Clay Beats Ruben Once Again Thursday August 21, 2003 @ 04:00 PM By: ChartAttack.com Staff Clay Aiken Ruben Studdard’s first-place finish on the second round of American Idol back in May was a lukewarm victory at best. It certainly wasn’t a clean sweep for Rube, as there was a low margin of votes separating Studdard and AI runner-up Clay Aiken. Of course, immediately after Ruben was crowned, the conspiracy theories began to fly. Claymates the world over declared that Mr. Aiken was the rightful winner; the votes had to be tallied improperly! The judges engineered the show so that Ruben would be victorious! Ryan Seacrest’s number-bungling was all part of an elaborate cover-up scheme! The recount that Aiken-adorers lobbied for never materialized, but the whole thing was a bit of a letdown for the velvet teddybear. Things only went from bad to worse for Studdard when Clay Aiken graced the cover of Rolling Stone magazine before Ruben, with his bleached-blonde locks flat-ironed to perfection and his WWJD bracelet brandished for all to see. Of course, Ruben got the RS cover spot the following month, but the point had been made. Now, it seems that Studdard’s face is going to be rubbed in his unsatisfactory win again, as the AI runner-up releases his debut album before Rube. Clay Aiken’s record, which is yet to be titled, is scheduled for an October 14 release on RCA Records. Ruben’s record, on the other hand, will be hitting stores on November 11. Titled Soulful, the album features the talents of Fat Joe, R. Kelly, and more – but will that be enough to propel Rube ahead of Clay? Well, if the single sales are any indication of things to come, then lets just say that Ruben’s disappointing run as American Idol ain’t over yet. He may have earned first place on the show, but when it comes down to sales numbers, Studdard seems to be taking over the role of runner-up, just as all those Aiken fans hoped for. In the first week of release, Clay’s single "This Is The Night" flew to a #1 spot on the American Billboard charts and sold almost 400,000 units. Ruben was relegated to #2 again, with his single "Flying Without Wings" selling 286,000 copies. Only time will tell who will win the sales race this time around. In the meantime, note to Ruben: if you want to promote yourself so that your album comes out on top for once, doing a duet with American Junior Chauncey Matthews is not the answer. Now let us never speak of that again. —Megan O’Toole posted by Yee 12:29 AM . . .
Waxwork Cowell judges the public A waxwork Simon Cowell that can judge pop star hopeful's vocal efforts has been unveiled at London's Madame Tussauds. The model of Cowell, a judge on ITV1's talent show Pop Idol, comes complete with his trademark putdowns. Pop wannabes are be able to sing in front of the model in a mock-up of the Pop Idol set, and await Cowell's judgement. The model features an electronic device that can sense whether a person is singing in tune. Other members of the public will be invited to join Cowell to judge the singers. There will also be waxworks of the Pop Idol presenters Antony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly to put people at ease. "Simon Cowell has become so notorious, we decided to create an interactive figure of him to combine with the new series of Pop Idol," a Madame Tussauds spokesperson said. "By using interactive wax works, we are trying to get away from the stuffy old museum image." Love-hate The music mogul apparently insisted that his waxwork alter-ego should wear his jumper over his belt. The TV judge - who has become a love-hate figure for the British and American public - has become lampooned for the way he tucks his jumper inside a pair of jeans worn, it is said, unusually high up the waist. Diane Moon of Madame Tussaud's, said that Cowell wanted the figure to represent his new style of wearing jumpers. The waxwork is equipped with 10 different comments, ranging from "That was extraordinary. Unfortunately, extraordinarily bad" to "One word to sum up - congratulations". Visitors can pick songs such as Angels by Robbie Williams and Frank Sinatra's My Way from a total of 13 tracks. Annalisa Hoadley, 22, from London, was the first to try out the new attraction. She sang Robbie Williams' Angels and was told by the Cowell waxwork: "That was my favourite song of all time, not any more." She said: "It really feels just like being on the television programme and he is just as nasty." The waxwork Pop Idol judge joins a cast of celebrity likenesses that includes Jennifer Lopez, which blushes when its ear is whispered in, and Brad Pitt. Meanwhile, Cowell has told a US paper that he wants his own chat show. "If the deal was right and the format was interesting as a show, then definitely," he told the New York Daily News on Tuesday. posted by Yee 9:12 PM . . .
how long has it been since i blogged? no idea. but it'll be some time to the next time too... i'm busy busy busy... busy like a bee... hummmmmm.... sTresS posted by Yee 7:00 PM . . .
