Clay Aiken – A Part of The Final Three

By musicfan123 · Comments (13)
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

May 13, 2003………American Idol, Season 2.  It’s time for the Final 3.

Clay Aiken, Kimberley Locke and Ruben Studdard worked hard each week to impress the audience so that they would continue for another week.  American Idol’s fans did it right that season.  They voted for the best three  singers of Season 2.

For the Final 3 show, there were only the regular judges.  No guest judge joined the panel.  Ryan Seacrest explained that this was a night of “picks.”  All three contestants sang three songs; one was a random pick, one was a judge’s pick and the last was the Idol’s pick.

The performances of the night and their order were:

Random Round ( fishbowl):
1. Kimberley Locke- “Band of Gold”
2. Ruben Studdard- “Signed, Sealed, & Delivered”
3. Clay Aiken- “Vincent”

Judges’ Choice:
1. Kimberley Locke-”Anyone Who Had a Heart” – Randy Jackson
2. Ruben Studdard- “Smile” – Simon Cowell
3. Clay Aiken- “Mack the Knife” –  Paula Abdul

Contestant’s Choice:
1. Kimberley Locke- “Inseparable
2. Ruben Studdard- “If Ever Your In My Arms Again”
3. Clay Aiken- “Unchained Melody”

Each Idol chose a song from a fishbowl.  Kim picked “Band of Gold” as her random pick and Ruben picked “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”.  All three of the judges thought both of the performances were brilliant.

Clay picked the song, “Vincent” made famous by Don McClean.  The song about suicidal painter, Vincent Van Gogh is a sad and dreary song.  Clay sang a haunting version of the song, but missed a cue that was not noticeable to most people.  He did an excellent job of covering up and going on which is the sign of a true professional.

The judges were brutal.  Their comments ranged from boring to dreary.  Well, it was a dreary song about a sad time.  What was the singer supposed to do?  Of course, Paula had to let everyone know that Clay “forgot” the words, but did not let the TV audience know that the arrangement of the song was changed just before the program started.  Clay said later that he had never even practiced the new arrangement.

The second round was the Judge’s Pick.  Randy picked “Anyone Who Had a Heart” for Kim.  Both Randy and Paula thought it was beautiful, but Simon said it was “safe….good…ish.”

For Ruben, Simon chose the song, “Smile.”  The judges’ comments included the words, brilliant, well-done and beautiful.

Paula announces that Clay had been assigned an ‘American classic’ known as “Mack The Knife.” She also said it oozes coolness—and he deserves coolness.  She commented that if Clay pulls this off, he will be cool and not a lounge lizard. He will go straight to headliner.

Most of the audience thought that Clay did an awesome job on the song and thought he looked great in his tux.  The judges seemed to agree and used the words, cool, brilliant and standing ovation when they critiqued his performance.

For the last performances for the Idols, they were supposed to pick a song from their own idol.

Kim and Ruben sang their picks and the judges were extremely nice in their comments.  Simon said, “This is the only time we’ve had three good people in the Top 3… not the case last year -so I don’t know who will be in the Top 2 because you all deserve to be there”

Clay sang “Unchained Melody” after sharing that it was his mom’s favorite song and she was his “idol”.  The judges were impressed with his performance, especially Paula who thought it was the best performance of the entire season.

And, after some “silly” banter by Ryan Seacrest, the show was over for the night.

The following evening was results night and we finally got to know who would be in the finale.

The contestants did a medley of love song duets, including “Up Where We Belong,” “Reunited,” and “Solid.”  The three contestants were great together and a shout out to Michael Orland for arranging the medleys.

Musical guests for the evening are Tamyra Gray and Justin Guarini who both sing.  Too bad that Justin chose to sing the same song that Clay sang the night before…Unchained Melody.”

The contestants had a chance to fly home to their hometowns for a day the previous week. Kim had many appearances and interviews. One DJ predicted next year’s movie will be From Kimberley to Ruben! She sang for friends, returned to school, signed autographs—had a good time.

Ruben headed home to Alabama and greeted lots of kids and former teachers. The kids seemed star struck. He also visited his school, his church friends, and had other assorted appearances.

