The originator of a thread has to realize that a thread is like a child who moves away from home--you have very little control.   A thread is of course much worse, since after your first posting you have absolutely no control.   Even over people who disagree with your entire premise--which indeed I don't.   I think Susan has a very good chance, for reasons I've noted earlier.

As for why the thread topic has drifted, from time to time;
1) Welcome to the real world,    and
2) Who, pray tell, brought Barry Manilow into the thread in the first place?


And the thread originator might want to develop a bit thicker skin, rather than taking offense when I noted that her continued assertion that Susan is the best thing since sliced bread is not exactly unexpected.

After all, I didn't say that somebody who evidently still thinks the Manilow's "Magic" was a variation on the Chopin might not be the best person to judge quality in music.   Or point out that Manilow, who was one of the top jingle writers, responsible for "I'm stuck on Band-Aid, cause Band-Aid's stuck on me" and other similar contributions to US cultural life, knew exactly what he was doing, in order to hit his target audience. So he dumbed down the Chopin to their level--not exactly theme and variation.

Nothing wrong with repetition--after all it's the basis of rock. Songs like "Satisfaction" have their fair share. But "Satisfaction" has a lot more going for it than the insistent beat. If anybody listened to the verses, it is a perfect satire on commercialism. Rather than the overblown emotional twaddle of the typical Manilow offering--"Magic", to pick a purely theoretical example.

I also didn't point out that somebody who evidently endorses: "All comparisons are odious" had no problem herself with a comparison earlier in the thread: "Paige is good but doesn't have the passion in the song that Betty does."

So you see, it could have been worse.