Contestants Vie For Spot On 'Sohu Website Super Girl Voice' (Photo : Getty Images)
The Chinese reality talent contest “Super Girl 2016” is mired in trouble over the firing of judge Mindy Quah. The Malaysian-Chinese singer appears to have a reputation like “The X Factor” judge Simon Cowell for being brutally frank toward contestants.
China Daily reported that Quah was terminated from the show on April 1 because she told a female contestant who said at her March 20 audition in Nanjing that she might catch a cold, to imply her voice may not be at its best. But Quah told the "Super Girl 2016" contestant, “Then don’t sing, get the f*** off the stage.”
Quah also told the girl, “Don’t make excuses when you step on the stage.”
What happened may look like Quah was channeling Cowell, but the terminated judge belied the version of Hunan Satellite TV, organizer of the show. Hunan released on its own a statement on April 1 in which it apologized to the contestant who was insulted by Quah. As a result of her action, Quah was fired as a judge.
On the same night, Quah also apologized to the contestant in a video statement on her microblog account. But on April 4, she accused Hunan of leaking on purpose the video clip when she insulted the contestant. The former judge said Hunan was finding a way to kick her out of the show because she refused to cooperation.
Quah claimed that the producers ordered her to pass another unqualified contestant who was connected with some top officials of Hunan. Song Tao, the manager of Quah, added that she apologized to the insulted contestant the same day, while Song talked to the TV network not to release the video.
It was not allegedly the first time that Quah refused to cooperate. In another audition, the production wanted the judge to declare one contestant “bad” so another would be promoted, but Quah refused. After that incident, the cursing video was uploaded, said Song who believes the leak was intentional because the clip was from official files, although Hunan said a staff uploaded it by mistake.
Quah is considering filing charges against Hunan TV. She explained, “I don’t like encouraging singers who can’t sing but can find excuses. I’m straightforward and sometimes it’s hurtful but I have never acted against real singes who appear on the show.”
In 2013, Quah made the shift from singer to actress when she produced the movie "School Bus" where she played a music teacher, reported CRIEnglish. The film’s aim was to incite social concern over the safety of primary and middle school students in China who ride buses to school.
