Christina Aguilera impressed by Britney Spears

Christina Aguilera has praised her pop peer Britney Spears for her stint as a talent show judge on The X Factor.

The Beautiful hitmaker, a panellist on rival TV contest The Voice, rose to fame as a child star alongside Spears on kids' show The Mickey Mouse Club, and Aguilera admits she is pleased to see the Toxic hitmaker sharing her knowledge and experience of the pop industry with singing wannabes.

She tells news show Extra, "Britney's so talented. I mean she's a pro. She's been at it for a number of years now. We did grow up together."

Aguilera is also excited to see how Mariah Carey will be as a judge on the upcoming season of American Idol, following her appointment earlier this month (Jul12).

She says, "All these artists are coming together from all the experience that we've had and we're being able to take that and feed this new wave of talent coming up... It's actually cool that these strong women are joining the club and they're gonna have fun."

The second season of The X Factor, featuring new judges Spears and Demi Lovato, is set to premiere this autumn (12).