Idols: A whiter shade of pale

2003-07-29 21:23

Yvonne Beyers

Cape Town - Eyebrows were raised this week because the first four contestants who made it to the finals of the Idols singing competition were all white.

They are Karen Ferreira, 18, Jacques Terre'Blanche, 20, Petro de Villiers, 20 and Thelma Jansen, 19.

The public have the opportunity to choose another six finalists, after which judges will single out two more contestants to progress to the last round of the competition.

M-Net director Ayanda Tshabalala said on Tuesday "some members of the public regarded the competition as a race issue".

Diversity expert Christa van Louw said the producers should "reflect critically on voting procedures" to ensure the finalists were representative of the country's population.

"South Africans are still inclined to make value judgements about what's right or wrong according to colour. Many people still look at reality through a coloured lens and it can happen that white people only vote for white contestants.

"Because of uneven economic power relations and the fact that you can vote for your favourite contestant as often as you want, some groups are more represented than others.

"Members of some communities can't afford to phone or don't have access to the internet and are therefore unable to vote for their favourite singers."

Tshabalala said it was too early to speculate whether the finalists would be predominantly white. "Last year the finalists covered the entire colour spectrum and there was an almost 50/50 black and white ratio. It will probably be the same this year.

He said it was impossible to differentiate between votes made by white, coloured and black viewers.

"We try to make voting procedures and the series as accessible as possible. But if it appears that the voting system we're using doesn't work we might seek alternatives in the future."

Series executive producer Herman Binge was unavailable for comment.

- Die Burger