When the last seat shuffle wrapped up, I saw it as stunt casting with a faint note of hope: that maybe, just maybe, the replacements would be able to judge singing and convey their thoughts without resorting to Kara's scale of I Don't Care What's Good, I Care What Sells. And that went away the instant they opened their mouths, then stayed on vacation for two full seasons. They weren't critiquing performances: they were trying to create new religions. Worship the person currently on stage -- and then the next, and then a sacrifice for the next, virgins preferred... Well, this country has been begging for a pantheon-based faith.

Part of the audience drop was the aging music (styles, selection, and performances -- look at the guest stars for this year's finale), some of it was the lower quality of the contestants, but more than a little had to have been 'If I have to watch one more person fall into the lake while those three tell me they're walking on water, I'm going to kill something'. And something did die: the ratings. With The Voice, one judge could be biased for their own team, but the other three could cheerfully declare svck. Idol neutrality: praise everybody. Hosannahs to the highest! And the lowest! And whoever just dropped an anvil on their own feet!

So I thought they were fired/not fired all along: we'll let you leave gracefully as long as you leave. But the laugh may have been from Jennifer asking for a 2M raise before they tossed her. Because on the Jennifer pay scale, the less you contribute, the more you should make. So clearly they had to fire her immediately because at the rate she was going, another four years would have her owning Murdoch.

As for One Direction -- X-Factor ads are already trumpeting the idea of the show finding the Stateside equivalent. The Worsters, who can scent conspiracy earlier than most, believe this means two things:

1. Groups pushed in our faces from auditions to finale.
2. Simon mentors them.