Shōgō Yasumura (Professionally known as Tonikaku Yasumura) is a Japanese novelty act who reached the Final Series 16 of Britain's Got Talent and placed 11th. He was aged 40 at the time of his audition. When asked why he came on the show, he responded 'I want to perform for Royal Family [as] King Charles [would] love me' in Broken English.
In his audition, Tonikaku removed all his clothes except his underwear, and performed a series of poses which made him appear to be naked. Amanda remarked 'You are absolutely unique and it felt very [BGT]', with Simon going on to describe him as 'The funniest contestant we've had on all year [as] your really really funny and original'.
In his Semi-Final, Tonikaku performed another set of 'naked poses', with different backdrops and props to set the scene for each pose. Alesha remarked 'All the kids in tonight were looking forward to seeing you, because you are so funny', with Simon going on to describe him as 'One of the funniest contestants we've ever had on our show'. He reached the Judges Vote, however he was eliminated as each of the judges voted for Lilliana Clifton.
Tonikaku was reinstated for the Final as the Wildcard act of the series. In his Final performance, Tonikaku performed another set of ‘naked poses’ with these being of superheroes alongside Simon Cowell & the late Freddy Mercury. Bruno remarked ‘It was like an insane funny rhapsody’, with Alesha adding ‘You made me break my ring I laughed so hard’.
After BGT[]
Additionally in 2023, he competed on both the eighteenth season of ‘France’s Got Talent’, where he was eliminated in the Quarterfinals and the tenth season of Italian competition series ‘Tu Si Que Vales’.[1][2]
In 2024, he competed on the sixteenth season of ‘Germany’s Got Talent’.
In May 2024, he appeared as a guest during Trixy’s Semi-Final performance during Series 17 of Britain’s Got Talent.
Additionally in 2024, he competed on the nineteenth season of ‘America's Got Talent’ where he was ultimately eliminated in the Quarter-Finals as he failed to make the Top 5 instead of Illya & Anastasia Strakhov.
Controversy[]
Following the broadcast of his audition, several critics complained about the quality of both his act and the show in general and stated that they believed that due to the shows quality going downhill in recent years that it should be axed, with several fans on Twitter agreeing stating how most performers have only displayed 'Odd peculiarities' recently and how very few talent was actually aired on the show anymore in their eyes.[3]