Originally Posted by EthnicLover

American Idol is a complete sham. I know because I went to the auditions several years ago, not for me but for someone else who is actually an incredible singer.

Long story short, each person has to audition in front of three judges (music producers) just to get the chance to audition in front of Paula, Simon and Randy. However, the "pre-judges" aren't looking for only good singers but also crappy ones so they can be made fun of in front of millions of people. The most pathetic part is that these judges actually tell the crappy singers that they can sing so as to pump them up and give them hope only to have their egos crushed and make them face ridicule at the mouth of Simon. That is why so many bad singers end up on TV, because they were set-up.

Haven't watched the show since then, which I'm sure has drastically affected their ratings.