If you read this blog, you might remember that I was initially excited about the trio's fresh approach and sassiness during last season's audition rounds. They were everything I wanted them to be - funny, compassionate, direct and in full possession of their musical faculties - in other words, they knew how to be blunt without being cruel, and seemed to base most of their decisions on actual talent. And they were unashamed about using their own musical expertise in their reasoning.

But then the season's live shows started, and they completely screwed it up. Suddenly, they were lobbing big fat critical softballs, burying every bit of justified criticism in layers of "But I love your hair!" or "I still love you!" And then they reserved any real criticism for just one or two contestants, like Haley, leaving the others bathed in insecurity and maddening hyberbole.

In other words - they sucked as judges. Pretty hair? Yeah, J.Lo and Steven are champs at that. But being really useful? Suckage.

And now they're back to suck some more. Unless:

- They can get used to risking "looking nice": One of the issues I had with two current artists being on this show in the first place was that they'd be afraid to be real, less it cheese off their fans. And I think that because they're human, they lost their nerve once they started getting to know these kids, and they didn't want to hurt any feelings. But you know who will hurt their feelings? Critics. And the public who wants good music, not the work product of coddled kids who are never made to have self-awareness about any of their flaws. Take a breath. Everyone needs reality sometimes. Even nice cute kids.

— Jimmy Iovine joins the panel: He's sorta nutty, but the producer, who runs the rehearsals and gives advice to the singers before their performances, pulls no punches about telling you the truth as he sees it. If he doesn't like your song choice, you know it. If he thinks you're not hitting the notes, he'll tell you. He doesn't want to put out a crappy product more than anyone else, and to protect the brand, he's less concerned about protecting little feelings. We need him at that table.

What do you think?