Voted for Tom as always prefer the one I would find it easiest to work with.

Susan to win.

Susan shows a lot of entrepreneurial and business instinct that the other candidates lack. She almost always spots the pitfalls ahead in tasks and the PM that is over her just steam rolls into them anyway eg. Hip Replacement as a title for a magazine (although she could be more forceful with her opinions)... She also has a very keen eye for spotting products that will sell and showing her enthusiasm for these products eg. beauty product task, Paris task and reinvestment task (when she bought the bracelets and sold them with a sizable profit margin)... She also proved herself to be a competent and organised PM on the buying task.... On top of the fact that she set up her own business and paid off her mother's mortgage as well as moving to the UK with her mother who had no English (Susan had to negotiate bank loans and such for her mother because of this) is enough reason for her to win IMO.

1. Tom - I like that he's already invented something and it's out there for us all to see.

2. Susan - I really want to see how she was so successful in business. I've a feeling that she's been so successful because she's not a team player and therefore wouldn't really fit into a corporation like Lordsuralun's.

3. Jim - Very, very charming and if the job was selling then he would have it in the bag. His appalling arithmetic let him down badly this week and I really can't imagine what his business plan will be.

4. Helen - Organised and calculating but, like Jim I can't see what her business plan will be. I agree with the poster who pointed out that it was Jim's pitch which secured the Asda contract and she was the one who was seen to take all the credit. She went down 10-fold in my estimation with the attempted "coup" and the "Tom was naughty in the BR" comment.

Essentially if you rolled them all into one person you'd have the perfect Apprentice!

That's why its quite hard to call who is going to win this - they all have different qualities. I think it is good this year that there are 4 finalists able to pitch their own business plan - I think the Final on Sunday will be the most interesting and debated conclusion ever.

My take:

Jim: A brilliant sales rep, but over plays his hand. That won't work in the long term.

Susan: Very passionate and has good business sense for someone so young - but can seem immature.

Helen: Very intelligent and well-organised. Ironically she is a first class project manager, but this is not strictly what Sugar is actually looking for this time. There is a world of difference between being given a project to manage by somebody and actually inspiring and running your own business.

Tom: There's just a hint of genius about Tom and he thinks things through very carefully. The fact that his (often good) suggestions have constantly been dismissed or ignored by other team members reflect more badly on the process of The Apprentice than him personally IMO. Yes, he has been on the losing side a lot but often he has been the lone voice of reason on his team and has inevitably been ignored having out-numbered by less able candidates. Sugar may still be worried about his apparent lack of conviction however, though may realise that this will be less likely in the 'real' world as opposed to 'reality' TV - projects obviously take longer than 2 days to come together in the real world.

For me, though I can see potential in all of them, I'd like Tom to win. He's probably my favourite ever Apprentice actually - he's made a refreshing change from the bloated, deluded, egotistical and charmless people that seem to get picked to go on nowadays.

I`m not really keen on any of the contestants this year.

Tom - As its about time the Apprentice got away from promoting these horrible alpha male/women types who lie, stab and have no morals, I`ll go for Tom. Yes, he`s a bit of a geek and would look a lot better if he shaved off his `designer stubble` and wore contact lenses, but its about time the more decent sorts of applicants got a chance to prove that you don`t have to be ruthless in order to be successful.

Helen - Don`t like her and can`t imagine many people wanting to do business with a heartless `miss goody two shoes` type. I wouldn`t trust her one iota.

Jim - I like Jim but wouldn`t trust him not to do the dirty on someone when it came to business.

Susan - Quite like Susan but she does come across as a bit childish and naive sometimes. She needs to train her voice to an octave lower. The smiley enthusiasm is really off-putting - I like her when she`s more serious and believe she could do well if only she wasn`t so desperate.

So for me, its out of Tom or Susan.

