The Trouble with Aiken, Part 2: "Every little thing he does is…WRONG!"

It would appear that this FAR SIDE cartoon is a perfect illustration of how Clay's life has been unfolding over the last 18 months. Seems that no matter what he does or doesn't do, no matter what choices he makes or doesn't make and no matter how the public at large hears it, he always seems to make the WRONG decision for his life or career. When those times occur there is an ever-ready posse of folks poised to help make the situation worse - some are "fans" and others are "foes."




Can't this poor soul catch a break? Is this what reality TV has done to the average Joe?




Since Clay burst on to the scene in American Idol 2, he has been one of those performers who seems to polarize individuals - in other words, one either loves him or hates him with no in between. As with all things, zealots live at the extremes of these feelings towards him, using their version of the "facts" to support their positions. Just what ARE the facts about Clay Aiken that get folks all shook up?




Here are some "facts" as we know them -

Name: Clayton Holmes Aiken	Age: 28	Hometown: Raleigh, NC	Education: Graduate of UNC-Charlotte w/degree in Special Education
Claim to fame: Runner-up American Idol 2	Recording Credits: This is the Night/Bridge Over Troubled Waters Measure of a Man Solitaire/The Way Merry Christmas with Love All is Well: Holiday Extras A Thousand Different Ways	Solo Tours: Independent (w/Kelly Clarkson) Not-a Tour Joyful Noise 1 Jukebox Joyful Noise 2 Holiday w/Orchestra Soft Rock/Hard Place	Philanthropic Endeavors: The Buble/Aiken Foundations - co-founder and Chairman of the Board UNICEF Ambassador for Education Presidential Committee for Disabilities

All of the above are documented and indisputable (there are more facts but these are enough to make a point). What frosts my cupcakes, however, is when other things that are passed off as facts really aren't -- yet folks believe them as if they were gospel.




Things like:

Clay initiates fight with woman on airplane

Clay is gay and we have a washcloth to prove it

Clay's charity is mismanaged

Clay has a love child he is not supporting

Clay never shows up for meetings of the presidential commission of which he is a member




My Google alerts are filled with such drivel and after awhile I start to get angry and wonder when all this foolishness will stop. I want to know just what Clay represent or embodies that brings out such polar emotions in people. I haven't got a clue.




While I continue to ponder the above conundrum, let's take a look at the two extremes that are a constant source of concern for Our Man Clay:




The Clay Haters

This group is made up of both former fans who no longer "drink the Kool-aid" (their favorite expression) that keeps them delusional towards him or those who were never fans in the first place or fans of other idols. The basic bottom line is that they have some kind of "beef" with Clay that they just can't or won't let go of. They seem to have taken up residence on a number of message boards and have developed a Community of Hate, communicating to anyone who reads them their gospel that Clay is "fake," that he is not who he appears to be, and that all who believe he is or defend him in any way are they themselves targets for the same type of ridicule and slander.




My question is:

Who died and left them to play God?




No one has the right to make themselves judge and jury over someone else's existence. If you "fall out of like" with a celebrity, or anyone for that matter, you are free to walk away and let them go their merry way. Continuing to churn up the waters until they get total satisfaction that they are in the right or just plain old revenge is morally wrong. Period. However, our society today is so devoid of moral standards and simple social graces that this type of behavior is not only condoned but encouraged by wrapping itself in the flag of "free speech." Gimme a break. I get it that you don't like Clay - just let it go and move on. You must have other things in your life to obsess on. He's just not worth it and, frankly, doesn't deserve it no matter what he's allegedly done.




The Rabid Claymates

This group is comprised of the most zealous and, sometimes, overly lustful group of Clay fans in the Clay Nation whose sole purpose in life, it seems, is to promote, protect and endlessly photograph Mr. Aiken. They will join any website to vote for Clay, trash any writer who makes Clay look bad in the press or online and record every nanosecond of his life on and off stage. They probably mean well but their actions are stalker-ish and their devotion is off the charts. The way they attack others, even those who ARE fans, is mean and selfish. Clay appears to "egg them on" and that only makes matters worse. If they were in the Star Trek universe they would be known as the BORG.




