As to did it ever have cred, well it used to have some honesty when it took waitresses and school teachers and students and grocery clerks and gave them a genuine shot at a career that there is no way they would have had.

But then it started promoting the professionals who just had not clicked - liked Daughtry and Taylor and, to a degree, Carrie. It glossed over most of their history to make them look less experienced, but there was no kidding around, there were people seriously involved in thier careers and some had not just gotten the “big break”.

This year they are going far behond that now -** SPOILER ALERT ** presenting at least 5 people that have put out professional albums before. IPart ofthe charm for me was watching people grow and improve. you might not have liked Clay Aiken, but he changed it up every show and if he made a mistake he learned from it.When you have professionals compete, they don’t think they have to learn, they are finished products and they knock out the amatuers early on. Melinda started out last season great, but she stayed great and never changed. In the end, I think it was her downfall. Melinda was a back up singer, now we are having mass of professional solo performers on the show.