Disappointed “Britain’s Got Talent” (BGT) contestant Emma Amelia Pearl Czikai has sued for 2.5 million pounds ($3.8 million), charging that the program and its judges humiliated her during her singing audition. BGT, like offspring “America’s Got Talent,” is partly owned by Simon Cowell, best known in the US as the nasty judge on “American Idol.”
According to the Guardian newspaper in the UK, Czikai’s lawsuit claims that she was the victim of “exploitation, humiliation, degradation and barbarism” by BGT and its judges. Piers Morgan, who is also a judge on the US version, was the first to hit his rejection buzzer as Czikai began to sing “You Raise Me Up.” Cowell did likewise as she restarted the ballad. Czikai then shouted “shut up” as audience members chanted “off, off.” The third judge, Amanda Holden, held on a bit longer through the second restart, but then made the rejection unanimous.
“Emma, it is a beautiful song when you’re not singing it,” Cowell said as Czikai argued that she hadn’t been given a chance. “And I think I speak on behalf of everyone – you have got a horrible singing voice, Emma.”
