England, Ireland. Australia, New Zealand. Like it or not, one is always seen as the little sibling of the other. For example, if your star has waned to the point where you're not relevant in England anymore, the Irish might just be tickled pink to have you on their boxes (see Jamelia, anyone English who's ever appeared on Wagon's Den and so on).
If you're not wildly popular in the Northern Hemisphere anymore, you then get sent to Australia (see Ronan Keating, Mel B, Brian McFadden). If all else fails, there's always New Zealand. Behold the line-up of judges for X Factor New Zealand.
OK, Daniel Bedingfield, that's OK(ish). He was big in America for a while. Australian Idol winner Stan somethingorother, native Kiwi singer Ruby Frost. And, yes, Melanie Blatt. The one who wasn't a sister off All Saints. I haven't seen her since 2001 either.
Digital Spy reports: "The TwentyFourSeven star joins fellow UK singer Daniel Bedingfield and will relocate to New Zealand with her daughter for the duration of the competition… Blatt said: 'I can't wait to see what kind of artists and voices we are going to find in New Zealand. I'm sure there is a wealth of untapped talent waiting to be found and nurtured. I also cannot wait to discover New Zealand properly. My daughter is a huge Lord of the Rings fan. We are beyond excited about living there for a bit'."
One of the executive producers of the show added: "Between them Mel and Daniel have sold over 14 million albums worldwide (Daniel can probably account for most of those). For New Zealand to have mentors of this calibre means we are on track to deliver a vibrant and fresh (???) recording artist for the music industry."
*tumbleweeds*
