[ClearBlueSky]

I'm not watching- but my sister has from the beginning and I've heard ALL about it.
It's a 'no brainer'--white female wins first contest.
Black male wins this one.
Either way, both have had massive public exposure and will get started on careers somewhere because of it.

[Yardstick]

Regardless of which singer wins the phone-in plebiscite, Clay is going to be the one with industry people burning up his phone lines. Ruben's a likable teddy bear with a pretty good voice, but Clay has star written all over him. His voice is better, his stage presence is better, his persona is intriguing... he's just got more of that natural X-factor that stars have. There are a thousand and one Ruben clones out there -- many with better voices, some that are even chubbier and cuddlier -- but Clay is a unique quanitity. Clay has won this thing hands down, whether the 1-800 tally registers it that way or not.