Yoko Ono has condemned plans for a televised séance attempting to contact late Beatle John Lennon. And for once the woman has a point. Viewers will be charged $9.95 to watch the TV event, which will take place on 24 Apr. Producer Paul Sharratt says he is "making a serious attempt to do something that many millions of people around the world think is possible," and not a vehicle designed to exploit gullible persons willing to part with cash.
It's not the first time such a TV séance has been staged; the same producers televised an attempt to contact Princess Diana, an event that attracted half a million viewers back in 2003. The Lennon programme will see psychics travelling to sites significant to the musician, including New York's Dakota building where he was shot by Mark Chapman in 1980, before gathering around a table for the séance, with infra-red cameras in place to capture any 'presence' in the room. Ono was invited to appear, but has, of course, declined.
Yoko Ono's spokesman Elliot Mintz said: "John Lennon was an amazing communicator of heart, mind and spirit. He still speaks to those who choose to listen to his recordings. That was the medium he chose to speak with us." Mintz called the programme "another example of the misuse of John's affirmation of life as opposed to the preoccupation of his death", adding "the proposed show strikes me as being tasteless, tacky and exploitative."