Personally, I like both Chris and Taylor. I just think Chris is the annointed one and will win the "competition".
Taylor's kind of music -- SOUL and BLUES appeals to a small but profitable subset of Americans ( and I'm willing to be corrected if I'm wrong ).
Taylor will not be like Kellie Clarkson, or Mariah Carey. Heck, I don't even think he'll appeal to the Carrie Underwood crowd ( cross-over country/pop).
But Taylor WILL have a cult following. Very similar to the Grateful Dead.
So, Taylor is my man because I PERSONALLY LOVE Blues and Soul ( yep. Joe Cocker, Ray Charles, BB King). But that kind of music just isn't as big today as it used to be. That's just the way it is.
It would be better then in the whole scheme of things for Taylor NOT TO WIN and simply go straight to the studio and make his album. I guarantee that they will be snapped up very quickly by the cult following he already has amassed ( heck, his self-produced CDs with his own compositions are selling like hotcakes in eBay for as high as (get this ) --- $400 !!!). Some people think he's a genius like Van Gogh.
I can't stand to see him win and then have to sing some schmaltzy Dianne Warren composed coronation song like -- A MOMENT LIKE THIS. Now *THAT* would be a nightmare.
About it, too.