★★★★★ 0/5

Talent audition branded unfair

Channel Seven has denied a disabled contestant who auditioned for Australia's Got Talent was mocked by judge Kyle Sandilands.

9
Leave a comment

Channel Seven has denied a disabled contestant who auditioned for Australia’s Got Talent was mocked by judge Kyle Sandilands.

“He mocked me as I tried to sing a song I had written for the show,” says Melburnian Glen Fisher, 48, told the Sunday Herald Sun.

“He went, ‘Mmm … mmm … mmm’, as if to make out I was incapable of lucid speech.

“It was devastating. I was humiliated in front of my wife and son.”

The wheelchair-bound Fisher auditioned in March but his performance never made it to air.

Fisher says only Danni Minogue voted for him but Sandilands and Brian McFadden did not. He also claims the sound system “buggered up” his audio.

“I’m not a complainer. I understand the show is about winning ratings. I just want a proper chance to show what I can do.”

A spokesperson for Seven said: “Mr Fisher’s recall of events is inaccurate.

“The performance of his original song was not good enough and did not make the show.

“To suggest any mistreatment by the production team or the judges is simply wrong.”

Brian McFadden was recently accused of abusive language to a Brisbane contestant, while Sandilands has been criticised for some of his harsh comments to contestants.

Ultimately a contestant appearing at a public audition deserves to be treated respectfully. It should also be where the host plays a fair and supportive part. Some suggestions that AGT audience members have been encouraged to “boo” those they don’t like are of concern.

But candidates should also be aware of the show’s history and be open to robust criticism as a television entertainment. It’s the line in the sand that seems to be a point of contention.

Mr. Fisher is now rallying for a renewed chance to appear on the show via a video hosted at the Sunday Herald Sun.

9 Responses

  1. I don’t think either of the male judges are suitable for this ‘judging’ job, and neither have good reputations! they are well suited to each other.
    I have enjoyed some of the contestants this time round, and I would like to hear more about them, not about the judges!

  3. I was actually there for the taping in question and he was bad, there is no way he should have been put through and i think they did him a favor by not showing it on TV. He actually had most of the audience laughing, so they might have thought it a bit cruel to show it on TV.

    Its the guy that drive around Melbourne in a buggy singing through his loud speaker. I mean you might think “oh bless him” when you see him driving around Melbourne, but by no means cut for a national TV competition.

  4. “To suggest any mistreatment by the production team or the judges is simply wrong.”

    We are talking about Cartman Sandilands. Perhaps the 7 spokesperson should watch what they say.

    I’m so glad I don’t watch this show.

  5. Maybe he was just a really crappy singer – and shouldn’t he be given the same treatement as any other performer, wheelchair or not.

  6. Well this sort of critisism will always surround judging shows. This isnt the first time and it wont be last we will hear someone say that the judging isnt fair or that the judges are too mean.

  7. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again. if you can’t handle public abuse and humiliation from judges you shouldn’t audition a reality show. especially AGT. i’m not saying i could handle it any better, i admire the balls it takes for people to get up there make a fool of themselves, be abused, and then have the ability to brush it off. but why should this guy be treated any differently?

  8. I tried out for Red Faces with my brother and sister in 1999 but didn’t make it to Hey Hey. Just with AGT it is a selection process based on quality not quantity. But I didn’t throw my arms in the air when I wasn’t approached by the producer to take part on Hey Hey.

    I doubt the AGT producers would have adjusted the quality in audio to make his performance any worse. It would have been a similar setup for most of the contestants.

    You know what you’re going to get when you take part in a talent competition with Kyle as the judge, if he doesn’t like what he sees – he will say as much. I haven’t watched AGT this year but I am sure his attitude and judging style has not differed much from Idol. Seven wouldn’t hire him to be Mr Nice Guy.

    If Glen Fisher didn’t pass the selection process, well that’s life. A lot of other people didn’t pass it either. You win some, you lose some.

Leave a Reply