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Hello police? I’m being held captive by The Voice.

Patrons at The Voice weren't happy a studio recording ran way overtime.

Question… what’s the longest time you’ve ever sat through a studio recording?

Mine is about 8 hours on The Voice…. but I was waiting to meet one Ms. Kylie Minogue (and yes, I did).

I ask the question because audience members at The Voice again were kept about 9 hours recently, with some suggestion they were held against their will.

According to Grant Denyer on his 2Day FM breakfast show, some frustrated audience members even rang police to complain they were being held against their will. As coincidence would have it, I heard the same chatter this week.

A spokeswoman for The Voice said: “The records for the Knockout round did run over, as often filming does, but no one was held against their will and was free to leave as soon as it was safe to do so.

“The studio doors were not locked nor were exits blocked. Our priority and responsibility is the safety of the audience and crew in a working studio.”

As I’ve noted before, crew can never prevent you from leaving if you so wish, but they will coerce and cajole you with every trick in the book in the hope you will stay.

Audience warm up guru Michael Pope once told TV Tonight, “I think that is when the handshake breaks from the producer’s side back to the audience member. If you are called from 7 to 11 and it’s now heading to 12 I think you have every right to leave.

“It comes down to producers accurately estimating how long they need an audience for. Occasionally, not often, they under-estimate it so the audience are there for longer than planned and the angst kicks in.”

The only legal reason they can delay your exit is for health & safety reasons, but not for an unreasonable amount of time. Know your rights!

Updated: A spokesperson for NSW Police said on Thursday that they are “not aware of any such calls” according to The Age.

Via: news.com.au

15 Responses

  1. Some creative licence on that bouncer photo David. Ha ha love it, that’s definitely what the Voice bouncers look like. Shades indoors and as wide as a bus.

  2. Now today there is another negative article about The Voice (re: someone claiming a producer told them they’d have a guaranteed spot in the semis if they signed on). To be clear, these both seem to be valid, and 100% newsworthy stories – but I also wonder if 7 and 10 are doing a bit of digging, desperate to avoid the halo of MAFS shining across to The Voice this year, and locking them out of another quarter….

  3. My partner and I went to the talking about your gen first ep taping in 2017, was meant to be 1pm-5pm, we didn’t leave til 7:45pm, it got very old very quickly – they did let some people escape if you had to pick up your kids etc, but otherwise they hinted very strongly you couldn’t leave til the end. I guess we didnt think to challenge it

  4. worst experience was Australia’s Got Talent; told to arrive midday, held hostage inside a wire fence on a 40 degree day in st. kilda, didn’t get seated until after 3, and no staff around. there are 30 minute min gaps between acts didn’t finish until after midnight.
    On the other hand Thank God Youre Here ran like clockwork, served champagne, great entertainment, filmed almost in real time which was an achievement given the amount of set and costume changes required.

    1. Was the Thank God You’re Here recording when Channel 10 had it on or was it when Channel 7 had it?

      I believe Channel 10 are the least gulity when it comes to really late end times for recordings.

    2. This is why these shows incl. The Voice struggle for audiences. Nobody wants to go there again. We walked out of an X Factor taping in Sydney half way due to boredom but that was the Sydney Entertainment Centre and we were at the back. Had to line up outside for 2-3 hours eben before getting in.

    3. I also had a dreadful experience at an Australia’s Got Talent taping when it was on seven and Grant Denyer was host.
      We were there until midnight, we were starving!!
      They made us hold signs and pretend to be supporters of an act we didn’t know, and gave us no breaks.
      I haven’t been to a taping since

  5. I remember taking my mum to a recording of wheel of fortune once. We were horrified to find out they recorded two weeks worth of eps in a day. My mum was also talking quite loudly, saying how the new host Rob Elliott was not a patch on Baby John Burgess.

      1. When you reserved a night session, you were told it would finish late.
        They had to film in the PM cause that’s when it was dark.

        I guess you wouldn’t be able to walk out of that one though cause all the filming was done on Cockatoo Island and you travelled there by boat.

  6. I attended an audition taping for season 1. We arrived outside Fox Studios around 4pm and did not get out until after 10pm. It was not a great experience because you don’t take enough food and water with you, and you definitely are coerced not to leave.

    I have no doubt that audience was ‘held hostage’, It’s likely some were not as desperate to leave as has been suggested, but they would have started getting annoyed as parking costs a fortune.

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