According to The Hollywood Reporter, 52-year-old Emma Amelia Pearl Czikai, a May 2009 contestant on Britain’s Got Talent, is suing talent judge Simon Cowell for picking on her. Czikai, who claims her voice has moved people to tears, apparently had her feelings hurt one too many times compared to the hundreds of others Cowell has moved to tears: She cites "exploitation, humiliation, degradation, and barbarism" in her complaint against the show and its judges. In defense of her singing voice, Czikai is also filing disability discrimination, alleging the show did not cater to her vocal requirements, including lowering backing music and adjusting microphone levels. Additionally, Czikai thinks she was wrongfully denied handicap points despite performing with head and shoulder pain caused by her cervical spine neuritis, an affliction which conveniently affects her singing during performances in front of live audiences not populated entirely by family members.
As Czikai states in her report while invoking a Dickensian working-class tone, “This program 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.” Fittingly, Czikai is hoping these very, very rich people will make her very, very rich by requesting $3.8 million in damages.
An employment tribunal is currently reviewing the complaint before making a final decision on whether the lawsuit will go to a full trial hearing.
Here is her original appearance.