"God Bless the Child" on Idol?

I thought Tyler's comment about Lauren winning a round because she was prettier was hilarious but also quite insightful perhaps in that it really is mostly a popularity contest at this point more so than who is better or the best.

Or as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson would say in his infinite wisdom:

"It doesn't matter who the best singer is!"

If cuteness is a factor not only should Hailey be there but her voice, attitude and presence should have had her in finale. These two in finals are vanilla voiced with no where near the vocal range and talent you would think merits a true "American Idol". But sadly they are about as much of a joke as the music industry as a whole.

More talent and diversity than any other seaason. Consider the voters and it's totally understandable why the last 2 standing are Lauren and Scotty. I'm not the biggest country fan and I'm turned off by Scotty's at times kitchy style, but his voice is really extraordinary (at 17 years old no less).

Scotty Too Hotty, warp 10......NOW!

My 11 year old put it very succinctly as she watched the finale. "This isn't American Idol, its American Teen Idol".

That is the show's viewer demographic and they play to it. Randy's simplistic, moronic feedback (In It to win it"). Jennifer's cloying personality, her um, music video's ....and Steven's placating "I loved it" blurbs are not just teen friendly, they are intended to appeal to that crowd. Haley was fun to watch because she improved so dramatically, but listening to the three stooges (judges) was excruciating this year so I opted out once she was shown the door.

The show was already headed to "Teen Idol" status before Simon left. After last year's down ratings they finished the transformation. They dumbed down the feedback, lowered the age of entry and got what they wanted... Young viewers, young winners and content that makes it difficult to watch for 20 and ups.