Big Jim: I've noticed that you and others can get away (thankfully) with talking about the American Idol con-machine on this board, whereas I seem not to be able to get away with it without a verbal lashing. That's OK...I'll take the heat for everyone.

Also, this contest was billed as a contest, not a lottery. If AI failed to judge/measure (by whatever minimal means they chose) any songs, and rather just took the money, then it is an illegal lottery. They were not allowed to ignore ANY submissions. They could minimally judge submissions, but if any were ignored completely, they have a problem. Because they REQUIRED a song submission plus entry fee to be eligible for this contest, they had to be extremely careful in their conduct of this contest. Other people are investigating the facts and it is plausible that some submissions were not heard. Not proven yet. Maybe won't be. But this is the part of the contest I am watching.

Hear me on this...I don't have a horse in the "amateur vs. pro" race...I understood from the get-go that this contest was open to pretty much anyone. Brian's early remarks to me that I and others like me didn't deserve to have our homemade entries even heard, even though AI invited them, well, that was as close as I got to this particular debate and he opened it up. I understand that jpf runs songwriting contests and this AI thing is probably a concern to someone who conducts songwriting contests.