Buble accuses Cowell of killing his confidence

Canadian crooner Michael Buble has accused TV mogul Simon Cowell of killing his confidence and ruining his performance during an appearance on American Idol in 2007.

The Crazy Love hitmaker performed a guest slot on Cowell's TV talent show and he was shocked when the record boss rolled his eyes as he broke into song.

Buble admits the gesture had a negative impact on his singing and led to speculation he was drunk on stage.

He tells Britain's Radio Times, "I had to sing Call Me Irresponsible in front of 20 million people. And the first thing I saw when I got on stage was Simon. I sang about four lines and he looked at me and did this (he rolls his eyes) and that was it, I was done. It killed me. My confidence dropped... I become aloof (when I lose my confidence). I get the attitude of, 'Oh really? Well, f**k you. You don't like me? Then go f**k yourself. I'm just gonna do whatever.'

"If you watch the clip on YouTube, I'm so aloof I look bored. And it became quite a thing for me in America because all the news agencies started to report that I was drunk. But I'm such a control freak I would never drink before going on stage."

Buble later opened up about the experience to Australian singer Dannii Minogue, who worked with Cowell on Britain's The X Factor until last year (10), and she assured him the TV music mogul didn't mean to cause any offence.

He adds, "I told her the story. She goes and tells him, and comes back saying, 'The man didn't even know he did it'. He was just probably sitting on his fifth hour of the show going, 'Kill me now... and I've got to go to the bathroom'.

"But I'm so sensitive I took it as a rejection. Anyway, every time I've ever talked to him since then he's been incredibly nice."

Buble is due to perform on Cowell's U.K. version of The X Factor next week (beg05Dec11).