"The Voice" vs. "The X Factor"

There are billions of reality shows nowadays, many of them just what we would define as „boring, uninspired and outdated”. But are the ones mentioned above the same? Do they differ? If so, which one will sustain on a longer period?

“The Voice” was the most highly anticipated and new reality show of 2010 in Netherlands, where it gained almost 54% of the target viewers. The show was then sold to many countries, i.e. the U.S.A., where its first season aired in spring ’11 on NBC. The success of the show, with Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton as judges, resulted in great news: “The Voice (US)” was renewed for a second season, airing spring ’12 with even more to come! The success continued to spread around the globe and is continuing to outsell many already outdated reality shows. In Germany for example, the first Blind Auditions (October 2011) gained more viewers than the entertaining show “Das Supertalent” (Germany’s version of “Britain’s Got Talent”) which is airing since 2007.

“The X Factor” originally started in Britain ‘2004 and is the most successful singing competition ever since. With Simon Cowell as the head of the production team (SYCOtv), the show slightly reminds of UK’s “Pop Idol” of 2001 but has not only changed in terms of corporate design, but also in terms of age limits. Since then, this show has found its spot all around the globe and is successful still.

Those two singing competitions are not the same, not even close. The list of differences is really big, but here are the (for me) most recognizable differences of "The Voice" and "The X Factor".

Whereas hopefuls on “The X Factor” are judged on their “special something”, which not only includes their vocal ability, “The Voice” on the other hand judges talented people based ENTIRELY on their voice. In the first auditions, the so-called “Blind Auditions”, talented people try to win the vote of the judges with their voice (the specific coach needs to press the “I WANT YOU” button to turn his seat around and in order to have a chance of winning the talented person for his team). The performance will only be judged in the following rounds, where acts from the same group fight for survival in the battle rounds (but the voice still matters in a bigger sense). On “The X Factor”, voice AND performance matters, cause the judges are looking for the “special something”, the “indescribable talent” that lies within many hopefuls who are trying to win the competition. Whereas coaches on “The Voice” decide for themselves, which kind of artists they want in their team, coaches on “The X Factor” don’t have a choice either and their categories are picked from the production team.

I personally prefer “The Voice” over “The X Factor”, not only because of the rules, but mainly because of the bigger scale of talent, reduced trash and zero public humiliation. 17-year old wannabes like Germany’s Pietro Lombardi (winner of last season’s “DSDS”, German Idol), who only wins a competition because teenage girls are falling for him, would not even stand a chance in a show like “The Voice”. The talent is more versatile and differs in a much bigger sense, the pressure lies entirely on the vocal performance and almost EVERYONE can audition for this show. No matter how old you are, no matter where you are coming from: if your voice is something special, it all doesn’t matter in the end.

I honestly think that “The X Factor” will be outdated at some point. Not only based on ratings, but also in terms of talent. I hope that almost EVERYONE considers auditioning for “The Voice” and ignores this crappy version of a singing competition. Trash like this should be outdated already.

Agree, disagree? Discuss!

Runner-Up of "The Voice" (US) Season 1:


Dia Frampton - The Broken Ones von VEVO


Winner of "The Voice" (US) Season 1: