‘Voice’ Judge Cee Lo Green Shrugs Off ‘X Factor’ Competition (Video)

This fall’s primetime lineup pits The Voice against The X Factor: cause for concern?

Voice judge Cee Lo Green shrugged off that question in his appearance on Wednesday’s The Tonight Show, telling Jay Leno: “I believe that the premises of each show are completely different. But, I don’t know, we’ve got the beat right now with The Voice, you know what I’m saying? I think if anybody should be concerned, it’s them.”

The eccentric R&B singer — who consults contestants on the hit NBC competition alongside Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine and his rescue cat, Purrfect — said that Simon Cowell, who left American Idol to launch X Factor in the U.S., approached him to star on the Fox talent show.

STORY: 9 Things You Didn’t See On ‘The Voice Live Show

“I’m met Simon on a few occasions,” Green told Leno. “He’s a great guy despite what the … the perception is. He was very kind to me, actually offered me a position on the X Factor.”

Green, whose soul-tinged hits include “Crazy” and “F–k You,” said he was offered gigs on both The Voice and X Factor “around the same time, and maybe The Voice a little earlier, but of course Simon does make an offer pretty attractive,” he said, grinning. “But I think I made the right decison.”

What swayed him?

“There’s so much positive energy about this show and I’m not about … crushing peoples’ dreams or judging people. I’m all about helping them, literally, which is the nature of this show and empowerment,” he said of his show.

Plus: “I wanted to be part of something built from scratch. Something that belonged to me.”

PHOTOS: ‘The Voice’ Teams: Meet Season 2’s Performers

The Voice, now in its second season, returns for a third in the fall, while X Factor premieres its second season with new stars, among other changes. Earlier this year, Cowell fired host Steve Jones and judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger from the show; he kept himself and L.A. Reid on the judges’ panel, and as THR reported, was in talks with Britney Spears about recruiting her as a judge (which means she’d go head-to-head with ex-rival Aguilera).

Watch Green’s Tonight Show interview below.