So who’s it going to be: Clay or Ruben?

I want it to be Ruben


Look at this article I just found on MSN though its probably true too

http://www.msnbc.com/news/914098.asp?0cv=KB10&cp1=1

SIMON’S NEVER BEEN much for chitchat, but he’s particularly on edge now because of something strange occurring onstage. Kimberley Locke, who most everyone believes is a long shot to make it to the finals, is singing the pants off Ruben Studdard. Clay Aiken isn’t at his best, but Studdard is really off. His rendition of Peabo Bryson’s “If Ever I’m in Your Arms Again” is so obviously uninspired that the judges are clearly worried. They even tell him to take off his distracting hat and sing again, even though the judges almost never comment on performers before the show. “We have a problem,” Cowell is overheard carping outside the soundstage later. “I want Ruben to be in the final two, and Kimberley just had a great rehearsal.”
By the next night, Cowell has gotten his way. America has voted—or at least 19 million “Idol” worshipers have—and it gives Locke the boot. Minutes after the show, Aiken is in the famous “Red Room,” crying. He can barely speak to a reporter. “Um, let’s wait just a minute,” he says, ultimately taking a half hour to steady himself.





Studdard is as close to becoming 350 pounds of emotional Jell-O as you’ll ever want to see. Locke is actually the most composed; she’s expected this all along. “The judges play to who they want to win,” she told NEWSWEEK the night before. “I believe they want Ruben. Simon says that every opportunity he gets.” And where is Simon? Sitting on a metal bench outside Stage 36, smoking a Kool menthol and doing what he does best—playing the cynic. He’s not moved at all by the hysterics inside. “If there’s tears,” he says, “it’s tears of relief.” Cowell is feeling relieved himself. While Ruben was clearly better on camera than he was during rehearsal, Kimberley still outsang him. Yet Cowell muzzled his praise for her and spared Ruben his trademark venom. “When there’s only three left, you are going to be slightly tactical,” Cowell admits. “What you’re trying to do, if you can, is to tell the audience who you want to be in the final. You’re not getting accurate judging. You’re not.”