The popularity-based voting (half the score is based on this the other half on the judges) is definitely the worst aspect, but the good aspects shine through in spite of it. On the last episode a great contestant tragically got bumped because all the rappers are voting for "master p" (who's spent 20 hours practicing compared to 100+ by everyone else), but there were still two things to admire even in this: Giselle, who was bumped, showed what a great spirit she had, and this week the judges were scolding the audience. One virtually flipped off the audience who was booing him for actually doing his job (the audience boos everytime someone is criticized--hmmmm, reminds me of the old Solo...) and the head judge gave a small lecture to the public on why they shouldn't be voting for "master P".

So even the soap opera aspect has some virtue, but the real joy in the show is watching people like Drew Lachey.

I watched for awhile last season but was turned off by public popularity based voting. What I do enjoy is the fact that the participants seem to put in real effort and demonstrate improvement in technique. This last is the appeal for me.