Here is my prediction. Let me put it in an envelope....Here, there it is hanging from a string...

1.Ehud Segev
2.Jim Callahan
3.Gerry McCambridge
4.Guy Bavli
5.Eran Raven
6.Jason Scott
7.Jim Karol
8.Angela Funovitz
9.Wayne Hoffman
10.Jan Bardi

I can see Ehud winning this as well. I like the guy. He's very good, but again, there's no way Gerry will get that far.

I have my ideas as to what will happen, but I don't want to post them for fear of the self fullfilling thing to catch hold. I foresee something no one has anticipated...Something BIG!!!!!

Slim King, do you sense a disturbance in the force?

Do you think our friend Ray is going to win?

Actually I've met several mentalists with larger than average families. Not sure what the connection is...

I was suprised to see the number of contestants from PA. Between PA and Israel you have 1/2 the playing field.

This thing should have more pressure than on OCEAN FLOOR SCUBA TRIP
Something will give eventually....Then watch out!

Segev will get first place, no doubt about it.

Yup, there are going to be some surprised people here.

I'm with Tony - you are forgetting who is voting for the contestants...

I still say, even if she doesn't place first on the show - the biggest winner will be AF. Glad I knew her before she will become a megastar.....!

Ehud is a great guy.
(As are all of the other performers)

It has been a pleasure to meet both him and his very charming girlfriend.

-Jim

Well I have my knive and fork and a napkin around my neck, I hope I get a chance to eat my words.

Either way good fortune Jim.

Jim is a legend and has Irish blood...he will win..one way or the other he will win...

Jim Callahan and Jim Karol are VERY STRONG. Angela is a beauty and immeadiately likable. These will do well with the public.

It depends on who does the real voting. If the hosts do the voting until the final X, then the audience votes, it could be real bad. If the audience votes for all the rounds and it is a true accounting of the calls, it could be real interesting.

No, the voting has not really been addressed. What has been said is that the viewers will determine the winner, but that does not happen until the end of the series.

If the audience votes through all the rounds, I'm afriad that pure talent will play a minor role in determining the winner. At the end of the day, these are primarily popularity contests (ie; Taylor Hicks). If the hosts do the voting till the final round, (love 'em or hate 'em), you'd have to think that Angel and Geller will recognize a true original and will reward said individual.

Perhaps the opposite is true as far as Geller and Angel are concerned

If it's live then NBC will probably ask the viewers to vote.. will get them more money.

How does the voting work over a four hour time span from Eastern to West Coast time? I'm really not familiar as to how the other TV shows do it.

You'd have to hope that's not the case. The key word being "hope". While the public at large is clueless as to what consitutes "original mentalism", Geller and Angel (although he may not practice it himself), will be the only people there who can RECOGNIZE it. There are certainly many factors that could argue for why that won't matter (network pressure, etc.) Simon Cowell did not want Talor Hicks to win "American Idol"; Hicks did anyway, as America found him the most endearing.