SOLO TOUR MEDIA - PREVIEWS, REVIEWS & MORE

[Pamela]

ALBANY NY PEPSI ARENA PREVIEW

Mr. Congeniality
Even though he came in second on 'Idol,' Clay Aiken is touring like a star

By GREG HAYMES, Staff writer
First published: Thursday, August 5, 2004

Clay Aiken has been so omnipresent in the media that it's nearly impossible to believe that it's been only a year since he emerged as the star of the second season of Fox's "American Idol" talent search.

And he didn't even win.

But Aiken -- whose name is usually followed up with the dubious description " 'American Idol' runner-up" -- has clearly been the biggest winner that the show has produced in its three seasons.

Last year, when he released his debut single, "This Is the Night," it shot straight to No. 1 on the Billboard charts, easily eclipsing "American Idol" winner Ruben Studdard and becoming the fastest selling single since Elton John's tribute to Princess Diana, "Candle in the Wind 1997." It was the only certified platinum single of 2003.

When he released his debut album, "Measure of a Man," in October, it also shot to the top of the charts, selling more copies in the first week than any other debut album since Snoop Dogg's first album back in 1993.

His face graced the covers of magazines from Rolling Stone to TV Guide. He won an American Music Award and a Billboard Music Award. He toured with the second season "Idol" finalists in 2003 and hit the arena circuit again this year, sharing the spotlight with first season "Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson.

And now he's back on the road with his own headlining tour that lands at the Pepsi Arena on Sunday evening. We caught up with him for a brief chat from backstage at the Delaware State Fair, and here's what he had to say:

Q: So how is the tour going?

A: It's really been great so far. We've been playing all arenas and stadiums so far on this tour, but we're also going to be playing at about 10 state fairs across the country. The tour goes through mid-September. Then we'll take a little bit of time off and go back out for another short leg in October.

Q: Is the live concert experience the most fun part of the musical experience for you?

A: It's a completely different element. It's different than recording, and it's different than doing "American Idol," even though, of course, we had an audience when we did the TV show.

The live audience on "Idol" was really what drove us to perform better. Having a live audience in front of you definitely adds a whole different level of energy. It adds to the whole experience and makes you enjoy what you're doing more. For me, it is one of the more exciting things to be able to go out and look right into the faces of the people that you're singing to.

Q: With your hectic schedule of touring and recording and all of the other demands on your time, do you think sometimes that perhaps you've bitten off more than you can chew with all of this explosion of show biz?

A: Well, it is pretty hectic, but I don't know about that. I'd like to think that I'm handling it pretty well. It's definitely a lot fuller plate than I ever thought I'd have -- or I ever even hoped to have -- but it's fun. It's a whirlwind ride. We're here in Delaware to play the state fair today, so I think it's safe for me to compare it all to a roller-coaster ride.

Q: I understand that you're also writing a book titled "Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life." What is it about?

A: I'm working on that right now, and I'm hoping to have that out in October. It's not necessarily my memoirs, in the sense that I think I have a life that people want to read about. It's not an autobiography, because I certainly don't think that I've lived long enough to write an autobiography.

It's more of a collection of different stories from my life and the lessons I've learned along the way. The book serves a couple of purposes, and one is that I get a chance to thank some people who have taught me major lessons in my life. Two, I get to share some of those lessons with the public. I feel as though the book is an opportunity not for me to try to teach someone something, but rather to share experiences with people who might have gone through some of the same types of things.

Q: So what's next for you in the recording studio?

A: We're just about done with a Christmas album. In the next week or two, we should be finishing it up, and it should be released sometime in the beginning of November. It's a real traditional holiday album. The goal is to have a real perennial -- an album that people can enjoy year after year after year, so it's not necessarily geared toward any current musical style. It's very traditional, fireside Christmas music.

And then shortly we'll start looking for songs for the next studio album, which will hopefully be out in the first half of 2005.

FEAT OF CLAY
CLAY AIKEN with Cherie
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: The Pepsi Arena, 51 S. Pearl St., Albany
Info: 487-2000
Tickets: $35.50, $45.50
TIMES UNION

ALBANY NY PEPSI ARENA REVIEW

Clay Aiken gets Pepsi crowd screaming

By DAVE SINGER For The Daily Gazette
Monday, August 9th

ALBANY — For someone working toward a teaching degree two years ago, Clay Aiken stood on the Pepsi Arena stage Sunday night undaunted — in fact, perfectly comfortable — while thousands of hysterical girls screamed his name and waved countless homemade posters that declared their love for him.

Amid all the clamor, Aiken sounded good, worked hard and seemed to be enjoying life on stage. He sang mostly from his only release, "The Measure of a Man," but he mixed it up with several cover songs. Highlights included "Shine," perhaps the strongest song of the first set, "I Will Carry You," "Measure of a Man," "Run to Me," where he stood at the end of the extended stage surrounded by the audience, belting it out full throttle, "Perfect Day" and "I Survived You," maybe the best moment of the night.

His cover songs — mostly polite nods to the older adults in the audience —included a James Taylor medley and the ’70s Orleans hit "Still the One." These all failed to ignite the crowd.

For an American Idol runnerup, Aiken is doing OK, even better than any of the winners, and record and concert sales point to much more Aiken in the future, including an upcoming Christmas album.

Aiken doesn’t dance on stage and when he’s not singing, he hardly knows what to do with himself. These kinds of things, along with plenty of warm, extended banter between songs, make it hard not to like him. The audience — more than 7,000 — included largely mother-daughters, father-daughters, grandmother-granddaughters, and hordes of teenage boys and girls in groups.

For those unfamiliar with "boy-band " audience screams, it sounds like a deafening highpitched airplane in your living room. Aiken triggered these screams every time he started a song, spoke, held a long note, climbed the steps to reach another level of the three-tiered set, and ended a song.

The band — three back-up singers, two keyboardists, a drummer, bassist and guitarist — served primarily as support and stuck strictly to the script.

Aiken has all the required credits to teach special education in North Carolina. But he still needs to student-teach one semester. At this rate it won’t be happening any time soon. For the moment he seems to be making plenty of people happy.

Upcoming 19-year-old French hotshot Cherie (here comes another one-named star) opened the show with an unremarkable set that felt more like a commercial than a concert. Cherie can sing and Cherie can move. But her voice was always revved to full volume, and her three-person band — no bass player but lots of electronics — never cleared any space for her to come through with clarity. But she’s young and has the goods; we may be hearing from her again.
No link available.  Transcribed at the Clackhouse.  From SCHENECTADY GAZETTE (subscription only).

Aiken is polished and forgettable

By STEVE BARNES, Arts editor
Monday, August 9, 2004

Toward the end of Clay Aiken's 2-hour concert Sunday night at the Pepsi Arena, the formerly gawky, now nearly cool and still overly earnest young singer was the subject of the sort of video retrospective screened at awards dinners. There was Aiken on the "Today" and "Tonight" shows, with Jimmy Kimmel and Jay Leno, bussing Barbara Walters and the other gals on the view.
Aiken's handlers used the footage to evoke screams of recognition from the 4,000 or so largely female fans at the Pepsi, but it also suggested a dispiriting, undeniable conclusion: Aiken is a media product, a polished and packaged guy who went from bespectacled dork to wildly adored, platinum-selling artist in just over a year.

Whether he deserves the success is irrelevant. He's gotten it, and the music industry's best have put him front and center for adulation. He can sing, no question, often very, very well. But, really, so what? Any one of thousands of American vocalists, if given the same resources, would sound as good.

Aiken -- should you somehow not know this by now -- came in second in "American Idol 2," and he's been by far the most successful of that pop factory's contestants. It's easy to see why when he's soaring along in one of his power ballads, like "Solitaire" or "I Will Carry You": It's infectious, feel-good stuff, but also ultimately forgettable, a point proven by Aiken's decision to sing covers of better music than his own for almost half of the evening.

U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" is superior to anything on Aiken's 2003 debut, "Measure of a Man," as are the five James Taylor tunes he performed as a medley with his backup singers.

The kid has some personality quirks that, if let loose, could make him into a more interesting artist.

Cherie, a French pop singer who's like a 19-year-old combination of Celine Dion and Shania Twain, opened the concert with a septet of songs from her self-titled new album. By turns grandiose and kittenish, Cherie is perfectly paired with Aiken. Both possess big voices that love to climb along rising key changes. Also like Aiken, it's unclear whether there's anything noteworthy about Cherie besides her pipes.
ALBANY TIMES UNION

[Pamela]

OHIO STATE FAIR REVIEW

Fans adore winning performer
Friday, August 13, 2004
Julia Osborne
FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

For a popular singer such as Clay Aiken, there’s nothing unusual about playing to sold-out houses, being surrounded by beefy security guards and working a tour schedule that finds him in a new city almost every night.

His stop Wednesday night was the Celeste Center at the Ohio State Fair.

The unusual thing is that all of this has come so suddenly to the earnest 25-year-old from Raleigh, N.C., who has almost completed his degree in special education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Sixteen months ago, he had appeared on the second season of American Idol and had been voted off. He won a "wild-card" return, finished second — and was off to a world of compact discs, TV appearances and "Claymates," audience members who proudly wear their allegiance on their chests.

This was his third appearance in central Ohio in about a year, but most of the more than 10,000 seats at the center were filled for the roughly 80-minute show.

Some fans are following his tour, from Rhode Island to Colorado, including eight state fairs in 30 days.

The acoustics in the Celeste Center are, to put it politely, poor. Metal isn’t the best conductor of sound and music. The bass boomed enough to make any car-audio addict jealous.

Yet Aiken gave the crowd what it wanted, with smiles and grace.

"I always love coming to Ohio," he said, "because you are some of the best crowds we have — and I don’t say that everywhere."

That statement — and everything else he said — brought cheers, screams and applause from the audience.

From the opening Streets Have No Names, Aiken ran through more than a dozen of his songs, many fans singing along with every number.

A James Taylor medley allowed him to show an easy, melodic range and added appreciated variety. Yet the crowdpleasers were the hits and his latest single, I Will Carry You, along with an encore of Solitaire that was more intense than Neil Sedaka’s original.

His three backup singers and five musicians showed talent and skill and added an extra depth.

Aiken’s stage is a production number in itself, allowing the singer to rise at the back, then walk some illuminated stairs — which disappear and reappear — to the stage.

Costume changes — from a long-sleeved shirt, tie and jeans to all white, then all blue — were incidental, but noteworthy for a state-fair show.

The opening act was a 20-year-old French singer who uses only her first name, Cherie. Her style is a mix of Celine Dion and Gloria Estefan, with plenty of enthusiasm. She made a bouncy beginning to an upbeat evening.COLUMBUS DISPATCH (subscripton required)

[Pamela]

JACKSON MI COUNTY FAIR PREVIEW

Reluctant 'Idol' candidate Aiken has done very well
Sunday, August 8, 2004
By Mary Barber
Staff Writer

"They say when you wanna make God laugh, all you gotta do is tell him your plans."

That's a line from "When You Say You Love Me," on Clay Aiken's debut CD, "Measure of a Man."

God must be chortling.

The 25-year-old was studying special education at the University of North Carolina -- Charlotte when the mother of one of his students persuaded him to try out for "American Idol."

He sang at the Charlotte auditions and was sent home.

"I had no desire to be involved at all," Aiken said in a phone interview. "But I saw the people who sang with me, and I said 'I'm not getting cut.' ! It's just stubbornness."

His second audition, in Atlanta, resulted in an invitation to Los Angeles for the show's second season. Then he was cut again -- but was allowed to continue on a "wild card." He ended up taking second, behind Ruben Studdard.

Second place hasn't been so bad.

Aiken's first single, "This Is the Night," hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts. He won the Fan's Choice Award at the American Music Awards. His CD hit No. 1 and was one of the top-selling CDs of 2003. He joined the "American Idols Live" tour, then spent several weeks on the road early this year with the show's first winner, Kelly Clarkson.

And he finished his degree, graduating last December.

Now he's headlining a tour, with opening act Cherie, and he said the pressure's up.

"If the show went bad, I could blame it on her (Clarkson) last time," he joked. "But it's fun."

Aiken seems to be able to keep his success in perspective. After all, he's one of the rare few who could have it either way -- with fame, or without.

"In many ways, (teaching) is much more fulfilling than walking on stage," he said. "You don't get the money, for sure, which is a shame. But the benefits you get are much bigger and much more fulfilling. ! You don't walk in and have all the kids stand up and clap for you. You have to find success in small miracles. When the kid you were working with for three months to read one word does read just one word, it's very satisfying."

But fame has its perks, he said.

"The adulation and adoration you get from an audience when you're singing is very visible, very evident," he said. "I enjoy what I'm doing, and I get to see the world, see different things, and pay for vacations for my parents and my friends. I don't see any reason for me to want to stop it right now."

But if it doesn't work out, that's fine, he said.

