Idol Chatter & Voice Views

It must suck to know there are three major singing competitions on TV and your’s is the worst.

That’s the position Sir Simon Cowell finds himself in these days.

And last night, right in the middle of an Idol episode, Cowell took to Twitter in what smacked of a desperate plea for attention.

He announced that The X Factor with have “surprises to announce soon.”  He added “this is getting exciting.”

Yawn.

At about the same time, Idol was really getting exciting.

And The Voice has been exciting since returning for Season 2 right after the Super Bowl.

The X Factor?

All I know is that I got grumpy on X Factor nights last fall because I had to sit through another hour or two of Simon’s overblown singing show.

But it will be back for Season 2 in the fall.  Also back will be a $5 million prize for the winner.

And in an announcement made Thursday, auditions will be held March 14 in Kansas City, March 22 in Austin, April 20 in San Francisco and May 1 in Greensboro, N.C.   The release promises another audition city will be announced soon.

Apparently you can also audition by spending $20 for 5 minutes in an MyStudio HD Recording Studio, should you choose to go that route.   Or audition online.  You can go here for those details.

Oh, and just to show that Simon and company learned nothing from Season 1, singers as young as 12 can audition again.  So we can look forward to more Rachel Crows and immature brats like Astro.

And groups will still be included in the competition.  “I really believe a group can win this show!” Simon says in the press release, another comment that smacks of desperation.

You’ll recall that the group entries in Season 1 were so weak, the show created — that’s right, created — two of the four groups that made it to the live shows, forming them from previously eliminated contestants.

Simon also suggested this last night on Twitter:  A showdown between the winner of American Idol, The Voice and his show.

“I’d be up for it.”

Forgive Simon for interrupting your Idol viewing.

He probably heard the rumors that The Voice might launch its third season this fall.

Which means it would be going head-to-head with his program.

That would be very, very bad news for an inferior show like The X Factor.