BRITAIN'S GOT VICTIMS ; Carefully rehearsed put-downs. Stage-managed sob stories. As another Simon Cowell talent show ends, former finalists claim they were cynically exploited - then ruthlessly cast adrift [Eire Region]

Summary

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HE IS the undisputed king of prime-time television, with the power to turn anonymous members of the public into global superstars.

With up to 19 million viewers routinely tuning in to his reality television shows, Simon Cowell revels in the image of a benevolent dictator handing out millionpound record deals and a billing on sold- out tours to his grateful charges.

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BRITAIN'S GOT VICTIMS ; Carefully rehearsed put-downs. Stage-managed sob stories. As another Simon Cowell talent show ends, former finalists claim they were cynically exploited - then ruthlessly cast adrift [Eire Region]

But as the fragile Susan Boyle emerges from therapy to take her first tentative steps on the showbusiness ladder, programmes such as Britain's Got Talent -- and the hugely wealthy impresario behind them -- are now being seen in a different light.

Two years ago, Niki Evans was another vulnerable finalist, on Cowell's The X Factor. Her father had just died when she took part and she was left aghast at what she saw as producers attempting to exploit her sob story.

'They spent three hours literally shouting at me to sing Dance With My Father Again live on the show, with the instruction to cry in the m...

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