"I don't have designs on it lasting forever," he said. "That would be a little too presumptuous."

Millions of kids want to be the next Clay Aiken, the next American Idol. But that's not the right path for everyone, he said.

"I think the best advice I could give someone would be to have enough confidence in yourself not to let one loss get you down," he said, "not to let one comment from Simon (Cowell, one of three judges) or the equivalent get you down."

He said he saw lots of very talented singers at "American Idol" who could make a career in music.

"But one nasty comment from Simon, and they were crushed for life," he said. "What's the point in that?"

He said Cowell is critical offstage as well as on, but his comments could be slightly more constructive in private.

"He's a little pompous, but he genuinely does usually care about those who are on the show," Aiken said. "He's not a cold-hearted person at all."

Asked if Cowell's advice helped him, Aiken said, "He'd like to say it did."

Aiken performs at 8 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are $29-$32.
M LIVE

Happiest when he's sharing his success

Sunday, August 8, 2004
Special to the Gazette

Just about a year ago he was a 24-year-old senior at the University of North Carolina, only six credit hours away from earning his degree in special education.

Then he heard about an audition.

And that was all it took for Clay Aiken to begin sharing his talent with the world.

He doesn't plan on leaving Michigan out, as he will be making a stop at the Jackson County Fair at 8 p.m. Thursday.

"What I'm trying to do, a goal of mine, is to have a show that everyone can go to -- a family show," said the 2003 second-place winner of "American Idol." "I only have one album to work with, so there will be a lot of old stuff.

"But there will be some new stuff, like covers of songs I grew up with. It's going to be a really good family show. It's going to be about music, no fancy lights."

But if you ask him, he is surprised that he ever got this far.

When he first auditioned for "American Idol," Aiken was sent home. So he auditioned again -- and this time it worked.

"I had to go home once," Aiken said. "After that, each step I expected to get sent home."

By now, everyone knows that Aiken lost the second title of "American Idol" to the smooth-singing Ruben Studdard. But some might say that Aiken is enjoying a little more success than the winner.

"It's just a matter of what type of facts you look at," Aiken said humbly. "Ruben has had a great deal of success. With airplay, I think Ruben gets more. With record sales, maybe I do."

Since it was released last fall, Aiken's "Measure of a Man" has sold more than 3 million copies in the U.S. and spawned the hit singles "Invisible" and "Solitaire."

All of the success is quite a change for Aiken. Singing in church since he was just a boy, Aiken always loved singing as a hobby. And now that he gets paid a little bit to do that, he has developed some other "hobbies" that everyone else does everyday.

"CNN is my hobby," Aiken said laughing. "And I like to read once in a while. Unfortunately, there's not enough time for a hobby."

Another interesting fact about this Raleigh, N.C., native that most people probably don't know is that he can turn his feet around backwards.

"Everyone says it's disgusting," Aiken said with a laugh. "But it's just natural to me."

Aiken is very thankful for his success and is making sure that others benefit from it as much as possible.

Aiken received his degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte last year through a special independent study provision. Besides sharing his talents, Aiken is sharing his time and resources to promote the Bubel/Aiken Foundation, which promotes the awareness and acceptance of children with various disabilities.

Aiken created the foundation along with Diane Bubel, the mother of an autistic son, Michael. Aiken was inspired to create the foundation after having his job at the YMCA, where he saw children with disabilities turned away because of the lack of staff trained in dealing with their special needs.

"I had my life planned out. I was going to be a teacher," Aiken told the Associated Press earlier this year. "I get a little jealous of my friends who have their classrooms now. It's a different sort of gratification.

"I once worked for three months to get a child to be able to read a word. You don't get anyone clapping for you when you do that. You work hard. You earn it. I didn't work hard to be able to sing. God gave that to me. It's easy, and people scream and cheer, and who wouldn't like that? It's great. But there's a different feeling associated with it."

For more information in the Bubel/Aiken Foundation, go to www.thebubelaikenfoundation.org.
M LIVE

JACKSON CO MI COUNTY FAIR REVIEWS

'American Idol' star draws about 5,000 to fair concert

Friday, August 13, 2004
By Monetta L. Harr
Staff Writer

After watching Clay Aiken twice a week for months, it wasn't a total shock to see him emerge from his huge touring bus looking more like a fraternity student after a long night than an "American Idol."

Wearing a gray, hooded Wisconsin sweatshirt, striped cotton pants and flip flops, his reddish-brown hair tousled, Aiken greeted seven select fans before his concert Thursday night at the Jackson County Fair.

Aiken, who has parlayed his second-place finish in the second "American Idol" competition into a pop singing career, wouldn't sign autographs. But he shook everyone's hand and then stood in the center of the group and posed for photos.

Faryn O'Connor, 14, of Rives Junction nearly swooned when the quick photo shoot ended because Aiken put his right arm around her. The left arm went around the shoulders of Gloria Spicer, 76, of Kennesaw, Ga., who played Aiken's rendition of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" at her husband's funeral.

"He is such a good young man. He has the correct attitude for life," said Spicer, who had attended another of Aiken's concerts in Atlanta.

The audience of about 5,000, a mix of all ages, clearly agreed about Aiken's positive, upbeat attitude. Aiken sang for 90 minutes, ending with "Solitaire," which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Sales chart.

He performed a mix of music, including gospel, James Taylor and even a few rock songs, prompting the mostly-female audience to scream and clap their hands.

Aiken talked to them, challenging them early-on to a dance contest.

"The one who dances the best, I'm bringing up on stage," he said.

Women of all ages and sizes jumped onto chairs and swung their hips and arms, and it was Heather Hensel, 21, of Canton and Susie Moore, 24, of Saline who were chosen.

They danced on stage as Aiken sang another song and when it was over and their feet were back on the ground -- at least near their front-row seats -- all the women could say about their experience was to scream and hug each other.

But even Aiken was surprised by Heather Bouaziz of Ypsilanti who got a shot to come on stage and sing with him, something Aiken does at his concerts.

"What?" he said, stumbling over the city's name.

"Are you in this chunk of Michigan or that chunk," he asked Bouaziz, referring to the Upper and Lower Peninsulas.

"I don't know Clay, I'm too excited to think," she replied.

She wasn't too excited to sing, though, and when she belted out the words, Aiken stepped back and looked at the audience. Together, they went through a couple verses, ending with a roar of the audience.

Aiken initially said he was glad for the cooler weather -- "It was like 105 degrees last night at the Ohio State Fair in Columbus," he said -- but toward the end of the concert he noted the musician's hands were getting a bit cold.

The temperature was about 60 degrees, with the audience dressed more for a football game than an August concert, in jeans and sweatshirts and carrying blankets.

It didn't affect Aiken's voice, though, as he belted out song after song, including "This is the Night."

Between songs, sometimes between verses, various groups of women in the audience shouted, "We love you Clay." Many wore black T-shirts sold outside the concert, Aiken's photo on the front and dates of his first solo national tour on the back.

Aiken's opening act was Cherie, who with her French accent had the crowd doing the wave and standing on their feet, clapping to the music.

As they walked together out of the concert, Margaret and Steve Van Antwerp of Jackson were clearly glad they had come to hear Aiken.

"Clay is awesome, a fantastic voice," said Margaret Van Antwerp. "I loved it."
M LIVE

[Pamela]

ILLINOIS STATE FAIR PREVIEW

Idol Chatter
Clay Aiken on the butter cow and other weighty issues

By NICK ROGERS
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT WRITER

There’s no real need for a true profile of Clay Aiken.

Not when Fox gave millions of viewers his story weekly last summer on “American Idol.” In that season, he lost in a controversially close call to R&B crooner Ruben Studdard.

But he’s since gone on to Ruben-sized success. His debut album, “Measure of a Man,” sold 2 million copies. His co-headlining tour with first “Idol” winner Kelly Clarkson drew good crowds, and he dropped the “co-” for the tour stopping Friday at the Illinois State Fair.

Spiky-haired, skinnier and smaller than your average pop star, Aiken always has shown a good sense of humor about himself and his, well, nerdy qualities. (His words, not ours.)

So we figured a somewhat random question-and-answer session would be fun.

Here’s what Aiken had to say on butter cows, Brooke Burke, fried pickle chips, turkey basters, “The Music Man,” Snoop Dogg, bad roommate habits and Yahoo Serious.

NR: I was reading the liner notes for “Measure of a Man” and you thanked Rick Nowels for the “amazing airline tip.” What is the “amazing airline tip”? Can you give that up?

CA: I had to fly to London. I had recorded with him first. His was the first song I did, and the next thing I had to do was fly to London and record with Steve Mac. And he suggested, instead of flying on the airline I was on, that I fly Virgin Atlantic. And this is the best airline on the planet when you’re flying overseas because you get a massage on the plane. So it was great.

NR:So you’re rooming with Kimberley Locke (fellow contestant on “American Idol”), right?

CA: Yes.

NR: What’s her worst habit as a roommate?

CA:Oh, goodness. Let’s see. It’s not a bad habit, I guess. She gets up early. She’s an early riser, and I’m not such an early riser. She gets up in the morning and makes breakfast. And it’s not that she’s loud, but it’s that it smells so good and it wakes me up. But she does it in her underwear sometimes, which I guess is probably not the best idea.

NR: What’s your worst habit as a roommate?

CA: Oh, goodness. I’m probably pretty messy. She keeps her room as dirty as possibly can be, but the rest of the house she keeps very clean. Me, on the other hand, my room is not so bad, but the rest of the stuff - like the living room and everything - I just leave stuff lying around all the time.

NR:What is the weirdest thing you’ve seen so far at a state fair?

CA: Well, I’ve only been to one state fair, the Delaware State Fair, and it rained the entire time. So I don’t know that it was weird, but there were some passionate people out there because it was pouring down rain the whole time, and there were about 5 or 6,000 people in the audience. I was like ‘Man, you guys are better than I am.’”

NR: What item of food has not yet been fried that you think could be fried and still taste good?

CA: Everything can be fried and taste good. Listen, I’m from the South. We fry everything. There’s nothing that’s left that hasn’t been fried, except for maybe the curtains. I don’t think there’s anything else. I’ve had a fried banana, had a fried Snickers bar. Fried bologna’s good. Fried pickle chips! Have you ever had fried pickle chips?

NR: Yes, I have. I had some of those at the fair last year.

CA: That’s good stuff, right there. I want some of those.

NR: What is tough about playing a fair venue? Did you do the show in Delaware or did it get rained out?

CA: No, we did it. We did it right through the rain. I don’t think there’s anything tough about it. I think it’s kind of cool to play a state fair because people are there to have fun. The energy is usually higher. The only thing that’s bad is walking through the pig poop. That’s the big problem.

NR: When I say “butter cow,” what’s the first thought that pops into your mind?

CA: Um. Eww, I don’t know. What’s a butter cow? Is that like a, is that like a … at the North Carolina State Fair, I’m not even lying, one year, you can look this up if you don’t believe me, they had a cow made out of butter.

NR: That’s exactly what it is. They have one at the Illinois State Fair, too.

CA: So we’ve had that before. I’ve been there, done that.

NR: Who plays you in “The Clay Aiken Story” and why?

CA:Oh, goodness. Alfred E. Neuman, is he a real person? Let’s see. Yahoo Serious. I don’t know. Someone who’s a little dorky and not ashamed of it. Why be ashamed to be a nerd? Let’s go with Brad Pitt. I think Brad Pitt should play me.

NR: What is the weirdest thing someone’s ever requested you to sign?

CA: Um, I had a lady send me a turkey baster one time and wanted me to sign the turkey baster and send it back. That would probably be the strangest thing.

NR: Which celebrity were you most surprised to hear enjoyed your music?

CA: Celebrities enjoy my music? Brooke Burke, you know who Brooke Burke is?

NR: Yeah.

CA:Yeah, she’s a big fan. That’s good.

NR:When you’re at the bar as you are hypothetically in “When You Say You Love Me,” what’s the drink of choice for you?

CA: Milk.

NR:Milk? OK. What’s the saddest song you’ve ever heard, firstly in emotion and secondly in quality?

CA: I don’t know many songs that are sad. Heather Headley had a song called “If It Wasn’t For Your Love,” that talks about how if you’re in love with someone how that can get you through anything. It’s not a sad song, but it’s so emotional that it makes you cry. I saw her sing it at an event she did on Broadway a few months ago and she cried while she sang it, that’s how moving the song is. In quality, the saddest song I’ve ever heard would probably … um, I get some pretty crappy demos on the road. Besides William Hung, I think that’d be it.

NR: What is the hair product of choice and do you have to use a flattening iron?

CA: I do use a … I don’t use anything. I don’t know how to do my own hair anymore. I forgot. I have to have someone do it for me. I think it’s Bed Head products.

NR: When you were in “The Music Man” in high school, did you have to dance the Shipoopi?

CA: Oh, that’s right. They did have that. How did you know I was in that musical in high school?

