Viewers Wait to Hear: 'You're Hired'

NEW YORK – America is waiting to see who will hear the long-awaited words "You're hired!" from Donald Trump (search).

The final two contestants on "The Apprentice" (search) to make it through Trump's tasks -- Harvard business school grad Kwame Jackson and entrepreneur Bill Rancic -- will sweat out the two-hour finale, hoping to land a plum $250,000-a-year job with The Donald himself.

Bill and Kwame, accompanied by their teams made up of booted contestants, will each oversee a major Trump event on the final episode -- a Jessica Simpson concert at the Trump Taj Mahal for Kwame and the Chrysler Trump Golf Tournament at Trump National Golf Club for Bill.

In the penultimate episode, Nick Warnock and Amy Henry -- who engaged in a brief "show-mance" -- were both fired, and then brought back along with the show's "villain" Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth (search) and several other ex-contestants to work with Bill and Kwame on their final tasks.

Omarosa, the most divisive member of the cast, was picked by Kwame -- but viewers saw her caught in an outright lie, which some speculate could cost Kwame the game. She has been a constant source of tension during the show's run and claims to have been the subject of a racial slur during the taping. Producers deny her claims.

The online betting site BetWWTS.com, which predicts odds on entertainment and sports events, has given Bill slight edge over Kwame.

Whoever proves to be the best man for the job will be announced live by Trump tonight at the end of the show, which airs from 9-11 p.m.

The unexpected "Apprentice"-mania has helped keep NBC's ratings high -- the show has averaged roughly 20 million viewers a week and is No. 1 among the 18-34-year-old demographic.

The real estate mogul's signature "You're fired" -- accompanied by his sharp, darting hand gesture -- quickly became the catch phrase du jour. And several contestants, including Omarosa and the loose cannon Sam Solovey, became the subject of much debate.

Each week, Trump sent two teams to accomplish various tasks such as selling lemonade and convincing celebrities to donate their time for a charity auction. The team that made the most money were treated to various elegant prizes, like a ride on a private jet. The losers were sent to the boardroom where Trump fired one contestant per episode.

Hoping that "The Apprentice" will keep NBC afloat in a season when "Friends" and "Frasier" are going off the air, the network has signed on Trump for two more seasons of the reality show.