I also find it bizarre that on a songwriting forum where the accent should be on home produced stuff so much attention is devoted to AI.
I detest all these amateur shows. In recent years there has been a spate of them on both sides of the pond. What really annoys me is the exploitation of the people who obviously have "problems" who are made a fool of on national TV.
I have had my fingers burned for daring to say that these IDOL shows were all glorified Karaoke singers with little or no talent and Simon Cowell was a crook who has done nothing but harm to our profession.
Marc I am afraid you and I are in the minority but it is nice to meet a kindred spirit.