Clay Aiken's Painful Secrets

Had to post this--did anyone see Miss America--was Miss Oklahoma a ball-busting dyke? Had to ask--had to make my snide comments about this.

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Clay Aiken went from runner-up "Idol" to platinum-selling recording artist, and now his first full-length album "Measure of a Man" drops on Oct. 14. The singer sat down with Access Hollywood's Shaun Robinson and revealed painful secrets from his past.

Shaun Robinson: About the relationship that you never had with your father, you actually called him a 'sperm donor.' Tough words, but it obviously stems from a very tough childhood, right?

Clay Aiken: In a way, the majority of the situation happened early on in life. The difficult part is that I'm usually an open book and I don't mind talking about it, but I've also got my mother to think about. So when I open my book up I open her book up too, and she's a very private person.

Although Clay tries to protect his mother, who he claims was abused by his father, he has no regrets going public.

Shaun: Do you wish you had never talked about your father at all?

Clay: Sometimes I do. I think the first thing that triggered it all was a story that came up in the Star. In that article they made my mom look somewhat bad which was not true. It needed to be addressed just to set the record straight.

Shaun: You've obviously survived a very tough childhood.

Clay: You know, I think I grew from it too.

Clay grew into an overnight sensation, complete with tabloid frenzy and speculation, most notably the rumors of him being gay, which he denies. In fact, Clay told Shaun he's almost ready to have that special lady in his life.

Shaun: Are you dating anybody?

Clay: I'm not, my schedule has been so busy and I need somebody to go to the American Music Awards with.

Shaun: Who would be the perfect date to the AMAs?

Clay: Hmmm, Miss Oklahoma. I sang for the Miss America Pageant.

Shaun: You took a liking to Miss Oklahoma?

Clay: Yes, and I'm sure she's sitting at home right now so embarrassed.

He was the runner-up--but it was another example of voting fraud, since he was clearly the best singer and the most popular.

If you followed AI, you'd know why the snide comments about his sexuality.

definitely had the best voice on AI this season. But I think in the long run, he's gotten the best out of AI.

He's a bit effeminate, which is why the gay jokes about him. But he seems like a genuinely nice person. I wish him well.

On Sunset, late at night, outside Denny's.

If the guy he was with wasn't gay, then I'll eat my hat!

I'm pretty sure he is, he's just trying not to cause controversy so he has a career--the music industry is very homphobic.

I have heard of this American Idol. It is on the thing you call television, correct?

I rarely see TV before 10 (except West Wing). I am old. sigh.

not much into stereotypes are we?

:spank:

I mean, come on, the kid is gay, I just figured he was going for a cover who wouldn't blow his own!!!!!

I honestly don't know if he is gay or not, BUT either way I figure it's his story to tell. So let him tell it they way he wants.

I basically agree, but when I saw this article, I just had to say, "Come on!"

I really believe he is gay, and this is more of a comment on our society than him that he feels he can't come out.

Did you watch American Idol--lots of comments from Simon about Clay being "too Broadway"--his way of saying Clay was gay, so don't vote for him.

But this one is going a lot longer than I thought--amazing since most people don't know who I'm talking about!

anymore.

IF YOU LIKE AMERICAN IDOL, YOU ARE A BAD PERSON.

American Idol is symptomatic of everything that is wrong with America, the recording industry, and television. Clay Aiken, in addition to being uglier than sin, IS A FUCKING GLORIFIED KAROAKE SINGER WHO HAD STARDOM HANDED TO HIM ON A SILVER PLATTER.

He never had to work for his record contract, he won it on a fucking game show. He has no other real talent other than being able to "sing". Yeah, well Pavarotti can sing but I don't see him on Access Hollywood or plastered all over Teen People.

Do you think Marvin Gaye had it this easy? Aretha Franklin? Shit, they'd vote her off for being "too fat". That asshole British moron even said so once, or so I'm told. These people were real musicians. Clay Aiken is a fucking sideshow freak.

I'm sick and damn tired of Muppets like this dumb asshole being fawned over as if they were the greatest thing to happen to music since Mozart. They SUCK, and if not for the sheeplike nature of American consumers, they would not be profitable.

There, I said it, and I feel better. Flame on, if you must.

Sorry, but he's got a better voice than anyone in the music biz right now.

I like the idea that these kids come out of nowhere.

He wasn't looking for a music career, but was pressured by friends to enter.

Same with Kelly Clarkson--a waitress with really big hair at the beginning of the competition.

However, the voting was rigged for AI2, so i won't be watching AI3.

Hey, I'd vote Aretha off myself right now--she has a serious weight problem. She used to just be a litte echubby, but now she really has a problem--it's not healthy.

Jesus Christ, how fucking shallow can you get?

And best voice in the music biz? Yeah, maybe if you only take the incredibly vapid mainstream music world into account.

And Kelly Clarkson sucks too. The fact that her "album" sold as well as it did makes me want to cry.

There was a time in this country when musicians succeeded on their own merits through groundbreaking work, not through the exhaustive and ubiquitious work of the powerful media conglomerates promoting them to death. Bob Dylan wasn't crammed down people's throats by the media, he became popular DESPITE it. The Beatles, while media darlings at first, evolved into the greatest band ever, and managed to create entirely new genres of music, sometimes spawning several within the confines of ONE album. David Bowie marketed himself, but he also backed that marketing up with some of the best songwriting pop music has ever seen.

