sigh... people just hate clay. why? what's wrong with him? i didn't use to be infatuated with him or what, i just grew to enjoy watching and listenig to him more and more as the show progresses. because of this, i refuse to accept any excuse of "clay is boring". he is far from that, they can never be more wrong. clay's just proven his versatility and range more than everything. they were complaining about ballads, then came "tell her about it" , the upbeat song that raised spirits for the first time that night (and probably the only time); they complained he was always wearing the same thing, then came the suits, tie, leather jackets... anything wrong? what do they want? corey's fishnet top? *puke puke puke* they complained he didn't move around enough. is that required? weren't everybody enjoying themselves anyway? nevermind first, cos clay danced a little anyway during "grease". mind you, i have to admit it looked pretty awkward. sent me into a fit of laughter and disgust, but deeply amused. i was happy. it served its purpose didn't it? we all know clay cannot do it well, but he obliged anyway. i like that spirit. you were complaining about... WHAT was boring? everything that needed variety and change has been done, whatever left unchanged is now known as -- style and personality. so what if they think he sounds broadway? he does pop and country too, this is a refreshing scene, one that is needed. alright, so everyone's saying ruben's better. i used to think so too. and i felt that the most appropriate was for ruben to come out first, clay in second place. after watching more of their performances, not anymore. ruben has just proven the very thing others are somplaining about clay. he really IS boring. every song sounds like the one before, as well as the one after. you can say that's his style. unfortunately, it just shows a lack of versatility. you can't change every song to the same thing, then there's no point of singing different songs in the first place. clay has been doing different songs, changing it a little bit for it to embed his style in it (so called, making the song his own) yet maintaining the essence of the song so that it's still reconisable yet unique. for that, hat's off to clay. on the other hand, ruben "lutherizes" every single song beyond recognition. need proof? listen to "breaking up is hard to do". that's one of my favourite songs and i probably wouldn't have known what he was singing if no one told me what it was. get my point? ruben has got a great voice, there is nothing we can argue about that. it's steady, it's smooth, it's "radio-friendly" (according to neil sedaka)... but then, like what i came across on the internet: "go to any gospel church in the south and you can find a million kids singing like that". my point exactly. it's not something that will strike out immediately and tell me "that's ruben studdard singing!" i had some trouble distinguishing between rickey and ruben in "what the world needs now is love". ruben was singing higher notes at that time. it's not a very distinct, memorable voice. BECAUSE, as mentioned, there are loads of people out there with that sort of voice. clay would be easily recognisable, that's why i said it's called STYLE. does that mean clay's gonna have a higher chance of winning? unfortunately no. everyone's obsessed with ruben. everybody thinks he'll win. and if this goes on, he really is going to. people who don't really know too well will be influences by the "media hype" around him (as josh put it). since everybody thinks he's the best, he must be the best then. yeah, that's why josh thinks ruben will win. and i think ruben will win too. even if he screws everything up the next performance, he'll still make it. posted by Yee 6:52 PM . . .
