I don't care much one way or the other about "getting to know" the contestants better. I care more about the quality of the singers and the quality of the competion. And last year, AI went downhill on both counts. After Melinda was voted off I stopped watching, since in my view she was by far the most accomplished singer left at that point.

Also, I never watch the audition episodes because I strongly object to the way AI makes fun of people by putting on these oddballs who have no chance of competing. In some cases it comes across as downright cruel.

As for the celebrity mentors, I kind of like having them around and I don't think they steal any thunder from the contestants. But their "advice" is often hokey and useless and it comes across to me as rather boring.

Reading the comments of Amazon customers was very illuminating. I don't think it's fair to criticize these people for being "stupid" because they didn't understand what they were buying. I think it's more appropriate to criticize the electronics industry and retailers for not doing enough to educate the masses on what's going on in HDTV, DVDs etc these days.

Folks on this board are "smart," maybe geeky, maybe early-adopters, etc, etc. But most folks are not. Most folks don't know what they don't know, and won't know until someone tells them. Buying TVs these days is complicated, buying DVDs and players is complicated too as is evidenced by the Amazon comments. The electronics industry and the retailers need to do a better job of leading the masses into the hi-def era by explaining the details of this brave new world in terms that average folks can understand.

Chloe + Morris + baby = lame, lame, lame. The person who wrote this piece of drivel story line should be handed over to Jack for interrogation (and we all know what that would mean). But the person who approved this story line ought to be forced to watch this crap on an endless loop for three months, THEN be handed over to Jack for interrogation. Ahhhhh, I feel so much better now.

Hey Paul, you must've been a whiz in English class or else you wouldnt've felt the need to crap all over that post. I'da just thunk you'd do something more productive with your time like read a comic book and fix da mangled syntax so's us idiots would understand 'em gooder.

I agree, it's best Blake did not win, with his style he would be best served by having complete lattitude to do what he wants. I wasn't a Blake fan because his music just doesn't appeal to me. But I was very impressed by his "outside the box" style and attitude, and my guess is he will have a hardy fan base and do quite well. Best of luck to you, Blake.

A decent show last night, but not great. A decent season overall, but definitely far below the standards of previous seasons. Too bad because the season started with such a bang, but definitely fizzled after that. My biggest problem this year was all the loose ends that were never tied up, as many other posters have mentioned. Like the cameo appearances by President Logan and his wife which came across as the writers being completely out of new ideas. And this soap opera BS between Morris and Chloe -- which the writers cinsisted on carrying through to the bitter end when she went preggers -- was a real pile of crap. If I want luvy-duby I'll watch Days of Our Lives, but when I watch 24 I want action. On the plus side, Keifer Sutherland is outstanding in my book, that scene towards the end with Heller was terrific. I hope the writers read blogs like this and realize they need to do much better next year.

Yup, I was shocked at Melinda's departure too. And yup, I've lost interest in the finale and won't be watching.

Lakisha is gone. She peaked early and went downhill from there. And of course, she never listened to any advice. Good riddance to the arrogant bitch.

Overall the show was decidedly lackluster and no one gave a "wow" performance. Lakisha the arrogant bitch who doesn't listen to anyone should go. But Blake is probably on the bubble too. Melinda and Jordan are the class acts left, but somehow this season just hasn't excited me as much as past years.

Another lame episode. Some surprises a la Milo buying the farm and Papa Bauer re-emerging at the end, but the prior stuff was mosty boring. Like the continuing (boring) interaction between Chloe and Miles. And the soap operish comment from Marylin that she would be there for Jack, no matter what. What a bunch of drivel. And the whimpy grandson, jeez who needs him. And why does Papa Bauer want the kid all of a sudden? Wasn't he ready to whack him several episodes ago?