Clay Aiken, the runner-up for the American Idol title who lost out to Ruben Studdard back in 2003, appears to no longer be a fan of American Idol. Clay posted a message about this season of American Idol on his official website (a site that charges a $29.95 annual fee for access to “ultimate membership”) that makes clear that he no longer watches the show (except for “once a season”) and is clearly not an Adam Lambert fan (who he described as “contrived, awful, and slightly frightening!”). I suppose it could be argued that he is not a Kris Allen fan either since Clay confesses, “I never saw Kris sing on the show, but whether he was good or not is really relative.” Thankfully, someone at Gawker/Defamer pays for the access to Clay Aiken‘s deep thoughts (I suspect it’s my friend Brett who wrote their item for the site) so they can be disseminated to the rest of the Internets free of charge. Here is the full text of Clay‘s nutshell commentary of this season of the American Idol:
Now that it’s all over, and for the record…. I couldn’t be happier about the way AI ended this year. I only turn the show on once a season, and only to see what the set looks like each year. This year, I happened to turn it during the minute that Adam Lambert was singing “Ring of Fire” and, at that moment, thought my ears would bleed. Contrived, awful, and slightly frightening! I wasn’t really a fan and found myself surprised whenever folks told me that they liked him. Granted, I never saw another performance (and many folks who I trust said that he was great) but I can’t imagine I would have enjoyed it. Just not my cup of tea at all. To each his own. I never saw Kris sing on the show, but whether he was good or not is really relative. It’s usually a matter of taste, right? But Idol is not always a matter of musical taste only. It’s about the person you like. From what little I saw, Kris seemed likable. (That’s not to say that Adam isn’t just as likable as anyone.. maybe more so… I don’t know) When Ruben and I were standing next to each other every night (many years ago) you had two equally talented, equally unlikely, equally unpolished contestants…. so it really was a matter of taste as to who was voted for. While some may argue that one of us was hyped more than the other, I don’t feel that was the case. However, this year, there was an obvious bias. Not even having watched the show, I can tell you that I was WELL aware of the bias from the judges as to who should win. In my opinion, that is awfully unattractive. I don’t think I am alone
In my opinion, it all often comes down to that last night of voting. Until the finale, folks are voting for the contestant that they want to see continue. But, I believe that on that last night, the dynamic changes. No longer forced to choose one person that they want to see win, the audience can effectively vote AGAINST the person that they don’t want to see win. In the case of season two this might have happened. There may have been some folks who voted for myself or Ruben because they didn’t like the other of us. I was the nerdy little girly boy who some didn’t want to see win, so they may have voted for Ruben. I don’t know. .. But again, I feel that Ruben and I were fairly matched. We both had our detractors and negatives, but I feel we were both very worthy of being on that stage in that moment, and either of us would have been worthy of winning. The show was different then, and folks made it in seasons 1-3 because they were “real” people who happened to sing/entertain well. But, somewhere along the way, AI stopped being about real people.
In a battle between David and Goliath, my money is on David!
I think many voters got sick of being “told who to vote for”. I think many were turned off by the blatant favoritism shown towards one contestant. Therefore, on that last night, they used their votes against a contestant that they were tired of hearing about and for the contestant who had been written off. And, at the same time, I think they voted AGAINST an American Idol that has, for four years now, been more about the slick productions and polished contestants than it has been about finding the raw talent that it did in its first three seasons.
Those votes for Kris were also votes to return the show to its roots of finding “real” contestants with undiscovered talent and giving them the chance to grow and shine. They were votes that said “we’re tired of seeing contestants who already seem to know it all”.
Will American Idol choose to listen to the resounding and clarion call that those voters gave them?…. “Enough with the pretention. More Rubens, more Clays, more Fantasias and Tamyras and Kellys please.” My faith has always been in the voters. I think they have gotten it right every year (mine included). It’s now up to American Idol to decide if it will finally REALLY listen to the folks that keep it on the air.
HMMM. While Clay does make some valid points, the overall tone of his rant seems awfully negative. He deffo sounds like he’s been noshing on some sour grapes. Why you gotta hate Clay? While I agree with his point that American Idol seems to really come down to a popularity contest (after all, Kris‘s home State of Arkansas, with a population of 2.8 million, reportedly generated 38 million votes) I absolutely do not agree with his assertion that the show needs, “More Rubens, more Clays, more Fantasias …” On the contrary, what I think it needs is to limit voting to one vote per person … and it deffo needs more controversy cuz that’s what makes everyone talk about a show they don’t even watch (including former contestants, like Clay Aiken). I don’t personally believe that Clay‘s commentary is worth the $29.95 annual fee, especially if most of his posts read like this one. It’s some funny shizz, tho, to read for free.
I agree with Clay 100%. I never missed an episode of American Idol this season, and I found it ridiculous and unfair how they pimped Adam. He always got the pimp spot (the last of the night), there were only a couple of nights when he was in the middle and he only went 1st one time. He always got the special lighting and effects. How can you put one person on the cover of a magazine (Entertainment Weekly) when he hasn’t won yet? That shouldn’t be allowed. It was blatant agenda pushing. So while I really enjoy Kris Allen, me and several of my friends were voting as much FOR him as we were AGAINST Adam. And it wasn’t so much Against Adam as much as it was against the agenda pushing and unfair pimping of Adam. His music isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I’m not a Clay Aiken fan, and this is the first season I ever voted, but he’s right.
As for the number of votes that came from Arkansas, I think Adam fans are being immature. There are 2.8 people in Arkansas, and there are more than that in Adam’s hometown of San Diego. Don’t be mad because Kris’s home STATE showed more support for him that Adams HOME TOWN. Besides, look at Clay’s career, Adam’s gonna be alright.
Kelly Clarkson won the 1st season of AI and has sold over 10.1 million albums and counting. Carrie Underwood won the 4th season of AI and has sold 9.5 million albums and counting. Clay Aiken has been dropped from his record label. Sour grapes indeed.