That depends on if you think people are naturally rational and without bias.

In reality, people often have to be forcibly dethroned from their views. Having a judge say no thanks will not have the appropriate effect.

The issue is emotional commitment, not accurate assessment.

You know that they intentionally put through and hyped up the worst singers, right? Like some kid who showed up for the first round on a lark was told "congrats you're great!! You're coming back for the next round when the judges are here," did the whole profiling/backstory thing like they'd do if you were a good singer, and intentionally set you up to fail in the worst way. Just so Simon can make a joke at your expense.

Tail dog wagging. They prominently feature terrible singers because Simon is brutally honest, not the other way around.

Whether or not the singers were hyped up for entertainment doesn't change the fact that they seriously auditioned, unless you think they tried out ironically for the lulz.

In the first case, rudeness can be helpful and in the second case it won't hurt their feelings. Seems like a fine choice to me.

What depends? on..what?! I don't understand.. (I really tried) uh.. I don't understand your last sentence either.

Assuming you meant 'But you have to be brutal to have the desired effect of getting through to the terrible singers, plain honesty - considerate, respectful honesty[0] wouldn't work', well, he didn't get through, did he. Instead they thought he must be just being rude deliberately and didn't mean what he said. He made it impossible for them to hear him. Mostly.

Anyway.. I was making another point, not that Simon became notable 'simply because he was honest' but because he was rude; whether it was effective (at getting terrible singers to realize they're terrible) is another thing.

[0] See the book Crucial Conversations, it's largely about how to be honest with people, in important situations people usually aren't, while being respectful and considerate.

Whether or not he is being rude depends on your interpretation of his intentions based on assumptions about how the performer will react.

Are you implying those people are auditioning ironically and know they are bad singers?

It does not seem rude to me to try and change the course of someone's life who is _drastically_ underperforming.

Is the definition of rude hurting someone's feelings? That doesn't follow the implication that rudeness shouldn't happen; sometimes people need their feelings hurt to inspire positive change.

Are you implying those people are auditioning ironically and know they are bad singers? - No. I have absolutely no idea why you ask that.

It does not seem rude to me to try and change the course of someone's life who is _drastically_ underperforming. - Leaving aside what underperforming could mean - so, if he means well, it's just not possible for Cowell to be rude, no matter what he says? I think that's just not what the word means to people (apart from you).

That doesn't follow the implication that rudeness shouldn't happen; - I can't parse that, sorry.

I read something recently along the lines of "People who brag about being 'brutally honest' are usually much more into the 'brutal' part than the rest of it."

Yeah, I've heard people talk like it's a huge virtue the way they go around being mean to people, 'daring' to speak their minds.