jeffp said "This is the sixth season for the show. Anybody who auditions knows exactly what they are getting into.

You want cruel? Play in the bars."

I'd add: You want cruel? Go audition for a Broadway show or a recording company.

It is (or should be by now) a well known fact that, of the ca. 100,000 people who audition for American Idol each season, only a handful will get any air time, and those are primarily a) some of the ones that have already advanced to the Hollywood second round or the semifinals, and (mostly) b) the ones who will make for the most entertaining TV by way of being outrageous or ludicrous.   Many very good, very presentable singers are turned away -- not even allowed to be seen by Cowell, Jackson, and Abdul -- because they are already seasoned professionals (e.g., performing on cruise ships, off Broadway, at local clubs, etc.) who come off as "too polished." American Idol is first and foremost a TV show. Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe have outright admitted that.   What makes millions tune in every week is not a parade of good looking people with beautiful voices and well-developed stage presence (i.e., a talent show). It's a "cast of characters" (some included for comic relief, some to tug at your heartstrings). It's also the chance to watch frogs transform into princes and princesses.   

It's also about "pop" music (broadly defined to include some kinds of country, r & b. rock, etc.).   You are not going to find the next Loreena McKinnitt or Gillian Welch or Lyle Lovett or Bob Dylan there.

As for Idol becoming more cruel this year, I tend to agree.   But I understand that the contestants are counseled throughout the process about what's involved and encouraged to withdraw if they don't want to subject themselves to extreme criticism or ridicule. Some prefer to have their "15 minutes of fame" - even if it's a negative fame - over obscurity.

My biggest beef with Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell, though, is with their "advising" so many people never to sing again or calling them "tone deaf."   
It is obvious to me that a lot of these 'singers' could probably carry a tune if they tried to do a normal-range song with a recognizable melody instead of trying to emulate the uber-melismatic show-off runs of a Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston 'arrangement' of a song. (Sometimes when you "can't carry a tune" it's because you don't actually KNOW the tune!)
Also, there is -- or should be -- a world of difference between telling someone "You don't have the talent to be a music star" and saying "You should never sing again."   
Far more of the good that music (singing) does is by way of enriching the lives of the singers themselves than in pleasing audiences, and in providing rich emotional experiences for garden-variety folks than for filling concert halls. If yo' mama loves to hear you sing, dammit, keep singing for her - and for yourself.   

Vive la folk music -- the music of, by, and for the folks.

Genie