Reluctant 'Idol' candidate Aiken has done very well
Sunday, August 8, 2004
By Mary BarberStaff Writer

"They say when you wanna make God laugh, all you gotta do is tell him your plans."
That's a line from "When You Say You Love Me," on Clay Aiken's debut CD, "Measure of a Man."
God must be chortling.

The 25-year-old was studying special education at the University of North Carolina -- Charlotte when the mother of one of his students persuaded him to try out for "American Idol."

He sang at the Charlotte auditions and was sent home.

"I had no desire to be involved at all," Aiken said in a phone interview. "But I saw the people who sang with me, and I said 'I'm not getting cut.' ! It's just stubbornness."

His second audition, in Atlanta, resulted in an invitation to Los Angeles for the show's second season. Then he was cut again -- but was allowed to continue on a "wild card." He ended up taking second, behind Ruben Studdard.

Second place hasn't been so bad.

Aiken's first single, "This Is the Night," hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts. He won the Fan's Choice Award at the American Music Awards. His CD hit No. 1 and was one of the top-selling CDs of 2003. He joined the "American Idols Live" tour, then spent several weeks on the road early this year with the show's first winner, Kelly Clarkson.

And he finished his degree, graduating last December.

Now he's headlining a tour, with opening act Cherie, and he said the pressure's up.

"If the show went bad, I could blame it on her (Clarkson) last time," he joked. "But it's fun."

Aiken seems to be able to keep his success in perspective. After all, he's one of the rare few who could have it either way -- with fame, or without.
"In many ways, (teaching) is much more fulfilling than walking on stage," he said. "You don't get the money, for sure, which is a shame. But the benefits you get are much bigger and much more fulfilling. ! You don't walk in and have all the kids stand up and clap for you. You have to find success in small miracles. When the kid you were working with for three months to read one word does read just one word, it's very satisfying."

But fame has its perks, he said.

"The adulation and adoration you get from an audience when you're singing is very visible, very evident," he said. "I enjoy what I'm doing, and I get to see the world, see different things, and pay for vacations for my parents and my friends. I don't see any reason for me to want to stop it right now."

But if it doesn't work out, that's fine, he said.

"I don't have designs on it lasting forever," he said. "That would be a little too presumptuous."

Millions of kids want to be the next Clay Aiken, the next American Idol. But that's not the right path for everyone, he said.

"I think the best advice I could give someone would be to have enough confidence in yourself not to let one loss get you down," he said, "not to let one comment from Simon (Cowell, one of three judges) or the equivalent get you down."

He said he saw lots of very talented singers at "American Idol" who could make a career in music.

"But one nasty comment from Simon, and they were crushed for life," he said. "What's the point in that?"

He said Cowell is critical offstage as well as on, but his comments could be slightly more constructive in private.

"He's a little pompous, but he genuinely does usually care about those who are on the show," Aiken said. "He's not a cold-hearted person at all."
Asked if Cowell's advice helped him, Aiken said, "He'd like to say it did."
Aiken performs at 8 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are $29-$32.

posted by Yee 10:40 PM

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