Gordon in the morning: Voices off

Apparently all is not well backstage at the Voice, where Danny O'Donoghue has started to blame the acts for falling short.

Remember Leanne Mitchell? She won last time round, and her album sold - well, let's not get into the specifics, but shall we go with 'fewer than a thousand copies'?

Now, there's all sorts of possible reasons for this - perhaps the way the audience for the programme fell away during the first series, and then the way it took another eleven months for an album to appear, by which time any traction had vanished.

But Danny thinks it's Leanne's fault:

Leanne was mentored on The Voice by judge TOM JONES, but now Danny has blamed her for her chart flop.

The Irishman said: “That’s not my fault, that’s not the show’s fault, that’s not the BBC’s fault, that’s just her fault. You can take an artist like that and question their work ethic.

“I was told by Tom Jones, and by the label as well, that Leanne just did not want to work as hard as you have to work to be a pop star."

To be fair, Danny, your mentoree Bo Bruce has hardly set the world alight; an album that briefly nudged into the Top 10 and then plummeted to earth, and a number 93 single.

Danny hasn't finished:

“She wanted to come on a show and win a singing contest.

“That’s good for her, because she won the show.

“But it’s not good for the premise of the show.”

But... isn't the premise of the show that it's a singing contest?

What does the BBC site say about the show?

Sir Tom Jones, will.i.am, Jessie J and Danny O'Donoghue search for The Voice UK, an incredible singing talent chosen purely on the quality of their voice.

That sounds a bit like a singing contest.

And the BBC Press Office?

The Voice UK will see four critically acclaimed recording artists seek out the nation's best vocal talent.

The indie production company also says it's a singing contest:

The Voice UK is a vocal contest series featuring people with real talent and great voices. Only the very best singers make it through to the televised auditions and get the chance to perform in front of four celebrity coaches. Praised by viewers and critics alike, it’s become one of the most successful new television shows around the world.

So everyone involved pitches the show as being about finding the person who's best at singing. Nowhere does the "premise of the show" claim it's about trying to find a pop star, or the hardest-working person in showbiz.

That's Danny, then, criticising a person who entered and won a singing contest for not behaving like she'd won a totally different competition. Curious.