Call me old school, jaded, just plain old, whatever. But I have played with people far more talented than any of those you mention. The thing they lacked was a lame tv show, huge dollars, tours related to the lame tv show, professional songwriters, stylists, and the mega-apparatus of a star making machine.
Idol makes me barf.
My wife loves it, though.
You know, it’s the old “one man’s garbage is another man’s art” thing, I guess.;)