Damon Albarn Rages Against ‘The X Factor’

Man, is Damon Albarn turning into a crusty old man? First he slagged off Glee, claiming on CBC Radio's Q show that the musical dramedy "will ultimately lead to emptiness." Now the Blur and Gorillaz frontman is taking on The X Factor. This one’s a doozy, friends.

According to The Sun, Albarn scoffs at Simon Cowell's massively popular talent show, comparing it and others to a "malignant tumor."

"I think music would be totally fine and in a healthy state if people weren't so preoccupied with celebrity,” Albarn stated. "There is potential for insane cross-fertilization but there's this sort of malignant tumor that keeps growing, very much based on a few TV and record executives practicing this dark art of the television show."

Albarn's sour disposition doesn't stop there. He slams The X Factor's approach in exploiting unknown hopefuls seeking international stardom, even comparing the latter to "cows." Yikes!

"They do things to these kids," he said. "They play with their bodies and their faces. They just bleach and sanitize everything about them and that's a very potent aspirational aspect of our society."

"It's not good because, though from time to time they may stumble across a beautiful voice, they put them through a food processor and make them fast food," he added. "A cow is definitely a more beautiful thing before it hits the hamburger factory."

It seems that Albarn has been in a snit about these kinds of reality shows for a while. In the clip below, he divulges his distaste to a Danish interviewer and calls for a "boycott" starting at the 4:55 mark.