SYCO
Written by James Ward
This morning on Twitter and Facebook, lots of people were very excited about an email posted on a website called JustPaste.it (this email has since been removed from the site). The email was supposedly from an insider at Sony and claimed to expose the corruption behind Britain’s Got Talent.
The email alleged that Ronan Parke, a 12 year old contestant, had been “groomed” for success by Simon Cowell’s production company for at least two years:
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.
The email went on to claim that SYCO paid for Parke to have extensive coaching, not just to improve his voice, but also his “dancing and stage-craft”. He was restyled extensively:
His hairstyle, his clothes, his poise, giving tv interviews, you name it, Ronan was styled within an inch of his life and all on the promise of stardom.
Realising that his “effeminate” character still showed through, despite attempts to present him as a “skater boy”, it was decided instead to exagerate this quality:
Disgustingly, SYCO planned to sexualise him. They were well aware of course, that if they sexualised a young girl to look sexually older than she is, all hell would let loose. But with Ronan, as one executive put it, “no one has ever seen a ‘gay’ kid before, it’ll be a novelty.” As for the pre-teen market, it was accepted they wouldn’t care if Ronan appeared gay or not…most probably don’t know what gay is anyway. And so, with a total gay- sexualisation of Ronan secretly planned, SYCO got to work.
Having invested all this time and money in Parke, obviously, SYCO would be determined to make him win. The email explained:
With Ronan ready to be unveiled, SYCO bosses, under instructions from Simon did something not done in previous series of BGT; the winner of BGT 2011 was decided long before the first auditions took place and that winner HAD to be Ronan Parke.
And so this weekend will see Ronan crowned as winner of BGT 2011.
I know for a fact, that the songs have already been chosen for Ronan’s debut single and album, and that the backing and drum tracks have already been laid down.
Lots of people retweeted the link to the email, outraged that SYCO could be so manipulative.
I wasn’t entirely convinced that the story was genuine. I wondered where it had come from. I googled the link. It seems the first person to post the story on Twitter was someone called @ukLegion:
http://twitter.com/ukLegion/status/76000103860666368
In fact ukLegion had already made the same allegations before the JustPaste.it email had been posted online:
http://twitter.com/ukLegion/status/75726236449652736
ukLegion claims he was able to make the same allegations before the JustPaste.it email was posted online because he first saw it on Facebook and “thought it was interesting”:
http://twitter.com/ukLegion/status/76390430152990720
When asked to post a link to the original Facebook post, ukLegion explains why that is impossible:
http://twitter.com/ukLegion/status/76381685297582080
Asked if he wrote the email himself, he replies:
http://twitter.com/ukLegion/status/76363979894693889
Good god no, better things to do
In the last forty eight hours or so, ukLegion has tweeted eighty five times. Of those eighty five tweets, about three quarters of them have been about Ronan Parke.
Prior to that, ukLegion had tweeted quite extensively about Ronan. For instance, Ronan will grow up to be a “mega-bender”:
http://twitter.com/ukLegion/status/75478454547644416
Ronan’s parents should be shot for allowing him to mince around on TV:
http://twitter.com/ukLegion/status/75488062829899776
His parents are “fucknuts”:
http://twitter.com/ukLegion/status/75498583910121472
His parents are “fucking morons”:
http://twitter.com/ukLegion/status/75491331337748480
He makes jokes about Ronan’s “ring-piece”:
http://twitter.com/ukLegion/status/75530315212394496
He makes jokes about Ronan’s teeth:
http://twitter.com/ukLegion/status/75531893965201408
Ronan is clearly going to be gay:
http://twitter.com/ukLegion/status/75533329155358720
It goes on and on and on.
God no, better things to do
ukLegion, while tweeting the link to this apparent exposé, repeatedly claims to “feel sorry” for “poor Ronan”, yet was more than happy to repeatedly post tasteless comments about his sexuality.
I am no fan of Simon Cowell. I think there is something nasty about the way these programmes are set up at the expense of members of the public, but I don’t believe a twelve-year old boy should be used as a vector through which to attack Cowell. Whatever valid points you may have had are lost when you start talking like that, and these claims are just silly. There are legitimate complaints you can make, don’t go overboard, and don’t bully a child. That makes you a cunt.
ukLegion describes himself as a “coder and hacker”, so, you know, if I suddenly start sending you all weird emails or whatever, it’s probably him.
JAMES WARD: I LIKE BORING THINGS 
Marvellous stuff James.
Amused that uklegion says he is in Anonymous. When I saw you post a link to his account earlier, I thought he seemed like the sort of self regarding prat that join that group to feel ‘dangerous’. I was right.
I can spot an Anonymous member anywhere, ironically.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_%28group%29
What an absolute twat. Oddest of all is his fixation with the sexuality of a 12 year old boy, especially as he seems so homophobic. Whatever issues he has it’s best he’s left to resolve them himself, because we shouldn’t really continue to waste our collective breath talking about him (oops).
Good and diligent work James. Well done.
Oh and yes, nice article, thanks.
Really good work, completely couldn’t decide If I believed this or not…
How very interesting, could it be mere coincidence that @ukLegion seems to be the first to tweet about this email which there is no proof to even being the real deal? If it is true, which I highly doubt, then something terrible is going on. If it is false, well, we may find out on the weekend when the winner of BGT is crowned. This twat who seems to have nothing better to do than make homophobic comments and make up a mad conspiracy.
Wondeful piece by the way. Very insightful and interesting.
Cowell made you write this.
Just because this guy is a twat does not necessarily make the story fake. It may well be, I don’t know. I am more inclined to believe it than not as I have a friend who auditioned and was told how completely false and contrived it was. I have always maintained that these things are planned, scripted and manipulated down to each breath someone takes and that Simon Cowell is the closest thing to Satan an atheist can believe in.
Let’s be clear: are you saying that “ukLegion” is also the author of the JustPaste.it story? It’s just that the story seems reasonably literate, while ukLegion is pretty random with his apostrophes and stuff. But even if they are the same guy (I somehow doubt it’s a woman) the fact that he’s a homophobe, and quite possibly a self-hating homosexual homophobe at that, doesn’t mean the basic story is wrong.
Did you really just trawl through his Tweets to gain “proof”? If so, you’re ignorant/an idiot.
‘We are a group called Anonymous…’
First of, ‘Legion’ is synonymous with ‘Anonymous’. A group of hackers, coders, trolls, etc. They are often one and the same. This guy just represents the UK branch. He’s a troll. That is, someone who gets kicks out of provoking others.
I did it find suspicious that the article referred to “chavs” in a way that felt careless and unprofessional for someone claiming to be an industry insider blowing the whistle.
It’s interesting, actually, because there’s a kid on the current season of “Australia’s Got Talent” about whom the exact same allegations could be made, changing the names to suit (and adding a couple of years to the age). After two appearances, one singing ‘And I am Telling You (I’m Not Going)’ from Dreamgirls, this kid is ALL over the Australian media.
I think the real story is how these shows so love a meme, such as Unattractive-Middle-Aged-Lady-With-Glorious-Voice or Wacky-Deluded-East-Asian-Dude-With-Terrible-Voice and now Stereotypically-“Gay”-Tween-Boy.
Whilst your evidence is strong that this is a fake, the ‘letter’ did seem to display a remarkable level of cogency for someone who is portrayed here as a bit of a nutcase. Whilst it was particularly long, it seemed considered, and not written in haste. I think I’m ultimately yet to be convinced either way.
I highly doubt the article is from an insider at all, probably just somebody trying to kick out at Simon Cowell. I watch the show and think Ronan is the most talented one so far and if I was to chose someone I wanted to win it would be him. However, with this article I fear that people will be hesitant to vote for him- which would be horrible if the article holds no truth. I do think BGT defiantly do some manipulating though, especially after tonight when that girl said she was forced to sing that song.
Becky: If this kid is talented enough and determined to succeed then he’ll become famous even if he doesn’t win BGT. Personally I think we should be asking ourselves whether it’s healthy to expose a 12-year old kid to this kind of pressure and stress.
Superb deployment of the word ‘vector’ :-)
Yeah, like Angus MacRae, i’m not convinced either way.
The letter made a bit too much sense for it be written by a troll. If he’s posted 85 tweets about it when on earth did he have time to document such a well written account of events.
Whether the letter is true or false is irrelevant in my eyes (besides the fact of the obvious ethic issue with grooming such a young boy and making him ‘act gay’), there is definitely some truths to this article. It is blindingly obvious that SyCo has decided who they want to win or at very least who gets through to the final. The finalists after all are the ones who are contracted and go on the tour if i’m not mistaken.
Each ‘semi-final’ you get the oddballs, perhaps mentally ill and eccentrics, in the middle of all that there’s usually 1 or 2 very talented acts and then there’s the amazing/hot/cute/charming (usually) singer or dance group or whatever which gets the standing ovation from the judges which DOES sway public opinion.
You can almost guarantee that is the act that will win the public vote, then there’s the nonsense of the judges picking the 2nd act from the remains of the ‘top three’. This is to make sure the person/people they want to get through, definitely does. If not, why not just put the top two voted acts through? Perhaps it’s to ‘build drama’ but it’s hardly fair is it? Why should someone who potentially was 3rd placed go through to the final over 2nd just because ‘the judges’ choose them to.
