London, Nov 07: Elton John has pointed a warning finger at the rash of pop talent competitions and warned young hopefuls they faced being ''cruelly'' used by hard-headed managers in the business.
Winners of a recent pop idol competition in Britain, will Young and Gareth young, would be dumped after a couple of years, John told commercial television.
''It's kind of cruel and I feel for them because they are being used by people who are making a fortune,'' he said yesterday.
John, 55, pointed to his own rise from session musician to success in his own right, said the pop world was now about packaging and instant rewards and not about the quality of the material.


''We started off as songwriters and there were no videos in those days. You had to work live to get a record contract,'' he said.
''It was all about the song. Nowadays it's so much more about the packaging and the visual aspect of it - the videos. And the songwriting aspect has gone out of the window a bit.''


Bureau Report