Teresa Carpio temporarily leaves "The Voice 2"

As a judge in TVB’s weekly singing competition "The Voice: Season 2", Teresa Carpio has seemingly been on opposing sides from main judge Elisa Chan and the ‘fireworks’ between the 2 ladies seemed to escalate recently. Yesterday, there were reports that Teresa will be leaving "The Voice 2" and her judging spot will be replaced by Pal Sinn and Hanjin Tan.

Teresa accepted an interview with a radio station yesterday in which she clarified the situation. She says her ‘harshness’ is due to telling the truth and has nothing to do with any bitterness against Elisa. She also said that both she and Elisa are longtime friends and already in their mid-fifties, so they would not be mad at each other over exaggerated media reports. Teresa indicated that she is temporarily leaving "The Voice 2" because of some pre-arranged work that she has to return to Canada to do. After she returns to Hong Kong in July, she will be able to resume her judging responsibilities with "The Voice 2"

As for the reports of her being ‘most hated’ on the show due to her harsh remarks? Teresa responded that if this causes people to pay more attention to music and treat it seriously, then it is worth it. She says that when she teaches her own students, she is even more harsh because she believes that ‘a strict teacher produces quality students’ and helps them improve – her intention is not to humiliate others.

Teresa’s harsh comments toward 12-year old contestant Hardy Lam (who sang Jacky Cheung’s "Born to be Wild" last week and was eliminated) brought her some criticism – during the show, she actually reprimanded the boy’s parents as well, though her comments were edited out by TVB when the show actually aired. Teresa pointed out that in this situation [Hardy choosing the wrong song], both his parents as well as TVB need to take responsibility, as they should have questioned whether the song was appropriate for a 12 year old kid to sing. TVB’s explanation is that the contestants have the right to choose whatever songs they want to sing and they (TVB) cannot request for the contestants to change their songs. Teresa said that at one point, she had suggested that Hardy stop performing because she did not want him to embarrass himself in front of everyone: “Nowadays, a lot of people are just looking to stand out and make a name for themselves regardless of whether it is embarrassing or not. Whether they are able to sing well or not is of no concern to them.”

As for her ‘bickering’ with fellow judge Elisa Chan on the show, Teresa says that as judges, it is actually a good thing to share each other’s opinions, even if the opinions are different. This makes the judging more well-rounded, since Elisa Chan’s focus when judging is on singing skill whereas Teresa’s focus is on emotional expression of the song.

"The Voice 2" host Sammy Leung was surprised to hear that Teresa was leaving and that the episode they recorded a couple days ago would be her last. He says that Teresa’s participation as a judge has made the show a lot more interesting – especially her ‘chemistry’ with Elisa Chan. Sammy himself was once reprimanded by Teresa on the show [he was told not to laugh during a particular segment] and admits that he is a bit afraid of her. Sammy also revealed that in the last episode that Teresa recorded, her ‘bickering’ with Elisa will be even more heated. Asked if there will be ‘fireworks’ between the two, Sammy laughed and said that there were only ‘sparks’.

Source: Ming Pao, Oriental Daily
Translation: llwy12 @ AsianFanatics