Children charities have expressed concern about the pressure young performers are put under when competing in Britain’s Got Talent. The comments from Kidscape’s director come after a 4-year-old Michael Jackson impersonator wowed judges at this week’s London auditions but seemed confused about what he was actually doing.
We talked about Kayim-Ali Jaffer earlier last month, after it was revealed he had impressed the producers with his dancing skills at the pre-auditions. On Tuesday he had his full audition in front of a 3,000-strong crowd and the judges but was left confused and running off stage, having to be pushed back on to hear the judges’ comments.
An audience member told the Daily Mail: “Everyone was screaming, but Kayim-Ali was a bit confused and he ran off the stage before the judges had put him through and he had to be pushed back on stage.
“He is a shoo-in to reach the live semi-finals, he’s extremely talented.”
Director of Kidscape, Claude Knights, told the paper: “He may be talented but you have to remember that this little boy has only been talking for a few years – now he is performing in front of a huge audience and will be seen by millions.
“Unless he wins he is also going to have to deal with rejection. I am not sure it is fair to have someone so young compete like that.
“It seems that the age at which people are appearing on these programmes is getting younger. What next? Two-year-olds on stage and then being voted on or off Britain’s Got Talent?”
Despite the concerns, mum Emma is fully behind her son, telling the newspaper: “He is unbelievably confident – he has already told us he wants to dance in front of the Queen.”
Britain’s Got Talent auditions are now over for the current series, all the acts who got through will now be whittled down to the final few who’ll go onto the live finals in May.
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