American Idol

Snakes, sharks, spiders, Clay Aiken’s fans. These are four things that strike fear into my heart. Not that there’s anything wrong with any of the three – they simply scare me because I fear that, if crossed, they could easily (and without regret) end my very life.

So, you’ll understand if I – right off the bat – say that I respect Clay Aiken and find him to be a very talented and likable young man. When he guest starred on America’s Next Top Model, it occurred to me that he could carry his own reality show.

And I’d watch.

So, don’t think I’m gunning for him, Claymates. And don’t hit me in the head when I’m not looking. The thing is, I’m like the biggest Adam Lambert fan on the face of the earth, and Clay’s recent comments (while thoughtful and well-articulated….) don’t make me all kinds of happy.

In a recent post on Clay’s blog – one you have to pay to even read (what’s up with that?) – he had the following to say about my dear, talented, beautiful Adam:

“The minute that Adam Lambert was singing ‘Ring of Fire’ … at that moment, (I) 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.”

You. Don’t. Say.

Clay went on to say that he feels like Adam Lambert was pushed down viewer’s throats. Did he even see the shoveling job done with David Archuletta last year? Now, that was serious shoveling.

Speak, Clay:
“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.”

Okay. Okay. When it’s week one of the competition and one or two judges announce, “We’ll see you in the finale…” it’s unsettling. Honestly, I don’t like when they seem to clear the path for one contestant either. I didn’t like it when they did it with Carrie Underwood, David Archuletta, Fantasia, or Melinda. It’s a turn off for one thing – but for another, it simply isn’t fair.  But the reason I think it isn’t fair is different than you might suspect.

I don’t think it’s fair to their chosen performer. Only two that they’ve taken this approach with have actually gone on to win.

Think about it – it sets them up each and every week. They’re looked at under a magnifying glass and, thereby, held to a higher standard than the rest. It gives them added pressure in what’s already a pressure cooker.

But I understand where the judges are coming from. HELLO! They don’t want another tragedy like Taylor Hicks. They have a great deal of pride in their competition and want its winners to be deserving. Each winner represents the show, the brand, and to an extent them. Of course they want the best standing at the end.

As humans who are passionate about what they do, it’s probably hard not to get completely worked up. If I had a wish, however, it would be that they would not even mention “finale” until there are only a handful of contestants left. Imagine how it makes the rest feel.

Personally, I think two of the best were the last two standing. As much as I adore Adam, I think Kris Allen fought hard to win and deserves everything he gets. Not MORE than Adam, mind you, but as much. The guy is wonderfully talented – he plays instruments, sings his butt off, and seems like a very cool person. Adam seems to adore him and they have a great friendship going on. I heard Kris singing No Boundaries on the radio yesterday and he sounded incredible. It’s my favorite first song by a winner.

I can’t wait to hear it again. I also can’t wait to hear what Adam puts out. Do you know how fun it’ll be watching Adam Lambert bring “theatrical” back to music?! KISS, David Bowie, Queen, Cher, Madonna.. he’ll be keeping something very special alive, and he’s just the guy to do it.

The only thing that really bothers me about American Idol any more is some of the fan bases. They get unbelievably mean toward other contestants. This year alone found some scumbags lashing out at Danny Gokey because he’d recently lost his wife. The immature twits suggested he was going for the sympathy vote. That’s right, guys, it was the ultimate set up and his wife was a real trooper. Snap out of it!

If your favorite deserves to be there, let them prove it on the stage. If you think you need to harass other contestants or fan bases, apparently you don’t have much faith in them. You’d be better off picking a new contestant.

One local disc jokey even made a snarky comment about a time, later in the season, when Danny wasn’t wearing his wedding ring. I e-mailed the station to complain, but when you’re fighting against a lack of class, it’s a tough battle. The classless aren’t smart enough to realize just how uncool they are.

Anyway, Clay Aiken finished off with what I thought were just odd words. Odd – that’s all.

“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.”

I guess this would be me signing off to spend the rest of the weekend wondering how Kris Allen, Adam Lambert, David Cook, David Archuletta, Jordin Sparks, Carrie Underwood, Bo Bice, Katharine Mcphee, Taylor Hicks, and Blake Lewis aren’t real. How could I not have noticed?

Oh, btw, I don’t pay to read Clay Aiken’s thoughts. Someone copy and pasted the information. It has actually shown up several places online.  The word is spreading fast – and I can just picture the Claymates (his extremely loyal and devoted fanbase cleverly calls themselves Claymates) getting on their war gear… determined looks on their faces ready to fight to for their guy!

Please don’t let me be in their line of fire… Please don’t let me be in their line of fire…. Please don’t let me be in their line of fire…Please don’t let me be in their line of fire…