The X Factor USA launched last night and Don Philip was one of the contestants who wasn’t quite as good as the judges would have liked.

There was an added complication too, as the wannabe was previously friends with new panel member Britney Spears and the whole shared history made for a very awkward encounter, as Don took to the stage to perform on the hit Fox show.

Philip has taken many shots at a career in the music industry before and was once featured on Britney’s debut album, when he sang a duet with the then teenage star.

However, despite later releasing his own solo music, everything more or less flopped for the singer and he quickly fell off the face of the music industry.

Earlier this year he tried to make a comeback, by auditioning for The X Factor USA but we imagine he expected things to go a little better than they did.

We’re not sure if Don was just nervous or also incredibly embarrassed about standing up to be judged by someone he once sang and toured with, but he was incredibly emotional both backstage and then during his performance.

He tried to sing “Halo” for Spears, Simon Cowell, Demi Lovato and L.A Reid but his vocals were incredibly hoarse and sounded quite strained at times. It wasn’t anywhere near as good as some of the other contestants who were featured during the episode and what was worse than watching him crash and burn, was watching the emotions that passed over Brit’s face, as she guiltily realised that she was going to have to give some pretty negative feedback to her old pal.

After the audition finished, TV’s Mr Nasty Simon Cowell revealed that he had to be ‘honest’ and told Don:

“The problem you have Don is you don’t have a good singing voice. Honestly.”

Britney tried to be a little nicer and told Philip that she thought his ‘hardships and battles’ may have affected his voice and his performing skills. She added:

“Your voice really isn’t up to the standards of The X Factor and what we want.”

Don looked totally devastated by the comments and sloped off stage, having failed to make it through to the bootcamp round. Were you surprised by his audition? Do you think the judges should have given him a second chance? Leave your comments below…