I watched and I loved it! And coming from someone who doesn't have kids nor is planning on having any kids that's big. Before it even began, I asked my DH if we had kids, would you let them do this? He said "Not a chance in hell. The parents who let their kids do this are just big DAWs; those beauty pageant type parents." Imagine his delight when Taylor showed up.
I too don't like the idea of the $20,000 attached to the star. I think $1000 or even $5000 would have been a much more reasonble number and the kids would have worked just as hard for it.
I am not a real sentimental person, but holy heck, there were times I wanted to reach the tv screen and hug some of those kids. The little one especially.