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CNN Live Today

The Big Night

Aired May 21, 2003 - 10:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Oddsmakers in Las Vegas and elsewhere see a tight race between Clay and Ruben tonight on "American Idol." So let's check out the odds now with our guest Tom O'Neil. He's host of goldderby.com, and senior editor "In Touch Weekly."
Good to see you, Tom. How are you?

All right, let's get your thoughts. Forget what Simon had to say. Did anything you see or heard last night do you think will change the odds at all?

TOM O'NEIL, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY": I think that Clay had such a breakout night last night, that the odds are suddenly in his favor. We have seen it in intertops.com, by the way. It's a Web site for an offshore gambling casino in the Caribbean. Yesterday, they heavily favored Ruben by almost 2-1 odds.

HARRIS: Really?

O'NEIL: Today, they have completely flip-flopped, and they heavily favor Clay.

HARRIS: Really? What about the other two sites that are actually tracking this sort of stuff, I think the Bally's (ph) Race and Sports, and yours, goldderby.com.

O'NEIL: Right, now at Bally's, they're still holding on to the thin hope that Ruben will win here. I shouldn't say thin hope. The thin edge; they give slight odds to Ruben.

At Goldderby.com, which is my Web site, we've been running a poll for a while, Clay has always been ahead by at least 10 percent. He's leading 60-40. And "USA Today" just came out this morning with their poll, and Clay is ahead 60 percent.

And what is happening is fascinating, because I think a few days ago if you would have asked everybody, who's going to win this thing, almost unanimous consensus would have been Ruben, but what's happening now, is that we are seeing judges, like Simon, who admit in "Newsweek" this week, that he has been publicly, and privately, skewing his rah- rahing for Ruben. And this week in "In Touch Weekly," we have an interview with Randy Jackson, where he tells us, quite blatantly, that he's been rooting for Ruben, too.

HARRIS: Really?

O'NEIL: So I think people watching the show sense that Ruben enthusiasm among the judges, and in fact, the fan base has been leading toward Clay.

HARRIS: Let's talk about the fanbase real quickly. Kimberly got booted out last time. What about the people voting for her and polling for her? Where do you think they're likely to go?

O'NEIL: I don't know. That's a good one, because the people who liked Kimberly's music liked those power ballads, that is the kind of music that Clay does well with. But also, she's done really well with R&B music, which is the kind that Ruben does. I don't know where her support goes. What about you, Leon? Do you have a theory?

HARRIS: Actually, I don't. I am so totally mystified by this entire process, and I'm also mystified by the fact that you get all these people who vote for this, and you can't get them to vote in September or November of an election year. But that's takes a different topic for a different day.

O'NEIL: That's a great point.

HARRIS: What do you think about the fact that no matter what, one of these guys is going to make a big deal with some recording studio, somehow, some way. We it's going to happen with at least one of them, maybe both as well. But is there anything else we should be looking to come from the two gentlemen later on?

O'NEIL: What is interesting about both of these guys is that they are not Kelly. Kelly was very marketable. She had that all- American girl face and demeanor about her. Neither one of these guys is your average macho matinee star. So what's interesting is we're going to see everyman, whoever wins will be everyman who can achieve that great dream of stardom by pure talent, and I think that's what makes this race all the more thrilling this year, plus the suspense factor. We knew Kelly was going to win last year, everybody knew that. But tonight, look at Bally's odds, look at Intertop's odds, they're completely conflicting.

HARRIS: Well, I'll tell you something, I like the idea of the most talented person winning. I mean, that is the kind of thing that we don't often see happening in things like this. So that's great.

Thanks, Tom, of goldderby.com. We'll see how things go.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired May 21, 2003 - 10:48   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Oddsmakers in Las Vegas and elsewhere see a tight race between Clay and Ruben tonight on "American Idol." So let's check out the odds now with our guest Tom O'Neil. He's host of goldderby.com, and senior editor "In Touch Weekly."
Good to see you, Tom. How are you?

All right, let's get your thoughts. Forget what Simon had to say. Did anything you see or heard last night do you think will change the odds at all?

TOM O'NEIL, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY": I think that Clay had such a breakout night last night, that the odds are suddenly in his favor. We have seen it in intertops.com, by the way. It's a Web site for an offshore gambling casino in the Caribbean. Yesterday, they heavily favored Ruben by almost 2-1 odds.

HARRIS: Really?

O'NEIL: Today, they have completely flip-flopped, and they heavily favor Clay.

HARRIS: Really? What about the other two sites that are actually tracking this sort of stuff, I think the Bally's (ph) Race and Sports, and yours, goldderby.com.

O'NEIL: Right, now at Bally's, they're still holding on to the thin hope that Ruben will win here. I shouldn't say thin hope. The thin edge; they give slight odds to Ruben.

At Goldderby.com, which is my Web site, we've been running a poll for a while, Clay has always been ahead by at least 10 percent. He's leading 60-40. And "USA Today" just came out this morning with their poll, and Clay is ahead 60 percent.

And what is happening is fascinating, because I think a few days ago if you would have asked everybody, who's going to win this thing, almost unanimous consensus would have been Ruben, but what's happening now, is that we are seeing judges, like Simon, who admit in "Newsweek" this week, that he has been publicly, and privately, skewing his rah- rahing for Ruben. And this week in "In Touch Weekly," we have an interview with Randy Jackson, where he tells us, quite blatantly, that he's been rooting for Ruben, too.

HARRIS: Really?

O'NEIL: So I think people watching the show sense that Ruben enthusiasm among the judges, and in fact, the fan base has been leading toward Clay.

HARRIS: Let's talk about the fanbase real quickly. Kimberly got booted out last time. What about the people voting for her and polling for her? Where do you think they're likely to go?

O'NEIL: I don't know. That's a good one, because the people who liked Kimberly's music liked those power ballads, that is the kind of music that Clay does well with. But also, she's done really well with R&B music, which is the kind that Ruben does. I don't know where her support goes. What about you, Leon? Do you have a theory?

HARRIS: Actually, I don't. I am so totally mystified by this entire process, and I'm also mystified by the fact that you get all these people who vote for this, and you can't get them to vote in September or November of an election year. But that's takes a different topic for a different day.

O'NEIL: That's a great point.

HARRIS: What do you think about the fact that no matter what, one of these guys is going to make a big deal with some recording studio, somehow, some way. We it's going to happen with at least one of them, maybe both as well. But is there anything else we should be looking to come from the two gentlemen later on?

O'NEIL: What is interesting about both of these guys is that they are not Kelly. Kelly was very marketable. She had that all- American girl face and demeanor about her. Neither one of these guys is your average macho matinee star. So what's interesting is we're going to see everyman, whoever wins will be everyman who can achieve that great dream of stardom by pure talent, and I think that's what makes this race all the more thrilling this year, plus the suspense factor. We knew Kelly was going to win last year, everybody knew that. But tonight, look at Bally's odds, look at Intertop's odds, they're completely conflicting.

HARRIS: Well, I'll tell you something, I like the idea of the most talented person winning. I mean, that is the kind of thing that we don't often see happening in things like this. So that's great.

Thanks, Tom, of goldderby.com. We'll see how things go.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com