X Factor NZ judge Stan Walker has denied accusations that the television show is "rigged".
A video uploaded to YouTube earlier this week raised questions about the producer's role in the show.
"The judges don't really have a choice in whether people get through or not," says Brad Fisher in the video.
"There is someone called the producer telling them if someone gets through or if someone doesn't get through, and that producer is seated just to the right of them in the front row."
Fisher had attended a live audition show in Auckland, and says he noticed a producer giving hand signals to the judges that "reliably" determined if a contestant would be given a "yes" or "no".
However talking to 3 News, Walker denied the claims.
"We are the judges, we determine if we're going to let them through or not. That's on us."
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Walker, who is returning for his second season as a judge, says without the producers "we have no show".
"What the producers need to do is give us questions to ask them so that they can give us something so we can know more about them, so the people at home can know more about them," he says.
"It's a bit stupid if you have a show where we just guess what they've been through. Basically they've told the producers and people behind us about their story."
Fisher also advised people not to enter competitions like X Factor if they want to showcase their vocal abilities.
"This sort of stuff is rigged," he says. "Only go if you have a good sob story because in reality that's what's going to get you through."
Walker says people should not expect to make it through the competition "on the basis of a good voice".
"When the show finishes you can't just go off a voice, you need to communicate to your fans, you need to be able to do press conferences, interviews, shows, and you can't just go on bland," he says.
"When the producers are auditioning people, they find people who have personalities, who have stories that will go with their voice."
The second season of X Factor NZ will screen next year.
3 News
source: newshub archive
