Los Angeles -- American
Idol producers love to tout their record of launching music stars in their
rivalry with The Voice, but the
coaches of NBC's singing competition series said that's not how they measure
success.
"It would be really nice if we were to launch a huge star. A
lot of things have to happen for that to take place," said Adam Levine. "I'm
not sure that is the overall mission statement of the show. The fact that it
hasn't happened yet doesn't seem like a shortcoming of a show, it just hasn't
happened yet."
While Levine said he understood that comparing the two shows
would make The Voice seem like a
failure in that respect, the show's continued ratings strength would seem to
suggest that viewers are interested in the process whether or not the winner becomes
a star.
"It's not the main goal," added host Carson Daly, who also
serves as producer on The Voice. "There's
winners on this show every day. This is an experience. They leave our show
feeling like they won."
Christina Aguilera, who returns to coaching The Voice this fall after a cycle off, argued
the show is more about the experience of getting mentored by a top artist than
the end result, and also stressed that building stars can take time.
"It's more about giving an opportunity," she said. "It's up
to you to use that opportunity and take it to the next level."
