So why were they pushing Clayton English?

Yes, as I remarked in another post, it seems clear he was slated to "win". He was nowhere near the funniest of these comedians. Your solution didn't occur to me, but seems very plausible. Maybe he's somebody's friend or somebody got paid or something.

I can understand that it's "just" entertainment, so it's not a real contest, but they should at least make it believable. This guy (Clayton) was terrible, so it's an insult to the truly talented comics that didn't make the cut. What a fiasco.

i've said this before on other threads, i was there in the audience a few times, and trust me, clayton deserved to win.

it's obviously too hard and complicated to pick who they think is actually the most funny, so they have to go with who is funny and consistent with their material. there were alot of people that blew the audience away with their first set, but then couldnt keep the momentum.

also this show got an extremely "positive" edit, it wasnt like american idol where they show you the fails so we can make fun of them.

a lot of people had really great jokes (which were shown on the airings) but then a lot of their jokes had awkward reactions where us the audience, wasn't feeling it.

when i first saw clayton i was like woah this dude might win. he had such a great confidence and energy and was super consistent and like i said, i saw him unedited in person, with dozens of other comics and he really stood out. the person that i thought should have been in the top ten but want was Riccado (fat black guy) he killed us.

but yeah trust me, there was a lot of unfunny flat jokes from people and the editors did alot of nip and tucks on them. my guess is because this show is produced by comedians and wanted to be supportive