Why Cee Lo Green Said Forget You to 'The X Factor'

Singer, songwriter and record producer, Cee Lo Green, dished with reporters on why he turned down a sweet deal with Simon Cowell to be a judge on "The X Factor" in favor of NBC's "The Voice," according to the Hollywood Reporter. Cee Lo said he knew what was involved and who was running things, but "I didn't know what made it distinctive enough. Quite honestly, I felt like American Idol and these other entities had run their course."

The "Forget You" singer conceded that the new "American Idol" judges, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, have brought about an improvement in that show. Isn't that almost the same thing as saying he thought the show was played out when Simon Cowell was on it and that's why he didn't want to be on "The X Factor"?

"The Voice" will debut on Monday, April 26 at 9 p.m. and will feature Cee Lo as one of the musician coaches, along with Maroon 5's lead singer, Adam Levine; country star, Blake Shelton (who also was a judge on USA Network's "Nashville Star"); and singer, Christina Aguilera. Carson Daly, of MTV fame, will be "The Voice's" equivalent of Ryan Seacrest.

Cee Lo was not shy about "The Voice" potentially snatching up some viewers from "American Idol" and "The X Factor:"

"Not only do we have a competitive spirit amongst ourselves, but also we'll compete with these other shows as well," he said at NBC Universal's summer press day, "And I like this one better."

Also present at the press conference was Mark Burnett, executive producer of "The Voice" who was asked if there were going to be any of those contestants you see on American Idol, who are there just for laughs. He replied: "It was only about the voice, 100 percent. You will not see people [performing] for a joke." The grand prize on "The Voice" is a recording contract and $100,000.00.

So, for those who love music contests, there will certainly be no shortage even after "American Idol" is over. "The Voice" will be in full swing and "The X Factor" will debut in September.

Yesterday, on April 14th, Some 20,000 people lined up around the Prudential Center in downtown Newark, NJ (video) to get a shot at an "The X Factor" spot and a chance to win a $5 million dollar recording contract.

Sources: Embedded