the awesome/terrifying freedom

can't fault simon for his honesty. in this article he's quoted as saying "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."

so you can bet we're going to see clay get slammed a lot in the next couple nights in simon's attempts to cement the top spot for ruben. (even though cowell admits the winner may be clay 'by a whisker.')

the article also has a great picture of the final steps in the ten-step process required to apply human coloration to clay's face. that's 1. base, 2. foundation, 3. rouge, 4. lipstick, 5. lip gloss, 6. lip liner, 7. eyeliner, 8. mascara, 9. eyelash curling, and then once all the makeup has been applied to the rubber mask, it's taken off the dummy head and carefully glued to clay's skull.