'We are not a freak show': Tom Jones spells out why The Voice is better than rival The X Factor

'We are not a freak show': Tom Jones spells out why The Voice is better than rival The X Factor

Tom Jones has defended criticism of The Voice â€" saying it is “not a freak show” and he wants to come back for a third series.

Hitting out at a backlash around the second series and a dip in ratings, 72-year-old Tom insisted The Voice was better than rivals like The X Factor because of the surprise element.

He said: “In defence of The Voice, the people go through all those auditions so when the people come in they can actually sing. There are no freaks and you don't get any shock value like if you were on some other show.

“You know what I mean. They do it for shock value. Maybe they get viewers because of that I don't know, but The Voice is all about singers.

“There is no shock value and the blind auditions, you don't know if it is a boy or a girl. You cant see them.

“On other shows the audience get all the information about a singer before they actually sing. So they are on that person's side.”

"The Voice is the Olympics of singing": Danny on Alice Fredenham

 

Appearing with fellow Voice judge Danny O'Donoghue on Channel 4's Chatty Man on Friday night, Tom also took a dig at TV judges like Simon Cowell.

He said: “We are performers. What I love about this show is that the four coaches, we are all  performers.

“We have all been on that stage doing it. So we feel what they feel, as opposed to other people that are not performers that judge on other shows... not naming anybody.”

He said he would do a third series of The Voice “as long as Danny did.”

And Danny then claimed BGT contestant Alice Fredenham, who also appeared on The Voice, was not up to scratch.

He said: “In fairness none of us turned around. The Voice is the Olympics of singing.

"When she was on there were 30 other people who sounded like her. She just did not stick above the clouds... when you have her coming on after a dancing dog or someone cutting their own arm off.

"The girl has talent though. She has talent. She is a gorgeous looking girl, but we did not know that at the time. You are not getting through on your looks, you have to get through on your voice.

"There was something in the papers about me using The Voice as my own personal Take Me Out show. I can't even see them.”