Clay headed to North Carolina. He went to the YMCA to receive a 500-foot greeting card, he did radio and TV interviews, he went to his old school to see the kids, and he spent time with Mike and Diane. Clay went home and ate some barbecue with the family.  He took his Mom a bouquet of flowers.  He met the governor and he got to throw out the first ball and sing the anthem for the Durham Bulls game. He was brought to the game on a helicopter. Then it was back to LA. It was apparently a really full trip considering it only lasted a little over 24 hours.

Finally, it was time for the results and it was revealed that Kim was going home.  She smiled graciously and gave a hug to tearful Clay.

Ryan closed the night by announcing that there would be an extra show the next week to get to know the contestants better.

Next week……the finale!!

We have included videos of all three of Clay’s songs and the group performance.  It certainly was a great week.

Click here to see videos: Read More→

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Clay Aiken Sings Solitaire

By musicfan123 · Comments (8)
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

April 29, 2003 was a momentous night on American Idol.  Most Clay Aiken fans will remember the night with excitement.  It was the night that brought Clay and “Solitaire” together for the first time.

The theme of the evening was Neil Sedaka Night. Neil was the guest judge for this show so he joined Randy, Paula and Simon at the judges dais.

This is the first night where the remaining contestants sang two songs–one from the 60′s and one composed by Neil Sedaka. So, since it was the “Top Five”, the audience anticipated 10 performances for the night.

The songs and the order for the night were:

1st song:

  1. Ruben Studdard – “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg”
  2. Trenyce – “Proud Mary”
  3. Josh Gracin – “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye”
  4. Kimberley Locke – “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”
  5. Clay Aiken – “Build Me Up Buttercup”

2nd song:

  1. Ruben Studdard- “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do”
  2. Trenyce – “Love Will Keep Us Together”
  3. Josh Gracin – “Bad Blood”
  4. Kimberley Locke – “Where The Boys Are”
  5. Clay Aiken – “Solitaire”

Ruben started the evening with a good rendition of “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” but his outfit was the talk of the night.  Wherever you read, people were commenting on the “Reynolds Wrap” outfit.  Simon was horrified and not afraid to say so.

The judges were impressed with the way Trenyce sang “Proud Mary.” But, leave it to Simon to remark that she looked like a “Drag Queen.”

Simon must have been a in a bad mood because all the other judges enjoyed the performances of Josh and Kim, but he could not find anything nice to say.  According to Simon was “just not good enough” and Kim was something that “can be heard in any church across America.”

Finally, there was Clay.  He came out swinging as he sang “Build Me Up Buttercup” and the judges (even Simon) were impressed.  After this song, Neil said “You sing like Andre Agassi plays tennis-perfection.  And I would kill to write and produce your first CD.”

With so many performances in one night, the second round of performances started immediately.  Each song in this round was written by Neil Sedaka.

Again, Ruben impressed the judges.  All four of them felt Ruben performed like a professional and there was no comment on his clothing.

According to the judges, Trenyce hit a “home run” with her performance of “Love Will Keep It Together”, but Josh still could not get any support from Simon.  Simon felt that he just wasn’t good enough.

“Where The Boys Are” was a great vehicle to show off Kim’s voice and the judges were excited about her performance.  Words like hot, versatile, flirty, sultry and brilliant were heard in their review.

After the break and before the final performance, Ryan entered the Red Room with the four Idols who had performed already. The audience found out that Trenyce does a shot of olive oil before each performance to keep her vocal cords moist.

Kim was elected to introduce the last performer of the night, Clay Aiken.  This performance was not like any other on the show.  The audience saw a star on a dark stage wearing dark clothes. There was just a small light that let us see his serious face while he sang his beautiful arrangement of “Solitaire.” He sang it like a man on a mission. He just stood there and sang his heart out. Eventually the lights came on and the audience took a breath.

All four judges seemed to be stunned and were very emotional about Clay’s performance.  Even Simon said it was “a fantastic performance.”  What a way to end the night.

The result show lasted an hour on April 30th.  The 5 remaining Idols sang a medley of songs from the 60s and some of them made it into the audience and back on the stage.

