This is very well written, thank you.

Dej, London,

100% Claire. Alex in second place. Easy.

Chris, Harrogate,

Lee lied on his CV - what was he doing for the 2 years he said he was at College? Amazingly, nobody asked the question. Exaggerating one's CV is one thing, lying about it is another. I was amazed he wasn't fired.

Ian, Bristol,

Yawn. Let’s shake things up. Stick them on an island. Let the BB wasters audition for Don Giovanni. Get the "Got Talent" delusionals out selling used bog-roll. Or: send each lot to its house, market etc. - in front of fake cameras. They can emerge after 6 weeks and wonder why nobody's heard of them.

joe, birmingham, uk

If suralan really wants to know if they are any good, he'd use something like makemeabettermanager.com to get the views of people who worked with them in a real environment - their colleagues from their last job.

Tony Canelloni, camberley,

I'd have to say Alex or Clare - on basis I think they'd be the easiest to get on with. Lee would irritate me like crazy and Helene seems lazy but that might just be the way it is edited. I couldn't help feeling sorry for her in the board room though.

Sonia Crawford, London, England

I think Sir Alan Sugar will be unable to decide on an outright winner and give the job to two of them on a trial basis in order to determine who he actually wants over a longer period of time- say six months or so.

James, Manchester,

I really hope Lee wins. Apart from being charming and honest, his appointment would blow a hole through the ridiculous 'grads req'd to clean loos' culture Tony Blair in his infinite wisdom has created.

Vai, Lee!

Roisin, Manchester,

With greatest respect to Kate from Southampton, Lucinda was a dingbat who had no place being in the show for as long as she was. Raef, on the other hand would have given great vfm on the interview show and I think should have gone all the way to the final where he would have been bested by .....Alex

Charles, Bristol,

I think some of my funds has shares in competitors of Amstrad's, so I think he should definitely employ all twelve (or however many) contestants who started the series.

Ian Kemmish, Biggleswade, UK

Yeah, I'm for Raef too, but too be honest I doubt Sugar could bear employing somebody obviously smarter than him. My instincts tell me either Alex or Claire will snatch it. I didn't know until last week that Lee was only semi-literate, but I wanted Helene to win anyway.

john, Taipei,

With editing, any of them could look good or bad. Once you accept it's all a set-up, it becomes entertaining.

That said, I'd hire none of them, they all seem incompetent backstabbers.

Arthur, Newcastle,

Then there were 4 Motor mouth Claire who can sell but that is all.Helene who has done nothing.Lee shot himslef in foot with CV. Here's to Alex. Only 24, a big opportunity. Go for it.!

J Evans, High Wycombe,

Claire to win! She's bright, quick and can look after herself. Alex is a pretty but bland whinger, Lee has shown his insecurities and would be out of his depth, and Helene (although she's grown on me) still hasn't shown any 'flashes of brilliance' as coined by the infamous not-so-good Jewish boy!

Jessica, London,

Sorry, what Times journos do not seem to be experts on is the subject of "Outstanding business talent". Strange to tell to them, obviously, is the fact that the ability to sell is not in itself sufficient for anything above shop-assistant level. Mouthy Claire is (as Sir Alan says) just noisy...

Catherine, Oxford, UK

Come on Helene!

Ella, Edinburgh,

It should have been Raef :(

Su, Birmingham, UK

I would like to see Lee win proving that you don't need a degree or a stupid job title to get noticed. He may have some rough edges but he can be moulded to fit into Sir Alan Sugar's organisation.
Overall, I think the quality of candidates has been pretty poor.

Paul, West Midlands,

Bruce Bannerman?

That's any amusing cross, Hulk alter ego and love rat.

JM, Leeds, UK

It's all about the thrill of the chase - the winner will disappear and work for one of Sir Alan's underlings

Chris Jay, Whitchurch, Shropshire

I still want Raef to win! I demand a recount. But if we have to choose one of these, I choose, uh, Claire or Alex. Don't ask why, I don't really know, myself.

Lucinda spent her whole time complaining about what she couldn't do, she never showed what she could do. Liked her hats though!

Kat, Dundee,

I'm sad! I care! Go Lee!

Nancy Wood, London,

All these reality shows are similar - great entertainment but who really cares about the end result? Whether it be a million pound record contract (in reality 1 hit single) or apprentice to Alan Sugar (in reality working with one of his underlings) its allabout the fun of the chase!

Chris Jay, Whitchurch, Shropshire

I would love to see some of the 20,000 that didn't make it. Little wonder that I now live in France. I feel sorry for Sir Alan. Not, I'm fairly sure, a sentiment that many will have had. The programme should be called, "Make a silk purse"

Mathew , Perpignan, France

Why, whatever the subject, is there always someone asking "do we care"? I would like to know why there are so many sad people who don't appear to care about anything, always asking the same sad question. I am interested enough to care, and I think Claire should win.

Edna Greenacre, Grimsby, England

Do any of them really deserve to be paid a hundred grand.... after watching each of them in action, as good an entertainment it may be, I can get 10 times a better candidate for half that amount of money.

D Jones, London, UK

I hope its Lee and silence all those people who bash him for not having a degree and different accent...

Sam, Manchester,

But Lucinda was gorgeous! Probably too capable to be the apprentice. Like Raef, she was courteous and at interview, was not humbled by the "august".

She knocked the rest of them into a cocked hat (perhaps that should be cocked beret).

leila, manchester, uk

"Who should win The Apprentice". are we really sad enough to care?

Marc, Paris, France

The Apprentice is shown in the UK. Why would someone in France care or want to care?!
My vote goes to Claire!

Michael Smith, Liverpool, UK

Lucinda was the real "one who got away". She could have been a nightmare for Sir Alan, but she could equally have been brilliant. He erred on the side of caution when he fired her, keeping on the four adequate but far-from-outstanding finalists. It was a shame he couldn't take a gamble.

Kate, Southampton, UK