NR: It’s in your bio.

CA: Is it? In my bio? Oh, I need to have that changed, have that updated. I’ve done a few things since then. Yeah, I think we did have to dance the Shipoopi.

NR: Who did you play in “The Music Man”?

CA: I was in the quartet, one of the councilmen or something like that.

NR: If you switched over to front a rock band, what band would it be?

CA: I have absolutely … I would not, if I switched over to front a rock band? Give me a name of one. I don’t even know any.

NR: How about a hip-hop crew?

CA: I’d wanna be, like, Snoop Dogg’s sidekick or something like that.

NR: That leads into my next question. Did you get any notice from him when you challenged his first-week sales record from a debut artist?

CA: Oh no, I did not. I did not. No, thank God. He still won, so it’s all good. He still beat me.

Publicist Eavesdropping the Entire Time: Hey you guys, finish it up. We have time for one more question.

NR: OK. Let me see here. Describe yourself in 20 words to someone who might not be hip enough to know your story.

CA: Oh, goodness. Um, I’m supposed to be counting these words here. Let me see, in 20 words … lucky guy … um, God, I can’t do that! Lucky guy who got his break on a reality TV show, and, uh, I’m not gonna count. Lucky guy who got his break on a reality TV show and was fortunate enough to have some success following it and is still just the same nerd he was when he auditioned in the first place.
STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

ILLINOIS STATE FAIR REVIEW

Clay Aiken delivers formidable performance at Grandstand

By NICK ROGERS
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT WRITER

If a man is measured by his generosity, Clay Aiken is one of the heftiest guys around.
Aiken is no vocal slouch; his trademark is a formidable vocal tone that belies his skinny stature. But he was more of a singing straight man Friday night, as Aiken created powerhouse four-part harmonies with his backup singers throughout his concert at the Illinois State Fair Grandstand.

A crowd of 5,171 watched Aiken and company roll through an 85-minute set of material from his "Measure of a Man" album and as eclectic a collection of covers as a pop singer can churn out.

The evening began on a wobbly note, with the pre-recorded shill for Disney (the tour sponsor and the studio for whom Aiken recorded "Proud of Your Boy" for an upcoming "Aladdin" DVD) and the unveiling of the same sort of set every pop concert has these days - two tiers of stage separated by a shiny metal staircase.

But instead of him running out and down the staircase, it lifted up to reveal Aiken, whose Bono bombast was credible on the show-opening cover of "Where the Streets Have No Name." Though some of Aiken's biggest fans weren't even born when that song was released, those screaming for him ate up the song, which came complete with a copy of the cascading light scheme U2 uses.

"We can smell the funnel cakes, the hot dogs," Aiken said of the state-fair venues he's played frequently on this tour. "But tonight we're smelling something a little different down here on the horse track. Maybe they left a little welcome gift for me."

Aiken conversed with the crowd many times during the night, pacing the stage with his hand in a pocket and putting forth a chummy Southern-buddy vibe. But a couple of interactive crowd-pleasing ideas backfired a bit.

He sought someone with "innovative dancing talent" to come on stage during "When You Say You Love Me." But the woman from Cape Girardeau, Mo., he brought up apparently didn't feel comfortable doing the eye-catching dance on stage that inspired him to lure her up there.

And the shyness of a 5-year-old girl whose prayer every night was to sing with Clay Aiken (and got her wish) made for prolonged silences, during which Aiken was patient and joking with her. When she started singing "Invisible," it was a cute moment - but that song, with its sanitized stalker lyrics underneath a sunny beat, is creepy enough when sung by an adult, let alone a small child.

Those were only slightly shaky moments, though, in a concert that was otherwise hugely enjoyable.

For starters, Aiken earned kudos for pulling some rarely heard '80s chestnuts out of the cover box.

He and backup singer Angela Fisher tore up the Aretha Franklin-George Michael duet "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me," which is a rarity even for 1980s flashback radio programs. And Aiken allowed his band mates to turn a spirited rendition of Toto's "Rosanna" into a remarkable jam session.

Plus, Aiken sort of resembles the singer for Mr. Mister, so why would he not do "Kyrie," let alone lend an admirably nerdy opening dance to it?

Aiken had tremendous backing power from Angela Fisher, Jacob Luttrell and Quiana Parler, with whom he created unshakable walls of sound all night. Watching the quartet perform was like a professional, wholly on-key version of a group-sing on "American Idol" - with no one preening to the camera in a plea for votes.

Along with the tribal-sounding "Kyrie," Aiken showcased Fisher, Luttrell and Parler on a medley of James Taylor covers - "Sweet Baby James," "How Sweet It Is," "Fire and Rain," "Your Smiling Face" and "You've Got a Friend."

Of Aiken's own material, standouts included "I Will Carry You," with an uplifting chorus that showed off Aiken's vocal power; "Invisible," which, despite the spooky lyrics, still has an undeniably catchy melody and vocal line; and "Solitaire," his encore number.

All in all, this was the rare show where the onstage dancing and interaction between singers and musicians felt like a genuine extension of the fun they were having. And it translated well enough to the crowd that everyone there became a "Claymate," if only for about 90 minutes.

Opening the show was French singer Cherie, whose wardrobe of a bandanna and oversized football jersey didn't seem to match her measured, precisely sung pop tunes.

Cherie's voice is good enough, without being overpowering, that only rarely did she reach for syllable-extending histrionics or warbling high pitches. The highlight of her set was "Older Than My Years," a tender ballad with coos and breathy pauses a la Celine Dion, without any of that singer's ridiculous theatrics.
STATE JOURNAL REGISTER

[Pamela]

IOWA STATE FAIR DES MOINES PREVIEW

Cult of Clay

By KYLE MUNSON
CLAY PIGEON
August 12, 2004

There have been three winners of Fox's hit reality-TV contest, "American Idol." None of them has been Clay Aiken.

But take stock of the gawky, freckle-faced singer's career since he lost to Ruben Studdard in May 2003 and you begin to wonder if maybe he planned it this way. Underdog status only seems to enhance his aw-shucks appeal.

This do-gooder from North Carolina with a squeaky-clean image - and a tinge of ambiguous sexuality - has been embraced by scores of adult women ("Claymates") who seem to have been waiting for an antidote to Eminem. For a tamer heartthrob than Justin Timberlake to sweep their daughters off their feet. For a young, fresh talent like Josh Groban but who sings pop songs instead of fancy-pants opera.

Enter Clay Holmes Aiken astride the proverbial white horse, in shining armor. He's 24, stands 6-feet 5-inches and weighs in at a wispy 145 pounds - spiky hair and all. He's no dummy: He was trained as a special-education teacher at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. He puts his money where his heart is: His Bubel Aiken Foundation is a charity for children with developmental disabilities.

In an interview with Datebook (read on) Aiken only confirmed his likability and spotless image. He treats his mother well. Mr. Rogers is one of his heroes. His notion of a harsh swear word is "crap."

That sound you hear is the collective sigh of thousands of Claymates across Iowa.

Aiken makes his Iowa debut Sunday at the Iowa State Fair, and dozens of fans from around the nation have already signed up to attend a pre-party in West Des Moines organized by Laura Quittem-Stein.

Aiken's fans gather online at sites such as Quittem-Stein's www.iowaclayfans.com.

She has flown from Los Angeles to North Carolina and traveled thousands of miles to attend 26 Aiken concerts. This 36-year-old financial planner says that she's like many fans: Prior to her late-blooming "Idol" worship, there was no comparable pop star who inspired such devotion from her.

"His spirit, his genuineness. He reminds me a lot of my husband, but my husband can't sing," Quittem-Stein said. She estimates that as many as 80 percent of Aiken's fan base is female.

Deb Sloss of Perry, mother of five children, is ready to marry off her 20-year-old daughter to Aiken. Watching him perform throughout the second season of "American Idol," Sloss said, was "like watching your own child grow up." (Sloss has been mailing this writer for several months about Aiken and contributed some questions for the interview.)

Take it from "the Beckster," who in an online post at www.iowaclayfans.com credited Aiken with improving her social skills:

"I'm a little shy myself . . . but for some reason when Clay's involved, I seem to come out of my shell."

Aiken seems to have more in common with Oprah than any pop star. He's not just a singer, he's a one-man, self-help franchise in the making.

Answers from Clay
While sitting in his hotel room last month at a casino in Connecticut, Clay Aiken answered several questions for us:

Q. Will you ever break the "Idol" mold and write your own songs?
A. I don't really know. . . . You should only write songs for two reasons: (1) If you have a great talent for songwriting; and (2) if you have something to say. There are so many talented songwriters out there, I might as well use their stuff.

Q. Since you're perhaps the ultimate momma's boy among today's pop stars, have you bought your mom anything in the wake of selling something like 3 million copies of your debut album, "Measure of a Man"?
A. I paid her house off for Christmas. She has a car now that she's driving around, courtesy of myself and Ford.

Q. What about college? Did you pay your own way, or does mom deserve a kickback for that, too?
A. I worked and got a scholarship to pay my way through college - crap, I think I owe them back for that. It was a fellowship program, and I was supposed to work in the field for a certain amount of time.

Q. Still performing Prince's "When Doves Cry" in concert?
A. We've retired that for now.

Q. You said in a TV interview that you wanted to grow up to be Mr. Rogers. Can we expect you to slip into a cardigan sweater and a pair of comfy sneakers on stage at the Iowa State Fair?
A. I was going to be a teacher and that's what my whole life was going to be geared toward. Now I have an opportunity to look at this (music career) as a larger classroom. When I say I wanted to be Mr. Rogers, it's a metaphor for wanting to make sure that my music is something that parents can let their kids watch and feel safe and comfortable with.

Q. Well, there's nothing more family-friendly than a State Fair. This will be your first chance to visit Iowa's. Ever been to a state fair at all?
A. The North Carolina State Fair. Every October that's a big Raleigh tradition - the food, the rides and everything. I wasn't too big on the cows and the pigs and whatnot. I had a teacher in high school who was from Iowa and always talked about the Iowa State Fair. . . . Seems to be a big Iowan thing.

DES MOINES REGISTER

IOWA STATE FAIR DES MOINES REVIEW

Aiken's powerful voice needs bigger challenges

By KYLE MUNSON
REGISTER MUSIC CRITIC
August 16, 2004

Whether nice guys finish last is a moot point.

Clay Aiken lost "American Idol" last year, but the scrawny pop heartthrob took the stage Sunday night at the Iowa State Fair Grandstand to the sound of shrill screams that shot from the mouths of pubescent MTV viewers - and their moms in equal measure.

The audience of 5,585 was a sea of custom T-shirts scrawled with love for Aiken, and placards were held aloft proclaiming such slogans as "I have ears like Clay."

Aiken kept these fans hypnotized for nearly 90 minutes by shuffling around the stage and belting out soaring ballads from his multi-platinum debut album, "Measure of a Man."

There was also an '80s nostalgia trip twist to the concert, which started strong with U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name." But then Aiken relied on such inglorious fare as Mr. Mister's "Kyrie," the Aretha Franklin-George Michael duet "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" and Toto's "Rosanna" to goose the pace of the show.

Aiken can out-sing most stars sharing space with him on the pop charts, but more's the pity. Sunday night suggested that he's wasting his Broadway voice on too many B-grade songs. The less that Aiken reminds us that "American Idol" is glorified karaoke for couch potatoes, the better.

A mini-set of James Taylor songs was a better showcase for Aiken's subtler talents, and it emphasized the warm interplay he has developed with his three worthy backup singers.

Aiken's five-piece band was stilted and heavy on keyboards - to be expected when there's a full plate of ballads to digest.

Part of Aiken's nonchalance about his own fame is to cast the spotlight on his fans. He invited a woman from Waukee on stage to dance. A guy named Gus from St. Paul, Minn., was even chosen to warble his own version of "The Way," with custom lyrics in praise of Aiken.

There was a retrospective of his TV highlights as Aiken sang "This Is the Night." Is this what the instant fame of TV has done to concert culture? One year is assumed to be a reasonable lifespan for our pop stars. Aiken should feel lucky, with not even his first headlining summer tour under his belt?

At least in that short time Aiken has made powerful friends in Washington, D.C. None other than Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin was in the audience. Harkin, a Democrat, has forged a friendship with Aiken over their mutual passion for assisting the disabled. The singer even singled out the senator for applause in the middle of his concert. Aiken wasn't excited about the Iowa State Fair's 150th anniversary, but rather the 14th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act that Harkin championed.

"He's really just a great young man," Harkin said shortly before the concert.

Hard to disagree with the senator, based on Aiken's low-key demeanor Sunday.

And the one-song encore of "Solitaire" proved that Aiken has powerful pipes.

He has already won the hearts of TV nation.

