I think what kills this season is the pre-hype "most talented top 12 ever!" by Simon.
Because of it, many of us just expect too much, and unfortunately so do the contestants (i think it put a lot of pressure on the contestants)

if Simon just said "i think it will be a great top 12, but still we have to see how they are doing later", it would be different.

I dunno, that's just my take