Viewers have accused the coach of going too far with his feedback to two contestants.
Richard Marx has never exactly been known for sugar-coating his feedback on The Voice Australia.
During the show’s new Second Chance round, Queensland singer Mikayla Durrant was hoping to prove she deserved another shot after none of the coaches initially turned their chairs.
Instead, the 32-year-old found herself being told to stick with her other career — before Richard issued a very blunt warning to anyone thinking about auditioning for the show.
Can The Voice judge Richard Marx guess the song?
Richard’s blunt advice for Mikayla
Mikayla explained that she studies ecology and conservation at university and hopes to become a wildlife scientist. She also admitted she was “a bit out of my element” performing on The Voice stage.
Richard’s response?
“That makes sense,” he said. “Then you should be a wildlife scientist.”
He went on to argue that anyone hoping to make music a career needs complete commitment.
“Because the people who end up having careers in music, there is no back up plan,” Richard said. “If you’re gonna do this for a living you have to be so passionate about it and the answer to every question should be ‘yes’.”
He ultimately told Mikayla: “Unless you are that committed, this is not for you despite that beautiful voice.”
After Mikayla left the stage, Richard then turned his attention to aspiring contestants watching at home.
“For all of you in the audience or anybody who knows someone who’s thinking about coming to audition for The Voice… Don’t waste our f–king time. Seriously.”
Fans were not impressed by Richard’s take
Unsurprisingly, viewers had plenty to say about his approach to Mikayla.
“[That was] unnecessarily brutal. Ask anyone auditioning for the show, and they will tell you they have a day job,” one viewer wrote, with another saying it was “privileged” to suggest artists are only worthy if they don’t have to rely on another job.
“Pretty tone-deaf of Richard. Imagine needing a source of income in this economy… pretty sure if we could afford to only do music we would.”
Another quipped: “Smart musicians have a backup plan, like him being a coach.”
But Richard did have someone in his corner. 5 Seconds of Summer’s Ashton Irwin jumped into the comments on Mikayla’s audition, calling Richard’s take “refreshing” and arguing that the music industry is so brutal that total commitment is needed to stand a chance.
“It’ll take everything you got to get somewhere in it,” Ashton wrote. “Every day I play for my life cause I know there’s a billion other people who want my position.”
Megan was next in Richard’s firing line
And it wasn’t just Mikayla.
Richard also delivered another particularly blunt critique to 29-year-old NSW contestant Megan Donnelly, who was also competing for a Second Chance.
After Megan revealed she had mainly performed her audition song at karaoke and in bars, Richard questioned her emotional connection to it.
“I didn’t feel emotion. I felt like you were just bored,” he said. “It felt like you were just kinda walking through it. I didn’t feel like you were connected to it.”
“To be in the music business you have to have more passion than that,” he added.
Once again, viewers weren’t impressed.
“I’m disgusted with Richard’s comments tonight and kids are watching this too. He did not set a great example of constructive and respectful feedback, so rude!” one viewer wrote.
Another accused Richard of being “clearly against the second chance rule”, while someone else wondered whether he was “having a passive-aggressive dig at Tones.”
Both Mikayla and Megan were ultimately eliminated, despite receiving their Second Chance performances. But judging by the reaction online, they certainly didn’t leave without fans in their corner.