Rosita Vai too big to be Idol?

Sir Howard Morrison has said that Rosita Vai is too overweight to have a career in music. Picture / Herald file

Sir Howard Morrison has launched an extraordinary attack on NZ Idol finalist Rosita Vai - claiming she is too fat to have a career in music.

Vai lines up tonight against Masterton's Nik Carlson for the Idol title - and a lucrative recording contract with SonyBMG - with the winner announced tomorrow.

The buildup to the TV2 showcase was overshadowed yesterday by Sir Howard's scathing remarks about Vai's weight. He claimed regardless of the outcome of the competition, Vai could never be considered for Idol status because of her weight.

It was just a fact of life that big people were not idolised in the entertainment industry, he said.

"I'm not being cruel," he said. "She has already lost weight throughout the show and you can see that. She has gone from waddling on to the stage when she first started to being more in control of her performance, but she is still too big."

Sir Howard said image was important in entertainment and it was wrong for Vai to proclaim beef and taro as her favourite foods when obesity was at epidemic levels among Polynesians.

"She doesn't have the right image at the moment but if she is a NZ Idol, she could be in a position to advocate for all of us brown people who eat too much, accelerating health issues such as diabetes."

Sir Howard also claimed Vai was a "quite average" singer and New Zealanders had been taken in by her because of the hype surrounding the show. He said he believed there were better singers who were out of work.

Sir Howard's remarks have angered Idol judge Paul Ellis, who described them as "pretty shocking".

He said Sir Howard ought to apologise to Vai for the insensitive comments - promising to "make him" if he didn't.

"What would he say about Aretha Franklin and Alison Moyet? "They have had a lot more success than he [Sir Howard] ever had," Ellis said.

"She [Vai] is a great new talent. I think we have a new Polynesian diva. Fortunately Sir Howard isn't the judge, the New Zealand public are, and they love her."

Fellow Idol judge Frankie Stevens also disagreed with Sir Howard.

"There are a lot of weight-challenged people who have sung brilliantly throughout the years - including famous opera and pop stars," he said.

However, Sir Howard has won a degree of sympathy.

Kiwi entertainer and actor Pio Terei said there was more pressure on women entertainers to fit the stereotypical pop-star image - young, slim and attractive.

"The reality is if she was blonde and a size 10 she would be a shoo-in ... which is bloody sad," he said. "Sir Howard isn't being nasty, it is just the way it is."

Wellington-based Image consultant Harry Mills agreed that looks and weight were important in the entertainment industry. NZ Idol was an image-based business and an attractive person was simply easier to market, he said.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY