Clay Aiken: The Entertainer

While working online today I was listening to my wonderful CD of Lurve Songs and found myself closing my eyes and swaying to the music. I don't remember anyone else besides Barbra Streisand connecting to the lyrics and feeling the music so passionately. There have been many great ones and Clay will always seem a part of that legacy; I can feel it. When we saw him on AI-2 many of us felt we were watching the birth of a legend.

I recalled the story written by a fan meeting one of Clay's former girlfriends outside a radio station in Raleigh when Clay and Amanda were visiting and Clay was to pick out the best sign. The fan asked the former girlfriend what Clay is like and her response was that Clay is very romantic and passionate. She then told the fan to not ask for anymore information along those lines. Seems Clay gravitates toward young ladies with fine character like himself.

What is it about Clay and his music? We know about the "Mandate" now and we know that he turned the project into something timeless and special in spite of all the hurdles. He didn't just jump over them, he kicked them out of his way to give us a masterpiece full of that same romance and passion.

So then I sat here and wondered further why it is that Clay grabs me and won't let go. I think I've got it! Clay sings like a man. He sings like a man who loves. He SOUNDS like a man and he sounds like an intelligent man when he sings. The songs he co-wrote are better than the rest because of his maturity and understanding of what music should be. It's him grabbing onto us because perhaps he feels that we're his, all his. He said it with song. He's right! There's nobody like him and never will be again. He's ours, all ours.

So why the let down from his PR team? One has to wonder if it's due to the fact that he was, he is and he always will be of such fine character inspite of liars and extortionists in the guise of recording execs who want to keep their hands in the pockets of kids they discovered and launched into stardom. Clay is a REAL MAN. Asswipes come and go; they're disposable. TPTB have done everything they can to bring him down to their level and he silently thumbs his nose at them.

Clay won't sing about raunchy sex, he won't drop his drawers or yank a woman's clothes off. He can get downright sexy in concert because...well...he's downright sexy. There's the difference between Clay and other pop artists. He can really sing, he can enterpret, he can entertain, he can be sexy without trying because of his voice, demeaner, his gorgeous looks and moves you can only be born with. He doesn't have to play the part as other male pop artists do.

Whassa matter RCA? Couldn't you get him to act like a teen humping his bedpost in a frenzy?