Don't rob the kids of glory.

Byline: Tony Parsons 

WHAT this series of The X Factor reveals is that the talent gap between the stars and the wannabes is closing fast.

Sting and other dissidents of the show claim that it is merely primetime karaoke for morons. Last week's performance of You Are Not Alone by the massed ranks of The X Factor finalists proved exactly the opposite.

Those karaoke kids, those starryeyed wannabes, they gave a performance that brought a lump to my throat and an even bigger lump to Simon Cowell's wallet.

They were better than the real thing. Their performance of the Michael Jackson ballad wiped the floor with anything that a true star has done live on The X Factor.

Robbie Williams was sweaty and weird. Shakira looked like a one-hit wonder who was singing something else. Whitney Houston resembled a crack whore doing a Whitney Houston impression. Cheryl Cole was cute but Janet Jackson did it first, and better.

Getting a standing ovation on The X Factor is like getting one at a party political conference - if you are famous enough, you receive it automatically, no matter how ropey you are.

But the only act that genuinely deserved such applause are those kids from nowhere who sang You Are Not Alone.

Sentimental? Corny? Contrived? Sure, but pop music will always have a place for these things. And if it brings a tear to your eye - as it did mine - it works.

Sting talks as if popular music has been one long burst of creative genius that has been rudely interrupted by Simon Cowell. But when Jimi Hendrix was at his peak, my mum was listening to Des O'Connor and Engelbert Humperdinck. And when the Smiths were in their moody prime, you could opt for a record by the Smurfs.

Pop music is built on the instantly disposable rubbing shoulders with records that you will remember for the rest of your life.

Every generation throws up a true shining star and the greatest performance I've seen on a British talent show was Beyonce singing If I Were A Boy on Strictly Come Dancing. My jaw dropped at the greatness of the woman.

But most stars, even big stars, are not Beyonce. And they are not Aretha Franklin or John Lennon or Joe Strummer. The X Factor shows us that most stars are not touched by genius.

Many of them - and smug, sweaty old Robbie Williams singing about "Bodies in the cemetery" was a great example - are ambitious mediocrities who make a little go a long way.

Almost everyone falls into that category - you work hard, hope for the breaks and make it if you never give up. Maybe.

Noel Gallagher has slagged off The X Factor. But Oasis and Jedward are all just lads making the most of their modest gifts. The X Factor is getting the kind of viewing figures you'd expect for a momen-tous national event like a World Cup final or a royal funeral. Around 16 million tune in to The X Factor and they don't do it to watch Jedward fall over as they execute a few simple Vanilla Ice dance steps.

They do it because there is real, raw talent on the show and it is often preferable to the tired old routines of established stars like Robbie and Whitney.

Some of that raw talent will sink back into obscurity. Some of it will rise to the top. Watching what happens is where the excitement lies.

Yes, lots of it is garbage. But not even Sting can churn out an Every Breath You Take every week.

Cut the kids some slack, Sting - I remember when you and I were young and spending every night in a dingy basement in Covent Garden called the Roxy. Were you so different to those kids on The X Factor? I don't think so.

There is no shame in wanting to go from singing in your bedroom mirror to singing in Shea Stadium.

Those crazy dreams of unknown kids are what pop music - and The X Factor - are built on.

MOST STARS ARE JUST AMBITIOUS MEDIOCRITIES