X Factor auditions: is it cruel?

Dudess · 18-09-2007 08:12PM #1

The following article was written recently by a psychologist who believes the X Factor (the auditions part - only part worth watching) highlights loads of people with psychiatric illnesses and mental disabilities for our entertainment.
http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/news-gossip/doctor-slams-x-factor-freak-show-for-abusing-contestants-1081453.html

He's right really. There was a lad on the other day who obviously had an intellectual disability and he sang Zip-a-dee-doo-dah. It wasn't even funny - just mean. It didn't make me laugh. There was a woman who had spent a fortune on singing lessons and brought her voice coach along. She was atrocious. The voice coach obviously made plenty of money out of her delusion. That shouldn't have made the final cut.

However... when some talentless idiot, who has no issue other than thinking they are amazingly talented and are arrogant, obnoxious and narcissistic with it, gets up and makes a twat of themselves - that is funny. E.g. the guy the other day who didn't so much sing as talk his way through All By Myself and offered Simon the chance to produce his album and said "you are looking at the X Factor winner 2008". He was slated and insisted that the panel members would be judged by God for not giving the "little people" a chance - he deserved everything he got.

Jesus Wept · 18-09-2007 08:14PM

So a huge slice of the population don't have their marbles, I already knew this.

X-Factor ftw.

MrPudding · 18-09-2007 08:15PM

You should read Ben Elton's "Chart Throb." Very funny book taking the pi$$ out of these shows.

MrP

Terry · 18-09-2007 08:19PM

I read somewhere that they have lowered the entry age to 14.
That's just wrong.

Agamemnon · 18-09-2007 08:28PM

They should never let people with intellectual disabilities on the show to be ridiculed. Most of the contestants are fair game for laughing at though, especially this gobshite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGn9Xjw8d2o

im_invisible · 18-09-2007 08:28PM

Terry wrote:

I read somewhere that they have lowered the entry age to 14.
That's just wrong.

bronte · 18-09-2007 08:34PM

It's car crash tv..I don't think they should've lowered the age range.
I didn't go into the entertainment field properly till I was 18 and not a day too soon, because it's so tough.

There was a young girl on a few weeks back that got terribly emotional when she was told no, and clearly wasn't able to cope with the rejection.

Dudess · 18-09-2007 08:41PM

agamemnon wrote:

They should never let people with intellectual disabilities on the show to be ridiculed. Most of the contestants are fair game for laughing at though, especially this gobshite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGn9Xjw8d2o

Absolutely. He certainly deserved everything he got. As did the following silly, deluded girl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bjMsztnpRA

AlmightyCushion · 18-09-2007 08:44PM

I think they should just televise the auditions. They're hilarious, the rest is shite.

AlmightyCushion · 18-09-2007 08:46PM

agamemnon wrote:

They should never let people with intellectual disabilities on the show to be ridiculed. Most of the contestants are fair game for laughing at though, especially this gobshite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGn9Xjw8d2o

Fuck me that is class.

North&South · 18-09-2007 08:48PM

Dudess wrote:

.........There was a woman who had spent a fortune on singing lessons and brought her voice coach along. She was atrocious. The voice coach obviously made plenty of money out of her delusion. That shouldn't have made the final cut..........

No... that SHOULD have made the final cut, if only to show her & the 'voice coaches' other clients what a rip-off merchant he really is!!

But whilst some of the contenders make for uncomfortable viewing, others provide top saturday evening entertainment!
If only these folks would tape themselves BEFORE they enter, then we wouldn't all have such a laugh in the run-up to boot camp & beyond!

Dudess · 18-09-2007 08:51PM

But the poor woman - she couldn't have been the full bob to think she was any good. And she was so vulnerable - she wasn't an arrogant twat at all.

simu · 18-09-2007 08:59PM

Dudess wrote:

But the poor woman - she couldn't have been the full bob to think she was any good. And she was so vulnerable - she wasn't an arrogant twat at all.

Yup. I haven't seen the episode you're referring to but sometimes, they certainly do go for cheap laughs with people who clearly have disorders or problems of various sorts. It's nasty stuff.

bronte · 18-09-2007 09:07PM

I suppose it's all they have at this stage...it's gotten so repetitive.

