cifra2: I think that's what the show's all about- having 16 new Spanish Britneys and Justines. But as much as I agree that it's all a marketing ploy, I have to say that it can't be denied that it is an avenue to discover new talent. The pop songs can be little headaches sometimes (geez, Nika of Batch 2 is the most obvious victim), but some of these kids do have talent. This becomes more obivous as the show ends and the contestants' solo albums come out. The contestants who have talent eventually surface, leaving their inferior classmates behind. From batch 1, we've seen how Bisbal achieved trans-Atlantic success. From batch 2, we've seen how Vega and her talent as a tue musician and composer was made known. of course, during the show, those talents were quite supressed because they had to sing the sappy pop songs. But the moment of truth comes after all the concerts and all the marketing hype. Time could only tell.