The X Factor humiliates contestants whose sole ability is to mimic stars with genuine talent, Sting has claimed in an attack on the series.

The singer, who found fame in the 1970s with The Police, said the show had “put music back decades” and was little more than “televised karaoke”. He also said that its judges — Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Louis Walsh and Dannii Minogue — had “no recognisable talent apart from self-promotion”.

Other stars are believed to share Sting’s concerns but are fearful of criticising the show, which attracts 16 million viewers and provides a vital TV platform for big-name musical guests.

Sting, 58, who has branched out into jazz and lute music during a career spanning more than 30 years, said that real musical flair was to be found in pubs and clubs, rather than on a “preposterous” talent show.

“I am sorry but none of those kids are going to go anywhere, and I say that sadly,” he told the London Evening Standard. “They are humiliated when they get sent off. How appalling for a young person to feel that rejection. It is a soap opera which has nothing to do with music. In fact, it has put music back decades.”

Sting, a milkman’s son from Wallsend, near Newcastle upon Tyne, was a teacher before turning to music. Since then he has written numerous bestselling hits. He recently re-formed The Police for a sell-out world tour that raked in millions. He insisted The X Factor would never bring in the money generated by the music industry in the past, adding: “The real shop floor for musical talent is pubs and clubs. But they are being closed down on a daily basis. It is impossible to put an act on in a pub. It has become too expensive through excessive regulations. The music industry has been hugely important to England, bringing in millions. If anyone thinks The X Factor is going to do that, they are wrong.”

The Government has promised to exempt small venues from licensing laws restricting live music after the music industry blamed the laws, passed in 2005, for a 5 per cent fall in the number of live gigs.

The singer said he had kept an open mind on The X Factor to begin with but added: “Basically I was looking at televised karaoke where they conform to stereotypes. They are either Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston or Boyzone and are not encouraged to create any real unique signature or fingerprint. That cannot come from TV. The X Factor is a preposterous show and you have judges who have no recognisable talent apart from self-promotion.”

But The X Factor has generated millions of pounds for the British music industry and produced a global star in Leona Lewis, the 2006 winner, who has sold 6.5 million albums. New albums by Lewis, Alexandra Burke, who won last year, JLS, the runners-up, and judge Cheryl Cole are expected to sell up to a million copies each over Christmas.

Simon Cowell has been named the best-paid man on prime-time US television after raking in an estimated $75 million (£45 million) in a year thanks to American Idol, according to Forbes magazine. Fellow Briton Hugh Laurie, who earned an estimated $10 million for medical drama House, came in ninth place.

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