Winner: Tom (Ideas, experience. easy to work with)
2: Helen (Efficient, lot of admin skills, probably very handy with a cane)
3: Susan (Sympathy)
4: Jim (Just a salesman)

First time voting the this poll this series...going for Tom, though honestly I think the final four here are, for different reasons, all worthy finalists.

Susan, followed by Helen

The big problem with Tom is the one we saw on the French task; he's a weak leader. Other than that, he does seem fine.

For what it’s worth, I started that thread three and a half weeks ago, as at that time, it was impossible to talk about her without wading through a barrage of negative and occasionally downright nasty comments. I wanted to create a platform to discuss her progress on the show in a more positive way.

Incidentally, there is an appreciation thread for Helen as well, if you look for it. Nothing for Jim or Tom, but it's not too late to start one. I don't see any reason why all four shouldn't have a thread to praise their achievements, and cheer them on toward the final

Oh, and my favourite candidate is Susan. I probably didn't need to say that though, did I?

I also think Tom's got some impressive skills. I like him. It'll be interesting to see how he fares in the interviews...

Yes TA is a reality programme heavily weighted to show failure rather than succes, the climax each week being the pointing of the dreaded "You're fired" finger, so rudely aimed towards 15 candidates out of 16.

Granted the winner team are then shown in brief moments of joy, but perhaps 10 times as much footage is spent on inquest into the runner-up team.

Winning teams have done some things well, and individuals have learnt new skills and outlook on the journey of exploration. No reason why candidates should not be recognised and lauded as well as blasted away in tears, except that blood in the boardroom is good television, or so BBC thinks.

You have pointed out a couple of instances where she's been right over a 12 task process. But there have been much more instances where she has shown complete ineptitude and incompetance and lack of basic grasp of what the task was about.
Spouted ignorant statements time and time again and run her foot in her mouth lots of times. If I were to name every example like you did,I would be here all day.( of the examples you mentioned,only the reinvestment task was where she did anything substanial and credible)

Tom and Jim have been wrong at times too but they have shown themselves to be much more capable and credible. In a creative sense and in Jim's case as a salesman and being able to talk anyone into anything in regard to baragaining and pitches and sales.
If paying her mom's mortage off( like everyone seems to be bringing up) makes her a favourite in people's eyes, then she's better suited to a show like the X factor were sob stories takes precedence.

1. Helen
2. Jim
3. Susan
4. Tom

If I didn't hate those who put "massive gaps" in their lists, there would be on in between Jim and Susan, and and even bigger one between Susan and Tom.

There can't be many kids anywhere who are sufficiently interested in their parent(s) bank balance or mortgage repayments to want to know what is owed never mind have the ability to pay it off.

The one who has no matter what sum was involved is deserving of interest not because of mortgage repayments when LAS doesn't need someone to pay his off but because she's proved herself throughout the process. She has earned her place as one of the finalists and could even go on to win.

I don't know if there are as many instances as you say of Susan making mistakes. I can see only three major mistakes;

1) Buying expensive tea in the buying task
2) Over-estimated the amount of some units they could sell in the cosmetics task (I've forgotten what item it was tbh)
3) Misunderstanding the rubbish task (she was portrayed as having been the only one on her team to get it, but it seemed clear that she really hadn't)

In addition, she made a fool of herself with her rambling on the apps task and it's not clear if she really "got" the re-investment task (the only one in either team who clearly got it was Jim).

By contrast she;

1)sold well in week one and saw the need to buy more fruit, which Edna prevented.
2)organised her team well and understood the need to go east for cheaper items in the buying task (though this didn't seem to happen which is a black mark
3)saw that Hip Replacement was a poor title in the magazine task
4)persuaded Jim to negotiate on price in that same task
5)picked excellent products to sell in France
6)chose Helen to pitch them with her
7)negotiated a good sale herself
8)ytook a wise punt on the bracelets in the renegotiation task

I like them all but my order would be:

Tom
Helen
Susan
Jim

Susan and Jim in 3rd and 4th are interchangeable