The best you could say for Clay Aiken is that MAYBE, if he's lucky, he'll end up like Neil Diamond. He'll never be a Bob Dylan, a John Lennon, a David Bowie, a Bruce Springsteen, or even Prince. He's a joke, and history will ultimately put him alongside such legendary "artists" as David Cassidy, Fabian, and Billy Ray Cyrus.

Then I read what he said about Aretha Franklin and realized you were correct.

I wouldn't vote her off simply because of her weight, but so she could go seek some help--it ain't healthy--it's not a cosmetic comment, but a health issue. Has anyone seen her lately? She's getting up there in age and the combination ain't good!

Whenever you read my posts, you have to read them as if Lewis Black was narrating them. Most of the time my griping and hyperbole is purely for comic effect.

He's got an amzing instrument--puts anyone you mentioned to shame.

As for Aretha, my point is that she seriously needs help right now--she is not simply fat, but obese--I would vote her off so she could seek some help!

Nice to see you're still jealous of the planet. :hi:

Yep, I sure am jealous of Clay, what with all the fun of being a singing puppet of music industry execs, who will milk him for all he's worth and then discard him for the next pre-fab celebrity they can incubate.

Yeah, that's a life I surely envy. :eyes:

I think he'll last--true, it's an industry, but he's got such an incredible voice I think he'll outlast the packging.

I'm discounting him also because his caterwauling makes me nauseous and he's not a real musician who had to pay any dues. Not only does he look like the demon offspring of Michael Bolton and Barry Manilow, but he sounds like those two hacks as well. His music is incredibly insipid, lifeless, and overproduced. He's somehow managed to bring pop music to a new low, which is impressive given it's current state.

He can actually sing--time will tell how far he goes.

As for caterwauling, let's talk Mariah and Witless.

Whitney was never worth a shit, and Mariah only got where she was because of Tommy Motola. F them both.

Loved Debra Wilson's imitation of Witless on MadTV--sorry she left the show.

At least she was when I watched it for about twenty minutes last Saturday. Too horrible for words.

On the other hand, SNL was actually pretty good. I came away from it not hating Justin Timberlake nearly as much as I once did. I still hate his shitty music, but at least he was funny on SNL.

she wasn't on it.

CLay didn't win AI, but he sure got the most out of it by far. He definitely has the best voice out there, regardless of the material he covers. He took Simon's ribbing to heart and worked on his presentation over the course of the year. I expect him to stick around.

There was a time in this country when musicians succeeded on their own merits through groundbreaking work, not through the exhaustive and ubiquitious work of the powerful media conglomerates promoting them to death.

People have been making it by being a product created by music execs since the 1950s. This is nothing new.

Bob Dylan wasn't crammed down people's throats by the media, he became popular DESPITE it. The Beatles, while media darlings at first, evolved into the greatest band ever, and managed to create entirely new genres of music, sometimes spawning several within the confines of ONE album. David Bowie marketed himself, but he also backed that marketing up with some of the best songwriting pop music has ever seen.

Why on earth would you use those artists for comparison? He's not like them, and he doesn't claim to be. Nor, for that matter, is he being marketed as such.

The Beatles created 'entirely new' genres of music, sometimes several in one album? Please support that statement. Secondly, if they had, it wouldn't have been that difficult back then, since pop music wasn't particularly eclectic in either its influences or its output at that time.

The best you could say for Clay Aiken is that MAYBE, if he's lucky, he'll end up like Neil Diamond. He'll never be a Bob Dylan, a John Lennon, a David Bowie, a Bruce Springsteen, or even Prince. He's a joke, and history will ultimately put him alongside such legendary "artists" as David Cassidy, Fabian, and Billy Ray Cyrus.

So what if he won't become a Dylan or a Lennon? Perhaps it's escaped your notice, but no one else has either, because they're unique, just like Neil Diamond, who's "ended up" as an incredibly succesful icon in the music business.

He's not a good singer. He's a great singer.

And he's as gay as a toucan.

It's obvious you've never watched an episode of American Idol, and thus are unaware that Ruben Studdard won, and he's actually heavier than Aretha Franklin has ever been.

The fact is, I'd never buy a Clay Aiken album, but I can appreciate the fact that his voice is phenomenal. Why not allow joy into your life?

The combination of age and weight ain't good. She's always been heavy, but gaining weight at her age just isn't healthy.

I won't go into the whole--who actually won thing--that got out of control on the AI boards.

As for Ruben, yeah, he is very big. Funny how the judges never mentioned that, but did with the female contestants.

The music industry is sexist and homphobic.

Do you think that mick Jagger would still be performing if he were a woman and looked like that???????????

Not freaks who were created by a karaoke game show on Fox.

Marvin Gaye gives me joy. Sam Cooke gives me joy. Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, David Bowie, Prince, Springsteen, James Brown, and many, many others give me joy.

Clay Aiken and other pre-fab celebrities like him make me want to puke.

The Beatles were pop stars too, but at least they wrote their own fucking songs. And you know, they didn't suck.

Didn't see the Miss America contest.

used to watch those as a kid.

Can't stand them now.

between Clay Aikens and Martin Short's character in the SNL short film from 1984 about the two brothers aspiring to be olympic synchronized swimmers? Short played the retarded brother, made up to look like some kind of genetic mishap (Shearer was his "normal" brother, and Christopher Guest was their choreographer). Aikens is a dead ringer for that character.

Couldn't find a picture of him on the web, otherwise I'd post for comparison.