Sorry John did not understand first paragraph despite reading it several times. I must be pretty stupid.
Glad you agree on the exploitation part which in itself is enough reason to stop this crap being put on TV.
I think you are asking about how I judge people who are under pressure of lights and judges etc. Well if you cannot stand the heat get out of the kitchen. Any pro should be able to handle pressure goes with the territory. I judge folk on a number of things I would expect a top pro to have. Let me make it clear I was generalising about the standards. There are exceptions to every generalisation. I was saying that in general most singers on the show including finalists are poor in almost every dept. On the performances I have seen they fall far short of the mark I would expect for the fame and fortune they are getting. Even the top ones and show winners are in my humble opinion way below the benchmark I would set for a great top liner. Mediocrity has become the norm and the public have become apathetic to standards. There are good quality acts around certainly in the UK and Scotland in particular and I do not think the USA is any different. So why are we being subject to these very inexperienced second raters when there are better acts available? Probably because the shows are fixed and Simon says.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=687727&songID=5238055