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/6523868.htm Idol' Tour Better the Second Time Around BY HOWARD COHEN Seems South Florida hasn't had its fill of American Idol. On Tuesday night, plenty of families turned Sunrise's Office Depot Center into a screamfest (but not sell-out) for the good-natured American Idols Live! Tour 2003, the second tour spawned from the popular television show that manufactures instant idols. If the decibel level on the applause meter could be converted into CD sales, runner-up and clear fan favorite Clay Aiken could retire a wealthy man about now. This makes sense, too. Clay is Idol's find. He's the one with the most talent, the surest voice, the most presence. His song choices could be schmaltzy (Elton John's Can You Feel the Love Tonight) but his charisma cuts through. By comparison, the portly Ruben Studdard, who won the Idol title, has a good -- but not especially versatile -- voice. With its sameness of tone on tunes such as Luther Vandross' Never Too Much (the artist to whom he's most compared) and Leon Russell's Superstar, he frequently was drowned out by backing vocalists. Ruben also has the personality of a boulder, his size limits his movement, and his attempts at modernizing his material with hip-hop elements came across as calculated and false. Idols Live!, sponsored by -- this is no lie -- Pop-Tarts (gotta give 'em credit for a sense of humor), works hard to duplicate the TV show. A glitzy set with pyrotechnics and video screens flashing clips acts as the kids' playground. The accompanying dancers were dreadful and should sue their choreographer for defamation of character. The show was structured in the same manner as last year's Idols Live! but was slightly better, owing to the fact that a good half of this bunch can sing circles around most of the first season's cast. The first half of the show offers the nine finalists each singing a familiar pop song in the order in which they were eliminated on TV. Charles Grigsby was first up and seems a nice kid. Nice guys finish last. He has no voice. Carmen Rasmussen and Julia DeMato, both lousy on television, were the surprises. While neither has a killer voice, both had poise and flair on the arena stage. Carmen's take on Shania Twain's cute Up!, in particular, was a smart match of singer and song. Mono-named Trenyce handily outsang her female counterparts all through the night -- on a fiery Proud Mary early on and a powerful I Have Nothing later. But Trenyce becomes the artists whom she's performing (Tina Turner, Whitney Houston) through her mannered choreography and delivery and so it's hard to discover who she really is. But Trencye has potent pipes. Kimberley Locke, who finished just behind Clay and Ruben on Idol's voting, was as inconsistent live as she proved on TV. Like last year's winner, Kelly Clarkson, Kimberley too often mistakes yelling for singing with passion. Only her soulful rendition of Over the Rainbow worked. The show's second half -- after a wasteful 20-minute intermission in which fans endured commercials for maxipads, Pop-Tarts and pink razors -- was split between solos and several awkward medleys. Money went into this production, but the whole thing is glorified karaoke with cheese piled higher than in a Wisconsin factory. A Bee Gees medley by the entire cast was an enjoyable highlight. Clay and Ruben, taking Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney's parts, respectively, on the sappy The Girl Is Mine, was somewhat hard to take. Worse yet: Rickey Smith and Charles Grigsby's shrill Let's Go Crazy and the women trying to rock out, and stubbing their toes, on Pink's new Charlie's Angels tune, Feel Good Time. Bosley, yank 'em. Still, these kids are so obviously thrilled to be here -- and, face it, most you'll never see again -- so it's churlish to be too hard on them. We'll leave the Simon-izing for the TV show. posted by Yee 10:03 PM . . .