The next step is for Aiken to transition from "American Idol" aftermath into lasting fame. And the best way to do that is with more dynamic, challenging songs.
DES MOINES REGISTER

[Pamela]

INDIANA STATE FAIR PREVIEW

Feats of Clay
Clay Aiken talks about his Indiana State Fair show, 'American Idol' and having fanatical fans.

By David Lindquist
david.lindquist@indystar.com
August 13, 2004
 
Clay Aiken has been singing U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" as the opening number on his current concert tour.

It's a fitting nod to the Irish rock group, as Aiken's debut music video, "Invisible," followed the documentary format of U2's 1987 clip for "Where the Streets Have No Name": With no advance fanfare, musicians perform a song in public and a crowd gathers around.

U2's video paid tribute to the Beatles, who famously played atop their Apple headquarters in 1969.

Will 25-year-old Aiken make a mark on the musical landscape to rival the Beatles or U2?

That's probably a stretch.

However, the North Carolina singer, who placed second during the second season of "American Idol," has a career as successful or far better than those of fellow "Idol" alumni Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarino, Ruben Studdard and Fantasia Barrino.

During a recent phone interview, Aiken -- who's scheduled to perform Monday at the Indiana State Fair -- shared his thoughts on hot dogs, fans who sing poorly and the secret to a successful season of "American Idol":

When you were in Indianapolis last December, I talked to people who flew from Singapore, Hawaii, Kansas City and Cleveland to see you perform.

That's right. I remember there was a girl from Singapore who lied and told her parents she was coming to visit her aunt in Canada (laughs). That's bad.

Is there a point where fan adoration is excessive?

It all baffles me, honestly. It confuses me quite a bit. But I don't know if flying somewhere to see someone is excessive. I guess there are plenty of people who would do that for other celebrities.

When they come into my mom's office and try to talk to her, that's a little excessive, if you ask me. When people come to your house and knock on your door, that's a bit much. I wouldn't say that coming to see a show is too bad.

You're doing a string of state fairs, including ours. Do you have any favorite foods or attractions at a fair?

I'm allergic to all the good stuff. I can't have chocolate. Hot dogs -- even though they're readily available at the gas station -- they're always better at a fair. A lot more grease and fat involved, I think, and that makes them better.

I wanted to ask you about the videos for "Invisible" and "The Way." Each features a lot of screen time for "regular people." Does that say anything about your outlook toward celebrity?

The video for "Invisible" did include a lot of regular people, and I didn't even really realize it. I met a girl in Atlanta who pointed that out to me and she said she appreciated that. So we made a very concerted effort to do the same thing (with actors) in "The Way."

I grew up watching videos and celebrities that I couldn't relate to. They were people who were far cooler than I would ever be. Better looking and better dressed. Because of reality TV, people say they're excited that finally there are people on TV they can relate to. I'm excited that I can be a part of that whole thing.

The third "American Idol" tour is out on the road. Like a lot of tours this summer, it's not a commercial blockbuster. Do you have any thoughts on the shelf life of that enterprise? What can invigorate or extend its popularity?

"American Idol," as a television program, is great. It definitely has the potential, because of what it is, to be a phenomenon every year. But I think that's contingent -- and this is going to sound like I'm tooting my horn and Ruben's more so -- on the dynamic of the people you have.

It was big the first year because it was a great show. But that finale, there was no question who was going to win. There was no suspense. You'd ask people, "Who do you want to win, Justin or Kelly?" Everybody said "Kelly."

This year was the same way. Once LaToya London left, the dynamic was gone. The finale was pretty much, "I'm going to watch it so I can see it." Everybody was pretty sure Fantasia was going to win.

I think the second season was so much bigger because I don't think everybody knew who was going to win. Maybe everybody did, and I'm just in a hole. But I'd like to think it was much closer. I think we saw that with the vote. It was a suspenseful thing, and it carried through the whole season. It was tough in the top five to pick who was going to go home.

When there's just one standout during a season, there's no suspense or "picking your pony." Everybody's picked the same person and you're just tuning in to see what they sing every night, not whether they're going to go home.
INDY STAR

Coping with sudden stardom
Aiken up in air but with feet on the ground

WEEKEND: INDIANA STATE FAIR
By HEIDI PRESCOTT
Tribune Staff Writer
 
Clay Aiken has no idea what it feels like to be a pop star.

Never mind his appearances on the morning shows, the late shows and other performances in between.

Never mind his face gracing the cover of Rolling Stone and the awards for his debut pop album "Measure of a Man."

Never mind a book deal, the Christmas album and the tour.

"I don't see myself as a celebrity to be honest with you. I kind of see myself as a normal nerd from North Carolina," a modest Aiken said last week.

Stardom has been a blessing and a curse for the personable "American Idol" runner-up, who brings his show to the Indiana State Fair on Monday night.

Aiken basks in the spotlight but misses the anonymity. He likes the attention but craves time when he can be alone. He enjoys traveling but envies his friends at home who teach and have normal workdays.

"Most of my friends from home who I'm really close to, to some extent, really don't know what's going on," Aiken said of his chaotic schedule on a day he was running an hour behind schedule. "There are a lot of things people just can't relate to."

Yet Aiken seems to take the fame and its price in stride. In a 10-minute media interview with The Tribune last week, he shared -- between yawns and laughs -- what life is like on the road.

Q: You said in a recent interview that some days you're not that thrilled with the immediate fame. Why is that?

Aiken: Well, for example, yesterday. I went to the mall for the first time in a number of months. I wanted to hang out, so I put my hat on and tried to walk around the mall as discreetly as possible.

We were only there about an hour before we started getting noticed and chased and followed around and stopped. And that's kind of difficult, you know. I didn't nearly get to do anything. I bought a pillow from Sears. I would have loved to have gone into the record store and seen what was for sale and what was out, but I can't go into those anymore because my picture is up everywhere.

To what do you attribute the success of your concerts?

To some extent, the success we've had has been in a market that hasn't been catered to in a long time. There have been a lot of people who have had success in catering to a market that likes not necessarily risqué but edgy entertainment. ... But there really hasn't been an opportunity -- there wasn't one before "American Idol" -- for people to really sit down and enjoy it as a family.

What do you see onstage when you're looking out at the crowd?

What makes us proud is the fact that we get to see a good amalgamation of people. We've got grandparents, we've got my mother's generation, we've got Generation-Xers, we have teenagers, we have kids -- so it's a big stretch, and in the show we have songs from every decade since the '60s. So there's something in the show that everyone can enjoy, hopefully.

What do you think the crowd sees when it looks up onstage at you?

I have no idea. (Laughs) I'm just amazed at the fact that enough people actually like the show. I'm still baffled by it. Two years ago, no one would have ... cared who I was. So it still kind of amazes me.

You look a lot more confident onstage today than you did a year ago. Are you more confident or comfortable?

That's interesting to have you say that because I don't see myself growing as much as other people might. I kind of see myself doing the same old thing. I think it's more comfortable. I know the industry a little bit better now, and I know what to expect. It makes it a little easier to go onstage every night and not be so nervous and worried about what's going to happen.

How much is singing still fun now that it's your job?

It's fun, but sometimes it gets tedious when you're singing the same songs over and over. But we always have something in the show to look forward to, something we didn't do the night before.

The songs like "This Is the Night," "Invisible" and "Measure of a Man" -- those are songs that define the year for me, those don't get old. (Yawn) "This is the Night" I sing every night, and I mean it every night. It's a song that has a lot of meaning to me.

What has been your biggest splurge?

I paid my mom's house off at Christmas.

What was the last book you read?

The last book I read was actually "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon.

What is a gift from a fan that has touched you most?

It's usually the things that people say that are the most meaningful -- when someone tells me that a song or a video meant a lot to them at a hard time.

If it all went away tomorrow, what would you miss?

There are parts about it that are nice, to be honest with you. I guess in order to miss something I would have to not be able to fill it somewhere else.

If it all went away tomorrow, I'd go back to being a teacher probably. I'd go back and have my career (yawn) in the same place I thought I was going to have it two years ago.

The paycheck would be different, that's for sure. (Laugh) Being able to travel around the country wouldn't be as easy. But you know the fame and having people recognize you and having people want to be around you all the time, I mean it's nice, but it's not something that I need.

In concert
Clay Aiken will perform at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Indiana State Fair, Marsh Grandstand, 1202 E. 38th Street, Indianapolis. Tickets are $30 and $35, including fair admission. For more information, go to www.indianastatefair.com.
SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

INDIANA STATE FAIR REVIEW

Idol star shows flair at the fair
Clay Aiken pleases the crowd with songs from his own album and popular covers.
 
By David Lindquist
david.lindquist@indystar.com
August 17, 2004
 
A Clay Aiken concert represents the essence of the Indiana State Fair -- pleasant, no-pressure, family fun.

While Monday night's show didn't pander to any particular age group, youth was served when a sixth-grader from Chicago came up from the audience to startle Aiken with her vocal skills.

He in turn gave a priceless endorsement for her upcoming year in school choir: "You tell your teacher I said that you get the solos."

Aiken, the famed former "American Idol" runner-up, is perfectly at ease with crowds. This one numbered 6,500.

If this is his only shot at a tour of this scale, he didn't scrimp on the production budget. Stairs and platforms were integrated smartly in the stage design.

And two video screens built within the furniture made the audience look at the real Clay as well as his video likeness.

Lights from camera flashbulbs continuously cascaded down the Grandstand, capturing Aiken in a tie and untucked shirt.

Coincidence or not, his first costume change arrived as he drove the show toward a home-stretch crescendo.

He wore a white suit when singing powerful praise anthem "You Were There," a tune popularized by Avalon.

The spiritual theme trickled into the next song, "This Is the Night." As an accompanying video reel of Aiken highlights showed his Rolling Stone magazine cover, the frame zoomed to a subtle, subversive accessory found in the corner: His "What Would Jesus Do?" bracelet.

Big radio hit "Invisible" then led to the encore, and it made a much better impression than the show's opening number -- Aiken's rendition of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name."

His clinical vocal delivery and a puny guitar tone (a part of Aiken's band that lacked muscle throughout the show) signaled early trouble.

But Aiken surprised by salvaging Mr. Mister's "Kyrie" from the 1980s scrap heap and actually improving it.

The song resembled a tropical dance party, thanks to a big beat and a soaring chorus.

The concert's other cover of note, Orleans' timeless "Still the One," allowed Aiken to lead a full-throated sing-along.

It's something he's good at, good enough to suggest his inclusion in an Osmond-Manilow-Aiken continuum of nice-guy entertainers.

The show's momentum snagged on a five-song tribute to James Taylor. Aside from presenting backing vocalist Jacob Luttrell as a Taylor sound-alike, the segment lacked purpose.
INDY STAR

[Pamela]

THOMPSON BOLING ARENA KNOXVILLE TN PREVIEW

Southern charmer
Despite singing success, illustrious 'Idol' says he's just 'everyday people'

By BETSY PICKLE
August 13, 2004

There's probably nothing an "American Idol" fan would like more than to hear Clay Aiken pelt Simon Cowell with nasty remarks. But even 14-plus months after graduating from TV's hottest talent competition, the Southern-bred singer refuses to take the low road.

"I don't always have to be diplomatic about him now," the Raleigh, N.C., native says of "AI's" dyspeptic British judge. "Sometimes I am. ... Depends on how mad he's made me. He hasn't made me mad in a while."

And it can't hurt that advance orders for Aiken's inspirational memoir, "Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life," due in October, already have far eclipsed Cowell's bid for literary greatness, "I Don't Mean to Be Rude, But ..."

"I haven't even paid attention to it," Aiken says with typical modesty.

At 25, "American Idol" Season 2's No. 2 finisher is already a master at finding the bright side of life. And why not? Aiken, whose first solo tour will bring him to Knoxville's Thompson-Boling Arena Tuesday night, has watched his debut album, "Measure of a Man," go multiplatinum even while Season 1's runner-up, Justin Guarini, has all but disappeared from sight.

Aiken set the record for sales of a single by an "Idol" contestant by selling 393,000 copies of "Bridge Over Troubled Water"/"This Is the Night" last summer. That's 107,000 more units than Season 2 winner Ruben Studdard's debut sold, 157,000 more than Season 1's Kelly Clarkson's and 251,000 more than latest "Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino's.

Even though Aiken has opened the hearts -- and wallets -- of thousands of "Claymates," he's still more likely to get slings and arrows from the press. Entertainment Weekly is quick to acknowledge his accomplishments but seems to greet the same with backhanded compliments. Aiken, who gained performing experience by touring last year with his "AI" Season 2 peers and earlier this year with Clarkson, has his own theory about that.

"Being a star is about being something that's unattainable," he says by phone from Ledyard, Conn., hours before a show at the Foxwoods Resort Casino. "The movie idols of the '30s, '40s and '50s were all the most beautiful, the best-dressed, the classiest and the most poised. ...

