the awesome/terrifying freedom

hoo boy we've got conspiracy theories comin' out the wazoo. scott emailed me with his latest crop of insights:

that clay peeked over ryan's shoulder at the card before the commercial break and feigned surprise when ruben's name was announced.

that ryan seacrest is a tool for stating the wrong numbers twice. first it's 13,000. then it's 1,300. now fox says 130,000. i like using that word 'tool.' makes me feel like a frat boy.

that the suits tampered with the voting system, keeping clay's number busy while ruben's line was free and clear.

maurice points out that he may have spotted clay's mom in the audience with a rainbow purse strap. it's the final straw. pflag anyone?

looks like we're going to need to get price waterhouse to come and deliver the results in a briefcase like they do for the oscars.

it wouldn't surprise me to discover that fox had pulled some strings to get the results they wanted, but part of me just doesn't care. clay has all the exposure he needs. it's clear from tamyra's success and nikki mckibbin's disappearance that the final ranking has little bearing. fox knew this, and also knew that the vote would be really close - the only difference between the winner and the runner up to -them- is that they have to pour way more money into the winner. who are they willing to pour 1 million into? the radio friendly voice.

it will be interesting to see whose cd sells more. i'm betting on clay. regardless of how they sound, there's not really any competition between a soaring simon and garfunkel timeless classic and a hackneyed formulaic retread of an irish pretty-boy band's pedestrian strain.

really the luckiest person in all of this is frenchie davis. she has the talent to sustain a career in showbiz, and must be thanking her lucky stars that she posed for 'daddy's little girl.' who knew at the time that fortuitous decision would not only land her a media blitz, but would also get her out of that byzantine contract. the perfect carrer-starting combo.