I really wasn't going to bother with this idiocy anymore.
If the Cap'n can see nothing wrong with taking elderly singers out of their environment and making them behave like performing dogs to satisy his crass mind-games - there doesn't seem much point. The idea of somebody offering to put up money for competitions then having the arrogance to elect himself onto the judging panel is a little too near the 'cash for honours' affair for me.
As the 'competitions' idea appears to be a non-starter anyway - life really is too short to bother with this garbage - I'm off to find an intelligent wall to talk to.
Jim Carroll