"Now you've got ... a lot of celebrities or people who are famous now who are really just the person next door who just lucked out and got on a TV show. Kelly Clarkson, Ruben and myself all kind of are normal, everyday people, and I think that that's what's really difficult for EW and whoever else to grasp, to wrap their minds around. The whole reality-TV craze has brought about a change in what a celebrity is nowadays."

Although he started his celebrity career as a somewhat gawky college student (the special-education major earned his degree from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte last December), Aiken insists that he hasn't had that much of a makeover.

"My glasses are gone, and my hair is cut differently and styled differently, and that's it," he says. As his "Idol" weeks went on, the clothes remade the man.

"The clothes were different, obviously, because I had a little more money to spend," he says. "You don't buy Dolce & Gabbana in Raleigh, N.C., at all. There's a little bit of difference in what I was wearing, but outside of that, everything was the same."

Aiken says he never was much of clotheshorse.

"Oh, good Lord, no," he protests. "Not at all. Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target, Sears. My mother and father both worked at Sears (when I was) growing up, so they got that 10 percent discount at Sears, and we spent a lot of time there."

Aiken isn't surprised that Southerners -- Clarkson from Texas, Studdard from Alabama, Barrino and himself from North Carolina and Diana DeGarmo from Georgia -- have made such strong showings on "American Idol."

"I have to say I'm biased, obviously, since I am from the South," he says (although his rapid-fire speech pattern suggests he's spent some time with Yankee friends). "A lot of the most famous musicians have come from Southern states. There's a long history -- jazz kind of started in the South, gospel music in the South.

"And at the same time, I think that it has a lot to do with personality. ... I've found in our experiences on the show (that) the people who are from the South are willing to be more open about their personalities.

"I've learned that people in L.A. and people in New York and people in other parts of the country are not usually as open with their personalities with people they don't know. From the South, I just kind of run my mouth to whoever I see. So I think that kind of comes across on camera, too."
KNOXVILLE NEWS SENTINEL (registration required)

THOMPSON BOLING ARENA KNOXVILLE TN REVIEW

'Idol' favorite Aiken mixes old, new with mixed results

By BETSY PICKLE, pickle@knews.com
August 18, 2004

Clay Aiken is a brave man.

Not because he faced hundreds of screaming fans Tuesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena - anyone who has survived a season on "American Idol" can do that. No, Aiken is brave because he started his show with U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name." That takes guts, setting yourself up for comparisons with one of rock's most passionate singers.

Then again, it's likely most in the crowd of about 3,000 would have said, "Bono who?" There may be some overlap between Claymates and U2 admirers, but not much.

To his credit, Aiken gave the song a tougher veneer than his usual adult-contemporary sheen. And the Knoxville crowd, which seemed to be mostly females from age 4 to about 74, responded with wild applause after being properly primed by French pop newcomer Cherie, a lithe brunette who sounds like a cross between Celine Dion and Kelly Clarkson.

Aiken performed several other covers as well as most of his album, "Measure of a Man," showing off his talents and those of his backing singers and musicians in a 22-song set. The "AI" Season 2 runner-up has his stage show down to a science, complete with audience participation and far-from-slick patter that makes this best-selling musical artist still seem like just a homeboy from Raleigh, N.C.

The covers were a mixed bag. While Aiken's voice is a good fit with Mr. Mister's "Kyrie," Toto's "Rosanna" and Orleans' "Still the One," there's no compelling reason for a singer with his abilities to keep alive hackneyed '80s and '70s radio hits.

As the "AI" judges are fond of saying, it's all about song selection. Aiken and his backup singers fared better on five songs by James Taylor, who coincidentally spent part of his childhood in North Carolina. Aiken's pure tones were just right on "Sweet Baby James." He generously shared lead duties on "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)," "Fire and Rain," "Your Smiling Face" and "You've Got a Friend."

Aiken seemed totally relaxed on songs such as "I Will Carry You," "Run to Me," "Perfect Day" and "I Survived You." But though he charmed the crowd with his patter, he showed he has some stage presence to learn. His head-tilted-back, eyes-closed style may have seemed like the approach of a singer immersed in a song, but it put a wall between him and the audience, even though fans swallowed the conceit whole.

One lesson he's mastered is how to sell a song. He's probably sick to death of "Solitaire," but he used a full deck of emotion as he capped off the night with it.
KNOXVILLE NEWS SENTINEL (registration required)

[Pamela]

ERIE COUNTY FAIR HAMBURG NY

[Pamela]

CLIO AREA AMPHITHEATER I & II PREVIEW

Aiken meets challenge of stardom
Road-weary `Idol' favorite endures grind

THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Friday, August 20, 2004
By Doug Pullen
dpullen@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6140

As a child growing up in North Carolina, Clay Aiken dreamed of becoming a pop star. Now he dreams about getting some sleep.

"You kind of get used to it," says Aiken, who headlines nearly sold-out shows tonight and Saturday at the Clay-O ... er, Clio Area Amphitheater. "It's not that bad. Five hours (of sleep) a night isn't too horrible."

Aiken's been on the pop stardom treadmill ever since his audition for the second season of Fox TV's "American Idol" aired last year. He finished second in fan voting to R&B singer Ruben Studdard, but the show launched the 25-year-old Raleigh native with the extreme makeover into a much higher orbit.

His debut album, "Measure of a Man," was rushed into release early this year, selling 3 million copies and counting. He's had three smash hit singles, including "Invisible" and "Solitaire," and was the main attraction of last summer's "American Idols Live" tour and a co-headlining trek last spring with first-year winner Kelly Clarkson.

His fans, who call themselves Claymates, have launched dozens of sites on the Internet devoted to the details of his life. One site - claytonaiken.com - even has its own dictionary of Clay-rooted terms, called the "Claybonic Dictionary."

"I think he really is an Everyman," said Dianne Thies of Ortonville, co-president of the 150-member, Michigan-based MiClayNational fan club. "He's very normal, but at the same time there's something very special about him. He doesn't act like he was deserving (of this). ... He doesn't have that attitude. He's very humble and genuine about everything that's happened to him."

It's been quite a ride. Aiken, a self-described "nerd," clearly is enjoying it. But he admits that it's taken "a lot of adrenaline" to get through all the performances, interviews and public appearances that have dominated his schedule.

If he can just avoid caffeine.

"I never get to sleep when I drink caffeine. I will, when I finally do get a minute to sleep. But last night we had a day off and I really wanted to sleep and we didn't have caffeine-free stuff, just regular Mountain Dew," Aiken laughed, speaking by phone from a recent tour stop.

With females from 8 to 80 so willing to mob him wherever he goes, the guy with the boyish charm and the booming voice has been forced into hiding more than he'd like.

"I'm almost hermetic. When I get to a hotel, I stay where I am. I don't wake up and start going out shopping and sightseeing. I stay in my room," he said.

That's the price of instant, TV-fueled fame. Aiken, who is as pragmatic as he is talented, understands that.

How does he keep his head on straight?

"It's pretty tough. It's almost impossible," he admitted. "I have my best friend on the road with me. He makes sure I stay sane, and ordinarily if I do go out, it's usually not so bad. If I do get stopped, it's hard to get away when people are chasing you down the street. I take my security guy with me. At 6-foot-6, he's easy to spot, so it's harder to stay inconspicuous."

If there's one drawback, he said, it's losing the ability to lead a normal life, like the one he knew as a college student when he auditioned for "American Idol" in the summer of 2002.

"Just being able to walk down the street and not have people recognize me, you take that type of thing for granted - being able to be anonymous," he said. "It's really surprising how much I miss that."

Aiken isn't complaining, just responding thoughtfully to questions about how he's adjusted to life after "AI." "I'm looking forward to finding my peace with it," he said.

His old life would have taken him into the field of special education, which Aiken studied at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. He received his degree last year, but had to put his dream of becoming a special ed teacher on indefinite hold.

Aiken said he "gets jealous" when he talked to old classmates about their teaching careers, but he knows he can't go back now.

"I think it would be a little difficult to have me as a teacher," he said. "I don't know if I'll ever go back to the classroom, as much as I'd love to."

The Bubel/Aiken Foundation (named for an autistic boy he tutored for a year), created last year to help people with disabilities, has filled some of the void.

"I want to make sure the foundation is successful," he said, noting that its creation allows him to be "teaching in a different way."

But he's the one who's learning lessons right now. Even playing small venues is an adjustment. Aiken's first two concert tours played to large arenas.

"I'm big on interaction with the audience and that kind of small setting," he said, recalling his early days singing in church and talent shows. "I just sang in Atlantic City, and for the first time in two years I've sung to an audience of less than 4,000 people, and I had the hardest time being successful with that. (It) was so tough to take that huge show and make it small again."

Aiken doesn't want his live show, or his real life, to lose any of their guy-next-door quality, which is why he makes fun of himself, invites fans on stage and ventures into the crowd to share his microphone or pose for pictures.

"I try to make it as casual as possible," he said. "If I try to look at myself as some kind of Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson or Justin Timberlake type superstar, I wouldn't believe if I tried to come across that way. It's not convincing. I've been successful with just being myself."
M LIVE

Claymates pumped for Aiken show

FLINT JOURNAL REVIEW
Saturday, August 21, 2004
By Sally York
syork@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6322

VIENNA TWP. - Clay Aiken's legions of fans pledge an undying devotion they can't quite explain.

It's not just the American Idol singer's strong, pure voice. Or his commitment to children with disabilities. Or his easy smile and haywire hair.

"He touches something inside us that has never been touched before," said Flo Baerren, 59, co-president of MiClayNation, Aiken's Michigan fan club. "Something that we probably didn't realize was there until he touched it."

The Lansing labor relations representative, who has crossed states to see Aiken live 16 times, and about 80 other fans gathered at the Clio VFW Hall on Friday for a pre-concert party featuring balloons, food and raffles to benefit the fan club and Bubel/Aiken Foundation, which assists children with disabilities.

Aiken, who has two top-selling CDs, was set to perform Friday and tonight at the Clio Area Amphitheater for about 6,000 people. A sign outside the venue read, "Hey, Claymates! Welcome to Clay-O!"

Inside the hall, excitement was building among the mostly female fans, who came from as far away as Ohio, Iowa, California and Canada. But no one was more excited than Heather Bouaziz, 27, of Ypsilanti, a college student studying special education, Aiken's major.

On Aug. 13, Bouaziz was plucked from the audience to sing a duet with Aiken at his concert in Jackson, and impressed the singer. She told him she was recording a demo CD and he told her he wanted to hear it.

"My leg was shaking violently," said Bouaziz. "He held my hand during the song. I thought, 'This is my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sing with the person who has changed my life forever.' "

Delphi worker David Conn, 55, of Westland, said wife Judy, 56, a school paraprofessional, got hooked on Aiken first. He quickly followed suit.

"The first thing that impressed me was his character and value system," David Conn said. "It's good to see a young guy with the heart he has. And I love his voice - he has a great set of pipes."

The Conns recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary with what Judy Conn called "our Clay vacation," going to concerts in Kentucky, Tennessee and South Carolina.

Dorothy Kester, 28, of Vienna Township and sister Angie Anderson, 30, of Mt. Morris Township waited 96 hours in a tent to buy Aiken tickets back in April.

Disappointed they only got third-row seats, Kester entered a radio station contest last week, warbling part of Aiken's hit, "Invisible," on the air. She snagged two front-row seats.

"We're going to scream like banshees," Kester said.
M LIVE

CLIO AREA AMPHITHEATER I & II REVIEW

Aiken's ClayMates have reason to cheer
FLINT JOURNAL REVIEW
Sunday, August 22, 2004
By Doug Pullen
dpullen@flintjournal.com*810.766.6140
 
CLIO - Clio, or Clayo as some called it, was the ground zero of the Clay Nation this weekend.

Clay Aiken, the "American Idol" star-turned-pop music phenomenon, rolled into town for two sold-out concerts before nearly 6,300 fans - who call themselves ClayMates - Friday and Saturday at the Clio Area Amphitheater, the first time an artist has sold out consecutive shows there.

Teenaged girls, middle-aged moms and grandmas (with a few reluctant and some not-so-reluctant males in tow) streamed in from all over, wearing their souvenir T-shirts and waving their devotional signs. There were so many women on hand that amphitheater staff had to convert the men's bathroom in the Clio Arts Center into a women's potty and haul in portable johns for the, ahem, overflow.

Extra merchandise stands also were set up to accommodate the adoring hordes, who snapped up everything from tour shirts to thongs (yes, you read that right).

Some made the trek from as far north as Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada, as far east as New York state and as far west as California. They're like some wholesome version of the Deadheads, those neo-hippies who followed the Grateful Dead around the country like nomads, only ClayMates' high is natural.

Now that's devotion, and completely understandable. Every generation needs its lovable geek. Aiken is one who crosses generational lines, a spikey-haired heir apparent to the throne once occupied by the Neil Diamonds, Barry Manilows and Celine Dions of the pop music world. In a pop culture landscape where stars act like spoiled brats and worse, the 25-year-old Aiken is a breath of fresh air, and a refreshing upgrade from the plasticene product-as-music of the boy bands who preceded him. All he needs now is some better material to challenge that soaring voice.

