Keep in mind that when this whole thing started the judges were lesser figures. In the public eye Paula was pretty much an 80s has been (she's actually been fairly successful out of hte public eye but most of the audience didn't know that), and Simon and Randy were both "behind the throne" powers in the music industry (Simon actually invented the show, and at least at the start the record company he worked for was the one handing out the contracts to winners). And Simon got to where he was as an A&R guy, so listening to lots of people who can't sing and telling them so was nothing new to him. And the threesome made good TV as a judge panel, sacharine sweet, nice but honest, and downright brutal is TV gold in a threesome.
Really if the people would stop walking into the beartrap this whole section of the show couldn't exist. If wannabes would take the time to get honest real assessments of their talent, then there wouldn't be the crowd of hideous singers begging for Simon to insult them.
heh. They're not getting those honest assessments from their parents - that's certain!
Oh, I know your right; if the friends and family of the non-talented would tell them to "get real", when they are too blind to admit it themselves, the early portion of the show could not be sold as the circus it is.
In spite of the fact that that will not happen, I could not be that greedy if I were Simon and Fox; of course that means I would disappoint either the Fox investors or my own bank account or both, because someone else would not have my scruples.
The fact that I understand these facts does not mean that I have to appreciate them or support decisions that indulge them. We can have a different world if enough of us want one.