Good ole Gary! Bravo - I agree completely!
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McCormick criticises 'nasty' Idol judges
12 July 2005
By AMANDA WARREN
Seasoned New Zealand entertainer Gary McCormick has launched a stinging attack on the "ritual humiliation, cruelty and bullying" taking place on New Zealand television screens on Sunday nights.
McCormick's targets were the "nasty" judges of young talent vying for a spot in NZ Idol's second season. The hugely popular show has just finished national auditions that saw thousands of wannabe pop stars line up for the chance to have their singing talent noticed.
It was the harsh criticism meted out to the not-so-talented that sparked McCormick's concern. He claimed the show's producers ensured some of the particularly bad singers made it through the first round so they could be publicly humiliated by judges and filmed for the entertainment of the masses.
But judge Paul Ellis said contestants knew what they were getting into when they walked into the audition room, and the judges were just being honest.
McCormick did not accept that, citing the example of Ellis asking one contestant: "Who told you you could sing?" When told it was the person's mother, Ellis said the woman must be tone deaf.
"(The contestant) was almost in tears. We've had people in tears; we've had others saying f... off. That's not my idea of a family-oriented talent show,," McCormick said.
McCormick believed the show's producers and judges, with the exception of Jackie Clarke, who offered "reasonable" comments, were bullying people who believed the show could help them break into the entertainment industry.
"It's ritual humiliation, cruelty and bullying...I'm sure that some of these people are quite shattered by the process."
The show's judges are unimpressed by McCormick's plea for pleasantries.
Ellis said the Idol format was the same internationally, with viewers and contestants expecting a bit of nastiness from the judges. "What we say in the room is our own opinion and it's an audition process. I've got no regrets for anything I've said in the audition room."
Ellis denied judges manufactured nasty comments in a bid to boost the show's popularity. "I verbalise what comes into my head. I was chosen for the show for my experience and because I do call a spade a spade, I don't mince words," he said.
It was a fact that many people who auditioned were bad singers, but many terrible performers were edited out of the final broadcast, he said. The show's ratings went up this week and he believed most viewers enjoyed the content.
"We're making a TV show here...I just think Gary should take a chill pill," he said.
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Originally Posted by Hitcher
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