Dominic Harvey? You can't be serious!

Flipping through one of the Sunday newspapers I came across a mention that The Edge‘s Dom Harvey had supposedly made it past a couple of auditions to be a judge on The X Factor NZ.  My immediate response was “You can’t be serious?!“

As much as I like Dom and think he is excellent at his day job, he is a joker and serious just isn’t what he does.  His personal brand, which has been developed over decades, is jovial, fun and often times, rude.  When you compare those attributes with The X Factor, they are poles apart.

Then there is the element of exclusion.  The moment a Mediaworks radio personality takes to the screen, no other radio station will touch them which will put any chance of radio success for any of the contestants as jeopardy.  Rather than doing interviews everywhere, music stations will decline out of fear of promoting the competition.  This then impacts on the shows ability to deliver a much needed star winner, and particularly, any hope of subsequent seasons.

Who ever lands the judging role needs to be able to be taken seriously and I fear that appointing someone who typically is anything but would only reinforce the already dire belief that New Zealand doesn’t take talent shows seriously or believe we could produce a serious winner.

I would have serious reservations about the show if such an appointment was made.  Besides, it would just be too confusing having two Dom’s.

About the author

Regan is one of the co-founders of Throng Media.
He's currently watching Survivor, Homeland, House, Glee and can't wait for the return of Game of Thrones.
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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=684221341 Trevor Ashman

    I don’t even know who he is……sounds like TV3 is making a BIG mistake if it’s true :(

    • Mr X

      I work at TV3 and I’ve never heard of the guy.

  • Reece

    It will be a pretty crap choice if he does get through and you are right about some publicity for the show instantly being cut off primarily by the Radio Network. Although Mediaworks would be preferential to its own stations anyway as It can simply be done by memo through management.

    This isn’t like NZ idol or NZGT where judges are simply there for comment. The X Factor has mentors/judges that determine what their contestants do each week. The mentors shouldn’t be radio announcers who play predetermined playlists. The X factor Australia made that mistake with having Kyle Sandilands for that one season.

    • Harrison

      The Radio Network, as in Newstalk ZB etc?

      • Reece

        Yeah, I cant imagine ZM or classic hits giving much attention to show if this is the case.

        • http://www.cre8d-design.com/ Rachel Cunliffe

          The same sort of thing happened when Stables got involved with NZ Idol (but in reverse since he was on ZM).

  • http://www.facebook.com/christine.pover Christine Pover

    The X-Factor judges are not only judges but also mentors. I don’t think a radio DJ is right as a mentor. They need record producers or successful music artists. I hope this doesn’t turn in to another tragic NZ show – NZ’s Got Talent is bad enough! We need decent judges.

  • Mellion

    What the heck?! Playing songs is all it takes to guide a young musician nowadays? Shit, I play songs all the time maybe I should be a judge?

    Anybody but Dom, please. Hell, i’d even take the crap gay guy from season 1 of NZ Idol. Anybody. Please.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=684221341 Trevor Ashman

    If TV3 has all 4 judges from NZ it’s going to turn X Factor into a joke …we need judges from overseas and they need to be BIG stars :)

    • Reece

      Agreed, there needs to be at least 2 international mentors. Having 4 NZ ones would be pitiful although money may be an issue be luring them here.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=684221341 Trevor Ashman

        You are probably right about the money factor but still we have to have the best people to be the judges, otherwise it’s not worth doing :)

  • David

    I thought the same thing! What a joke! I also read that they were considering Paul Henry. How could he mentor them?? He has nothing to do with music. They need 4 musicians, or at least people with a background in music.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=684221341 Trevor Ashman

      I don’t think I would watch it if Paul Henry was a judge…I don’t like him :(

  • Carol56

    They may as well get Sally Ridge and Nicky Watson as judges too

    • http://www.cre8d-design.com/ Rachel Cunliffe

      Scary thought!!

    • bill_t

      and Aja Rock for good measure!

  • http://twitter.com/robyngallagher Robyn Gallagher

    This sounds a similar casting to radio host Kyle Sandilands being one of the judges on Australian X Factor. But he isn’t with the show anymore – the current Aussie judging panel is 100% music biz, as are the US and UK X Factor judging line-ups. TV3 could only really get away with having one marginal judge like this. Any more and it’s going to break the whole concept of mentoring – the very concept that X Factor is based on.