What next for Louis Walsh, the X Factor's cultural ambassador?

What do Lenny Henry and X Factor contestant Paije Richardson have in common?

It's obvious right?

They're both singers of course... except for Lenny Henry.

X Factor judge Louis Walsh baffled ITV viewers last night by likening contestant Paije Richardson to "a little Lenny Henry", despite there being no similarities between the two that could be deemed in any way relevant to an assessment of Paije as a singer (to date he's tried very little comedy on the judges - with the notable exception of this jacket).

Walsh then went on to explain it's because he thinks both men are "fun" (within their entirely different fields of the entertainment industry).

Well I'm convinced.  

I now hope Walsh embarks on a mission to prove this gaffe was simply down to nothing more than an appalling grasp of what people are famous for and how to use words to draw a meaningful comparison.

Cue a shoehorned reference this evening to Katie reminding him of "a young Albert Einstein", perhaps?

Comments

[CJ]

Well, there's the fact they look quite similar? You are allowed to say that about black people.

[Ian]

Seriously CJ!? (They all look the same to you, right?) Yes, both men are black but that's not even the issue.

Asked what he thought, when asked to judge Paije on his SINGING, he offered up the thought that Paije looks like "a little Lenny Henry".

Lenny Henry is not a singer and therefore is not relevant in any way to what Paije wanted to be judged on.

For fuck's sake! It would be no different to saying "he looks like the little fella on my Robinson's jam jars when I was a kid"!

Reference to his appearance - or any similarlity to Lenny Henry - has nothing to do with his singing and everything to do with people opting to judge him on his being black and a little chubby. Which, even if it is true is totally irrelevant and suggests some people haven't moved beyond judging black people first on their physical appearance - or at least finding it impossible to distance that appearance from their judgement upon them.

[Ruby]

Yeah, you're allowed to say that about black people - and white people, and Asian people, blah blah blah... if they ACTUALLY LOOK SIMILAR. I mean, Katie *looks* like Gwen Stefani but is she compared to her, or any other white singer, week after week? No.

So why is it OK to compare Paije to someone he bears no physical (bar the complexion), facial or stylistic/artistic resemblance to? Why can't he be judged as a talent in his own right? (See also: Rebecca being called the new Sade/Leona because she's mixed-race and can sing an insomniac into a coma.)

CJ - book yourself a trip to Specsavers. Stevie Wonder can see these two people look nothing alike.

[Warren Richard]

Poor Paije. Jordan said he 'looks like older version of my son gorgeous harvey'. :-(

[Paul]

People say my baby daughter is the spitting image of me. I can't see the similarity myself, but I don't scream and shout "Is it because we're both WHITE??" and complain that they're being racist.

[Ian]

There are some idiots discussing this issue!

Paul, maybe you do look like your daughter. So what?

That would have nothing to do with how good you are at your job. And nor should it.

Paije was looking for specific feedback on whether he can SING or not (something each artist in turn is given on the X Factor after they perform). At that point Louis Walsh basically said "I like him, because he reminds me of another chubby black man who has nothing to do with the music industry".

If that's not racist, then it most certainly is condescending, patronising and offensive, as the reason for Walsh's comment is the colour of Paije's skin and the cultural references it therefore entitles him to in Walsh's mind.

Perhaps you don't get offended because your similarity to your daughter - or the physical traits upon which those comparisons are made - aren't still stigmatised by idiots, or given undue prominence in how people are judged.

Nobody has commented on the physical appearance of the white contestants, beyond body language, eye contact etc. Why are black people fair game to be compared to people who aren't even relevant to the talent they want to be judged on, simply because they share a skin colour?

[marlon]

So Louis made a daft remark. Dear god, it's not important.

[Louise]

Ruby, good point but at least Gwen Stefani is a singer! If Louis Walsh had picked Luther Vandross or Lionel Richie this wouldn't have been such an issue.

But as it is, he picked somebody who isn't even a singer! That's something you'd have thought important when likening somebody in a singing contest to somebody else.

He picked somebody entirely arbitrary and unrelated where the similarity appears to be the colour of their skin.

[Tom A]

I can only presume Ian doesn't watch X-Factor. Comments made by the judges often contain critiques of a contestant's dress sense, hair style or image. Also, Louis didn't see Paije looked like Lenny Henry. He said, if I remember rightly, he "reminded" him of Lenny Henry. Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty sure it was a daft racist comment, but let's get the facts right.

Also, Ruby, this is the first and only time Paije has been compared to Lenny Henry, and will probably be the last. It has not been "week after week"