Aiken backs up his TV-fueled fame with the goods with an approachable nature and warm, clear tenor perfectly suited for the big, soaring ballads he does so well. Particularly impressive Friday were his feisty (for him) reading of the kiss-off song "I Survived You," which featured a rare but welcome touch of anger, a rousing encore of Neil Sedaka's lonely "Solitaire" and stirring, inspirational songs like "I Will Carry You" and "You Were There" that allow him to hit those tall, sustained notes (fans call them glory notes) and inject his spirituality ever so subtly.

Friday's energetic performance - which was preceded by an upbeat but perfunctory half-hour set from 19-year-old French newcomer Cherie - was a little less surprising, but more well-rounded than the one he gave last March at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena with first-year "Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson.

Aiken is an even more assured performer now, shedding a trifle of the aw-shucks humility for a more polished presentation that included video screens, a multi-tiered stage, a five-piece band, three backup singers, a sign language interpreter and an infomercial for the forthcoming "Aladdin" DVD, which is the tour's sponsor.

Aiken's show was divided into two 45-minute sets and was built around both his engaging personality, a powerful voice (that is only going to grow in character as he gets older) and his abundantly generous spirit. The set list drew heavily from last year's triple platinum debut album, "Measure of a Man," and a handful of covers ranging from U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" (the show opener was not well suited to Aiken's music theater stylings), a tasteful James Taylor medley that showcased his impressive trio of backup singers and a version of Toto's "Rosanna" that gave his unobtrusive band a chance to get its funk groove on.

He also shined the spotlight on his audience, pulling one woman out of the crowd to dance with him on the forgettable "When You Say You Love Me" (turns out he unwittingly plucked the same woman out at his previous show near Syracuse), then sharing the spotlight with 10-year-old Fenton resident Connor Foley, who sang his signature hit "This Is the Night"(see related story), much to the delight of the crowd, which grew more boisterous as the show progressed.

With fewer gimmicks and a more focused performance, the second half was much stronger, bringing the enthusiastic but relatively restrained crowd on its feet. The intimacy of the venue, where there isn't a bad seat, fit perfectly with the personal touch Aiken bring to his audiences. He must have welcomed the chance to sing to 3,140 people who were almost in his lap.

His biggest weakness is some of the material he's been given to sing. About half the songs, from "Measure of a Man," like "Run to Me" and "Perfect Day," are fluffy, assembly-line pop that are beneath his abilities. Though his voice has held up well after all the touring he's done, it did sound a bit flat and tired on the rare occasion, notably a version of show closer "Invisible" on which he sounded a bit flat (not to worry, he rebounded impressively on an encore of "Solitaire").

It may not be cool to like Clay Aiken. Neither Aiken nor his adoring fans care. Clay Aiken is living a dream and it's easy for his fans to live that dream through him.

After all, he was a college student studying special ed just a couple of years ago. A Clay Aiken concert is a celebration of the inner geek in everyone. There's nothing wrong with that.
M LIVE

It was Clay's concert, but Connor's night

THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Sunday, August 22, 2004
By Doug Pullen

Friday was the night for Connor Foley.

The 10-year-old Fenton Township resident auditioned in advance, so he knew Clay Aiken was going to pick him out of the crowd of 3,140 people to sing his hit "This Is the Night" onstage Friday at the Clio Area Amphitheater. That explains why he wore a tie to the concert.

But he didn't know how it would feel to be onstage with his American idol.

"It felt pretty good," the Linden Central Elementary student said after the show, fresh from signing his first autograph.

Young Foley did have butterflies shortly before one of Aiken's security guards escorted him to the stage, but he handled his moment in the spotlight like a seasoned pro, receiving a huge ovation from the crowd and a ringing endorsement from his hero, who knelt beside him and sang harmony.

"In 15 years I'm gonna come here and see you on this stage," Aiken predicted.

"It felt like I was dreaming," said the young star-in-the-making, who said he sings mostly at Fenton Church of the Nazarene.

Aiken makes a practice of singling out a young singer at each of his shows. A member of his entourage conducts auditions the afternoon of the concert.

Foley found out about it from an aunt, who'd seen information posted on Aiken's Web site. He practiced the song just in case. Foley's mom, Jill Ridenour, had a feeling he'd get picked.

"He prayed the night before," she said.

When he wasn't singing, Foley enjoyed the concert with his mom, stepfather Jeff Ridenour, sister Hannah Foley, 14, and friend Sam Henderson, 14.
M LIVE

[Pamela]

METRO CENTRE ROCKFORD IL PREVIEW

Achin' for Clay
Rockford fans can't wait to see idol perform here

ROCKFORD -- They're known as Claymates and Clay maniacs, the scads of devotees who dote on all things Aiken.

They scour the Internet for the latest kernel of information on the TV contestant-turned-pop music phenomenon. They flock to as many of his concerts as their budgets and schedules allow.

They range in age from prepubescent to post-retirement. Mostly, they're women. Guys dig him, too, but they're a rare breed and generally more subdued. The founder of www.theclaydawgs.com -- a "male haven" for Aiken addicts -- reportedly lives in Roscoe, but attempts to contact him through female fans were unsuccessful.

Whatever their stripe, Aiken aficionados will be out in full force Monday when the skinny North Carolina teacher and second-place "American Idol" competitor takes the stage at the MetroCentre.

More than 100 fans -- some coming from as far as California -- are expected to descend on the Capri restaurant for a private, preconcert party and fund-raiser.

Fans began the Penny Lane charity drive with the start of Aiken's first solo tour in July. Concert-goers are encouraged to bring change to the parties; the money goes to the Bubel/Aiken Foundation to assist children with disabilities.

The effort depends on a volunteer organizer stepping forward in communities on Aiken's tour schedule. Beth Riffle, a 32-year-old stay-at-home mother of four, accepted the challenge here.

"Clay is living out my dream," said Riffle, a former wedding singer, reflecting one of the keys to Aiken's appeal.

Local fans told us they're also drawn to Aiken because he's clean-cut, self-deprecating, earnest and unaffected. But as much as anything, they're bowled over by his raw talent.

"I have the tape of him singing 'Bridge Over Troubled Waters,' which was his last song on 'American Idol.' It sends chills up my arms when I listen to his version of that song," said Linda Galbraith, a 55-year-old office worker at a Rockford manufacturing firm.

Galbraith saw Aiken perform at the United Center in Chicago with 2002 "Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson in March. Before that, she hadn't bought a concert ticket since her senior year at Guilford High School in 1966, when she saw The Doors in Las Vegas.

That's another common thread among Aiken fans. Few ever have been infatuated with a music star before.

"Not since Elvis," said Carole Dolan, a development officer for SwedishAmerican Medical Foundation.

"But Elvis didn't have the personality Clay has. Clay's the whole package. He's got the voice, the brains and the personality."

As Aiken fans go, Riffle, who's in charge of the Capri party, considers herself low-key, more mainstream. But she's met the kind who "jump over chairs to get to the stage. The ones who find out what hotel he's staying at and camp out in the lobby just to get a glimpse of him, that's extreme."
ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR

METRO CENTRE ROCKFORD IL REVIEW

Music review: Aiken delivers 'polished' performance for 4,700

By GEORGETTE BRAUN
Rockford Register Star

A lady wearing a reddish sweater jacket and black pants shook her tush so well in the audience Monday night that "American Idol" star Clay Aiken invited her to strut her moves on stage.

A 22-year-old woman from Cary, Ill., sang a duet -- "Without You" -- so richly with Aiken after being auditioned right before the show that he hugged her and hugged her and hugged her again. Aiken is 25 years old.

Other women and young girls in the crowd of 4,700 people at the MetroCentre in Rockford also tried to get the attention of the skinny, spiky-haired crooner as he sang wholesome pop songs. One woman in the third row wore a T-shirt with the words "Wink at me, Clay" printed in bold letters on the front.

The shenanigans didn't overshadow Aiken's polished delivery during his two hour show of middle-of-the-road songs with lyrics that are easy to understand, such as "I Will Carry You" and "Run To Me" off his debut and only album, "Measure of a Man." And his big heart showed as his work on behalf of disabled children played on big video screens on both sides of the stage.

It was a comfortable feel for the fans and Aiken, who became a big celebrity a year ago when he was runner-up on Fox's popular "American Idol" singer elimination show. But the really crowd lit up when Aiken sang his angst-ridden "I Survived You."

"Why is it everybody gets excited when I get ticked off?" the big-voiced North Carolina Christian who wears a "W.W.J.D." (What Would Jesus Do) bracelet asked as he smiled slyly.

Another harder-edged moment came when Aiken's lead guitarist showcased his grinding for just about seven seconds or so.

Largely, though, Aiken's likable, boyish self, was was everybody went to see. And they got what they paid $38 for -- a genuine, geeky looking guy who sings at full throttle.

Aiken wore jeans and button-down Oxford shirts or a geeky, striped jacket during many songs. But he and his three back-up singers donned all-white clothing for the gospel song, "You Were There."

Aiken covered several recognizable songs, including Toto's "Rosanna" and Mr. Mister's "Kyrie." Those paled in comparison, though, to his encore performance of Neil Sedaka's "Solitaire."

Girls in the audience screamed his name as he was lowered down a hatch in a two-story staircase.
ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR

[Pamela]

SCENE PAVILION CLEVELAND OH PREVIEW

Aiken works to build career beyond 'Idol'
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Gary Graff
Special to The Plain Dealer

Clay Aiken is one Idol who hasn't been idle.

The slender North Carolinian has been in constant motion since finishing as the runner- up in the second season of "American Idol" in May 2003 - a near photo finish with Ruben Studdard, the soulful Mutt to Aiken's emotive Jeff. Aiken has toured with the other "Idol" contestants and watched his first single, "This Is the Night"/"Bridge Over Troubled Water," top the charts and become the best-selling single since Elton John's 1997 "Candle in the Wind" remake.

Rolling Stone magazine put Aiken on its cover - even before Studdard - and all manner of other media latched onto the for mer special-education teacher from Raleigh, whom "Idol" made over from a bespectacled, self-declared geek to a confident heartthrob with a lusty legion of fans - Claymates - and scores of fawning Internet sites hopping on the Clay train. "I haven't exactly skimmed below any spotlights," Aiken, 25, says with a laugh.

Oh yeah - he made an album, too, which has only kept those spotlights burning brighter. "Measure of a Man," which came out in mid-October, logged two straight weeks at No. 1 and went platinum in its first month on sale. It's now moved nearly 3 million copies - the top-seller by an "Idol" contestant - and launched the hits "Invisible," "This Is the Night," "The Way" and "I Will Carry You."

And with the album's success, Aiken hopes that "Measure of a Man" - which was overseen by RCA Records chief Clive Davis and "Idol" creator Simon Fuller - has established him as a durable talent independent of the show, closer to inaugural "Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson than bust Justin Guarini, Aiken's direct predecessor.

"I don't want to be 'American Idol' runner-up Clay Aiken the rest of my life," he acknowledges. "I don't necessarily feel like I have something to prove. We just want to make sure that there's growth and there's change, and you'll hear that on the album.

"But it's also important that we don't alienate the people that watched ['American Idol'] and put me there. If it weren't for that show, I would not be in the place that I am now. It would be a mistake to forget that."

From the classroom to the TV cameras

Raised by his mother and grandmothers after his parents divorced, Aiken - who subsequently took his mother's maiden name - never craved a career as a singer, though he did sing in his church choir and in school-theater productions. Mostly he was happy to teach his grade school students and even planned to get a master's degree in administration.

That all changed when some of his students' parents, who had heard him sing, encouraged Aiken to try out for "American Idol." He stumbled his way through the audition process, finally getting a spot on the show via a wild card round for those who had been previously axed. There, as his appearance morphed, Aiken quietly won the support of the voting fans and the "Idol" judges - even acerbic Simon Crowell, who derisively dubbed Aiken's "This Is the Night" as "American Idol: The Musical."

"Y'know," Aiken says, "in all honesty I came into this whole experience not really expecting to ever be a recording artist or to have an album. It's not like I had some kind of grand vision for how my big recording career would pan out."

He does, however, bristle at those who want to position him and Studdard as rivals - and give Aiken the upper hand in the battle because of the Rolling Stone cover (the mag's best-selling issue of 2003) and the fact that the "This Is the Night" single far outsold Studdard's "Flying Without Wings"/"Superstar."

"Yeah, I sold more singles than Ruben did, but his single got more airplay than mine," Aiken notes. "It's not that either one of us beat the other on anything. He's great at what he's great at, and I'm good at what I'm good at. And we're not even competing in the marketplace, 'cause we have two completely different markets.