Burt Bacharach returned and brought some of the Idols with him so that the audience could hear, one more time, “What the World Needs Now” which has been recorded.

Two other things were highlighted in the show, a visit to Tamyra Gray and a video of the “Top 5″ at the premiere of the new X-man movie.

Finally, it was time for the results.  This week, Ryan only announced the bottom 2.  It was a shock to everyone when it was announced that Ruben was joining Trenyce in the bottom two.  But, as we all know, it was Trenyce that was “going home”

We have included four videos.  They include the 2 group performances and both of Clay’s performances.

Click here to see videos: Read More→

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Clay Aiken Sings Diane Warren

By musicfan123 · Comments (4)
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

“It’s Diane Warren Night” said Ryan Seacrest as he started the April 22, 2003 episode of American Idol, Season 2.

A Californian, Diane Warren is considered to be one of the most prolific and successful songwriters of our time.  She has written for such legends as Elton John, Reba McEntire, Aerosmith, Faith Hill and many others.  Diane’s songs are featured in more than 60 motion pictures.

Diane has been named ASCAP’s Songwriter of the Year six times and Billboard’s Songwriter of the Year four times.

With this prolific background, it was obvious that Diane Warren was more than qualified to be the guest judge and mentor for the Top Six contestants on April 22, 2003.

The contestants sang the following songs:

  1. Kimberley Locke – “If You Asked Me To”
  2. Clay Aiken – “I Could Not Ask For More”
  3. Trenyce – “Have You Ever”
  4. Josh Gracin – “That’s When I’ll Stop Loving You”
  5. Carmen Rasmussen – “Love Will Lead You Back”
  6. Ruben Studdard – “Music of My Heart”

Kim started the competition with a strong performance.  “If You Asked Me To” showed her strengths and she sang with lots of passion.  All of the judges agreed that Kim was improving each week and that she was at the top of her game.  Of course, Simon had to throw in that she was singing better now that she got rid of the “weird” hair.

Singing “I Could Not Ask for More”, Clay Aiken was the second performer for the evening.  This beautiful ballad was sung with lots of power and energy.  Although the song had been recorded successfully twice before, Clay made it sound totally different and made it “his” song.

Randy said in his comments that Clay was definitely one of the best.  Paula said that Clay was a star and a definite contender for the finals.  Diane agreed that Clay sang a great version of the song.

Ah…..but now we come to Simon.  Simon had two points he wanted to share.  First, he thought that even though Clay was very talented, he just didn’t see Clay as a great recording artist.  Secondly, he went back to the Broadway scenario and said that he thought that Clay would make a fortune on Broadway.  He mentioned Phantom of the Opera and the jokes floated around about Clay in a mask.  That joke seemed to get little positive reaction from the audience members who were already enthralled by Clay.

After Clay’s brilliant performance, the show featured the Idols in a commercial for Herbal Essence.  They showed the performers getting different hair treatments.

Trenyce sang “Have You Ever” and got a tepid response form the judges.  Dressed in black leather, she looked good, but she didn’t seem to reach out to the audience with this performance.  Simon even commented that it was as if she was wearing a mask.

The four judges were not happy with Josh Gracin’s rendition of “That’s When I’ll Stop Loving You.”  Randy thought it was out of tune, and Paula rambled, saying nothing helpful.  Diane went right down the middle of the road by saying only “it was good.”  Simon thought that Josh sang through his nose the entire time.  He also teased Josh about being in the Herbal Essence commercial.  He wondered how Josh could do this as he was a “Marine.”

The youngest Idol, Carmen Rasmussen had a rough evening.  Singing “Love Will Lead You Back,” the judges jumped all over Carmen.  Randy said she was not even close to being the best singer.  Both Paula and Diane thought it was one of her best performances, but not good enough.  Simon told her that she could not win the contest and that she did well to get this far.

Ruben Studdard closed the show with a performance of “Music of My Heart.”  The judges gave Ruben a lot of praise.  Randy said that Ruben was right up there with Clay as one of the best in America.  Paula loved his upper register and Diane said he always sounds great.  Simon made an interesting observation when he said that Ruben needed to look out for Kimberley.

