Clay Aiken News Network

American Idol…love it or hate it, it has become a huge phenomenon in the entertainment field. Although the viewer count has been dropping the last few years, the show still is able to rope in many people to watch “the good, the bad, and the ugly.”

Tonight, American Idol, Season 10, will feature the songs of Elton John. The Top 11 contestants will try to win a place on next week’s show by singing their hearts out, Elton John style. Because of last week’s save, two contestants will be eliminated this week.

Clay Aiken became known for his American Idol rendition of Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me. After all, he sang it four times on the televised part of American Idol.

We first heard Clay sing Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me (DLTSGDOM) on the Wildcard show in March of 2003. Clay seemed to have effortless power and he gave the impression that he had been doing this for a long time. From the beginning, he started working the camera and because he was really into the song, his face was very expressive.

It was fun to see the judges excited about Clay’s performance. Paula gushed and Clay blushed!! Randy and Paula gave him a standing ovation and even Simon was impressed.

As we all know, the next night, Clay was voted America’s Choice and after composing himself with a deep breath, Clay preceded to sing the song beautifully.

The American public got it right. They gave Clay the opportunity to shine and he became the star we all love.

On May 19^th, American Idol had a special final 2 show. The evening was filled with clips, interviews and live performances. Clay, once again, performed Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me.

Probably the most memorable performance of DLTSGDOM was a few years later. May 24, 2006 was the Season 5 Finale. American Idol went all out to produce a show that was buzz-worthy. They enlisted the top singers to make an appearance on the show and thought that including Prince in the show would cause much excitement. Ah…little did they know that the buzz of the night was all about Clay Aiken.

AI did a Golden Idol Award skit. The category was Favorite Impersonation. Michael Sandecki, who impersonated Clay, won the competition and Ryan asked him to sing. As Michael started singing, the doors behind him opened and Clay walked through. Michael was totally awestruck by Clay. Clay surprised everyone with his new look and he didn’t look like Michael in any way!!

One of the best parts was the many comments from the press about Clay’s performance. The following are a few of the great press:

Yahoo Buzz: Season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken made a victorious return to the “Idol” stage, sporting a new look that helped him pull in more buzz than last year’s champ Carrie Underwood. And a surprise appearance by Prince stirred up searches on the funk legend—precisely the point. Gotta love the “Idol” publicity machine.

Access Hollywood: The moment everyone is talking about around here is the reemergence of Clay Aiken. Folks here have dubbed his new look a cross between KD Lang and the Beatles. Inside the theater, he sounded amazing but I don’t think he wasn’t expecting shocked auditioner, Michael, to start trying to duet with him on the song At one point off-camera the stage manager came out and told Ryan to sit him down. That’s why the chair was brought out and you see Ryan place him there.

Baltimore MIX 106.5: So who won Idol? Katherine, Taylor? No, it was Clay Aiken’s haircut.

DC MIX 107.3: Man, did you see that Clay Aiken song in the show last night? What a great voice, and what a great guy he is to go along with the joke.

Inside Edition: Clay Aiken told us today he really enjoyed being on the AI finale and he is really thrilled for Michael Sandecki

It’s a night to remember and a wonderful moment for Clay who allowed his Impersonator to perform, yet showed everyone that he was not even close in looks, voice or star power.

Tonight, some of Clay’s fans have decided to celebrate Clay Aiken and his fabulous voice. Many of his fans no longer watch American Idol so they are going to share remembrances and videos of Clay’s Elton John songs. And, they will be posting the fun on Twitter too. If you are around, why not join the fun. The more the merrier!!

The following videos are three of Clay’s performances of Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me! Enjoy!!

The first performance night of American Idol’s Season 8 final performers took place on Tuesday night. The theme for the evening was Michael Jackson.

Lamont Dozier

But back in 2003, the first big stage episode of Season 2 was Motown. There were four judges on the March 11^th show. Simon, Paula and Randy were joined by Lamont Dozier. Dozier is best known as a member of a songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound and numerous hit records by artists such as Martha & the Vandellas, The Supremes, and The Four Tops. He was a perfect pick for a Motown judge.

Kimberley Locke started off the evening. She chose the song “Heatwave.” The judges all seemed to agree that her performance was just OK. However Lamont enjoyed her energy.

A short video clip introduced the audience to Josh Gracin, a Marine who married his high school sweetheart. Josh sang “Baby I Need Your Lovin’”. All the judges said it was a good job except Simon who got into a push-up contest with Josh.

Charles Grigsby seemed like a nice young man, but vocally, his voice was not strong. Singing “How Sweet It Is,” it was immediately apparent that Charles did not capture the feeling of the song.

“No Where To Run,” was the song choice for Kim Caldwell. The song fit her “rock” style and the judges comments were positive. Simon commented that it was the best performance so far.

College student, Ricky Smith, told the audience that his school paid for him to attend the AI audition. Nerves seemed to get the best of Ricky as he seemed to miss his cue to the start of his song, “1,2,3.” But, as he settled in, he got much better. All the judges were positive except…..yep……..Simon.

Although Julia Dematto sang in tune, her rendition of “Where Did Our Love Go” was difficult to watch as Julia seemed to have trouble moving with the beat of the music. The judges commented that she looked very nice, but little was said about her singing.

The clip that introduced Clay Aiken to the audience made it clear that Clay had another passion in his life which was teaching students with disabilities. In the clip, Clay confessed that his camp name was Gonzo and he let some students duct tape him to the wall.

Clay sang “Can’t Help Myself and the moment he opened his mouth, the strength of his voice and his range was up front. He seemed to command the stage and even though he didn’t move a lot, the audience was having fun. Clay earned the first standing ovation of the show. Randy said he was brilliant and Paula was amazed and thanked Clay. The support of the audience must have been overwhelming as Clay kept saying thank you to the judges and audience.

Poor Vanessa Olivarez had to follow Clay and she sang “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.” Randy and Paula thought she was very pitchy and Simon said she reminded him of Bette Midler.

Corey Clark was next and sang “This Old Heart Of Mine.” Most of the judges were happy with his performance and Lamont thought he was a young Smokey Robinson.

“You Can’t Hurry Love” was the song choice for Carmen Rasmusen. This young girl from Utah was very pretty on the stage, but had a strange vibrato in her voice that many listeners found unusual. The judges all agreed that she did a great job and Simon said he was glad that he picked her.

Trenyce was next and she had a strong performance. Singing “Come See About Me’”, she had strong vocals and great stage presence. She received a standing ovation from the judges.

The last performer of the evening was Ruben Studdard. Ruben sang “Baby I Need Your Lovin” and his voice was beautiful. He had a good time on the stage and put his own touch on the song. Simon thought that Ruben was ready for a recording career.

The following evening, “Heatwave” was the first group song. The group seemed to enjoy the performance and it was a good introduction to the entire cast. The results section of the show was a nervous time for the performers and the audience too. After too long of a wait, Vanessa was “booted” from the show.

Take a look at the performance of “Can’t Help Myself by Clay Aiken and then you can watch the Group performance of “Heatwave.”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPUIcbajgWs

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XJeslCwAuA

Clay Aiken Gets The Buzz OF The Night!!

Clay Aiken Meets Motown

Celebrity Apprentice: Clay’s Presentation

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