My question is:

Who appointed them Clay's collective Mommy?




May I be frank here? These women are NUTS! I can't wrap my mind around the way these women think and I have been a devoted fan of one Mister Barry Manilow for thirty two years and have NEVER behaved the way these gals do. Most of them are old enough to be Clay's mother (eeewww) and the others don't stand a snowball's chance in hell of ever getting any real time with him. To help prove my point, check out this article that came across my path recently:




Published: Thursday, August 2, 2007 Nashua Telegraph (NH)

Fans protective of star

I’m a Clay Aiken fan. But I know now, I’m by far not the biggest Clay Aiken fan.




My sister, three friends and I bought our tickets for the Clay Aiken concert in Meadowbrook months before we learned the Nashua Symphony Orchestra was playing with him. But when I found out the NSO was playing, I thought it would be a great idea to tell our readers about our hometown symphony playing with a world-famous pop star. OK, that’s half the truth. I was hoping that doing the story would also lead me to meet Clay. Yes, Clay face time. That’s what I was hoping for, and I was so close.




Alas! It was not to be. For a series of reasons that are way too pedestrian to list, I not only didn’t get to meet Clay, I didn’t even get to see the orchestra rehearse. What I did get was permission to take photographs at the foot of the stage for the first two songs of the concerts.




It wasn’t face time, but I would get to take a few photos for the newspaper, as well as have six minutes to get an upfront and underneath view of Clay’s remarkably long and remarkably blond eyelashes.

I, along with real photographers with real cameras, positioned ourselves in front of the stage and readied ourselves for Clay’s and, of course, the Nashua Symphony Orchestra’s appearance.




Meadowbrook’s videographer warned me that when the music started, the fans in the front row would do their best to get us to sit down. I was prepared for some snaky remarks. But I was not prepared for the army of gray-haired women who found it their duty to tell me and the others with cameras not once, not twice, but perhaps 20 times that “the flash hurts Clay’s eyes.”




For a second, I thought of asking them how they know this. I’ve been on Claymate sites. I have been to four Clay Aiken concerts. I didn’t know his eyes hurt. But these women who looked like maniacal grandmothers (I swear one of them had a rolling pin in her hand) fancied themselves Clay’s personal protectors.




Far be it from me to hurt Clayton’s baby blues. I turned off my flash but somehow that didn’t assuage these women, who admonished, “That’s quite enough” after we took three photographs.




The concert was great. The orchestra was great. But I was so freaked out by the Fake Clay Mommies that I didn’t even get time to admire Clay’s eyelashes.




I happened to be at this concert and I know who these women are, too -- they are the same ones I spy sitting in the front rows of EVERY concert I have attended for the last 4 years (and that would be NINE total). Not wanting to get into how much money they are wasting spending on attending multiple concerts of the same tour ( I recently counted that one women had video taped 10 of his last 13 shows on this tour alone) or how much "clack" they view on a daily basis, I am ashamed for them that they could treat others they way they treated this fan in the above article. Just today it was brought to my attention that they are now going after a "negative" reviewer whose mother is an active Claymate because he didn't say what they wanted to hear. I'll use that article in my final installment but I can tell you that what he wrote had a lot of truth in it (I read the article) and in my experience, Claymates "can't handle the truth."




If Clay is who he says he is (and I have no reason yet to believe anything different) then he would not approve or condone this type of treatment, especially when done in his name. But then he'll make comments about having his Claymates beat up people and I want to shake him because some of these gals actually BELIEVE him and feel justified to go out and "obey" the master. This type of fan is NOT , repeat - NOT helping Clay, except to get him more negative press than he needs. They are terrorizing other fans, causing legitimate writers to either pander to them or use Clay as a whipping boy to get hits and making people in the music business look down on Clay even more. They, as the "haters" they detest, need to be muzzled and their power taken away. In my next installment I will give my opinion on how that could be achieved.




Now, I fully expect to have a target on my back with these two extremes and I guess I'm ready for the fallout. But, remember, it's MY OPINION and MY BLOG and if you don't like it, then don't read it and spread it around. It's that simple.




Carry on…but be nice about it…

J