The program ended in the Red Room and showed the contestants messing around and having a good time.

The following evening, the results show was short.  The entire group of singers had the opportunity to sing a Diane Warren song, written especially for the group.

After the group performance, the audience was shown a video of Kelly Clarkson finding out that she had the #1 album.  She was very excited.  We also saw the group in their weekly Ford commercial.  Carmen was featured in the commercial that showed the Idols dancing at an old fashioned diner.

The bottom three for this week are

  1. Carmen
  2. Trenyce
  3. Josh

Ryan announced that Carmen was going home.

It was a good week on American Idol and all the idols did a great job.  Next week, each singer will be required to perform two songs.

We have two videos.  The first is Clay singing and the second is the group number.  Enjoy!! Read More→

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Clay Aiken Sings Billy Joel

By musicfan123 · Comments (15)
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

On April 15, 2003, American Idol presented the Top 7 performers on Billy Joel Night.  Each singer was required to sing a song made famous by Billy Joel.

Do you know much about Billy Joel?  According to the RIAA, Billy Joel is the sixth best-selling recording artist in the United States.  He has 33 Top 40 hits in the United States overall. He is also a five-time Grammy Award winner, a 23-time Grammy nominee and has sold in excess of 150 million albums worldwide.

Billy Joel was not able to be at the taping of the American Idol show.  However, he did tape some opening words and also had a tape for each song that was performed.

Smokey Robinson was the guest judge on April 15th.  Robinson is noted for being one of the primary figures associated with Motown Records, second only to the company’s founder, Berry Gordy. Robinson’s countless hits and consistent contributions to the Motown label earned him the title of the “King of Motown“. As both a member of Motown group The Miracles and a solo artist, Robinson recorded thirty-seven Top 40 hits for Motown between 1960 and 1987, and also served as the company’s vice president from 1961 to 1988.

The performances for the night were:

  1. Kimberly Caldwell – “It’s Still Rock ‘n Roll To Me”
  2. Ruben Studdard – “Just The Way You Are”
  3. Kimberely Locke – “New York State of Mind”
  4. Carmen Rasmussen – “And So It Goes”
  5. Josh Gracin – “Piano Man”
  6. Trenyce – “Baby Grand”
  7. Clay Aiken – “Tell Her About It”

Kimberly and Ruben got good reviews for their performances.  However, Simon was not as excited as the other judges.  He felt that both of the performances were just OK.  He suggested that Ruben needed to “change it up more.”

The judges and the audience were excited and pleased with Kimberely Locke’s performance of “New York State of Mind.”  All four of the judges though that Kim had the whole package with that performance and that it was her best performance of the season.

Carmen had a rough night.  None of the judges gave her any positive reviews.  They all thought she was very nervous.

When Josh chose “Piano Man” for his song choice, he said he did it for shock value.  Well, three of the judges were happy with the  choice of the song and enjoyed the performance.  Simon…….well, he thought it was a “so what” performance.

Singing “Baby Grand”, Trenyce was considered good by all the judges except……Randy who thought the performance was pitchy and oversung.

Clay Aiken was the last performer on this night and the judges remarks from this performance have been quoted many times.  All Clay fans will remember “I just can’t wait till you let loose and dance a little more!”  And Clay’s answer of baby-steps!!

Then, who could forget Simon’s   “I prefer you when I shut my eyes.”

“Tell Her About It” was a wonderful choice for Clay to make.  Starting out as a ballad and then, WOW, he changed it to up-tempo.  It was the night that Clay changed his whole style and delivery.  He never missed a step.

The performance show ended with the entire group on the stage being silly and relaxing with each other.

The result show on April 16th, started with Ryan Seacrest announcing that there were over 18 million votes cast overnight.  Then, the entire Top 7 performed together to “The Longest Time.”  The audience was excited about the performance and the group blended well together.

The Ford commercial for the week was “Speed Racer.”  It was one of the most popular of the season and each idol got their moment in the commercial.  Who can forget Clay and the red sports racer!!