Doesn't make it right though.....

Does anyone notice that every year theres always a big sob-story with a candidate's nana's dog dying or something, and he/she has to get through because it's their dying wish? and angels by robbie williams is always playing in the background?
Euuurggh!! Tugging at the heartstrings my arse!! :mad: :mad:

North&South · 18-09-2007 09:08PM

Dudess wrote:

But the poor woman - she couldn't have been the full bob to think she was any good. And she was so vulnerable - she wasn't an arrogant twat at all.

No, Dudess, she wasn't arrogant... I was quite outraged actually that the bloody voice coach encouraged her.. not to sing, but to enter in the first place.
It's ok to have 'passion' for something - I have a passion for many things, but the difference between 'having a passion' & having talent... two different things.
I just hope his clientele list is a whole lot smaller now - HE was the idiot in the audition, not her & I think they did well in showing that.

As an aside, a couple of the contestants we've seen obviously are 'special people'... there was a lady last week, who Simon cuddled & walked her out to the door - just to show that he's not ALL bad... sometimes! :eek:

Dudess · 18-09-2007 09:15PM

bronte wrote:

Does anyone notice that every year theres always a big sob-story with a candidate's nana's dog dying or something, and he/she has to get through because it's their dying wish? and angels by robbie williams is always playing in the background?
Euuurggh!! Tugging at the heartstrings my arse!! :mad: :mad:

Yeah, there was a girl a couple of weeks ago who brought her daughter in with her and described how she had just ended a violent relationship and the guy had even made an attempt on her life. It was horrific no doubt, but the X Factor isn't the place for this - I mean, she didn't actually have a great voice. And bringing her daughter with her was just... naff. And it was quite embarrassing - to me she was humiliating herself. I mean, she was clearly using her little girl to elicit sympathy. The kid was even put sitting with the judges. Of course her mum got through.

North&South wrote:

As an aside, a couple of the contestants we've seen obviously are 'special people'... there was a lady last week, who Simon cuddled & walked her out to the door - just to show that he's not ALL bad... sometimes!

It's these "special" contestants who often get humiliated. But yeah, sometimes there are those who are crap but don't make a fool of themselves - rather they endear themselves to the panel and the audience. For example, that elderly lady who sang Que Sera Sera. She was just sweet.

bronte · 18-09-2007 09:22PM

Dudess wrote:

Yeah, there was a girl a couple of weeks ago who brought her daughter in with her and described how she had just ended a violent relationship and the guy had even made an attempt on her life. It was horrific no doubt, but the X Factor isn't the place for this - I mean, she didn't actually have a great voice. And bringing her daughter with her was just... naff. And it was quite embarrassing - to me she was humiliating herself. I mean, she was clearly using her little girl to elicit sympathy. The kid was even put sitting with the judges. Of course her mum got through.

Wow, i didn't see that, god that's fairly extreme , the poor kid.

ryanairzer · 18-09-2007 09:23PM

Dudess wrote:

It's these "special" contestants who often get humiliated. But yeah, sometimes there are those who are crap but don't make a fool of themselves - rather they endear themselves to the panel and the audience. For example, that elderly lady who sang Que Sera Sera. She was just sweet.

They should have sent that ho home. :mad:

Dudess · 18-09-2007 09:29PM

Yeah, I found it profoundly distasteful.

North&South · 18-09-2007 09:33PM

Originally Posted by Dudess
Yeah, there was a girl a couple of weeks ago who brought her daughter in with her and described how she had just ended a violent relationship and the guy had even made an attempt on her life. It was horrific no doubt, but the X Factor isn't the place for this - I mean, she didn't actually have a great voice. And bringing her daughter with her was just... naff. And it was quite embarrassing - to me she was humiliating herself. I mean, she was clearly using her little girl to elicit sympathy. The kid was even put sitting with the judges. Of course her mum got through.

What I found quite worrying about this particular case, was the fact that she said she had left a violent relationship, had to move away from her friends & family to keep herself & her daughter safe, but here she was parading about on national (and international) TV!
Or am I being too suspicious??

