Things got tense on Tuesday night’s episode of Australian Idol when an audience member heckled judge Kyle Sandilands.
Sandilands was in the middle of delivering a not-so-positive assessment of contestant Isaac’s performance when aaudience member yelled out, “Kyle, you suck!”
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Audience member heckles Australian Idol judge.
Watch Australian Idol on Channel 7 and stream it for free on 7plus >>
Isaac, a Woolworths trolley pusher from Ulladulla in NSW, let his nerves get the better of him, forgetting large swathes of the lyrics to the song he was performing — Lukas Graham’s 7 Years.
But when he did remember the lyrics, he sounded fantastic.
As he performed, Sandilands was visibly frustrated, rolling his eyes and leaning back in his chair in exasperation.
And when Isaac was done, Sandilands let rip, chastising him for not being able to remember the lyrics.
“How’d it feel singing the song with half the words missing?” he said.
“Yeah … all the stress and the nerves got to me,” Isaac said.
“Do you not know the song, or was it just overwhelming?” Sandilands shot back.
“No, I know the song, but … it was just the nerves,” Isaac repeated.
But Sandilands wasn’t having any of it.
“Right, so you just lost your place,” he said, before Marcia Hines interjected.
“You gotta remember what Isaac does for a living, he works for Woolworths, and he pushes trolleys,” she said.
“He might be back there tomorrow!” Sandilands quipped, to which sections of the audience groaned.
“Well, I hope not, but (this is) a big stage, man,” Hines continued.
“I don’t know that you’ve had the chance to learn what performance is OK?
“But your voice is something else.”
‘You suck’
Sandilands asked Isaac if he felt he deserved to be there, to which he replied with an emphatic, “I do — 100 per cent”.
“Good,” Sandilands answered, “because so do we, but you gotta pull this together, bro.”
“Every time we’ve seen you lately, there’s been a big sinkhole in your performance.”
At this point, someone in the audience yelled out, “Kyle, you suck!” prompting the judge to swing around in his chair, visibly angry.
“Uh oh!” Hines exclaimed as all eyes focused on Sandilands’ heckler, who sported a sheepish grin.
“What, you think you know better?” Sandilands asked the heckler.
“Come down here, clown!
“Come down here and say what you think is great?
“No? Then shut your pie-hole!”
An awkward silence ensued, before Sandilands turned around and got back to the matter at hand — dispensing advice to Isaac.
“Now Isaac, it matters what I say, it wasn’t good enough, and you know it,” he barked, with Isaac nodding in agreement.
“Get your words together. Learn, learn, learn, or just don’t do it.”
But the drama wasn’t over there.
Hines and Amy Shark seemed to be wavering as to whether Isaac should go straight through to the Top 21 or be “put on notice”.
Every singer put “on notice” is at risk of leaving the competition, because at the end of the solo performances, the weakest three singers will be told to pack their bags and go home.
For Sandilands, it wasn’t even a question — despite having a great voice, he had fluffed the lyrics, and should be put on notice.
“You’re a real diamond in the rough, and you’ve had a few fumbles, but there’s still something so unique about you man, and when you hit it, your voice is just mesmerising,” Shark said.
“We have to deliberate, we’ll talk to you in a sec,” Hines added.
But Sandilands was convinced there was no debate — Isaac should be put “on notice”.
“What, he lost half the words, and you’re gonna put him straight through?” Sandilands said, sounding incredulous.
“We can’t have people who did a pretty good job being put on notice … and Isaac knows no words gets to go through because he’s got a cute hat, and he works at Woolies?
“That’s bulls***.
“This isn’t the end of the road, he just has to be put on notice for not doing the job.”
While the audience didn’t like it, Hines eventually came around to Sandilands’ argument.
“Isaac, I just believe that given the chance, you’ll do better,” Hines assured him, before breaking it to him gently that he would have to be put on notice.
“It might mess with your head a bit, but it’s gonna mess with you in the best way, so it becomes constructive not destructive.
“OK?
“You’re on notice — see you later.”
Australian Idol continues Wednesday 7.30pm on Channel 7 and 7plus.