Little time was wasted getting to the elimination this week.  Clay was the first to be reviewed and he seemed a little nervous, but as we all know, he was safe and loved by the audience in the studio and the audience that saw him on TV.

The three contestants that were voted into the bottom three are:

  1. Kimberly Caldwell
  2. Carmen Rasmussen
  3. Trenyce

And, even though the judges disagreed, Kimberly Caldwell was voted off.  She received a standing ovation from the audience.

The show ended with the Season 2 Idols singing “God Bless The USA.”


We have two videos of the Top Seven.  The first is Clay’s performance of “Tell Her About It.”  The second is the group medley.  Please enjoy the visit to 2003.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8365NOMXxA

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6IkG_JTuVg

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Clay Aiken – The Disco King

By musicfan123 · Comments (10)
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

When I think of Disco Music, I don’t usually think of Clay Aiken.  But, maybe I should.  He really sang brilliantly on April 1, 2003 when the theme for American Idol was Disco Music.

For Disco Night, Clay sang “Everlasting Love.”  He hit a note that was 14 seconds long and wowed the judges.  Dressed in a shiny disco shirt and light brown pants, Clay’s outfit was stylish for the Disco theme.

Randy thought that Clay was “brilliant”.  Paula said his voice was golden and Simon???  Well, Simon thought it was terrible.  So, what’s new?

The guest judge for the night was Verdeen White from Earth, wind and Fire.  He was impressed by Clay.  He said; “Man, you can sing, you got chops man!”

The performances for the night were an interesting combination of Disco and Pop.  Some of the Idols pulled it off, but some just didn’t get it.

The following is a list of the performers and the songs they sang.

  1. Ricky Smith – “Let’s Groove Tonight”
  2. Carmen Rasmusen – “Turn The Beat Around”
  3. Kimberly Caldwell – “Knock on Wood”
  4. Clay Aiken – ” Everlasting Love”
  5. Trenyce – “I’m Every woman”
  6. Ruben Studdard – “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love”
  7. Kimberley Locke – “It’s Raining Men”
  8. Joshua Gracin – “Celebration”

Corey Clark did not perform on this night.  Ryan Seacrest announced that Corey had been released because he did not disclose that he had been arrested.

The evening closed with Ryan chatting with the Idols backstage.  He asked Clay about Simon’s bizarre critique.  Clay said, “It’s a little disappointing that there is some discrepancy between Tandy, Paula and Simon.  I respect his opinion; he knows what he is talking about….most of the time.”

The next night was the Disco Results show.  All the contestants were very busy as there were many performances.  The first group performance was “A Night To Remember.”  Then the audience was shown some video of what the Idols were doing during the week.  There was footage of the contestants watching the President’s talk on TV and then they showed a clip of the Idols recording “God Bless the U.S.A.”  Another clip showed the singers getting “beauty” treatments.  They all seemed to enjoy the manicures and massages.

Back to the business of the show, the bottom 3 contestants were revealed.  Trenyce, Kimberly Caldwell and Carmen Rasmussen were all standing nervously in the middle of the stage.

Of course, there is always a twist on American Idol shows and this night was no different.  After scaring the young ladies, Ryan announced that because Corey left, no one else will be voted off.  That left three very happy ladies and one unhappy Simon Cowell.

At the end of the program, the Idols performed one more group number.  Their performance of “Boogie Woogie Wonderland” was fun and lively.

Another week of Season 2 of American Idol and Clay is still smiling and singing from his heart.   Congratulations to Clay and all the season 2 Idols.  They put on a great show!

We have two videos for you to see.

Everlasting Love

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

Group performances

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh6GpzZrAyo

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Clay Aiken – An American Idol

By musicfan123 · Comments (15)
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009


“Somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight

Someone’s thinking of me and loving me tonight.”

Those beautiful lyrics were sung by Clay Aiken on March 18, 2003.  It was “Movie Night” on Season 2 and each contestant sang one of their favorite songs from a movie soundtrack.

