First off, let me mildly chide Jamie Vernon.  While I champion your 
eloquent defense of the band for soldiering (soldering?) on, I hasten 
to point out a seeming contradiction in your dismissal of the reality 
show.
First you state, "Having not seen the TV show I wasn't sure what his 
qualifications were for getting the gig..." but later you seem to 
have seen it in full. How else could you pronounce that, and I quote, 
"the TV show was a gratuitous  self-promotional indulgence.." and 
that " the band crossed the line into whoredom with the reality show 
idea..." which, presumaby, "cheapens the product."

With all due respect, and I say that sincerely, perhaps calling the 
final output "product" is already an admission of its cheapened 
status.

I personally got hooked in to the Rock Star series after several 
credible friends of mine raved about it to me.  Yeah, most of the 
rock singers were either bar band schlocky or woefully miscast to 
stand in for Hutch.
The show, far better than the amateur hour shows like American (and 
Canadian) Idol, had a level of professionalism that made it far more 
relevant as a real "talent search" than any of the lottery shows out 
there.
My main problem with JD Fortune, over say Marty who had real newness 
to him, was that he was a non-descript front guy who does an ace 
Hutchence impression. Fine in a cover band but where can that take 
you but backwards?

PM