Britain's got sued: Singer wants £2.5m from Cowell after 'humiliation' before 20m

By Emily Andrews

Tribunal: Emma Amelia Pearl Czikai claims she was left humiliated after judges on Britain's got Talent criticised her performance


A Britain's Got Talent contestant is suing Simon Cowell for £2.5million, claiming she was 'humiliated and degraded' on the hit ITV show.

Emma Amelia Pearl Czikai, 54, says she was mocked by judges Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan when they buzzed her off saying she could not sing.

Cowell said she had a 'horrible singing voice' while Miss Holden added: 'I just can't see how she can't see that she can't sing.'

The former nurse claims she was ridiculed in front of 20million viewers and the trio took away her 'self respect and dignity' in order to boost the programme's ratings and profit.

Miss Czikai is attempting to have her claims heard at an employment tribunal but is being fought by BGT lawyers.

She says her performance, screened in May last year, suffered as a result of numerous medical complaints which left her with constant pain and meant she could not sing in noisy raucous environments.

On the show, a clip of which was subsequently posted on YouTube, a smirking Cowell asked Miss Czikai if she thought she had the talent to win.

Dressed in an intricately embroidered red ball gown, she replied: 'Oh Simon, I'm wonderful. You will go home and think I'm so glad that I met that woman.'

But after only a few notes of Westlife's power ballad You Raise Me Up, Morgan was the first judge to buzz her off, quickly followed by the other two.

Against a backdrop of loud booing, Cowell then said: 'Emma, this is a beautiful song when you're not singing it and I think I speak on behalf of everyone that you have a horrible singing voice.'

When Miss Czikai tried to protest that the backing track was too loud and she wasn't used to the microphone, he snapped: 'It's not loud enough. Emma, Emma, reality check here. It's not the music, it's not the microphone, it's you.'

Miss Czikai also lifted the lid on the way contestants were treated on the show and said it was like 'modern day slavery'.


Not impressed: Judge Simon Cowell looks uninterested by the contestant's display and has had to employ a QC to fight employment tribunal claims as a result


She said contestants were routinely humiliated, bullied into saying things they didn't mean and goaded to become angry and frustrated to make good television.
Meanwhile she saw 'servants' walking through with platters of lobster, seafood and caviar which she was told was for Miss Holden, Morgan and Cowell.

Yesterday at an employment tribunal hearing Miss Czikai, claimed she was the victim of disability discrimination because the talent show had not made adjustments for her such as lowering the music and microphone levels.

Miss Czikai, who is representing herself, also claimed she had suffered 'ongoing harassment' because a later improved performance on spin-off show Britain's Got More Talent was not linked to the original clip on YouTube to prove she could sing.

The pre-tribunal review, which will decide if a full hearing will go ahead, was told that Miss Czikai was seeking £300,000 for her injured feelings, compensation of £1million and loss of earnings of £1.25million - although she said if she were awarded any money it would go to charity.

She told the hearing in central London yesterday: 'I haven't got a horrible singing voice when I sing in a fair environment that meets the needs of my particular disabilities as I proved when I performed live on Britian's Got More Talent.


Attack: Miss Czikai claims her performance was impeded by medical conditions - and that she can actually sing


'Britain's Got Talent have sought to accrue profit to themselves through exploitation of a film clip that they know perpetrates a lie that I cannot sing.'

Breaking down in tears she added: 'This programme makes a select number of rich people very very rich on the backs of the ordinary man and woman in the street through exploitation, humiliation, degradation and a re-emergence of modern-day barbarism with all its inherent cruelty.'

Thomas Linden QC, representing Cowell's TV company Simco, opposed Miss Czikai's right to have a full hearing on the basis that BGT was not an employer and that the staff had no prior knowledge of her disabilities. He also questioned whether posting a clip on the web constituted on-going harassment.

Miss Czikai suffers from fibromyalgia, which is characterised by widespread pain and fatigue, but is not recognised by some doctors. The hearing continues.


Unimpressed: Simon Cowell reacts to Miss Czikai's performance which took place in May last year


It's a no from them: All three judges buzzed the contestant out before she had completed her song



source: dailymail