Me, too. I like Clay. And I'm very glad he convinced my favorite, Kelly Clarkson, to follow him to The Firm. Another former contestant who escaped the AI machine is the ex-Marine, Josh Gracin. His first country album is doing reasonably well, and one of his songs from the album made it to #1 on the country charts.
I hear Josh's auctioneer-type song on the local country station all the time. I know he got snarky with Simon, but I liked him anyway! :-)
PS - I saw the Kelly/Clay show last year, and it was terrific. They're both naturals, and seem to be grounded young people.