The stakes are high, the tactics are fierce and the rhetoric is heating up.

It’s the contest between “The Voice” and “The X Factor,” which escalated* after NBC abruptly moved to pit its “Voice” against Wednesday’s second-season debut of Fox’s “The X Factor.”

The two singing contests already faced a tussle* over audience votes when NBC scheduled a fall cycle of “The Voice” after it proved itself to be a solid spring performer.

Then, in a post-Labor Day surprise, NBC said it was expanding the show’s first week from Monday and Tuesday to include a third episode, which happens to air opposite the first hour of “The X Factor” bow at 8-10 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. Fox’s show also airs on Thursday.

“The X Factor” creator, executive producer and judge Simon Cowell was simply blunt* about NBC’s move.

Cowell took off the gloves* when he told a teleconference last week that he was angry “because I think there’s a kind of gentleman’s agreement.”

NBC declined to comment.

The British versions of “Voice” and “X Factor,” which haven’t aired in direct competition, offer mixed signals on who might win the U.S. bout. (SD-Agencies)