I honestly don't see what the big deal is, I don't mind if the judges have a favourite or not.

The only thing I didn't like in previous years was the press conference before the final in season 3; I thought that was the wrong time for Jason to decide that Chris' ice hockey experience was unfair and to rant about it. He had weeks in which to say that and it was bad enough that Suzanne had to stand up for Chris. I remember being seriously peed off about that.

I rememeber being quite amused at how Suzanne, his competitor, publically defended Chris against Jason.
She's always been quite forward and fair about her opinions re DOI, seen her on this morning a few times and she's very good.
I think it's a bit much when the judges come out and say who they want to win but I don't think it affects things all that much. I have no problem with Hayley or any of the excontestants saying who they want to win, why shouldnt they?

Standard practice I'm afraid for the judges to give conferences.