32-year-old Vocal Coach Don Phillip had an emotional reunion with former duet partner Britney Spears. They recorded “I Will Still Love You” about 10 years ago from her album Baby One More Time. Since then he says he’s been doing a lot of writing and producing. He says he’s had a “lot of maybes, I mean a ton of almosts,” saying that X Factor is his final chance.
Unfortunately, his voice hasn’t weathered the years well, and frankly the exchange was hard to watch.
At the end a teary-eyed Britney (who has been hilarious and deadly honest as a judge so far) had to tell him that his voice just wasn’t good enough. “I feel like through they years maybe you’ve gone through a lot of hardships and battles, but your voice really isn’t up the bar of the standards of The X Factor and what we want.”
He saw how sad she looked, and had a breakdown backstage. He sobbed while he said “Did you see Britney’s eyes? My God! I saw her face, and I feel like I’ve hurt her.”
Here’s “I Will Still Love You”