http://bigjweb.com/artman/publish/article_714.shtml Op/Ed: Clay just "Rolling" along By W. Scott Pavone Aug 11, 2003, 09:29 Okay, now that Clay's Rolling Stone feature article has been out for weeks, and I am sure that thousands or even millions have read it by now, what have we learned about our man Clay? Let’s start with the cover shoot. Wow! Just when we thought we had seen the full complete transformation of Clay from “ugly duckling” to “handsome prince” on American Idol, Rolling Stone kicks it up a notch and gives us Clay Aiken: Sex Symbol. What’s that sound I’m hearing? The "thud" of thousands of females hitting the floor in a dead faint! When I brought the Rolling Stone issue home and showed it to my 42-year young wife, she looked at it like it was the centerfold in Playgirl! Her reaction was simply “Mmm, doesn’t he look yummy!” and I can’t really tell you what she said after that! Let’s just say that it sure didn’t sound like her “mothering instincts” were coming out! Now that Clay is a sex symbol on top of everything else, what’s a guy supposed to do? The “Clay is gay” crowd is probably really hoping that they are right in the worst way now because the salivating frenzy by millions of admiring female fans around the world will be relentless and unbearable! And speaking of the gay issue, man, let it go already! I'll take Clay at his word unless he says differently. Quite frankly, gay or not, I don't give a rat's patootie. His voice and personality are what it's all about. Let's face it, in our society, you get judged on your looks and mannerisms, so if you are perceived as being effeminate in any way, you get labeled as being gay. How many in the limelight have been labeled so by jealous (and insecure!) husbands and boyfriends that can’t stand their wives and girlfriends going gaga over some hot star? Grow-up gentlemen! Actually, it should be a non-issue. Did Elton John lose fans when he came out? Did Johnny Mathis lose popularity? Did anyone care that Freddy Mercury of Queen was openly gay? When Mick Jagger and David Bowie spoke of their bi-sexual exploits, did anyone really care? No, because it does not matter. You either like the performer and what they have to offer or you don't, and I, personally, like what Clay has to offer. Besides, forgive me for using a stereotype, but what self-respecting gay guy hates cats anyway? There's your proof right there! (grin) As for Clay’s dislike of cats, I’ve already seen this used against him: “Clay the cat killer.” “Clay the cat hater.” Well my take on it is quite simple. Based on what I've read, this is just a very strong reaction to a horrific, traumatic experience. To be cliché, he still has “unresolved issues” over it. Hey, everybody handles bad emotional experiences differently, and the way I see this, his kind and compassionate heart couldn’t handle what happened, so his defense mechanism created this strong aversion towards cats in general. (Okay Clay, you can get off my psychoanalyst’s couch now.) My only advice to Clay, seeing that most of his fan base is comprised of tender caring persons of the fairer sex, is to find another way to express that aspect of himself, one that doesn’t sound so harsh, like “Even though I’m not very fond of cats, I care for all animals.” There now, that’s better! Toenail biting? We all have some quirky habit we have carried over from childhood. I personally have a lifelong habit of chewing my fingers when I’m stressed and I can’t seem to stop it; it’s something I do without even thinking. I don’t know if Clay’s habit falls under that category, but again, I don’t care, and it’s something that he said he has already stopped doing. This little revelation about him just shows us one more time that he is human, just like all of us, with his own set of foibles and follies; and do we not find this even more endearing? Of course we do, for much of his charm is that he’s so real, so human to all of us. No false airs; no pretense in his public personality. He is open to all, good, bad, or indifferent. The last revelation worth mentioning about him is his “bio-dad”, the sperm donor. Clay abhors this man with good reason, and he makes no bones about it, for it adversely affected his formative years. At this time, Clay can't find forgiveness for what this man has done to him and his mother. But, Clay does wear a WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) bracelet all the time, which leaves the door to forgiveness open. With Clay’s faith so paramount in his life, I see a time in the future when he will search his heart, pray, and find a time and place to forgive this man. But in the meantime, Clay has the right to feel and think what he does regarding that situation and I support his current stand on it. I just know that Clay, being who he is, will not go to his grave with this; and dear Clay, if you ever get to read this, take it from an older guy (47) who has been through a lot of his own personal traumas and deep hurts inflicted by others in his life; there will be a time when you forgive; and when you do, my friend, you will feel a weight lift off your heart and your spirit will soar; your soul will be cleansed and you’ll feel like you can walk on air! Just keep this in mind: Forgiveness is more for you than it is for him. Forgiveness does not have to be a welcome mat for him to come back into your life. Au contraire, it is simply something that releases the burden of the pain, anger and resentment off of your conscience and out of your life; so forgive, bless, and move on. In my opinion, if the worst things to come out of that Rolling Stone article are an aversion to cats and toenail biting, than I say “Thank God!” The interview in toto was very good. It showed us once again just how genuinely personable and open Clay is, and how willing he is to share himself with us. This quality in him may come from naïveté, nonchalance, or a devil-may-care attitude, but personally, I believe Clay does care about what is said about him; he just doesn’t allow that to stop him from speaking his thoughts and feelings freely, and that comes from an even greater character quality: Courage! A courage that comes from being completely confident and self-assured in who he is as a person, living without fear, living his life in faith! Whatever the case may be, I’m just glad that he does share of himself, for how many times did we hear Simon or the other judges say to a contestant, “You’re a good performer, but we just don’t know who you are because you aren’t sharing yourself”? Well, I know one thing for sure; we will never be able to say, “Clay, we hardly knew ye.” (Thank God!) posted by Yee 10:34 PM . . .
lectures start tmr. i got my modules already. tutorial registration coming soon. geez... so irritating. no mood to blog. btw, wanyu's totally taiken/ infatuaiken... ^_^ posted by Yee 5:00 PM . . .