Not in competition with Ruben Studdard

"So it's almost a moot point, this competition thing. He and I are not competing with each other at all. We're friends. We support each other." More than that, even; Aiken would ask Studdard to knot his tie before going onstage during the "Idol" tour. "He can do that better than me, too," Aiken says.

Being the runner-up, however, did give Aiken a chance to finish "Measure of a Man" quicker than Studdard made his debut, "Soulful." Aiken says that "the basic feel is pretty much the same" as what he did on the "Idol" telecasts; "I like songs that need to be sung, that you have to emote on," he explains.

But, he says, "there's definitely been a progression. These songs are a little edgier. We've made them more radio-friendly. They're definitely more modern types of songs than I sang on the show, more modern than 'This Is the Night.' "

Aiken has a Christmas album slated for November, but he's really looking forward to getting into the studio again for his next album of pop songs - primarily to leave no doubt that he can succeed beyond the "Idol" aura.

"I don't think I have anything to prove at this point," Aiken says. "I hopefully won't have to prove anything. We just want to make sure that there's growth and there's change. I did that on ['Measure of a Man'], and I want to keep doing that on everything that I do."
CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER

SCENE PAVILION CLEVELAND OH REVIEW

Nice-guy Clay Aiken thrills his fans

Pop cover versions fill out nearly 2-hour show for Scene Pavilion crowd dominated by women.

Clay Aiken may not be the pop-culture phenomenon he was shortly after he was named runner-up in the second season of American Idol, but the faithful "Claymates" and their husbands/significant others and chaperones still love the nice boy from North Carolina enough to have sold out the Scene Pavilion on Tuesday night, and to scream at his every word in his nearly two-hour set.

The obvious question is how can a guy with only one album, clocking in at less than 80 minutes, perform for two hours?

The answer is that since he came from a glorified karaoke show, he was free to liberally pepper his set list with other folks' already-famous songs.

He entered from beneath the staircase in the middle of the stage, singing U2's Where the Streets Have No Name (without all the pathos that Bono gives it) to a positively giddy crowd of overwhelmingly female admirers. The count was so high that Scene Pavilion staff members were forced to transform a men's room into a women's room with the help of carefully applied neon orange duct tape.

Those women made sure that Aiken knew they love him, and he in turn made sure they knew that he appreciated their ardor, repeatedly thanking "the wonderful people who made all of this possible.''

Aiken's double-platinum debut, Measure of a Man, is full of pleasantly bland pop music, and that safe, family-friendly blandness is part of Aiken's allure.

"He's like a breath of fresh air,'' one fan said.

Presumably the covers were songs that Aiken loves and loves to sing, and his choices showed that he is definitely a fan of pop music. He applied his malleable tenor to Mr. Mister's Kyrie, Orleans' Still the One, and a medley of James Taylor tunes, including Fire and Rain, Sweet Baby James and How Sweet It is (To Be Loved By You).

If Aiken's nice-guy persona is a pose, he's darn good at it, because aside from his aw-shucks stage banter, he gave up stage time so that his five-piece band could turn Toto's Rosanna into solo spotlights. Aiken also introduced each band member and several members of his road crew (by name!) and brought fans onstage to dance and sing a duet with him.

For all his nice-guyness, Aiken is a shrewd performer. He closed the show with several songs from his CD, including the stalker anthem Invisible, the title track, Measure of a Man, and This Is the Night, and he knows what gets his fans' collective panties in a bunch.

So there were plenty of dramatic crescendos, and Aiken standing legs akimbo, arms spread wide, to elicit screams. Interestingly, many of the biggest screams came when he rubbed against one of his female backup singers.
AKRON BEACON JOURNAL (registration required)

Aiken show offers fans a man who measures up
Thursday, August 26, 2004
John Benson
Special to The Plain Dealer

Clay Aiken was anything but "Invisible" Tuesday night when the "American Idol II" runner-up crooned as the nearly sold-out Scene Pavilion swooned.

With more homemade signs than a PTA bake sale, the mostly female, sea-of-pink audience - a mother-and-daughter thing (with nonchalant Dad occasionally singing along) - got what it wanted: fun, by-the-numbers pop music with Clay leading the way.

For nearly two hours, including an intermission, the North Carolina native performed two-thirds of his triple-platinum debut "Measure of a Man," along with half a dozen cover songs and a momentum-killing James Taylor medley that left the youngsters in the audience learning how sweet it isn't when your favorite singer digresses into oldies music.

Not completely squeaky clean, Aiken was as wholesome as he was cool. He also possessed a relaxed stage presence that belied his relatively short-lived celebrity, which merely dates back to May of 2003, when he finished second to Ruben Studdard in the sophomore season of "American Idol." So cool was Aiken that on this hot and humid evening, the 25-year-old performer appeared to be the only one in the outdoor venue not breaking into a sweat.

Whereas "American Idol," for good or bad, is perhaps critically perceived as nothing more than a glorified karaoke contest, Aiken transcended this notion by turning in a pop performance of middle-of-the-road material that never offended.

As with other mega-selling pop stars such as Michael Bolton and Celine Dion, Aiken's material speaks to the heart. What it may lack in breaking new ground is justified by the overwhelming response provided by his fans. From the sincere "When You Say You Love Me" and the R&B-lite leanings of "I Survived You" to the breezy "Shine" and the anthemic "This is the Night," the singer sold the material with impunity.

Buoying his set perfectly were Aiken's numerous cover songs, including U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name," Mr. Mister's "Kyrie," Toto's "Rosanna" and Neil Sedaka's "Solitaire."

Not billed as a Christian artist, Aiken displayed his faith numerous times throughout the evening in subtle (wearing a WWJD bracelet) and not-so-subtle fashions (singing gospel song "You Were There" while dressed in reverent choir white). Perhaps answering the question of what would Jesus do if he were onstage, a benevolent Aiken invited two lucky audience members to sing and dance with his eight-piece band.

For the most part, Aiken's performance delivered what it promised: a derivatively wholesome "American Idol" celebration of music and overcoming great odds to achieve success. While losing the novelty moniker that currently shadows his career will be tough, Aiken effortlessly tackled a variety of material in a down-home fashion that confirmed that his vocal talents are definitely a cut above those of a karaoke singer.

Ultimately, the Darwinian nature of the recording industry with fleeting careers in pop music will be the "Measure of the Man." But on this night, Clay was everybody's idol.

Opening the show was pop singer Cherie, who was warmly received by the audience but appeared a bit stiff onstage. Supporting her recently released self-titled disc, the French performer offered up a set of adult contemporary songs that showcased the possibilities of her vocal talents.
CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER

[Pamela]

MINNESOTA STATE FAIR ST PAUL MN PREVIEW

He's just a dork … but don't tell his fans

BY ROSS RAIHALA
Pioneer Press

Clay Aiken is a dork.

Now, all you Claymates, don't start writing angry letters quite yet. "Dork" is Aiken's preferred term to describe himself.

"I'm just a dork," the "American Idol" runner-up said during a phone interview from a tour stop in Columbus, Ohio. "I'm a normal dork like everybody else. I'm like the guy next door."

More like the tremendously, almost inexplicably, famous and adored guy next door, but still, he's on to something. After three blockbuster seasons of the televised karaoke contest, Aiken — who performs live tonight at the Minnesota State Fair — has emerged as the most popular "American Idol" to date.

Despite coming in second to Ruben Studdard, the 25-year-old North Carolina native can already boast some impressive stats. His album, "Measure of a Man," entered the Billboard charts at No. 1, selling 613,000 copies in its first week — the biggest numbers for a debut record since Snoop Dogg's "Doggystyle" a decade earlier. Aiken's song "This Is the Night" was 2003's best-selling single.

And then there are Aiken's fans, the Claymates. Kids love him. Young women love him. Moms love him. Dogs love him. Young men love him — well, not so much.

How does Aiken account for such adoration?

"Oh, I don't know," he said with his high-pitched, snorty and, yes, dorky laugh. "I really don't know. I think it's just been a long time since there's been a celebrity who looked like me. There weren't any celebrities who acted like me and dressed like me. I think people can relate to me, because I'm just a dork."

But that's not stopping the man who topped the National League of Junior Cotillions' list of the "Best-Mannered People of 2003" from writing a book. Due in stores by Christmas, "Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life" is filled with inspirational stories about chasing your dreams, achieving your goals and the like.

"I really haven't had a life yet, I'm only 25, so I don't have much to talk about yet," Aiken said. "But the book is an opportunity to share stories about things that have happened to me; it's about people who have helped make me who I am. It's about how I found my voice and the people who helped me do that."

In addition to writing his book, Aiken has a disc of holiday music in the pipeline and plans to release another new album in 2005.

What does Aiken do when he's not performing live, writing books, crooning carols or being an all-around polite, gracious and swell young man?

"Usually, I sleep," he said. "That's pretty much all I ever do. That and play with my dog, Raleigh. She's gotten used to life on the road."

Anything else?

"Not much, really. Sometimes if I'm bored, I'll Google my name and see what's going on," Aiken said. "See, I'm really a normal guy."

Yup, a dork. We've got that.
TWIN CITIES

MINNESOTA STATE FAIR ST PAUL MN REVIEW

A likable Clay Aiken brings freshness to the State Fair
Jon Bream,  Star Tribune
August 27, 2004  
   
Clay Aiken, "American Idol's" most enduring singing force, set two records Thursday night at the Minnesota State Fair:

• He was the first grandstand headliner in fair history named after two counties in Minnesota.

• He established a mark for the most tunes during which a big-name singer broke into laughter in mid-song -- three.

In all seriousness, Aiken set a standard for all idols -- American or just plain teen, performing with a freshness and enthusiasm that was so genuine that it made him so genuinely likable.

Aiken, 25, a former North Carolina special-ed teacher, was friendly, funny and spontaneous. Making his third local appearance in 13 months, he seemed much more comfortable onstage than in April at the Xcel Energy Center (the last show on his tour with "Idol" Kelly Clarkson) or in July 2003 (his first show ever, with the other finalists of the second season of "AI"). This time, he commanded the stage, moving without awkwardness or self-consciousness (though he admits he can't dance), singing eye-to-eye with his backup singers and making eye contact with his fans. Most of all, he was having fun -- and so were the 6,873 grandstand-goers, most of them female.

When he brought a young woman from the audience onstage to duet with him on "Without You," Aiken was flying without a net. The overly excited woman said she flew in that morning from Arizona for the show and she wondered whether her sister could video the duet even though the security guards had banned video cameras.

"Is there anything else I can do?" Aiken asked. "Make a list. ..." A music business major at a community college, she held her own vocally, as a giggly Aiken gazed into her eyes as they sang.

After the bundle of energy exited, the heartthrob said: "She flew in from Phoenix. I don't think she used a plane."

The drummer forgot to hit a rim shot.

Aiken didn't miss a step during his 80-minute performance, except when he inexplicably burst into giggles during "I Survived You," one of his many big, serious ballads. His theatrical voice is well-suited to the kind of Broadway pop he favors (think Barry Manilow-meets-Michael Crawford with a hint of Art Garfunkel), but the material from his best-selling CD, "Measure of a Man," is unremarkable, save for his hits "Invisible" and "Solitaire."

His covers -- oldies by Toto, U2, Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Mr. Mister, Orleans -- were more an exercise in karaoke than imaginative interpretation. And his rendition of the Christian praise song "You Were There" was a heavy-handed detour.

Nonetheless, Aiken had the star quality, stage craft and unstoppable charm to transcend his material and to suggest that he will have opportunities to establish more records at the state fair and elsewhere.
MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

Clay Aiken has unerring knack for selling a tune

BY ROSS RAIHALA
Pioneer Press

Clay Aiken wasn't about to let a little rain dampen his soft-rock party from kicking off the Minnesota State Fair Thursday night.

Between intermittent showers, the second-season "American Idol" runner-up belted out selections from his double-platinum debut "Measure of a Man" and well-chosen cover versions in front of a well-mannered, politely appreciative crowd of 6,873.

Barely a year into this whole showbiz thing and Aiken already possesses the assured demeanor of a seasoned veteran — when he opens his mouth to sing.

While not quite as technically adept as some of his "American Idol" co-stars, the 25-year-old has an unerring knack for selling a tune, whether it's one of the bloodlessly professional songs written for him ("I Survived You," "Perfect Day") or a light-rock radio staple like Toto's "Rosanna" or Mr. Mister's "Kyrie." This guy could sing the back of a milk carton and have the tweens melting in their miniskirts.

His banter between numbers, meanwhile, is Aiken's real secret weapon. He speaks in a sort of high-pitched, Southern squeal — punctuated by nasal giggles — that makes Aiken seem all the more, you know, normal. A major key to Aiken's success is approachability, or at least the illusion thereof, and he knows it.