Rb · 18-09-2007 09:34PM

I f*cking love the retards who spew sh1te like "You'll regret this when I'm big and famous and making lots of money".
When they're usually just big and going nowhere.

Dudess wrote:

Yeah, there was a girl a couple of weeks ago who brought her daughter in with her and described how she had just ended a violent relationship and the guy had even made an attempt on her life. It was horrific no doubt, but the X Factor isn't the place for this - I mean, she didn't actually have a great voice. And bringing her daughter with her was just... naff. And it was quite embarrassing - to me she was humiliating herself. I mean, she was clearly using her little girl to elicit sympathy. The kid was even put sitting with the judges. Of course her mum got through.

Fwiw, I think that she was a whole lot better than the majority of the contestants. Surely enough she wasn't the best of the auditions, but she still deserved to get through to the next stage.

I feel sorry for the judges, sure enough they get paid a heap for doing it, but they have to sit through hours upon hours of sh1t, followed by retards reacting badly to hearing the truth.

Dudess · 18-09-2007 09:50PM

rb_ie wrote:

I f*cking love the retards who spew sh1te like "You'll regret this when I'm big and famous and making lots of money".
When they're usually just big and going nowhere.

Yeah, it's tossers like that whose humiliation I delight in.
The girl who brought her daughter in wasn't a bad singer but she was fairly mediocre and I doubt the judges would have let her through if it wasn't for her personal experience.

bronte · 18-09-2007 09:54PM

Y'know what else annoys me?
After all the struggles to get through...even if they do win, they sometimes will release one or two singles at most and then disappear completely!
Tis ridiculous!

Earthhorse · 18-09-2007 10:24PM

If you read the entire linked article you'll see that Louis Walsh dismisses Dr. Harrold as a "loony doctor". So really, who are we to believe here?

Honestly though, I've never seen anyone on the show who was obviously mentally ill and it's a bit much asking Simon Cowell and co. to make calls on this.

Dudess · 18-09-2007 10:34PM

Ah but where is Louis Walsh getting his info that Mark Harrold is a loony doctor? I think he was just throwing an insult at him.
Oh I'm certainly not saying the judges should be expected to make a call on this. If people who aren't well mentally want to audition, then only their families or whatever can stop them, but the producers should not put really vulnerable people in the final edit.
Ah, I've definitely seen a few people auditioning who are mentally ill or have intellectual disabilities.

Earthhorse · 18-09-2007 10:41PM

Exactly! Who can say who's crazy in today's modern workaday world? Not me.

Who's to say who's vulnerable and not? Are the tone deaf people who audition mentally ill or deluded? And the people who break down and cry when they're rejected, are they vulnerable or just naive?

FlutterinBantam · 18-09-2007 10:53PM

Just gob****es if you ask me!!

I know you didn't but they are still gob****es.

Only ones making money out of them are the comms. companies and the TV stations who play on the publics ever more voracious appetite for shíte television shows.

Why pay actors when you have dial-a- goon to make a show of him/herself??

seamus · 18-09-2007 10:56PM

rb_ie wrote:

I feel sorry for the judges, sure enough they get paid a heap for doing it, but they have to sit through hours upon hours of sh1t, followed by retards reacting badly to hearing the truth.

All of them are pre-screened by non-celebrity people and on their application form they provide tonnes of information about themselves.

So the only people who actually make it through to the judges are

1. People who are clearly nuts and have no talent
2. People who may have talent or a particularly quirky personality
3. People with an interesting personal story

It's all about making good TV.

It's the people in category 1 that we get the most fun out of, but plenty of them are obviously not right in the head.

I rationalise it by saying that if they're allowed wander around in public, then they are of sufficiently sound mind to subject themselves to this.

Dudess · 18-09-2007 11:06PM

Good point, but I've no doubt there are plenty of people walking the streets who should be getting treatment.

Earthhorse · 18-09-2007 11:09PM

And, if anything, the X Factor is highlighting their plight.

Dr Lektroluv · 18-09-2007 11:39PM

This is the best 1 - the 2 ballymun girls haha simon rips them apart..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZM7qRP8VsQ

X Factor auditions: is it cruel?

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