Sunday 9 June 2013

BGT egg-hurler Natalie Holt's reason behind her protest against Simon Cowell

'It was a stand against Simon Cowell's dreadful influence on the music industry', says BGT egg-hurler Natalie Holt as it emerges she is a brilliant viola player who has even been nominated for a BAFTA

  • Violist is in band called Raven Quartet who took part in the show last year 
  • Simon was hit by the egg and continued the show without his jacket on
  • Her bandmates have insisted that they were not involved in the incident
  • Viewers take to Twitter to criticise bizarre act of apparent protest
  • Holt issues apology saying 'in hindsight, it was a silly thing to do'
  • ITV talent show was won by Attraction, with Jack Carroll runner-up



The violinist who stormed the stage and hurled eggs at Simon Cowell during the final of Britain's Got Talent has claimed she was 'taking a stand against his dreadful influence' on the industry.
Natalie Holt - a BAFTA-nominated composer who appeared in the closing ceremony of last summer's Olympics - jumped to the front of the stage as brothers Richard and Adam were performing and pelted the judge before she was dragged off by security.
She has since said the stunt was a stand against miming on TV and Simon Cowell's 'dreadful influence on the music industry.'
It comes as pictures have emerged of the talented musician in a range of eccentric poses. 
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Smiling as she peers around a door, this is one of the eccentric pictures which have emerged of Natalie Holt, the backing musician who pelted Simon Cowell with eggs
Smiling as she peers around a door, this is one of the eccentric pictures which have emerged of Natalie Holt, the backing musician who pelted Simon Cowell with eggs
Ms Holt (second from left) can be seen here with other members of the Raven Quartet, who pose elegantly for the camera, while she waves her bow above her head and appears to be mid laugh
Ms Holt (second from left) can be seen here with other members of the Raven Quartet, who pose elegantly for the camera, while she waves her bow above her head and appears to be mid laugh
In another picture of the group, Ms Holt appears to have her friend in a musical headlock as she embraces him from behind and carries on playing her instrument
In another picture of the group, Ms Holt appears to have her friend in a musical headlock as she embraces him from behind and carries on playing her instrument
Ms Holt, smiling again, is pictured here brandishing a sword
Ms Holt, smiling again, is pictured here brandishing a sword
She told the Telegraph: 'I basically took a stand against people miming on television and against Simon and his dreadful influence on the music industry.'
Ms Holt is an accomplished and well regarded musician, not only on the viola and violin, but also piano, mouth organ, guitar, Chinese harp and vocals, and has worked with a host of A list musical talent, including Take That, The Last Shadow Puppets, Gwen Stefani and Andrea Bocelli.
More than 13 million people watched the Britain's Got Talent live final last night, with an average of 11.1 million viewers across the two-and-a-half show, ITV said.
It comes as former X Factor contestant Kitty Brucknell has revealed the viola player was once her flatmate. 
But she has been quick to distance herself from the musician's actions - labeling her stunt 'pretty cruel and stupid'.
It has also been revealed she auditioned for the talent show in 2012, along with her band Raven Quartet - who have also distanced themselves from her actions. 
She apologised after the show via an official statement, but it has done little to quell the barrage of criticism leveled at her on Twitter and Facebook. 
The 30-year-old was accused of 'grinning like a lunatic' by one user, while others labeled the stunt 'pathetic'.
Former X Factor contestant Kitty Brucknell has been quick to distance herself from musician Natalie Holt's bizarre actions - as it is revealed the pair once lived together
Former X Factor contestant Kitty Brucknell has been quick to distance herself from musician Natalie Holt's bizarre actions - as it is revealed the pair once lived together
Regret: Natalie Holt issued an apology for pelting eggs at Simon Cowell shortly after the Britain's Got Talent live final ended on Saturday night
Regret: Natalie Holt issued an apology for pelting eggs at Simon Cowell shortly after the Britain's Got Talent live final ended on Saturday night
Eggs cellent: Awoman invaded the stage to throw eggs at Simon Cowell as brothers Richard and Adam performed
Eggs cellent: Awoman invaded the stage to throw eggs at Simon Cowell as brothers Richard and Adam performed
Disgruntled: Natalie Holt, pictured with Matt LeBlanc has been named as the woman who egged Simon Cowell on stage on Saturday night's Britain's Got Talent final
Disgruntled: Natalie Holt, pictured with Matt LeBlanc has been named as the woman who egged Simon Cowell on stage on Saturday night's Britain's Got Talent final
Quick change of heart: Shortly after the end of the show Natalie apologised for her actions
Quick change of heart: Shortly after the end of the show Natalie apologised for her actions
And Ms Brucknell, who appeared on X- factor in 2010, seemed equally unimpressed according to her tweets during the show. 
Unreality TV reports the pair were once housemates. 
Kitty – who made it to the live finals of the 2010 series of the ITV singing show – tweeted during the show as it dawned on her who the phantom egg thrower was. 
She wrote: 'I just have to say something. Is that egg girl – is her name Natalie? I have some pretty earth shattering news if it is!'
She then added: 'Actually having a huge sychronicity moment right now' and '...west London. Names? Natalie & Chris. Natalie was... in a string quartet... That tried out for BGT and didn’t get past boot camp.'
'Just found her email. F***. Her name was Natalie Holt. How is this even real??? WTF??????'
She added: 'Just to make it clear…I’m absolutely disgusted that someone would do that – might have been funny for some, but those singers were amazing'
'And didn’t deserve their performance to be ruined like that. It was so unnecessary….and actually pretty cruel and stupid.'
'I was there when she tried out for BGT…she seemed so normal?!?!'
Former X Factor contestant Kitty Brucknell has revealed the viola player who pelted Simon Cowell with eggs during the live final of Britain's Got Talent last night was once her flatmate