i DO post articles here selectively. only those i kinda like. hehe. look at this! the names of the songs are not very accurate, but nevermind... from http://www.mediafiends.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2583&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 ~~~***~~~ American Idol: American Idols LIVE! Tour Recap For American Idols Live, The people are so much better live, but some of them disappointed me, while some shocked me of how good they were. The One thing that I didn't like was all the fans screaming, because I didnt get a chance to hear them sing. We did get front row seats so we didnt have to look at the TV screen to see them. Here is my review. By Rob Anderson www.MediaFiends.com For the first half, the Idols came out in the order that they got kicked off. Charles Grigsby Well even though all the reviews said that he has improved, I couldnt hear a word he was saying, this is why i cant tell you the song. His voice is more suited for a group than the stage. He was wearing a crappy looking raggy cloth with red and blue big dots on it, and big saggy pants with the same pattern. Was not a great sight... But bevlie me it got better. He then introduced his "best friend" on the tour, Julia Demato. Julia Demato I was very suprised in how good Julia sounded, I couldnt believe it. She rose form the floor on a rising couch and the whole stage was filled with purple smoke. She sang "Beautiful", from Christina A. She definetly knew how to perform, becuase her face was all myseterious and stuff, it looked good. She didnt hit every note, ut still had a better voice then on TV. Well done. Next she introduces her "closest friend" on the show, Ricky Smith. Ricky Smith Ricky was so fantastic I couldnt belive my ears. He was clear and hit all his notes, and was dancing and crooning the audience. He sang "The Way You Makin Me Feel" by Michael Jackson. There were the backup dancers (4) doing a thing with him and it was pretty fun and entertaining. Next he introduces his "best friend" (do you see a pattern?) on the tour, Kimberly Caldwell. Kimberly Caldwell I have to say she looked so hot! She wore a leather thing with the top half open and a fat albert hat, with sunglasses. Her smooth blond hair was perfectly staight and would sway every time she would move. She was what I expected, nothing more, nothing less. She sang "Im stuck on you" and it was a good thing to watch, and kept my attention. Next she intoduces , and I quote "Most Innocent girl on the tour, my little baby, Carmen Rasmusen!" (ok, sit down now Caldwell...) Before each performer they shows clips of the on American Idol, and rockets explode and they come out. So here comes Carmen and I am expecting the worst... Carmen Rasumsen This girl didnt do too bad, she had the longest damn extentions I have ever seen on a white woman, but she looked hot too. I cant even tell you what she sang becuase i have never heard of it. And she didnt do that stupid "Im gurgling while riding a sheep" voice. It was smooth and naural. She didnt hit all the notes (you cant have everything rob..) but she was good nonetheless. She introduced her "best pal on the tour", TRENYCE!!!!!!! Trenyce Trenyce was wearing her usually flary flashy clothes, and it looked good. She started out slow with her song (Proud Mary, the one she sang the show) And onc everyone heard what it was, they all screamed (including me) and she finished the slow part of her song and whipped the mic from the stand and blasted it. "ROLLING, ROLLING, ROLLING ON THE RIVER!!!!!" Oh my, this was the best so far of the right, her and her 2 backup dancers were doing the whole tina turner "rolling" thing, and this the hand wind. And there were flames in the black everytime she said "ROLLING!" I she was NEVER this good on television, best so far. After she waited for the applause to die she introduced who one of the people Ive been waiting for, KIMBERLEY LOCKE! Kimberley Locke She sang "Band Of Gold" and I was familiar becuase she sang this with Frenchie on the show. She was her usual fantastic voice, and ill tell you, she looked hot too. She had straight silk hair and lost about 30 pounds. She had her classic suade jacket with fat albert hat on, and sang so smoothly, and she was just what I was expecting (but yet did i know what she would do in the second half) And yes, before she even intoruced him, everyone was screaming (expecially this physco next to me wearing the "WILL YOU MARRY ME CLAY" Shirt and everytime someone would go on she would boo them and say "I WANT CLAY" She even told me she knew the hotel he was staying at and she was gunna visit him later. I looked and my friend and we didnt say a thing. The wost part is, she was about 10.) So yea..she introduced...CLAY AIKEN!!!!!!!!! Clay Aiken The voices with the screams and yells were so loud, that My whole body was rumbling and it felt like I was in the middle of a hurricane. And it was even worse when he came out, all the screams blended together to make one gaint one and almost knocked me over. But when i saw Clay on the stage i couldnt belive it was him. He appeared in his classic suit and i couldnt belive the real Clay Aiken was in front of me. He sang "This is the night" and floored everyone. he is 1000x