Battle of TV talent shows

The Voice is a big hit here, but will the British version outstrip the X Factor in the ratings wars? Ed Power on another John de Mol creation.

A GADZILLIONAIRE several times over, it takes something special to cause Simon Cowell sleepless nights. But you wouldn’t bet against the X Factor supremo suffering the occasional bout of insomnia lately as the franchise he’s spent years building is blown out of the water by a snotty Dutch upstart.

The brash new boy in town, The Voice is a globe-spanning uber-sensation from the Amsterdam production company that more or less invented modern reality television in 1997 with Big Brother.