Young fans of New Zealand-based international sensation Lorde are taking to social media this week to warn 16-year-old singer-songwriter Natasha Alexandra to “back off” or “watch out” if she tries to steal the limelight.
Alexandra, a student from Auckland’s Howick College, first appeared on TVNZ’s New Zealand’s Got Talent? last week, wowing the audience for a total of some minutes with her original song Last Monday. The song addresses the teen’s own struggle with bullying, but some Lorde fans were unimpressed, expressing insecurity that her brief moment of reality TV popularity could divert attention from the rise of also-16-year-old Ella Yelich-O’Connor.
Lorde’s core fanbase – male journalists in their 20s and 30s – have now taken to Twitter to voice their dislike of Alexandra, describing her as “dull” and “an inferior lyricist.”
“Natasha Alexandra is shithouse,” tweeted one irate fan, before pointing out that Lorde had never been bullied, “because she’s cool.”
Throng media reviewer Regan Cunliffe described Alexandra as “a Lorde wannabe,” whose choice of age and curly brown hair was “utterly transparent,” while Public Address blogger Russell Brown noted that Last Monday’s lyrics were an “obvious stab at her natural rival [Lorde].”
Meanwhile, celebrated music reviewer Simon Sweetman couldn’t fathom how Alexandra had progressed through the singing competition, saying she was “utterly ordinary” compared to Lorde, who he noted was “unusually talented” for a 16-year-old, and “really quite smart” for a girl.
Asked how they felt about the criticism being leveled against her, Alexandra’s parents told media this week they “acknowledged” New Zealand’s insecurity about the possibility of Lorde being a one-hit wonder, and were “deeply ashamed” their daughter had unnecessarily aggravated it. They indicated they would be having a “stern word” with her about singing again.
Lorde fans have also ripped into another New Zealand’s Got Talent? contestant, 12-year-old opera singer Sam Francks, charging that he too is inferior to Lorde, and, unlike her, had “done nothing” for feminism.
This week’s controversy has proved the biggest surrounding Lorde since Prime Minister John Key last month confused her with Kimbra.