Joining the regular judges, Simon, Randy and Paula, was  Gladys Knight.  She was introduced to the audience as the lady who sang the theme for the James Bond movie, “License to Kill.”  Gladys was a great support to all the performers and quietly encouraged the group.  That night, she gave Ruben the nickname of the “Velvet Teddy bear.”

The performances on this particular night ranged from Kimberley Locke singing “Home” from The Wiz, to Kimberly Caldwell singing “The Shoop Shoop Song.”

The highlight of the evening was “Somewhere Out There” from An American Tail.  Clay sang it beautifully.  It was a good song choice since it showed off his remarkable range and it was popular with people of all ages.

The judge’s comments were very positive:

Randy:  “….the power, the range……this is good……..you did your thing baby”

Paula:  “…..another one…..you are effortless with your voice….you are so natural…Congratulations”

Gladys:  “….you’re a mystery…..you have your own look, there’s something very magical about your look….and your voice is so pure…..I don’t know in the contemporary world what is going to happen with you, but something exceptional is gonna happen with you along the way, cause you are so pure.”

Simon:  “…..I think after tonight, you’re the one they’ve got to beat.”

It was a great night for Clay and an exciting time for all of his fans.

The following night, the audience was given a full hour of the results show.  There was lots of talking by assorted people and verbal sparring between Ryan and Randy.

One of the highlights of the show was the group song, “Footloose.”  The contestants performed it with a lot of energy and they moved all over the theater.  They worked well as a team and their voices blended well together.

Finally, the audience found out who was in the bottom three.  Josh, Trenyce, and Ricky were safe, but the next person, Julia, was in the bottom three.  Clay was called next and Ryan says: “America is in love with you.”  After Clay, Ruben, Carmen, Kim L. and Kim C. are all declared safe, Corey and Charles joined Julia in the bottom three.

Sadly, Charles was eliminated on Movie Night.  After singing an encore of his song, “You Can’t Win” from The Wiz, the hour show was over.

Although this was only the second episode of this popular show, it was already obvious who the leaders were going to be and the audience let the performers know that Clay and Ruben were loved.

Enjoy the following videos.  The first shows Clay’s performance and the judges comments.  The second is a video of the group performance.


httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s18G1Obk42I

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

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Clay Aiken Meets Motown

By musicfan123 · Comments (8)
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

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

Lamont Dozier

But back in 2003, the first big stage episode of Season 2 was Motown. There were four judges on the March 11th 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

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Clay is America’s Winner

By musicfan123 · Comments (16)
Thursday, March 5th, 2009


Clay Aiken

Clay Aiken

Are you watching American Idol?  If so, are you ready for the Wildcard Show?  Tonight, 8 young talents are attempting to sing their way into the Top 12 of American Idol, Season 8.

The Wildcard shows were a highlight in Season 2.  Nine singers performed on the first night and the following evening, four of the contestants were chosen to join the Top 12.

Randy Jackson chose Kimberly Caldwell even through he said he was still waiting for her to perform up to her potential.  Kim is a beautiful young woman and it has been suggested that she was chosen for her image as much as her voice.

Paula chose Trenyce.  Few people were surprised as she sang well and was dynamic in her presentation.

Simon talked about a unique voice and surprised the audience by naming Carmen Rasmussen as his pick.  Carmen looked shocked as Simon had told her the night before that she was not good enough to make it.

The last pick of the night was “America’s Choice.”  The six remaining contestants sat together on the sofa and looked very nervous.  Ryan slowly announced a….contestant….by….the….name….of….Clay Aiken.  After hugging everyone and composing himself with a deep breath, Clay preceded to sing beautifully.  Then he mouthed to the camera, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Simon declared that his performance was the best one of the show and Randy said, “You so deserve it.”

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

We have three videos of this night.  The first is the announcement of “America’s Choice.”  Second, is Clay’s performance from the night and the last is the entire Top 12.


httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrnG4x8WaqA

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWY1Hay031U

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vR8WiZnI1I

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Celebrity Apprentice: Clay’s Presentation

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It is not always about performance art, but about receiving positive energy from people with positive spirits. Sometimes we can see someone's spirit, and those are the people with great energy. Those are the people that get me through the day, especially on Broadway. -Clay Aiken

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