It's an all-out ratings war between music mogul Simon Cowell and the BBC.
His show "Britain's Got Talent" goes head-to-head in the UK on Saturday night (March 24) with newcomer "The Voice".
Both shows are similar in format and equally arming themselves with celebrity judges to spot talent and draw viewers.
Cowell says competition is something he's used to and in fact thrives on it.
SOUNDBITE: Simon Cowell, Standing With Dixon (Left) and Holden, saying (English):
"Someone's always going to have a pop at you but you've got to be quite honest about it. When we were losing in the ratings, I said I'm really, really, really unhappy they're beating us. (mimicking voice) 'But they couldn't do the same thing', 'Oh no it's not about ratings, it's about quality.' Oh give me a break, you want to beat us and we want to beat you."
But judge for "The Voice" Tom Jones questions credibility "of other shows".
SOUNDBITE: Singer and Judge for "The Voice" Tom Jones, saying (English):
"Some judges on other shows that have never been on stage in their lives, or they've never actually sang, or they don't sing that well and you think 'How can this person, who's an average singer anyway, give their advice to somebody that sounds better than they do?"
Cowell answered back, citing his success stories One Direction, who made history this week by becoming the only UK group to debut at number one on the US album charts, and Susan Boyle, who was discovered on "Britain's Got Talent".
SOUNDBITE: Simon Cowell, saying (English):
"It's what I do for a living. I spot talent. One Direction are number one in the album charts this week and Susan Boyle was number one over there, sold 30 million albums. You can't knock the statistics but now these people have got to walk the walk themselves and we'll see what they come up with."
Still, "The Voice" judge will.i.am is putting his money where his mouth is.
SOUNDBITE: Producer/Rapper and Judge for "The Voice" will.i.am, saying (English):
"I don't want to diss (disrespect) the other shows but this is by far the best one, in a nice way."
Audiences can be their own judge on Saturday night when the two shows battle it out for ratings.
Cindy Martin, Reuters
His show "Britain's Got Talent" goes head-to-head in the UK on Saturday night (March 24) with newcomer "The Voice".
Both shows are similar in format and equally arming themselves with celebrity judges to spot talent and draw viewers.
Cowell says competition is something he's used to and in fact thrives on it.
SOUNDBITE: Simon Cowell, Standing With Dixon (Left) and Holden, saying (English):
"Someone's always going to have a pop at you but you've got to be quite honest about it. When we were losing in the ratings, I said I'm really, really, really unhappy they're beating us. (mimicking voice) 'But they couldn't do the same thing', 'Oh no it's not about ratings, it's about quality.' Oh give me a break, you want to beat us and we want to beat you."
But judge for "The Voice" Tom Jones questions credibility "of other shows".
SOUNDBITE: Singer and Judge for "The Voice" Tom Jones, saying (English):
"Some judges on other shows that have never been on stage in their lives, or they've never actually sang, or they don't sing that well and you think 'How can this person, who's an average singer anyway, give their advice to somebody that sounds better than they do?"
Cowell answered back, citing his success stories One Direction, who made history this week by becoming the only UK group to debut at number one on the US album charts, and Susan Boyle, who was discovered on "Britain's Got Talent".
SOUNDBITE: Simon Cowell, saying (English):
"It's what I do for a living. I spot talent. One Direction are number one in the album charts this week and Susan Boyle was number one over there, sold 30 million albums. You can't knock the statistics but now these people have got to walk the walk themselves and we'll see what they come up with."
Still, "The Voice" judge will.i.am is putting his money where his mouth is.
SOUNDBITE: Producer/Rapper and Judge for "The Voice" will.i.am, saying (English):
"I don't want to diss (disrespect) the other shows but this is by far the best one, in a nice way."
Audiences can be their own judge on Saturday night when the two shows battle it out for ratings.
Cindy Martin, Reuters
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