The Voice judge Ricky Wilson has made a very ironic dig at the X Factor

Duncan Lindsay

(Picture: REX)

The Voice judge Ricky Wilson has done the fashionable thing and taken a swipe at rival show the X Factor – but on this occasion, he maybe should have thought his dig through a little better. 
Wilson, the frontman for the Kaiser Chiefs, has admitted that The Voice moving over to ITV is going to prove ‘weird’ as they will no longer be in direct competition with the Simon Cowell controlled talent contest.
But, speaking to The Sun Online, he claimed that it will help to highlight what he perceives as the shows’ differences. He explained: ‘We’ve found hundreds of stars but just because we can’t finish a show, wrap them in a bow and give them a number one, it’s not a problem because if you are doing that their careers will be very short-lived.
‘We’re not trying to make a flash in a pan, we’re trying to make a star who burns for a very long time. A flash in the pan burns brightly and then disappears very quickly.’

(Picture: BBC)

While the X Factor has many shortcomings, one thing it HAS managed to do is bring successful careers to at least some of its winners. Granted, not everyone to win the votes has gone on to big things (sorry, Steve Brookstein), but the X Factor can at least boast the likes of Olly Murs, One Direction, Little Mix, Leona Lewis, Rebecca Ferguson and James Arthur to name but a few who have actually shifted albums.
Over to you for your list, Ricky?

Oh, right. Yeah.
Well, there’s always this year. Perhaps the final year of The Voice in its BBC home can end on a high by bringing us a singer whose name we will remember after the credits roll. If not, it could perhaps pick up a few tips from ITV when it crosses over.
The Voice can make many legitimate digs at the X Factor. Its judges are arguably far more relevant to the music business, its kinder to contestants and it (usually) is about the talent over looks or sob stories.

Ricky Wilson pondered: ‘What queue do you join? I think people will know whether they are going to follow the big X or the big V.’
Yep, you’re not wrong. Which is why so many X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent rejects end up auditioning on The Voice for a second shot.
For all of the X Factor’s flaws, the one thing it can still claim superiority over the Voice in is that auditionees at least have a smidgen of a chance of becoming well-known. They might have to sell their soul in the process but that’s all part and parcel of the talent show, isn’t it?
Simon Cowell recently kept his critique of The Voice simple, saying: ‘Have you watched it? I have so I’m not worried.’

Now, now boys. Play nice. You’ll both be on the same side soon.