Thus Aiken endlessly bantered with the audience between songs, telling lame jokes and chumming around with his bandmates and crew. Yet it all felt casual and genuine, rarely studied. His off-the-cuff responses to the overly excited young woman he pulled on stage for a quick duet even suggest a future in improv. To be sure, the kids ate up every word and even the most cynical audience members couldn't help but be at least occasionally charmed by the guy.

And if Aiken's chattiness wasn't enough, there were his eyes. Those eyes. Clearly the result of being a contestant on a televised talent show, Aiken was constantly aware every moment a camera was pointed in his general direction. And he worked it — flashing not so much bedroom eyes as perhaps family-room eyes.

See, another reason the squeaky clean Aiken has done so well is that he knows how to appeal to both young women and their moms. That's why he sang knockout versions of his own hits, like "This Is the Night" and "Invisible," while finding time to include such boomer-friendly diversions as a medley of James Taylor tunes. He even threw in a full-on contemporary Christian number, "You Were There," complete with a montage of biblical imagery that was far more Hallmark card than "The Passion of the Christ."

It's going to take a lot more than a cloudburst to stop this guy.
TWIN CITIES

[Pamela]

US CELLULAR CENTER MILWAUKEE WI REVIEW

Measure of a runner-up American Idol
Aiken bonds with crowd that already knows it loves him

By TIM CUPRISIN
Aug. 27, 2004

Clay Aiken was perfectly fine in his first Milwaukee concert appearance Friday night at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

The runner-up from the second season of Fox's "American Idol" had a good crowd for a 90-minute concert that benefited from a professional five-piece band and three powerful backup singers who filled the gaps in his understandably limited repertoire.

Aiken hasn't been performing long enough to do it alone, and he wisely let the singers take over, as in a set of James Taylor songs. He sang the lead on the opening song in the set, "Sweet Baby James," although his somewhat nasal voice didn't work well with the tune.

But it was the songs off his album that the enthusiastic audience came to hear, and they got good renditions of what they'll find on his CD, "Measure of a Man."

The 25-year-old Aiken was at his most effective and confident on "I Survived You" and the concert's climactic "Invisible," both off the album.

His lone encore number, "Solitaire," was an audience favorite as well. And his Christian song, "You Were There," complete with a dramatic video track on the screens at either side of the stage, momentarily created a revival atmosphere.

Aiken was substantially weaker in covers, like Toto's "Rosanna" and Orleans' "Still the One" and his opener, U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name."

Beyond the singing, Aiken bonded well with an audience that already loved him.

He was relaxed and conversational on stage and did a few bits that warmed up an already toasty crowd, including bringing one guy up to dance with a backup singer and getting a young woman from central Wisconsin - who showed where she was from by turning her hand into a map of Wisconsin - to sing a duet.

As for the crowd, there was the expected contingents of "Claymates," the tweens and teenage girls who got to know Aiken during his run on the second season of "American Idol." But there was also a sizable number of middle-aged women, showing that he's not necessarily the conventional pop idol that the show aims to create.

After 90 minutes of listening to Aiken, it's clear that he has a future in music, although it may not be as a pop star.

He has a personality and a stage presence - along with a singing style - that would serve him well on Broadway.

Right now, though, there's enough of an "American Idol" afterglow to keep him belting out pop tunes for at least a little while longer.

MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL

[stellium]

Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2004 4:25 pm    Post subject: Illinois concert review    
 
This is the review this morning in the Springfield, Illinois, State Journal Register newspaper, by the same journalist who conducted Clay's great interview a few days ago about Kimberley cooking breakfast !

Clay Aiken delivers formidable performance at Grandstand

By NICK ROGERS
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT WRITER

If a man is measured by his generosity, Clay Aiken is one of the heftiest guys around.
Aiken is no vocal slouch; his trademark is a formidable vocal tone that belies his skinny stature. But he was more of a singing straight man Friday night, as Aiken created powerhouse four-part harmonies with his backup singers throughout his concert at the Illinois State Fair Grandstand.

A crowd of 5,171 watched Aiken and company roll through an 85-minute set of material from his "Measure of a Man" album and as eclectic a collection of covers as a pop singer can churn out.

The evening began on a wobbly note, with the pre-recorded shill for Disney (the tour sponsor and the studio for whom Aiken recorded "Proud of Your Boy" for an upcoming "Aladdin" DVD) and the unveiling of the same sort of set every pop concert has these days - two tiers of stage separated by a shiny metal staircase.

But instead of him running out and down the staircase, it lifted up to reveal Aiken, whose Bono bombast was credible on the show-opening cover of "Where the Streets Have No Name." Though some of Aiken's biggest fans weren't even born when that song was released, those screaming for him ate up the song, which came complete with a copy of the cascading light scheme U2 uses.

"We can smell the funnel cakes, the hot dogs," Aiken said of the state-fair venues he's played frequently on this tour. "But tonight we're smelling something a little different down here on the horse track. Maybe they left a little welcome gift for me."

Aiken conversed with the crowd many times during the night, pacing the stage with his hand in a pocket and putting forth a chummy Southern-buddy vibe. But a couple of interactive crowd-pleasing ideas backfired a bit.

He sought someone with "innovative dancing talent" to come on stage during "When You Say You Love Me." But the woman from Cape Girardeau, Mo., he brought up apparently didn't feel comfortable doing the eye-catching dance on stage that inspired him to lure her up there.

And the shyness of a 5-year-old girl whose prayer every night was to sing with Clay Aiken (and got her wish) made for prolonged silences, during which Aiken was patient and joking with her. When she started singing "Invisible," it was a cute moment - but that song, with its sanitized stalker lyrics underneath a sunny beat, is creepy enough when sung by an adult, let alone a small child.

Those were only slightly shaky moments, though, in a concert that was otherwise hugely enjoyable.

For starters, Aiken earned kudos for pulling some rarely heard '80s chestnuts out of the cover box.

He and backup singer Angela Fisher tore up the Aretha Franklin-George Michael duet "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me," which is a rarity even for 1980s flashback radio programs. And Aiken allowed his band mates to turn a spirited rendition of Toto's "Rosanna" into a remarkable jam session.

Plus, Aiken sort of resembles the singer for Mr. Mister, so why would he not do "Kyrie," let alone lend an admirably nerdy opening dance to it?

Aiken had tremendous backing power from Angela Fisher, Jacob Luttrell and Quiana Parler, with whom he created unshakable walls of sound all night. Watching the quartet perform was like a professional, wholly on-key version of a group-sing on "American Idol" - with no one preening to the camera in a plea for votes.

Along with the tribal-sounding "Kyrie," Aiken showcased Fisher, Luttrell and Parler on a medley of James Taylor covers - "Sweet Baby James," "How Sweet It Is," "Fire and Rain," "Your Smiling Face" and "You've Got a Friend."

Of Aiken's own material, standouts included "I Will Carry You," with an uplifting chorus that showed off Aiken's vocal power; "Invisible," which, despite the spooky lyrics, still has an undeniably catchy melody and vocal line; and "Solitaire," his encore number.

All in all, this was the rare show where the onstage dancing and interaction between singers and musicians felt like a genuine extension of the fun they were having. And it translated well enough to the crowd that everyone there became a "Claymate," if only for about 90 minutes.

Opening the show was French singer Cherie, whose wardrobe of a bandanna and oversized football jersey didn't seem to match her measured, precisely sung pop tunes.

Cherie's voice is good enough, without being overpowering, that only rarely did she reach for syllable-extending histrionics or warbling high pitches. The highlight of her set was "Older Than My Years," a tender ballad with coos and breathy pauses a la Celine Dion, without the dramatics.
**********

[stellium]

Two letters appear in the Springfield State Journal Register letters to the editor section this morning, in the center with a picture of Clay singing in an intense moment with the microphone in front of the jumbo screen. One good, one not. (I believe this is important because this is the state paper with a huge circulation in Illinois.)
First, the negative..

FANS SHOULD HAVE 2ND CHANCE TO MEET AIKEN

"As I write this letter, my daughter, Erin T.........., is sitting in the Grandstand of the Illinois State Fair with a broken heart. She and her mother were lucky winners of tickets to a VIP party and backstage passes to meet Erin's idol, Clay Aiken. They arrived at the fairgrounds at the WDBR tent at 5:30 p.m. While they were there, a young lady in a wheelchair was awarded the same prize. Needless to say, she was elated. WDBR staff then escorted the lucky winners to the VIP party at the Grandstand.

When the group arrived, a gentleman from Fox 55 informed them that because of "security issues", none of them would be allowed backstage to meet Clay. He also told them that he had been there since 9 a.m. trying to iron things out. The decision not to let anyone meet the performer had been reached at 4:30 p.m.

My daughter was crushed. The blow could have been lessened if the individual from Fox would have contacted the WDBR people and informed the winners that, in fact, they would not be meeting with Mr. Aiken.
This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for my wife and daughter. I sincerely hope that the people from Fox 55 and WDBR make arrangements with the Clay Aiken tour management to make good on their promise to allow these winners the opportunity to meet him. Clay will be performing several more times before summer is over. It would be only fair if they provided these fans with another chance to meet with Clay."

Daniel Ten...........
Springfield

and the good ....

SEEING AIKEN PERFORM LIVE SURPASSED ALL ELSE

"I just had to give my opinion of the Clay Aiken concert on Friday night. I have rarely enjoyed a show as much as I did this one. As always, his voice was strong and held your attention. The review in the paper was mostly favorable; however, the reviewer felt he had to mention the not-so-good moments. The opening about the Disney Aladdin stuff was disappointing for the reviewer, but as Disney is the sponsor, it was most likely necessary.

I loved the fact that Clay, who has not been in the business for too long, wanted to involve the audience. The little girl was cute, and she will remember that moment for the rest of her life. I enjoyed his performance and found that hearing him in person was better than live television, even though the equipment at the fairgrounds probably could use some upgrading.

His voice was strong and true, and the backup singers, or should I say the singers who sang right along with him, were wonderful as well. I really enjoyed Clay's performance and would see him again and will look forward to what he does in the future."

Debbie Tur.........
Springfield


 I like the fact that the girl's father is blaming Fox 55 for this and not a word against Clay personally. The upset man  obviously is confused about the entire situation and at a loss why this decision was made.

The second letter is a general opinion of the fans around here who are not die-hard Clay fans but came to see him because they liked Clay on the Idol show.   They have not had the exposure to Clay's personality that we have had,  and just a few opportunities on TV shows and his records to get to know him better.   This live show helps introduce them to the personal side of Clay Aiken,  and I could tell in the audience how charmed and pleased everyone was with him Friday night,  in a crowd of 5171.

[HavinaClayAffair]

Thanks Stellium!! I hope thay are able to meet Clay but we all know there seemed to be something going on that day that ended without a bass player. I wish them luck and hope the station has success is making those arrangements.

Lora-Ohio

[mrs. c.]

You know, Clay will make it right, he always does!!!!

[clayfannj]

I am more concerned over the fact that the meet and greet had to be cancelled.... I hope there was no threat made to Clay.. If the security people felt the need for this session to be cancelled..THAT WAS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORT... AND THAT is what HAD to be done...  Although I don't like to disappoint a child either..the parents  of this child should be a little less self involved and perhaps look to see behind this uncommon request..  Life has disappointments...Perhaps that is what those parents should have explained to their..13 yr old  "crushed" child rather than whining to the newspaper..

    Clay's SAFETY  or a pre teen's not getting her way????


               DUH!!!!

[dudley5]

I AGREE WITH CLAYFANNJ.........CLAY HAS NEVER ALLOWED ANY OF THE MEET AND GREETS TO BE CANCELLED......THAT TELLS ME THAT SOMETHING WAS DEFINITLY WRONG WITH SECURITY THAT DAY......AND I BELIEVE THAT IS ALSO THE SAME NIGHT SOMEONE SAID WITHIN SECONDS AFTER HE FINISHED HE WAS ON THE BUS WITH A POLICE ESCORT LEAVING THE GROUNDS......

THIS IS A MEAN CRUEL WORLD WE ARE LIVING IN NOW......AND THEIR ARE NUT CASES RUNNING AROUND ALL OVER THE PLACE........CLAY IS GETTING BIGGER AND BIGGER EVERYDAY AND HIS SAFETY IS OF UPMOST IMPORTANCE.......EVERYONE WHO LOVES OUR CLAYTON SHOULD JUST BE GRATEFUL THAT JEROME....THE POLICE....AND EVERYONE THAT IS TAKING CARE OF CLAY WERE ON THEIR TOES THAT DAY........ AND EVERYDAY.

[Claymaniac2000]

As soon as I read that there was 15 state troopers there that night and that the bus had a police escort out of the stadium, I came to the conclusion that there had possibly been threats on Clay's life, and his safety is of paramount importance. I am sorry the M & G was cancelled but I am so glad that he has so many people looking out for his safety. Especially Jerome. I don't think anyone has ever had a better bodyguard. THANK YOU JEROME. WE ALL LOVE YOU FOR TAKING SUCH GOOD CARE OF OMC.