Bgt Flop Wants To Sue Simon Cowell For Hurting Her Feelings

News reaches us this week of the remarkable tale of Emma Czikai, a contestant on Britain's Got Talent, who is trying to take the makers of the programme to court to sue them for what she contends is loss of earnings and injury to feelings. As opportunistic court cases go, this is right up there.

Miss Czikai appeared on the programme in May 2009, during the audition stages, to 'perform' a version of Westlife's saccharine power-ballad 'You Raise Me Up.' Unfortunately the only thing she raised was the judges' hackles. Piers Morgan was the first to hit his rejection button, followed closely by Simon Cowell, who was scathing in his appraisal of Miss Czikai's performance, and then finally Amanda Holden.

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

Miss Czikai, no doubt hoping to follow in Susan Boyle's footsteps in putting non-teenage starlets on the musical map, tried to bat away criticism by starting the song again not once, but twice. When she was given an unanimous dismissal, she tried to claim that it was both the volume of the backing track and the model of microphone she had been using that were the key factors behind her off-key performance.
These excuses, which had the audience, the judges and hosts Ant and Dec all sarcastically nodding in agreement with her, were then galvanised by the revelation that she suffers from fibromyalgia, a condition which causes fatigue and muscle pain but is apparently not recognised by some doctors.

No matter what one might think of these excuses (personally I'm with Ant and Dec on this one), Miss Czikai is using the 'humiliation and degradation' she suffered at the hands of the ITV show's producers to launch what is essentially an employment tribunal against BGT, saying that their treatment of her has caused injury to her feelings and negatively impacted upon her future employment prospects.

Not only that: but she is seeking over a million pounds for loss of earnings,although quite where these earnings would have come from may be open to question. She further contends that she was the victim of 'discrimination' when show producers did not either adjust her microphone level or the backing track volume, or to link the YouTube clip of her appearance to a later clip of her apparently singing more competently.

The original clip on YouTube is presented along with the following blurb:

'Britain's Got Talent: Emma claims her singing ability has moved people to tears, and she's about to prove it with the judges - but not in the way you'd think!'

While it is arguable that she was treated unfairly, there are two problems. Firstly, everyone who has the nerve to appear on the show, and all others like it, and rub the judges up the wrong way is running the gauntlet of having their comments and appearances edited to make them look, essentially, like a halfwit.

Secondly, BGT is not an employer, it's a television programme, and it never 'employed' Miss Czikai in the first place. In order to be awarded her claim, her lawyer will have to prove that her dismissal from the competition has directly deprived her of over a million pounds.

What precedent will this set if she wins (as unlikely as this is)? Employers will be liable to pay compensation if a member of staff suffers a work injury....to their feelings?

Well, yes. It isn't as unlikely as it sounds: Shetland Islands Council Chief Executive David Clark was awarded over GBP230,000 in compensation for hurt feelings, it emerged last month.

This sort of claim, to my mind, is going to be incredibly hard to prove and will make a mockery of genuine claimants out there, especially the ones who suffer a work injury after many years of service, rather than people who are trying to make a quick buck from a company they've never even worked for.