How the Young Musician came to play second fiddle to the Pop Idol

WHEN Michelle McManus won ITV’s Pop Idol last year, Jack McConnell let it be known that he had phoned in to vote, doing his best to help the Glasgow singer win the talent contest.

The First Minister also sent her a "good luck" note before the final and, apparently, gave her a peck on the cheek when he met her, before adding: "I know you can do it."

Last Sunday night, Nicola Benedetti, 16, a violinist from Ayrshire, became the first Scot to win the coveted BBC Young Musician of the Year title.

Such is her talent as a musician that she won one of the most competitive prizes in British music with relative ease, and she is now expected to be signed up with a 1 million recording contract.

However, for Nicola, there was no note of support from the First Minister before the competition, which was held in Scotland, at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh.

There was also no letter of congratulation afterwards from Mr McConnell. Instead, Nicola was deemed worthy of no more than a letter from Frank McAveety, the arts minister, "on behalf of the Cabinet", and a rather belated telephone call from the First Minister three days after she had won.

Why the apparent double standard? Was it because Miss Benedetti is a classical musician and Miss McManus a popular singer? Mr McConnell’s political enemies claimed it was because Mr McConnell was "arrogant" and only wanted to be associated with populist culture.

At least one leading member of the arts world took a more supportive view, arguing that the First Minister was a big supporter of classical music and probably did not want to show any bias towards Nicola.

Either way, what he has succeeded in doing is to open up a debate about the Executive’s treatment of non-popular art forms in Scotland and his approach towards success on a British or world stage.

The biggest problem for Mr McConnell is the comment reportedly made by a senior Scottish Executive source when asked by a journalist whether Mr McConnell was going to send a message of congratulation to Nicola.

The source replied that Mr McConnell did not consider there was sufficient public interest in the competition to merit a personal letter of congratulation from him.

The message appeared to be clear: if it is popular and populist, like Pop Idol, Mr McConnell wants to be involved, but if it is remotely high-brow and classical, like Young Musician of the Year, Mr McConnell is less interested.

Cynics might say that it is just about votes. Mr McConnell knows that hundreds of thousands of Scots watched Pop Idol and that, by associating himself with Miss McManus’s success, he could reach into the homes of many more voters than would ever watch Young Musician of the Year.

But there is much more to it than that. Mr McConnell did watch the Young Musician final and he has long trumpeted his support for classical music, which makes the lack of any public backing for Nicola all the more confusing.

Ian Smith, the Scottish organiser of the Musicians’ Union, said: "I just can’t believe Jack McConnell’s response.

"Nicola Benedetti’s achievement far outweighs that of Michelle McManus on Pop Idol. While I was delighted she won Pop Idol, Nicola’s achievement far transcends that in terms of work and training. It’s been an outstanding success and it has been recognised by the whole of the UK music industry."

One leading figure in the Scottish classical-music scene, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: "The First Minister was talking in his St Andrews speech about broadening the appeal of arts - he could set an example."

However, he then added: "Give the chap a chance. I would far rather that [his support] was directed to Scottish Opera than writing to Nicola Benedetti.

"Nicola was doing wonderfully well anyway."

The First Minister was also given the benefit of the doubt yesterday by Simon Cookall, the chief executive of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Mr Cookall described Mr McConnell’s decision to treat differently the respective successes of Nicola and Miss McManus as "unfortunate".

"I think Jack himself is known to be a very strong supporter of classical music in particular," said Mr Cookall. "I would expect that he is trying to avoid showing bias.

"In a way, it’s unfortunate because it is a tremendous triumph, and it is the first time a Scot has won what is the world’s leading competition for young classical musicians."

Some feel that what Mr McConnell has achieved by not giving Nicola the same enthusiastic treatment as he did Miss McManus is to plant the suspicion in an already cautious arts establishment that the Executive does not really care too much about classical music and non-popular culture.

It was interpreted as a major political mistake on the First Minister’s part - surprising really, because some think he is usually a sure-footed politician - and its effect is expected to reverberate around the arts world for a some time to come.