I ask you … is it fair to put a child through such pain in pursuit of a few bucks? Last night’s results show of The X Factor on FOX led me to ask this question. If you saw it, you saw how Rachel reacted when she was sent home. And it was freaking painful. It truly was. In the pursuit of finding the next superstar for Simon Cowell to make even more money from, are we sacrificing good taste or even basic human kindness?
Look. I’m guilty. If you read my last review, I said some hard things about Rachel. I’m a critic and that’s what critics do. Criticize. But in doing so, am I a part of the problem I’m talking about?
Let me ‘splain. First of all, the rules are set by the producers and FOX. Simon himself has said he chose to lower the age limit from American Idol (and raise it on the other end of the spectrum as well) to bring out more available talent, and to give more people the “chance to live their dream.” But! Is it a good idea? Based on what I saw tonight, I’m not sure. Not sure at all.
Rachel is only thirteen or fourteen. She’s being subjected to intense scrutiny. Millions of viewers. Tweets and Facebook and social media links, including mine. And if you saw the meltdown she had … it just makes me wonder.
I say to myself? These kids have parents. The parents know the kid is talented and take her to the audition. They’re the adults and they should know the score. But I saw Rachel drop to the ground. I saw her sobbing so hard that I felt my heart choke a bit for her. I saw her Mom run out and tell her it was going to be okay. And I saw Rachel look in her eyes and say “Promise me Mommy? Promise me?” And then I saw Simon. You could tell he ran up there to tell her to get a grip. For the audience. For the cameras. L.A. Reid as well.
They wanted her to stop having her dramatic reaction because it’s not good TV. It was making everyone nervous and sad.
It’s a lot for a kid to handle. I can tell you from experience. Remember when you were that age, and it felt like every little moment was so agonizingly meaningful? It felt like some things that were happening to you would just affect the rest of your life, and not in a good way, often?
Well imagine that times a thousand! I can tell you that at Rachel’s age? I was up for a chorus part in my high school production of West Side Story, and the cast list was put up in the auditorium. I was nowhere on it. Now, I was a kid who never skipped a class, but I went into a hallway and cried for an hour. So I in no way blame her for feeling the way she did.
The age limit is too young. I don’t care if you want the next Justin Bieber.
And finally … I continue on my hate ride of Nicole Sherzinger. Step up and be a professional! Geez! Her reaction was so over-the-top it was stupid.
What do you think? Is the age limit of twelve too young? Or should these kids just suck it up because rejection is a part of the business?
Clacked by Tara Shrodes
on Dec 09, 2011 @ 15:30 EST5EDT
I believe that the age limit on the lower side for x-factor depends on the child. Also, the parents have the say on what the kids do and don’t do regarding this type of competition.
I was actually surprised at Rachel’s reaction to her being voted off the show. She portrays a very strong young person, but I see one never knows for sure. Again, the parents know their child.
Nicole Sherzinger is an inappropriate choice for judging x-factor. It is too bad, but I think things may have been different in many ways, not just with Rachel, if there had been a more qualified judge than her. You can’t be an emotional wreck when judging this show. She is.
Rachel’s reaction made me uncomfortable too, but for a different reason. I was embarrassed for her. I was embarrassed at the drama-queen performance she gave, collapsing to the floor and bawling like a toddler. I think you may have misheard what Rachel said to her mother. I’m pretty sure I heard her saying, “You promised me, Mommy! You promised.” And her mom tried to calm her by saying something like, “I promise you will be okay.” Simon was absolutely right to tell her to get a grip. She felt a sense of entitlement, just like Astro, after being coddled and fawned over by the judges and her parents week after week. It’s also her personality – she is a natural-born ham (and will probably do very well on her own Disney show).
Thirteen is NOT a baby or a child; it’s a teenager. I’m not too old to remember being thirteen, and that is not the maturity level I’d expect from the average thirteen-year-old. Let’s not forget that Drew is only fourteen, and her reaction was much less dramatic and what I would expect from a person of that age. People treat Rachel like a child because she looks and acts younger than she is. I’ve been reading some over-the-top comments on YouTube from people feeling sorry for Rachel. How dare you, America?! How dare you make a thirteen-year-old cry?!
Are you freaking kidding me? She gained some amazing exposure through this show. She probably has new opportunities lined up already. And most importantly – if she wasn’t eliminated this week, she would have been eliminated next week! Only one person can win, and Melanie and Josh were never going to go home before Rachel. Simon knew this, which is why he was taking this so calmly and trying to settle Rachel down. It certainly wasn’t because her tears did not make for good TV – that kind of drama is exactly what these reality show producers crave.
Well said, Ruby.
I’ve always felt uncomfortable with youngsters in talent shows. When I worked the red carpet for America’s Got Talent, I had to interview Avery and the Calico Hearts after they were eliminated. It was so, so sad and really uncomfortable for me to interview these girls while they were obviously struggling to hold it together…if I felt that bad I can only imagine how THEY felt.
I’m all for people with talent getting opportunities (heck, I’m guilty of being an early starter myself) but I think it really comes down to if the younger ones can handle it emotionally and mentally. I wouldn’t want to thrust a child of mine out there in that spotlight at thirteen.
*POST AUTHOR*
I can see some of your points, Ruby. But I do think that at the age of thirteen, you are definitely still a child.
And usually I’m a fan of drama of these kinds of shows. This one incident made me itchy though.
Ruby’s right, drama makes for GREAT tv. It makes for a lot of water cooler talk, which gets people to watch so they can see wtf is happening.
I think it is the parents fault—-Astro’s step dad made the comment that Astro had never been told he was bad at any thing. Rachel’s mother moved to California and left her husband and other child behind to let Rachel pursue her dreams. Some can handle it maybe Look at Britney Spears she finally lost it, then there is Lindsey Lohand. Justin Timberlake has done ok and he started very young under 10 on Mickey Mouse. But I think you have to make sure your child knows that they are going to get rejected some especially in this busy. My daughter modeled some when she was a teen and let me tell you sometimes when you go on a call those people are brutal. They wanted me to send her to New York and I was like yeah right I don’t think so. Maybe I was wrong and maybe I was right but I just could not see sending my 15 year old to the hounds like that. But again you have to tell them that not all is going to be great and wonderful all the time.
Is 12 too young? Probably. Will they change it? Probably not.
It’s not just looking for the next Justin Bieber. It’s being afraid someone else will find the next Justin Bieber. And make money you could have made if you found him first.
I also heard, “Mommy, you promised me! You promised me!” Yuck!
But what I didn’t hear, and what I wish I could have heard, was the table talk Nicole was getting as she made her vote. I know that last week I was saying Paula should have sent it to the people, but the call between Drew and Marcus was much closer than it should have been this week. Who did a better final performance? Rachel. Was Marcus close? No. If this is supposed to be the “Save” song, Rachel nailed it.
However, the “It’s all right; I’m good with whatever.” from Rachel was ironic in the extreme and more than unfair for Nicole. That said, Nicole still needs to be off the show. Her lack of professionalism can not be explained by saying “She’s still a child.” Although she may be acting like one, I’m sure her driver’s license says she isn’t one.
Oh, if only reality show judges could get the yellow flags we have seen flying in football this season. “Foul – Over-30 Judge – Excessive Emotionalism – One show suspension.”