Tom Jones slams Simon Cowell for making TV talent shows too harsh and says he took it ‘too far’ with comments to contestants
Tom Jones has criticised Simon Cowell for making television talent shows too hard.
The 84-year-old Voice coach hit out at the Britain’s Got Talent judges’ approach, telling MailOnline: ‘Well, talent shows like that go too far. Simon Cowell did that.
“You know, saying, ‘Why are you on this show? What makes you think you can sing? Who told you you could sing?’ I mean… Jesus.
“The difference between The Voice and other talent shows is that they can sing. They’ve taken away those who can’t sing before the first auditions.”
The Sex Bomb singer and Welsh legend returns for a 13th year as a coach on The Voice UK, joining American Black Eyed Peas rapper Will.i.am as the longest-serving panellist.
Tom Jones has criticised Simon Cowell for making talent shows too hard. The 84-year-old coach of The Voice hit out at the Britain’s Got Talent judges’ approach to the contestants
The 84-year-old coach of The Voice hit out at the way the Britain’s Got Talent judges approached the contestants
MailOnline can reveal that the 84-year-old keeps his energy up during tours and television appearances, sleeping as much as possible, eating two meals a day and taping his mouth shut at night to protect his vocal cords from the air conditioning.
This year the permanent judges are joined by McFly’s Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones and 90s pop icon LeAnne Rimes, after Ollie Murs was evicted from the show last year.
When asked if they had found the next Taylor Swift, Jones said, “No. Who could beat Taylor Swift? There’s no one like her, she’s sensational.”
Ms Rimes told MailOnline that the show’s biggest challenge was getting new singers on stage, as this has been completely lost in the digital world.
The 41-year-old How Can I Live singer said: It’s really strange because the artists who come to our show sit in their rooms and sing. They have no stage experience.
‘What happens these days is you have an artist with a great voice, but when they step on stage they have no idea what they’re doing.
“It’s not like we spend a lot of time with them and now it’s filled with learning stage presence, what to do with their voice and how to perform and how their body language conveys emotion through their voice. I’ve never had to explain the steps and the parts to people like this before.”
This is because Olly Murs, who was a judge for six years, was unexpectedly evicted from the show last year.
Tom said: ‘Simon Cowell did that. ‘You know, by saying, ‘Why are you on this show? What makes you think you can sing? Who told you you can sing?’ I mean… Jesus’
‘The difference between The Voice and other talent shows is that they can sing. They’ve taken away the ones who can’t sing from the first auditions’ (Simon pictured on The X Factor in 2017)
This year, Tom and Will.i.am are joined by Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones from McFly and nineties pop icon LeAnne Rimes, after Ollie Murs was evicted from the show last year.
The 40-year-old Dear Darling singer said his team were told by ITV bosses that the show was “looking for new people” for the role of coach before he was axed from the show.
Murs expressed his disappointment with ITV, saying: “I got the call that I wouldn’t be coming back on the show, which is a bit of a shock, to be honest. I didn’t expect that.
“I’m sure they’ll find someone great. But will I miss it? Yes. Did I want to leave? No. Will I still watch the show? Of course, but it will be painful to think that could have been me.”
Meanwhile, Anne-Marie was also axed from the series ahead of the upcoming show in 2024.