Maybe i’m just very cynical of the whole show concept, or perhaps i’m bitter that all year round Simon Cowell is dominating both UK & US television with a genre that does not interest me in the slightest. I do not watch X-Factor, I am not a fan of pop music generally so that just does not appeal. I watch Britain’s Got Talent for the magic acts, (originally) the dance acts (though there’s so many of them now i’m sick of them too), the dancing dogs, unique talents and everything inbetween but not singers.
So yeah, my view is hardly impartial, I just sit patiently waiting for this fad to finally, and not a moment too soon, die.
If this person identifies as Anonymous there is a good chance this whole this may have been done purely “for the lolz” as the saying goes.
One thing in the original article stood out to me. It had a quote about people basically signing over their lives to SyCo without knowing what they were getting themselves into. I can’t remember the exact wording but I know it said “turkey shoot” somewhere in it. So if this person is trying to retain anonymity, why would they quote something that a person has said directly to them? That pretty much gives away your identity to that person straight away.
So at first I thought maybe it was one of the other acts trying to sabotage the person they think has the best chance of winning, but then I got to the end. When I read that it was actually “signed” Anon I got the impression it was someone much younger than I had thought at first. A whistleblower wouldn’t sign anything, they would simply conclude and leave it at that. A younger person trying make an official sounding document might sign it Anon. Even the fact that Anonymous is abbreviated suggests to me that it is a young person (or one without a lot of formal letter writing experience) who has put this together.
Well done, nice article.
Couple of points though:
(1) I’m surprised how often people use the c-word online, as you have done quite casually in this article.
(2) Though I agree this Legion chap appears to have been the first to tweet the “email”, be careful about this making this claim. Any user who has a protected account would not show up in your search.
Now that they’ve pulled this young kid to pieces, wonder what they’ll do to the young Australian 14 yr old boy who has a fabulous voice??
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This article, stating clear connection between the Gunn and Parke families was up for a few hours before being deleted and replaced with the one now currently online where all is the same except the reference to any connection between the 2 families: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:8rbBqKCwIWgJ:www.edp24.co.uk/news/poringland_s_ronan_parke_impresses_judges_on_britain_s_got_talent_1_880559
“The Parkes are close friends of the Gunn family, and Norwich City legend Bryan Gunn said yesterday the families were planning to get together to watch the show last night.
He said: “A lot of the speculation in the press has been saying that the winner could come from one of the younger entries. Of course we all think it will be Ronan.
“He is always singing around the house at home and when the family go round to friends for lunch Ronan always gives us a medley of his favourite songs.”
The former goalkeeper’s daughter Melissa helped Ronan to put together his application for Britain’s Got Talent, and Ronan’s older brother Declan is friends with Mr Gunn’s son Angus.”
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/norfolk_schoolboy_now_favourite_to_win_tv_talent_show_1_880834
curiouser and curiouser
@Scott that’s just sick, what are you doing I cannot describe how disgusting that is.
what?
The full article and my reaction is on my link.
I personally worked as part of the record label management for a young singing lad that was signed by EMI back in 2002. I know the grooming and pressures they put kids under. There’s a lot of money involved, what do you expect?
It doesn’t sound to me as if ukLegion has the literary intelligence to put a composed article like that together. So I think you’re barking up the wrong tree here.
I have missed all of this so trying to catch up. I won’t watch BGT as I think it only serves to demonstrate to the rest of the world that Britain is actually pretty bereft of talent.
It’s another media vehicle used to further the career and bank balance of Simin Cowell. He does have an eye for talent… But there are a ridiculous number of truly talented people in this country that work hard – singing in clubs, busking and so on who don’t get though these shows.
Show business is fickle. Everyone is after their 15 mins of fame – and most of the winners only get that – 15 minutes before SyCo moves on… The ones that have stayed around have done through bloody hard work and daring to not compromise their artistic integrity.
If the email is a hoax then it is indeed very twisted to drag a 12 year old boy and his family through this sticky mud. Mud sticks and if it’s fake this will alway be attached to the poor boy.
If the email is true then we have discovered that the talent show system is corrupt… (which we cynical British kind of knew anyway…) and we have also discovered the lengths people will go to for 15 minutes of fame… Or noteriety…
In fact I think that’s the only outcome of this…
That and a 12 year old boy who has become, whichever way you look at it, a manipulated puppet in someone’s sick little game.
