Posted on 12/11/2004 7:23:11 AM PST by OESY
Clay Aiken glided into the Theater at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night to give voice to a Christmas wish that we can all relate to: a world without flash photography.
"Gimme a camera and I'll flash it at you," Mr. Aiken purred, smiling wide so no one could mistake his offer for a petulant threat. This was a night when theater ushers, too often hidden behind a drab facade of jacketed professionalism, got a chance to perform backup vocals for the guy onstage. As Mr. Aiken crooned "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," the ushers contributed a gruff basso ostinato. "No flashes, please," they barked. "No flashes."
Mr. Aiken, beloved by distinctly prepubescent and exceedingly postpubescent listeners across the country, earned his fame in 2003, when viewers declined to vote him America's Idol. (Like Senator John Kerry, the St. Louis Cardinals and, while we're at it, the Confederate Army, he finished a strong second - to the singer Ruben Studdard.) Since then, he has emerged as a brazenly anachronistic pop star, a titillation-averse singer with a warm vibrato and an affinity for big, mushy ballads.
Of course, he's not so old fashioned that he can't interrupt a Christmas concert to plug a television special. "Who watched 'Lost' on ABC last night?" he asked, and those who applauded got a snack-size helping of scorn: they should have been watching NBC's "Clay Aiken Christmas," instead. Soon, Mr. Aiken drifted back to a favorite topic. "I imagine the people who watched 'Lost' last night are the same people who can't find the off button to the flashes on their cameras," he said, but the flashers bravely pressed on.
"American Idol" fans usually love their notes long, loud and high; that's how you can tell a singer is really good. Yet the concert's brief first half didn't give fans much to cheer about: Mr. Aiken waltzed through a nimble "Sleigh Ride," and a woozy, post-eggnog-ish version of "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)," one of the few Christmas songs that sound a bit sheepish about their own Christmasiness: "Although it's been said many times, many ways/ Merry Christmas to you."
Mr. Aiken had been onstage for about 40 minutes when it came time for a 25-minute intermission. When he returned, the show became a lot more energetic and more interesting. The preamble was over, and now it was time for everyone to discover the True Meaning of Christmas.
Don't worry: this second act wasn't some vague celebration of friends and family and fun. Since Thursday was the third night of Hanukkah, Mr. Aiken turned his second act into a celebration of Jews. Well, one Jew: Jesus. Whereas other seasonal gatherings evoked a secular or multifaith "holiday spirit," Mr. Aiken's concert was one party where the birthday boy got all the attention.
This spirit of evangelism made the music more exciting: the gospel-inflected second act used two youth choirs (one from a high school, one from an elementary school) more effectively, and there were more long, loud, high notes for the Idol-aters.
The songs grew more intriguing, too. Mr. Aiken sang "Mary, Did You Know" as if he were a kind but ruthless police investigator, asking for information he already had. "Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?/ When you kiss your little baby, you kissed the face of God." His voice was low and spooky, evoking not just a true believer's shivery faith but also a new mother's bewilderment.
By the time the show was over, Mr. Aiken had held forth on the importance of "keeping the Christmas spirit throughout the year" (does that mean we have to stick to the Christmas playlist, too?), sung a tender "I'll Be Home for Christmas" (de-emphasizing the unsettling last line: "If only in my dreams") and reappeared for a lovely encore, "Good News." As he sang the incantatory lyrics, a choir joined him, half-hidden by a gauze scrim and illuminated by bright, pulsating lights.
And so Mr. Aiken had his revenge at last: it was just like staring at a giant flash camera.
So what? Leave him alone.... He has a good singer.
Or do you want to remind us that Cheney's daughter is a lesbain too... ?
Shhhh. We're not supposed to mention that Mary Cheney is a "lesbain." (Whatever that is.)
a typo; hate to repeat it - but just for you: lesbian
No matter how the American Idol voting turned out, the marketplace determines who is a true American Idol. Having said that, while it is interesting to watch American Idol, I can't stand the type of music they sing. As Homer Simpson would say, BBBOOOOOORRRRRIIINNNGGGGG!!!!!
Isn't he just the sauciest little scamp?
OH! You know all about this, do you!?!? LOL!
but the man who paved the way for Clay is worth a read.
"I Don't Mean To Be Rude"
-Simon Cowell.
The phones in Clay Aiken's home region (North Carolina, etc.)
were blocked. There was a massive failure in the voting system, yet the show's producers admitted the vote was extremely close. Ruben Studdard's own mother admitted that she had voted dozens (if not hundreds) of times, yet hundreds of thousands of viewers in the Southeast were denied access entirely to the number provided for Clay Aiken. It was rigged. The records sales now prove it.
As far as "politically correct", the producers could not afford to have another white contestant win.
Wasn't Ruben hospitalized for his weight-related complications recently... ?
I have a standard for natural talent. I look for the guy who can just throw his head back and let the song roll. Rosemary Clooney had this. Patsy Cline had this. Bing Crosby had it. Frank Sinatra always considered himself a "song stylist". That man applied a lot of intelligence and hard work to a song.
Aiken has it. I admire his respect to his roots. I hope he has a long and flourishing career. I'll be watching.
Wow. Clive Davis. That'll work!
Clay is making all the money, so who is the real winner? LOL
I seem to remember that back in the Fifties and Sixties there was this piano-playing guy that all the women swooned over - his schtick was the candelebra - but when guys questioned how well he stayed in his shoes, all his fans got real upset. Wonder what happened to that guy?
I gotta ask people like you, "What is your purpose?"
You should know -- aren't you his "ex"?
No thanks...but I'm just saying, Liberace actually won a libel suit in Britain when people said he was gay. I just don't want people to be too disappointed when in a few years the guy gets caught in a public park somewhere late at night doing certain things.
Wow, what a catty piece. ROWWWRRRR! They did they same thing that Time magazine always did: they assigned the job of reviewing the Star Trek movies to their staff critic who HATES Star Trek.
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