‘The Voice’ winner Jermain Jackman thinks too many talent shows focus on contestants being "thin and pretty" instead of paying attention to their vocal ability.
The 19-year-old London singer, who triumphed on the BBC One show on Saturday night (05.04.14), beating Sally Barker, Christina Marie and Jamie Johnson, was "over the moon" to have been crowned the winner and was glad the programme was more about talent than looks.
He told BANG Showbiz: "’The Voice’ is about the voice … other talent shows might not just be about the performance, they might be about thin you are and how pretty you are, but this isn’t and that’s why it’s important."
Asked if he felt the show gave too much publicity to the coaches, Ricky Wilson, Sir Tom Jones, will.i.am and Kylie Minogue, instead of the acts, he replied: "It may seem like they give more publicity to the coaches but that’s because they’re coaches and not judges, they work closely with the contestants.
"There’s equal amount of press given to both. Ricky Wilson is successful in his own right, Kaiser Chiefs were so successful.
"If there’s an opportunity like ‘The Voice’, it’s win, win. If he’s using ‘The Voice’ for his [new] album, I don’t know, but he’s also inspired people. I don’t think the spotlight is on anyone more than anyone else."
Jermain, who was coached by will.i.am on the show and is also a young Labour Party activist, also wants to continue to work in politics as well as have a successful singing career.
He added: "I’ve been inspired by will.i.am and people like Wyclef [Jean] who can juggle politics and music. If they can do it, I can do it too, I want to inspire young people, tour, sell loads of records, world domination!"
Jermain Jackman: Too many talent shows are about looks
