THR.com’s live report from the first day of judge tapings for FOX’s “The X Factor” featured some noteworthy negativity from the panel and crowd.
Prior to the auditions, Simon Cowell directed the live audience to be as “badly behaved” as it wanted in response to the singers brought in to perform.
“You can be as badly behaved as you want, actually. The whole reason for doing this is I trust you guys for being able to judge this process. There’s $5 million at stake,” explained Cowell.
The directive apparently went a bit too far, however, as the crowd had to be asked not to boo after a very vocal reaction to an early audition.
That audition, one which featured a 50-year-old divorcee struggle on a number of songs, also inspired negative remarks from the panel. THR says that Antonio “L.A.” Reid, who had received the least buzz of the four judges going into Sunday’s taping, delivered the harshest criticism.
He told the contestant, “When was the last time you performed? Eighteen years ago…Whatever made you stop then, you should’ve stuck with that decision.”
