Dear Editor,
I am very, very annoyed at the behaviour of GT&T English Segment Judge Gordon Moseley towards participant Nia Allen at Monday night’s show at the National Cultural Centre. His position is that Nia is too small to be in the competition and her parents and relatives were irresponsible to have her there. I have never heard more garbage anywhere. Not forgetting the disrespect to Nia’s relatives, let us be clear on one thing: Ms Allen met the competition’s age requirement, therefore she has every right to be there. It is only fair then for her to be judged solely on her performance. For a judge to contend that she shouldn’t be there because she is a child is discriminatory and totally out of place.
Mr Moseley kept saying throughout the competition that he cannot sing and that he doesn’t know much about singing. He could not have been more truthful. Anyone with little knowledge of singing would have recognized that on Monday night there was definitely something wrong with the coordination between the music and the singers; most of the contestants were affected.
After her performance when asked about how she felt, Nia said “very nervous.“ Mr Moseley interpreted this to mean she was experiencing some kind of mental strain and her parents were subjecting her this.
That is nonsense. Even if Nia were forty-five years old she could still have been nervous – let him ask the other contestants. What Nia’s display of nerves shows is that at this tender age she has such a competitive spirit and is very passionate about what she does. After far bigger competitions in the USA young people are encouraged to come forward. If Scottie at 16 or 17 years old could have won American Idol what is wrong with 10-year-old Nia participating in the GT&T Jingle competition?
Mr Moseley’s behaviour on Monday night could have been avoided if he had taken advice. In an earlier round he had made similarly offensive comments about this same contestant and I had called him and spoken to him about it, yet he did it again.
Even if Nia is knocked out at this stage she is already a star.
Yours faithfully,
Trevor Charles
