Fletcher Mills A few years ago, I won a contract writing for Stuff.co.nz after their blogging competition Blog Idol 2 and I can’t help but feel parallels at the moment between what happened to me and what X-Factor NZ finalist Fletcher Mills is having to put up with. It was a closely guarded secret at the time, but the person who was voted into the winning position for Blog Idol 2 had lied about their true identity and was disqualified from the competition, thereby elevating me to the position of winner by default. Can you guess what happened next? In the weeks and even months on my blog after that, I was attacked personally and professionally with comments such as: “Greg should be here instead of you, you’re a crappy writer, stop blogging, you’re so boring, all you write about is being gay”, (despite proof this was not true) “please resign and bring Greg back, nobody cares what you think”. Sound familiar? Spending time on the Fletcher Mills fan page on Facebook, almost all of those same comments are being thrown at him along with some very offensive personal attacks including many homophobic slurs. I don’t have any questions about his sexuality, he has a girlfriend, but they’re being used here in a derogatory way and that is something I don’t like to see. Even worse, the hateful sentiment is something I believe to be totally unwarranted. Read more about the homophobic cyber-bullying swirling around The X Factor here I am not going to say Fletcher’s performances on the live shows have been perfect, he has admitted to suffering from pitch problems himself. However, what I do think he has is a unique tone to his voice and an ability to interpret songs in the way only he can. I also think all of his audition performances prior to the live shows were sublime and Ruby Frost was a maniac to have sent him home at all. One particular judge said this week, “he’s sending other people home because he has a fan base” which is ridiculous because the show is called “X-Factor”. By its very definition, the direct result of having the “X-Factor” is that having that is what attracts a fan base. That fan base does not just like Fletcher Mills because he is a good looking young guy. I am not a fan because of the way he looks, it is the way he sounds, it’s the way his voice unravels with exposed and haunting vulnerability far beyond his years and tells a story; it takes me on a journey. That’s what makes an artist; that’s the X-Factor. With all of these singing talent shows and the competitiveness of the market out there, it really isn’t enough to just be a good singer anymore. Being pitch perfect all the time doesn’t always happen with the multi-platinum success stories either…but what they do have is the X-Factor. I have a litmus test of my own for someone having longevity and international potential as a recording artist – and I repeat: recording artist, not singer. That test is to close my eyes and listen to someone’s voice and think about if it’s distinctive enough to make me know immediately who the person is singing. Out of all of the X-Factor NZ live show finalists there are just two for me who have the power to do that: Fletcher Mills and Cassie Henderson. If someone can sing a song they are comfortable with really well in a more intimate environment, but they suffer from pitch issues singing a song chosen for them by someone else live on Television then that does not make them a bad singer, it makes them a nervous singer. Nerves causing pitch problems can be overcome with experience and control, but also with support and growing confidence. If you were sent home by your mentor, then voted back in and started to feel awful that you might be sending other people home just because people are voting for you because for how you look, it is going to make you think everyone hates you. It is going to impact your self-worth and make you question if you deserve to be there and it is going to make you want to give up. That is a horrible situation to find yourself in, especially if you have talent and an audience out there who really does appreciate your work. As artists, whether we may be songwriters, musicians, writers, filmmakers, painters or sculptors there is always that wrestle with self-doubt and the last thing we need are people convincing us that our harshest critic, ourselves, is right. Unconstructive criticism is just a hateful act and people should really think more before they say things online, if you wouldn’t say it to someone’s face then don’t say it at all. What I have been particularly shocked and even ashamed by is witnessing the amount of projected blame, hatred and just downright nastiness being thrown at this guy. He wouldn’t have made it this far without the talent and that special something about him to back it up, so we should be encouraging him to do better, giving him tips or suggestions on how to overcome the nerves instead of tearing him down. I suspect this is largely a result of the tall poppy syndrome trap that so many in this country fall into. “He’s on X-Factor now, time to take him down a peg or two”. I have never seen a more overt case of cyber bullying on display than this one and I didn’t realise the true extent of the epidemic here in New Zealand until now. From an LGBT community perspective, it is still considered a derogatory insult to be one of us and is being used as a weapon to try and destroy a talented young man pursuing his dreams. I am always supportive of those with the courage to try when so many people fail at that first hurdle in their own lives. My opinion, for what it’s worth, is that although there might be some stronger singers and acts left in the X-Factor NZ competition right now, there are only two true recording artists. “It's easy to attack and destroy an act of creation. It's a lot more difficult to perform one”~ Chuck Palahniuk - Chaz Harris is a Wellington blogger, writer and filmmaker. Chaz Harris - 28th May 2013