Tarisai’s Tantrums End Her Idol Run

by lkatulka on October 30th, 2007

Image details: Awards Room At The Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards 2007 served by picapp.com

After a tumultuous week, Tarisai Vushe is the latest contestant to leave Australian Idol.

This week Tarisai hit back at accusations from public that she was “fake.” Following another technically superb but unemotional performance, Mark and Dicko agreed that she wasn’t showing her true self.

A visibly rattled Tarisai continued the confrontation after the show by swearing at Mark, slamming a door in Dicko’s face, and telling the media the pair had sabotaged her chances in the competition.

But I can’t help thinking the only person who sabotaged Tarisai was Tarisai. For every person that appreciates what you do, there’ll be others who don’t. Part of being a star is dealing with this negativity in a constructive way rather than throwing a tantrum.

After the judges said their goodbyes and wished her luck, Tarisai replied, “Thanks, even though I don’t mean it.”

I think Tarisai needs a serious attitude readjustment if she’s going to get anywhere in this business.

Natalie Gauci and Marty Simpson joined Tarisai in the bottom three. Natalie was a big surprise considering her touchdown-worthy performance, but I guess someone has to be there.

Next week we can look forward to big band night, which is always one of my favourites. While Carl’s a natural here, it’s going to take the remaining contestants out of their comfort zones. Expect some real surprises!

Tags: Australian-Idol, Carl-Riseley, Dicko, Mark-Holden, Marty-Simpson, Natalie-Gauci, Tarisai-fake, Tarisai-Vushe

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Adrian
Nov 3, 2007 at 9:16 am

Hi there. I did a web search for Tarisai again and came up with your blog. I love Tarisai, but sadly I missed Monday night’s eviction performance. I am still trying to piece together what happened. I am actually incredibly shocked that she was voted off, as she got a massive wealth of extra attention because of the way that the judges treated her on Sunday. Some of the attention was negative, but just as much was positive. I can’t believe that that didn’t translate as votes. By my reckoning she should have got the most votes, and Carl should have been knocked out. But Carl wasn’t even in the bottom 3! What is going on?

I am more than a little suspicious about their “voting system” and suggest that when you vote by SMS in many cases it doesn’t count.

As for Tarisai sabotaging Tarisai, I think that anyone who was treated like that would have reacted like that. She was between a rock and a hard place, nowhere to go, no matter what she did she was going to get bashed. Say nothing and she’s a faker, react and she’s a nasty person. Indeed, some people insisted that her reaction was also fake! It was really unfair I think, and whilst I don’t doubt that that didn’t lead to the Australian public voting her out (because people are voted in, not voted out, it actually helped her votes) it did nonetheless harm her as a person and harmed how she is viewed.

But as you say, real stars can turn this kind of thing all around. You can’t always do it on the night, but you can fight back later on.

George Michael was bashed because of his criticism of Sony, and then later when he was arrested for lewd conduct. In both cases he responded with songs and was praised for it.

Eminem has been bashed for many, many things and has responded with songs.

We will have to see if Tarisai has the guts to do it, and whether she has the technique to do it well.
Lauren
Nov 4, 2007 at 9:39 pm

Thanks for some really interesting comments Adrian. I agree that it must be very hard to know how to react in Tarisai’s situation. But I really think the situation escalated out of control because she didn’t know how to handle criticism.

You may disagree with me, but I don’t think the fake comments were about her personality - at least at first. The judges, at least at first, were simply saying that they didn’t feel she was connecting to the lyrics in any genuine way. I agree with them wholeheartedly. She’s clearly a very good singer, but if she could apply what the judges said she would have been a much better singer. The situation only flared up when she seemed unable to take these comments on board, as other contestants had done.

So far as Monday night’s eviction show, they played footage of Tarisai exploding offstage at Mark. Her tirade was littered with expletives, and I believe may have turned a lot of people off her. Then again, we don’t vote people out, we vote them in, so who knows?

As for the authenticity of the voting, I’m sure these things have to be audited and all above board. Channel Ten would face huge legal repercussions if they didn’t run things completely ethically.