The Clash: Should musicians judge shows like X Factor?

Willy Moon (left) and wife Natalia Kills have been dumped from X Factor. The remaining judges, Stan Walker and Melanie Blatt will be joined by two newbies in the next week.

Opinion

Russell Baillie says:

Yes, keeping musicians away from the judging panel of programmes like X Factor NZ is clearly the answer. Yes, having Natalia Kills and Willy Moon as my exhibits A and B - or in Moon's case, should that be "C"? - it is tempting to shout "case closed!" (and head off to the local bakery to celebrate, dependent of course on the availability of parking nearby).

But the X Factor didn't get to where it is today - existing in just about every country where television is broadcast - by having artistic types calling the shots. By artistic types I mean those who are the whole singing, songwriting, playing, recording package.

Kills and Moon might have some very strange chips on their shoulders but they were the whole package. So was Daniel Bedingfield ("exhibit D").

Judges Stan Walker came up through Australian Idol so he fits right in to the X Factory. Melanie Blatt was in All Saints, off the British girl group 90s assembly line. They're singers first. They know they have to work co-operatively. They depend on the Simon Cowells of the world. They're all in this together.

But those artistic types? Their egos come in odd shapes. They can be insecure, competitive, blinkered, know all sorts of technical stuff the public doesn't care about, and tend to speak their mind when the cameras are rolling - which can be reality television gold, true. But as this week proved, it can be just toxic too.

They also know if they're sitting on a judging panel of The X Factor on the wrong side of the world, their real careers must be in trouble. That can sure bring out the worst in some people.

Lydia Jenkin says:

Not all musicians are narcissistic or psychopathic or just plain mean.

Being good at singing or playing an instrument doesn't inevitably make you a self-centred human. In fact one might say an ability to write and perform beautiful music generally shows a great empathy for the human condition.

Sure, The X-Factor New Zealand hasn't had such a good run thus far, but the percentage of megalomaniac musicians can't be that high.

Surely any musicians they pick next will be from the sane end of the spectrum - my personal experience of many Kiwi musicians is that they're lovely.

The X-Factor format might be enough to turn just about anyone a bit bananas, but if you don't have genuine musicians judging the competition and mentoring the talent, then what little focus there is on the music, will all go out the window.

If you put judges in place who are purely there to see dollar signs and marketing opportunities, that certainly won't help the real talent to rise to the top (if that's what the show is actually trying to do).

Musicians are qualified judges and mentors, because they have the talent that the show is ostensibly looking for.

They have good ears - if someone is sharp or flat, fluffing verses, or breathing in the wrong place, they'll hear the flaws, but more than that, they know what it's like to find the confidence to stand up and perform, to put yourself and your vulnerabilities aside because you love music, and that's something no one else can help those contestants with.

- TimeOut