Failure Rules?

Anticipation is the word that comes to me when the new season of American Idol starts up. This year especially, what with Simon gone and all. I really like the change. Steven Tyler, as strange looking as he is, and Jennifer Lopez are really enjoyable. Plus there were subtle changes in the tryouts that made for entertaining watching. I guess you could say I am an American Idol fan.
One of the best things to me about American Idol during the "live" part of the show, is the lack of hatred/pettiness/dissent/vulgarity/confrontation between contestants that can be found on some other reality type shows. (Well, omitting the Simon and Paula thing.) Unfortunately, during all the shows that lead up to the "Live" shows, the producers choose to put a lot of the emotionally embarrassing stuff in. It's especially profuse during Hollywood Week. When the camera lingers on someone in emotional melt down I scoff at the TV, "Quit your blubbering."
There's one irksome contestant, a skinny, unsightly young woman, that the camera just kept focusing on. Her trials and tribulations were the magnet for so much camera time, I kept wondering why? Why? When it was time for her solo, I thought she botched it so terribly that, Thank God, that would be the end of her. I was so wrong. When she was in a room of contestants that were either in or out, there she was in her neurotic glory alongside some of my favorites. NOOOOO!
Either they were out, or she was in! Reality TV sucks sometimes.
It made me think of my other favorite "Reality" shows. The powers that be think that watching people fail makes for good tv watching, i.e., great ratings. Do we as humans watching humans really love failure? Does watching losers makes us feel superior, and when the one outstanding last man standing wins, it makes it that much sweeter? What is their reasoning?
I know when I am watching the elimination judging on Project Runway, and one of the contestants is nice and the other is a bitch or worse, the nice one gets kicked off.
I know this has to be the producer's choice. Not only that, the challenges are so tough, they seem to incubate distress and failure. I don't watch Survivor, just the name alone implies it's gonna be a bumpy ride and everyone is going for it.
But Top Chef and Project Runway should be about creativity and implementation, not survivor skills. But that doesn't stop the producers from selecting the most excruciating challenges. Why can't they give the contestants and extra few hours to create and execute perfection? I think because they love failure. Too bad.
American Idol has its sight set on the perfect failure. That scrawny young woman.
Her buggy eyes, withered face and scraggly hair over rule her voice. I barely remember what she sounds like. And I am highly suspicious of why in the hell she was chosen with so many gracious, talented, good looking young contestants. I hope she isn't the thorn in my American Idol side the whole season. Yikes!