Friday, August 6, 2010

Idol 67 - Clay Aiken

67. Clay Aiken
Season 2, Runner-up

I'm sorry but just not a fan of Clay. He's talented, I can admit that, but he ain't my cup of tea - AT ALL!

Now, I have to say that I'm not particularly impressed with singers who sound so cabaret and Clay was just about as cabaret as they come. Seriously! That voice is perfect for someone who sings and dances, and performs on Broadway. I mean, every word when he performed were over enunciated to the nth degree. To me, he just doesn't have a single ounce of soul.

It was so precise - just like Haley Scarnato. Haha. No rawness. No grit. Oh, and I hated when he did any slight vocal run as it didn't sound natural at all. I somehow could hear his mind clicking from one note to another and that kind of thing was very hard for me to listen to.

Now, there was a point in time that I actually thought I liked Clay. I didn't watch Season 2 when it originally aired, but I had heard Clay on the radio.  He definitely has a great voice, so I just assumed that I would like him, I guess. But his vocal techniques drive me insane. It's not all bad. I can actually appreciate a cabaret performance if it is with an appropriate song, where it works like his rendition of Mack The Knife.

It's just a bit torturous when his voice doesn't fit the song, case in point was his awful Build Me Up (Buttercup). Haha. Clay was a hit or miss for me.

That being said, it was pretty cool that Clay was so inexperienced but had such a power in his voice. He is, arguably, one of the most talented male singers to ever be on Idol. Is he the most talented? I don't think so. There's a lot more that goes into being a vocalist besides range and power. But he's great. Just not my thing.

Favorite performance(s): I really liked it when Clay sang To Love Somebody" He made the song fit him extremely well - very powerful and natural sounding performance. I also thought his rendition of Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me was really good.

To Love Somebody


Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me


#66 - Season 3's Second "Shock" Elimination!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Clay is the best male voice in music today, never mind of American Idol. Just because you can't appreciate his incredible singing ability doesn't make you any kind of expert.

DAM THE NATION said...

Anonymous: I don't claim to be an expert. I'm just saying this as a viewer and as someone who has a blog. Yes, this doesn't make me an expert but I guess I have my right to have an opinion about certain artists.

It's pretty relative. Some people like Clay and admit it or not, there are people, not only me, who just doesn't get him. I'd say let's respect each other's opinion. Thank you. :)

Anonymous said...

It's fine not to like someone ^^ Clay said himself that it's a matter of taste and that you can't get everybody to like you or your singing . I'm just happy that you sound rational and smart in stead of some people who just bash an artist, whose style they don't like :)

DAM THE NATION said...

Anonymous: Thank you very much! :)

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...