do the producers keep "bad" singers on the show for entertainment?

You know they do ! That is where I get my laughs and I might watch the show but then I forget about it and come back weeks later to see who won.

They had radio show and their listeners calling in to vote to keep Sanjaya on and like was said above the pre teens go crazy over the younger singers.

Of course! everyone loves the Train wrecks. I mean, I watch the auditions mostly for the train wrecks.

You know, I really don't think they do that. We, the people who call in and vote for our favorites, determine who stays and who goes. The unfortunate thing that results when it comes to contestants like "Sinjaya" (probably spelled that wrong) and the previous year's "Chicken Little" (can't remember his name) is that you get teen-aged girls and ethnic support for them and they are voted in because of popularity rather than talent. I know that it's probably not right of me to point out that Sinjaya would have ethnicity on his side when it came to garnering votes, but it's something that has to be taken into consideration. He was a really sweet kid and adorable, but he couldn't sing for sh*t!

They had radio show and their listeners calling in to vote to keep Sanjaya on and like was said above the pre teens go crazy over the younger singers.

Of course they keep the bad singers on there for ratings. I know last season I would watch it every week to when Sanja would get voted off. He lasted a long time on there. I wonder how many bad singers will be on the show this season. Last season they had about three of them in the top 12, maybe more.