I’m also a bit annoyed at this statement by a previous poster – “Each ‘semi-final’ you get the oddballs, perhaps mentally ill and eccentrics,”
Unless you know what the definition of ‘mentally ill’ actually is don’t flash it around with the same abandon as the way people do ‘chav’. Your comment is offensive and unfounded…
“Unless you know what the definition of ‘mentally ill’ actually is don’t flash it around with the same abandon as the way people do ‘chav’. Your comment is offensive and unfounded…”
I understand the definition and I didn’t once mention a ‘chav’. My point was that this show seems to take advantage of the oddballs, the eccentrics and the perhaps mentally ill (like the original article said as well) to have a cheap laugh and act as filler all the while these people think they have a great chance because that’s how they’ve been built up backstage. As soon as their on stage everything is stripped away and they are ridiculed for the whole nation to see. It’s disgusting.
Here’s why I think James is right and the “Syco” post originated from the ukLegion account.
1. Shortly after James’s posted this on his blog, the Twitter account (that had been active since last year) was deleted. That’s pretty damning.
2. The whole “I found it on a super-secret Facebook group for Anonymous hackers” thing. This seems unlikely. Apart from anything else, I doubt Anonymous go about their business on Facebook. I don’t think this guy has any more connection with Anonymous than he does with Sony. True, the email could have been circulated on closed forums before ukLegion posted it on Twitter, but I doubt it.
3. The Norwich City reference. Norwich City was one of the preoccupations of the ukLegion account (along with reality TV, bipolar disorder, cannabis, and anti-Semitic remarks). It seems unlikely he’d stumble across something so explosive that combines two of his fixations.
4. The vindictive, homophobic tone of the tweets from the ukLegion account chime perfectly with the “Syco email”, albeit less subtle. When I first read it the Syco post I thought, regardless of whether it was true or not, it read like the author had an axe to grind about this particular kid, and that there was a slightly homophobic feel to it (“total gay-sexualization”, “totally gay him up”, “he’s a bit… different”).
5. Some people are saying the letter was too well-written/clever to have come from the ukLegion guy. Actually, it isn’t particularly well-written, particularly considering the author would presumably have spent some time writing it. Even taken at face value, it isn’t very convincingly argued (it doesn’t explain exactly what the mysterious process of “gaying up” entails, for instance), and it has weird unnecessary flourishes like the thriller-type title and the “Anonymous” sign-off (as others have pointed out).
And another thing… I assume ukLegion deleted their Twitter account because Sony had contacted the police and this blog idenitified them as the most likely source. Their Twitpic feed (currently still online) contains photos of someone they claim is their son, and names him. Obviously, it seems unlikely a genius hacker would make themselves so easy to identify, but you never know.
It wouldn’t surprise me if this story was fabricated by SYCO themselves!
The reason I say this is, it’s pretty well known that BGT and X Factor approach acts to audition on the pretext that they will be fast-tracked through the competition. I know two acts (one is a band, the other a cabaret act) who have been approached several times by production staff from those shows.
It is possible that the press were about to run a story on this (rather scandalous) practice, and SYCO decided to bury it with an even more outrageous, almost unbelievable story, which just happens to touch on the fact that they DO approach people to be on the shows.
And it has the happy (for SYCO) effect of free publicity and more members of the public ringing to vote (either voting for Ronan to show their support for him, or for a rival to “piss off Cowell”).
UKLegion was not the first to post this it has been floating around facebook since april29 just waiting for someone to make it go viral. like the way a little kid claiming to be in anonymous is trying to take all the credit he cant even hide himself doubt anonymous would have anything to do with him and anyway you all just slaves for you’re pc with anonymous you nothing kid grow up. as for the email i have checked its authenticity and it all seems genuine to me, i have it in a pdf format from the original article. as the original on pastebin soon went missing when Simon heard about it. must of been it trending world wide on Twitter. hehe
Good investigation, James. Perhaps you could turn this to the subject of matters such as how many pens Argos use in a year.
If the email is true then the scandal must surely be that Ronan is being manipulated. I don’t give much of a stuff for the telephone-voting audience, it’s just entertainment after all.
So either the campaigner is using Ronan or Syco is. Both options equally vile.
Do you have any spare Olympic tickets or what?
Honestly, I’d say ukLegion probably did write that article. If he’s a decent troll (and my guess is he’s at least semi-decent), he’d know how to act like he can’t spell. luk its easy lol. And, you can see that his grammar and spelling are a lot better when he’s linking to the story than when he’s ranting.
“UKLegion was not the first to post this it has been floating around facebook since april29 just waiting for someone to make it go viral.”
No. No, it hasn’t. It talks about the semi-finals in past tense. Nice try, though.
BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT and the RONAN PARKE CONNECTION
Click to access c8g-justpasteit.pdf
Judge for yourself and if anyone ask then ask to see the phone votes and the income coming from those phone votes tally up with the company accounts etc…
http://www.portakalenglish.com