Former X Factor contestant Kitty Brucknell has revealed the viola player who pelted Simon Cowell with eggs during the live final of Britain's Got Talent last night was once her flatmate
Not everyone has taken Ms Holt's actions so seriously however.
Simon Cowell seems to have taken the on stage attack in good spirits, simply tweeting: ' I really don't like eggs', while a Facebook group has been set up in support of the musician.
Stop The Hatred for the Lovely Natalie Holt so far has 11 'likes'. 
John Prescott has also offered the music mogul his support in a tongue-in-cheek tweet. 
He wrote : '@Simon Cowell I’m here if you need me'
Mr Prescott was pelted with an egg by a protester in Rhyl in 2001. 
Ms Holt worked on the BAFTA nominated score for BBC's Great Expectations with Martin Phipps, and a range of major films including Hannibal Rising and Matthew Vaughn's Stardust, working for Grammy Award winning producer Steve McLaughlin and composer Ilan Eshkeri.
She has been a composer, orchestrator and player with The London Metropolitan Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of London, and London Philharmonic Orchestra, according to her biography. 
And she has worked with artists The Last Shadow Puppets, The Libertines, Nicola Benedetti, Ellie Goulding, Lady Sovereign, Gwen Stefani, Susan Boyle, Elaine Page, Andrea Bocelli, Il Divo, Hayley Westenra, Echo and the Bunnymen, Katherine Jenkins, Take That, and with song writer Guy Chambers.
In a statement released by the show Ms Holt said: 'I want to apologise to Richard and Adam for overshadowing their performance. I’ve never done anything like this before and in hindsight I have realised it was a silly thing to do.' 
Her band mates have insisted that they were not involved. 
A tweet from the group feed read: 'Just to clarify…. The other 3 of us were working elsewhere today and found out when you did.' 
 A spokesman for the show told MailOnline: 'During tonight’s show an incident took place during the finale of Richard and Adam’s performance.
'Natalie Holt (age 30) was part of the backing group for their performance and as a result of her misguided actions the police were called. However, we have decided to take no further action at this stage.' 
Judge Amanda Holden spoke of her anger at the disruption Natalie's appearance on stage caused and she  branded her 'a stupid cow' for the apparent act of protest.
Taking the plunge: The musician appeared on the talent show with her band, who deny they were involved in the egging
Taking the plunge: The musician appeared on the talent show with her band, who deny they were involved in the egging
Simon had to remove his jacket and was left with yolk on his shirt following the attack, but he didn't seem too fazed. 
Although the egging occurred in the middle of their performance, Richard and Adam were not put off and they were later praised for their professional attitude.
Simon said he thought the woman was throwing sandwiches and assumed it was part of the performance. 
He said: 'I thought it was part of the act, I thought they were throwing sandwiches.' 
Disabled comedian Jack Carroll was the next act to perform on stage and he used the opportunity to make a joke about the situation. 
He began: 'Can I just say, I was going to run on and throw some eggs, so thanks for ruining that.'
Harsh words! Amanda Holden spoke of her fury as Simon Cowell was egged during the final of Britain's Got Talent
Harsh words! Amanda Holden spoke of her fury as Simon Cowell was egged during the final of Britain's Got Talent
Stage invasion: A woman ran up in front of the judges to pelt them with eggs
Stage invasion: A woman ran up in front of the judges to pelt them with eggs
Smile on her face: The girl beamed as she threw the eggs during Richard and Adam's performance
Smile on her face: The girl beamed as she threw the eggs during Richard and Adam's performance
Off you go: A security guard carried the girl from the stage
Off you go: A security guard carried the girl from the stage
It's no yolk! Simon had to remove his jacket after it was hit but he still had some yolk on his shirt
It's no yolk! Simon had to remove his jacket after it was hit but he still had some yolk on his shirt
Natalie appeared on Britain's Got Talent last year with her band Raven Quartet. 
But it seems she and her band mates didn't have a positive experience on the talent show last year. 
Natalie's band mate Rachael Lander wrote a scathing blog post about the group's experience on the show, which has since been taken down. 
In the piece she wrote: 'Honestly, if you think watching those talent shows is gut wrenching, you should try being a contestant in one.'
Rachael claimed the group were approached by the show and deliberated over whether to audition. 
She wrote: 'We had to acknowledge the grim truth, which was that Raven needed a bigger profile to get any kind of deal, we could get a load more gigs if we played to 15 million viewers, even if those viewers were of the opinion that a dog with a hula hoop constituted entertainment gold.' 
Another extract for the post reads: 'We were uncomfortable that we were, by entering, complicit with the exploitation of the vulnerable to be humiliated in front of millions. But we had made ourselves publicity whores, we’d made our bed, we had to play.' 
Piers Morgan tweeted: 'My vote goes to the egg-thrower. #BGT.'
However the broadcaster read Natalie's last tweet, dated from December, which read: 'Thinking about starting a petition to stop Piers Morgan being sent back over.....,' and soon changed his mind. 
He wrote: 'If the egg-thrower was @filmmusicholt as Twitter claims, then after seeing her last tweet, I'm withdrawing my vote! #BGT.' 
Nothing to do with us: Natalie's band distanced themselves from the musician and said they were did not know what had happened
Nothing to do with us: Natalie's band distanced themselves from the musician and said they were did not know what had happened
All together: Natalie pictured with the rest of her band, who auditioned for Britain's Got Talent on a previous series
All together: Natalie pictured with the rest of her band, who auditioned for Britain's Got Talent last year



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2338336/It-stand-Simon-Cowells-dreadful-influence-music-industry-says-BGT-egg-hurler-Natalie-Holt-emerges-brilliant-viola-player-nominated-BAFTA.html#ixzz2Vl1d6LFD
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