Auto-Tune is getting way too popular nowadays, as can be read in this part of Wikipedia:
In 2009, Time magazine quoted an unnamed Grammy-winning recording engineer as saying, "Let's just say I've had Auto-Tune save vocals on everything from Britney Spears to Bollywood cast albums. And every singer now presumes that you'll just run their voice through the box."
The American television series Glee has become noted for regular use of the system in its songs. E! Online's Joal Ryan criticized the show for its "overproduced soundtrack", in particular, complaining that many songs rely too heavily on the software.
In 2010, there was controversy when British television reality TV show, The X Factor had been accused of using Auto-Tune to improve the voices of contestants, especially Gamu Nhengu. Simon Cowell ordered a ban on Auto-Tune for future episodes.
Having grown up with Auto-Tuned pop songs it's hard for me to recognize if Auto-Tune has been used for a recording, in some of the tracks of Glee I clearly hear glitching due to overuse of the Auto-Tune effect. But when it isn't used that extensively I have no clue how to figure out if it has been used or not.
From an Audio Production perspective it would be nice to know the difference between a normal recording and an carefully Auto-Tuned recording, how can I recognize this difference rather than being deceived?
Is this effect needed to compete with the current top songs,
or are there songs that don't use Auto-Tuning in the charts?