“The Voice: Season 2” Thoughts – Where’s the RESPECT?

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Chinese Version:
http://www.mingpaoweekly.com/htm/20100603/mch1.htm

English translated version:
http://asianfanatics.net/forum/topic/723061-teresa-carpio-temporarily-leaves-the-voice-2/

I haven't posted in awhile because I've been busy, but reading this article really got me fired up to the point that I feel I should write about it. I actually made some comments in the Asianfanatics news thread about this as well, some of which I will reiterate here.

I've been watching the 2nd season of the TVB singing competition "The Voice" lately (not because I'm interested, since I hate hearing amateurs 'butcher' my favorite artists's songs -- but because it happened to be on TV). I also happened to be reading some of the postings in the "The Voice" blog on TVB.com's website.

The conclusion that I've come to is that in today's society (and more specifically in the HK entertainment industry), there is absolutely no respect for professionalism, talent, and the older generation. It's no surprise then, that the HK entertainment industry (whether it's music, TV, or movies) is so bleak and dismal -- the industry nowadays is full of younger generation 'eye-candy' whose attitudes are horrible (the arrogance and thinking that they know better than the older generation so they don't have to listen to them).

The 'latest' controversy with "The Voice" is over Teresa Carpio's comments about 12 year old Hardy Lam's performance last week -- he sang Jacky Cheung's "Born to be Wild" and got eliminated (I will refrain from commenting about my disappointment in hearing my idol's song get butchered.....painful, to say the least). Her comments were basically that Hardy chose the wrong song, he should have chosen something that fit his age, his outfit was questionable, etc etc. -- pretty much the same thing that she (and the other judges) had said in the previous episode (it's too early for him to be trying to compete in a serious singing contest such as this, he should be concentrating on his studies, etc. etc.). Of course, with her personality, she was alot more "blunt" about it then the other judges -- especially in her facial expressions....she totally was not laughing during his performance (as everyone else was, even some of the judges) and in fact, looked quite "pissed off" throughout his entire performance. (I'm pretty sure that if she had a bell on her podium, she would be pressing it like mad to tell him to get off the stage!)

To be honest (and this coming from me -- a "non-professional" in the area of music), Teresa was ABSOLUTELY right! The song did not fit Hardy at all! In fact, my first impression after his performance was that he's trying out for the wrong show -- it felt like a performance for a talent contest rather than a serious singing competition. First of all, the kid is only 12 years old (and he actually looks like he is only 9 or 10) and his singing was very childish -- what made the performance worse was that he was trying to sing in a deeper voice (perhaps trying to 'fit' the song or just to make himself seem older) which totally did not fit him at all. After the performance, I was like -- seriously? You call that singing? I mean, yes, the performance was "cute" in that you have this little kid dancing and singing and all, (I thought I was watching one of those "America's Got Talent" type of shows for a second there) but isn't this supposed to be a professional singing competition? What does "cute" have anything to do with it? We're talking about real world professional singing career here!

I can see now why Teresa was so upset. As a professional singer and music teacher with great talent and over 30 years in the industry, she absolutely knows what being a singer entails. And Hardy's performance (and a few other contestants' performances in my opinon) was not only a disgrace, but also disrespectful to the show and to the profession itself. That's why she was so blunt and telling it like it is -- heck I would be pissed too! One thing that I didn't know but found out about when I read the article is that Teresa not only reprimanded Hardy for his performance, but she also reprimanded his parents as well for putting him up to it and encouraging him (again, she's right) -- however, when TVB actually aired the episode, they edited out her comments (go figure -- typical TVB).

Teresa was absolutely in the right (and spot on) with her comments -- yet, the public (and others) criticize her for being "too harsh" towards a little kid! First of all, her comments were not harsh AT ALL (it's not like she cursed at him or anything -- she was very professional, abeit very straightforward with her words). Second -- who cares if he's a little kid? I mean, just because he's a little kid, does that mean they should be lenient and let him pass even though his performance was horrible? What kind of "professional, credible" judging would that be then? Again, the point here is that this is a PROFESSIONAL SINGING COMPETITION -- 'cuteness' and 'good looks' are not going to get anyone anywhere! People who try to play the "he's just a little kid so cut him some slack" card are just trying to cover up the true issue (the fact that he shouldn't have competed in the first place because he's not ready) and being too overly "PC".

I'm actually quite disappointed at all the negative criticism that I've been hearing about Teresa's comments on "The Voice". I was reading some of the postings on TVB.com's "The Voice" blog and it is very apparent that society nowadays does not value professionalism and talent. Last time, when Emily Chan (the 'westerner' who couldn't speak Chinese) got eliminated, there was already alot of criticism about Teresa being too harsh (which has no merit because she was just doing her job -- many people would've done the same thing). Some of the contestants (including Emily) wrote about the situation in the blog and some of them even went so far as to criticize the judges (not just Teresa, but all of them)...I was particularly irked by one person's comment who said something along the lines of "don't mind them (the judges)...they don't know what they are talking about anyway." HELLO????!!!! If this person is bitter about being eliminated because they can't sing to save their life, then that's their issue -- but how dare they disrespect the professionals who have been singing / producing / creating music for years who are just trying to give them constructive criticism to make them better people? Just because they are young and pretty, they think they can be arrogant like that?

It's no wonder that the HK entertainment industry is so dismal nowadays -- there are too many arrogant young know-it-alls in the industry who think they are better than those who came before them and therefore have no respect for the older generation (or even the middle generation for that matter)!

One last note --- regarding the contestants from Season 1 versus season 2: that brings up another point. I actually liked the season 1 contestants because most of them did have some talent (for one) but also because I felt that they were more humble and willing to learn...the impression that I'm getting from the current contestants is that they are more arrogant and are just in it to get there 15 minutes of fame rather than being serious about improving their skill so they can become good singers. The season has just started and already I've gotten pissed off on several occasions because of the attitudes of some of the contestants...it is definitely going to be a loooong season....