Is Simon Cowell being dead straight with us?

Ronan Parke - Is he the eventual winner?

I like Britain's Got Talent. I think it is generally an entertaining show. The three judges, David Haselhoff, Amanda Holden and Michael McIntyre all seem fairly relaxed and fair with the contestants. But they are hired hands for the night. The semi-finals saw Simon Cowell return. The general opinion in our household is that he is really only hoping for a signing that will make him more money. When the viewing public gives him a whammy he gets irked. He was distinctly rude about Gay and Alan. Almost verging on the cruel, as he held back from mocking Alan. That remembering the order of the bells alone was some feat indeed was missed on Mr. Cowell. And he had one contestant in tears for saying her dress looked silly. Rather nasty, I thought.

Tonight he announced that he was outraged to hear that some blogger has been putting it about that the show is fixed. Well, it may not be fixed but it has a distinct whiff of bamboo backing. The alleged fixing is about whether he wants Ronan Parke, a 12-year old warbler to win and that he is steering the show in that direction. I wouldn't know. But Simon is outraged. He says he never met the boy before. And Ronan says he never met Simon before. And no recording contract has been signed.

But that apparently is not the allegation. The point is that Ronan Parke appeared before the BGT team in 2009 apparently.

From Anorak News -

"Scouts working for SYCO first saw Ronan Parke (the 12 year old singer) some two years ago when he was just 10 and was singing at a birthday party for former Norwich City goal-keeper, Bryan Gunn. Following that, Ronan was privately auditioned by SYCO scouts on two more occasions and, as is usual practice on BGT, he was “invited” to audition for the show as a “preferred” contestant. At the same time, Ronan and his parents were “required” to enter into a contract with SYCO…

As is common for “invited” contestants that SYCO likes and have already signed, Ronan and his parents were provided with a car to drive them to the audition in London. These “invited” contestants don’t have to queue up with everyone else, they don’t go through the preliminary auditions with producers, but perform straight to Simon and the judging panel at a pre- arranged time-slot. And so it was for Ronan back in 2009 when he was just 10."

Well, either that is true or it is not. A contract to appear is not the same as a singing contract. Appearing before Simon Cowell on video is not the same as in person. This is all a bit like Humpty Dumpty sitting on his wall.

On Britain's Got Talent on Friday evening, Simon Cowell said, "There has been an allegation made in the papers - not in the papers actually, on the internet by somebody - that Ronan Parke had a previous recording contract with my record label, that I'd met him beforehand, both of which are complete and utter lies.

"The first time I met Ronan was the first time he appeared on this show; he entered the show of his own accord. He's 12 years old. This is a deliberate smear campaign."

Cowell talks of a "recording contract" but that does not seem to be the allegation. It is all about being contracted to Syco, allegedly, of course! Sooner or later the truth will out. I understand the police are a bit miffed at dealing with Cowell's problems. They think they should be after real criminals.

Posted in: Britain's Got Talent,Ronan Parke,Simon Cowell