Britney gets mean, but American 'X Factor' debut still sinks

X Factor judges LA Reid and Simon Cowell (left and second right) with new additions Demi Lovato and Britney Spears (second left and right) (Getty Images)

Britney Spears showed off her mean streak as the new talent judge on "The X Factor," but the TV singing contest stumbled with American viewers, drawing a smaller audience than last year and getting drowned out by "The Voice" and "America's Got Talent."

In a first head-to-head battle of three talent shows, an average 8.5 million Americans - about 3.5 million or 32 percent down from the 2011 opener - watched Spears and singer Demi Lovato make their debuts in the heavily-hyped two-hour season premiere of Fox show "The X Factor" on Wednesday.

Reuters