Cocker lashes out at talent shows

Britpop star Jarvis Cocker has lashed out at today's pop music and TV talent shows, saying pop had become "industrialised".

Cocker, 43, said contestants on shows such as The X Factor and Pop Idol only got through if their voices betrayed "zero personality".

Cocker said of TV talent shows: "They never pick people with great voices. They pick people who show off how many notes they can fit into a 10-second period.

"A great voice expresses something and gives you some idea of the personality behind the voice. There's zero personality in the voices of any of the people who sing on these shows."

The Sheffield-born star admitted he would "be straight out" if he appeared on a TV talent show. He said: "It saddens me because I love pop music and these shows prove it's become an industrialised process.

"The kind of pop I was brought up on is over. In those days there was space within pop for interesting things to happen like Laurie Anderson making number one with 'O Superman'. Now the most interesting stuff is happening outside in the independent music sector."