no-hitters from September 21, 1958 to June 10, 2003. However, during this time, the Yankees team hitting streak ended in a rain-shortened official game on July 12, 1990,[29] after 7004116170000000000♠31 years, 294 days. The St. Louis Cardinals have the second-longest team hitting streak in MLB history: May 12, 1919 to May 14, 1960, a period of 7004149790000000000♠41 years, 3 days. Among AL teams, the Kansas City Royals have the longest team hitting streak: May 15, 1973 to May 19, 2008, a period of 7004127880000000000♠35 years, 4 days.

text: The longest current streak is held by the Oakland Athletics at 7003937300000000000♠25 years, 241 days (4103 games, including 44 postseason games) as of March 11, 2017. They were last held hitless on July 13, 1991, when four Baltimore Orioles pitchers combined to shut down the A's offense.

text: No-hitters and ballparks[edit]

text: Forbes Field, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates from the middle of the 1909 season until the middle of the 1970 season, is the only long-term major league ballpark where a no-hitter was never thrown during its existence. There are several recently built fields where no-hitters have not yet been thrown. Five parks presently in existence for a decade or more have only seen one no-hitter each: the Orioles' current home, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, known for being hitter friendly (Hideo Nomo on April 4, 2001); Coors Field, the hitter-friendly home of the Colorado Rockies (Nomo on September 17, 1996); Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, which initially was known as a pitcher's park but was modified with shorter fences in 2013 (Tim Lincecum on July 13, 2013); PNC Park, the current home of the Pirates, which like Forbes Field is known for being hitter-friendly (Homer Bailey on September 28, 2012); and Minute Maid Park, the home of the Houston Astros which is known for the short Crawford Boxes in left and for its deep outfield in center (Mike Fiers on August 21, 2015).

text: International competition[edit]

text: In the 2006 World Baseball Classic, Shairon Martis pitched a no-hitter for the Netherlands against Panama, however it was only seven innings due to the mercy rule.

text: Superstitions[edit]

text: One of the most common baseball superstitions is that it is bad luck to mention a no-hitter in progress, especially to the pitcher and in particular by their teammates (who sometimes even go so far as to not even be near the pitcher).[30] Some sportscasters observe this taboo while others have no reservations about mentioning no-hitters before completion. When Sandy Koufax pitched his no-hitter against the Mets in 1962, one of their 120 losses that season, Mets' coach Solly Hemus, apparently trying to jinx Koufax, kept heckling him through the game about pitching a no-hitter, according to a post-game interview Koufax gave after pitching his third no-hitter in 1964. An early biography of Koufax quoted him as telling his catcher, during that 1964 no-hitter, "Let's just go to the fastball and get this no-hit thing over with." Mickey Mantle, in an interview for Ken Burns' 1994 Baseball documentary series, related that Don Larsen, famed for his 1956 World Series perfect game, tried to talk about his no-hitter throughout the contest but much to his chagrin his Yankee teammates avoided his conversation and maintained the superstition.

text: When Los Angeles Angels rookie Bo Belinsky entered the final inning of his no-hitter in 1962, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Jackie Brandt passed him on the field as the teams changed sides. According to Belinsky biographer Maury Allen, Brandt told Belinsky, "Nice game, Bo, but it's over. I'm leading off with a bunt single." Belinsky got Brandt out to start the final inning of his no-hitter.

text: In 2009, when Mark Buehrle was pitching his perfect game, as he exited the field after the eighth inning, White Sox broadcaster Ken Harrelson exclaimed, "Call your sons! Call your daughters! Call your friends! Call your neighbors! Mark Buehrle has a perfect game going into the ninth!" Buehrle retired the side in the ninth to complete the perfect game.

text: When Jim Bunning was pitching his perfect game in 1964, he deliberately violated this superstition, talking to his teammates about the perfect game's progress in order to dispel the tension in the dugout.[31]