better live, if thats possible. The notes were so extrememly difficult and he sang that song like it was the American Idol Finale. What i didnt like was that I couldnt hear everything becuase of all the stupid 4th graders screaming. But it was nothing short of amazing. He then waited for the 300000 screams to die down (waited about 2 minutes) then he introduced the winner of American Idol 2, Ruben Studdard. Ruben Studdard These screams were also loud. But no where close to Clay's. It was loud nonetheless. He sang about 12 meaures before he even came out on stage, and it looked like he had lost some wieght also. He sang the dreaded "Superstar" which is a good song until you sing it on american idol, your single, the group soundtrack, the concert, and everywhere else you are. He sang and everyone liked it and sat down. He then said he was going to sing another song (I had no idea what it was) and it was soooo boring. And belive me when I tell you, I was watching everyone else and they were having little conversations with thier friends, and not even watching him. I was doing the same. I think he noticed this and cut his song short to say there was going to be a 20 minute break (Trencye needs to take some olive oil shots) and they will be right back. INTERMISSION Through the second act they had many different things that people sang. All the boys sang some classic song, while all the girls sang "Bootylicious" and it was quite satisfying. Then Ruben and Clay battled it out (all in good fun) and talked to this audience, this got very boring until they started to talk about how they each like this one girl, kelly, (how ironic, that was the name of the physco 10 year old next to me) and they both realize that its the same girl. They then sang "The Dog-gone girl is mine" and they cut to a bunch of other american Idols singing stuff, I dont know the exact Order But Im Close.. Ricky and Julia sang song Ive never heard of before but thier voices blended so good together, I couldnt belive it. It was defintely a plus. All of the idols (except Ruben, becuase this required dancing) sang a beegees medly, and I almost died when I heard this. They sang "Staying Alive, "Emotions" and "To Love Somebody" (Clay ROCKED the last one) and finally rubnrn came up on the rising platform while all 9 Idols did a little hip swinging action (even ruben) and it was one of the best things of the night. Then Trenyce, Clay, and Kim Caldwell stayed on and tried to find audience members who could do the hip shaking this (Trencye and Caldwell were the best) and some girl won and got backstage passes (Im sure the physco 10 yr old next to me killed her when she saw her and stole then to meet clay, but who knows) Kinberly Locke sang "Inseperable" and "Somehwere Over The Rainbow" and This was the best thing of the night so far, yes, better than clay. She was so unbeliveable awesome that all this power came out and she hit all these different high notes. She was phenoninal, and these performances were my 2nd favorite thing of the whole show. Trenyce sang a Whitney Houston song "I have nothing" and this was one of my favorite things of the night, and I have to say, she sang it BETTTER than Whitney. Yes, she did. She hit everything and blasted it, one of the top peformances of the night. All the girls came out and sang "Im every woman" and it was fun.. Ruben then came out and sang something from his new CD, and it was like an f'd up Prince song. I could tell everyone was very dissapointed in the song, even his fans. Carmen, Caldwell, and Damato came out and sang some Charlie's Angels song on a motorcycle. It was cool becuase it had a bunch of fire in the back and it rocked. Clay comes out and introduces Neil Sadaka who was in the front row, and him and Ruben sang a couple of his songs, like "Solitare" "Calender Girl" and "Where the girls (actually boys) are" I was shocked to see that he was in the audience, I couldnt belive it. Clay then sang "Can you feel the Love tonight" and "Dont Let The Sun Go Down On Me" and this was my favorite performance of the night. He truly was the american idol, no matter what 13,000 votes out of 27 million said. He was amazing. A bunch of other songs were sung, but these were the main ones that stuck out in my head. And they all closed with singing "Love Will Keep Us Together" and all clips of then on american idol were on the screen and there was not a dry eye in the house. And they all left. The crowd is screaming and screaming and the band is telling us to scream louder. So we stuck around to see what would happen and sure enough Clay comes on with a Devils Uniform on. It was quite funny. He then sang a new song from His new CD, "Invisibile" and it was one of the best songs I have ever heard him sing (among many) and everyone was screaming so loud my ears hurt again. Then Ruben came out one last time and sung "Flying without Wings" and he thanked everyone and the show closed. Overall, this show was FANTASTIC! Clay, Locke, and Trenyce were the best by far, and I wanted to see it again. One of the best things I have ever seen in my life, i guarentee it! Singing --i mean-- signing off, Rob Anderson ~~~***~~~ posted by Yee 10:20 PM . . .
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