it's allowing me to discover that I'm truly a Simon fan based on his edited responses and the reactions he gives to this seemingly never-ending douche-parade

I'll argue for it. What we have here are extremely short and concentrated instances in which a human being has an absolutely unrealistic concept of themselves and the world they live in, which in turn causes them to behave in a hilariously earnest and inept manner. I believe it is the derivation of derisive pleasure from these instances of delusion--regardless of their context--that embodies the spirit of poe. It is for this reason that competitive performance type shows are always my favorite type of shows during the audition stage, and my least favorite shows during the latter half in which these precious instances are eliminated and only the despicable context remains.

Sorry Baleen, watching untalented people have their hopes shattered is just too addictive.

I love the huge man that comes in and neck handles the lingerers though.

He basically scruffed them like a pair of wayward kittens.

Yes, because those with "music degrees" have traditionally shaped the pop music landscape.

what we have to remind ourselves of is that this isn't quite MUSIC-music - they're looking for very specific kinds of singers. pop singers, to be exact. and pop is very derivative by nature.

Simon Cowell's explained, in so many words, that he doesn't actually like music. He's a soulless fuck, but fair play I suppose, at least he's not pretending to be anything other than a philistine with a knack for making dollar.

No clue what you're going on about, Harriet. If you want instances of "baroque counterpoint" you should probably switch on the radio - the basic principles of counterpoint are employed in pretty much every pop and rock song out there.

Thematic key-changes, song length, tonic complexity, genre-enforced orchestration; those, those suck nowadays, most of the time. Pop songs sound "simple" because they focus on catchy, simple melodies - like Fur Elise, or the Habanera - but more often than not the techs writing the songs are really strong composers.

If pop sounds derivative to you, that sucks, but it's kinda your fault for not being able to see passed the arrangement. Or really, it's the consumers fault. If only everyone was as clever as you are! If only the plebs had music degrees!