Prediction: both Kady Malloy and the kick-boxer girl from Oregon will make the top 10.

Will AI miss some really quality artists? Yep
Will the artists who passed the auditions be liked by everyone? Nope
Will the big winner be liked by everyone? Nope
Is the polling really fair since everyone can vote 50 times for their favorite of the night? Nope
Is it pretty much a "personality" popularity contest? Yep. (remember Sanjaya?)

However, one thing that AI does is provide a way (albeit faulted) for an unknown artist to quickly get into the public eye and get a record deal. Since the labels stopped putting money into artist development some 20+ years ago, I don't know of a better way for a new artist to get that opportunity.

Ed McMahan had "Star Search" for a while, but it's been a while since that show was out as well.

Larry
http://www.audibleresponse.com
http://www.myspace.com/larrywilliamsproductions
...now writing/producing with Natascha: http://www.myspace.com/nataschacorrigan