http://www.vh1.com/news/a...clay.jhtml

You would think that Clay Aiken has nothing but kind things to say about "American Idol" — the show that launched his career — or Adam Lambert, the season-eight runner-up who many in the media compared him to.

Well, apparently that's not the case.

In a lengthy blog post on his official site — which has since been taken down but can be viewed on Gawker.com — Aiken ripped into the show and Lambert, accusing the former of having lost its way and showing "blatant favoritism ... towards one contestant," and the later of being, well, terrible and sort of scary.

"I only turn the show on once a season, and only to see what the set looks like each year. This year, I happened to turn it during the minute Adam Lambert was singing 'Ring of Fire,' " Aiken wrote. "And, at that moment, I thought my ears would bleed. Contrived, awful and slightly frightening. I wasn't really a fan and found myself surprised whenever folks told me they liked him."

Aiken then turned his ire on "Idol" itself, writing that, in the early seasons, the show was about finding "real people who happened to sing/ entertain well," but it has since lost its way, turning into just another character-driven reality slog where judges openly show favoritism.

"Somewhere along the way, 'AI' stopped being about real people," Aiken wrote. "This year, there was an obvious bias. Not even having watched the show, I can tell you that I was WELL aware of the bias from the judges as to who should win. In my opinion, that is awfully unattractive. I don't think I am alone."

Aiken added that he "couldn't be happier" about Kris Allen defeating Lambert in the "Idol" finale, because it showed that he's not the only one who's grown tired of the show's bias and favoritism.

"I think many voters got sick of being 'told who to vote for.' I think many were turned off by the blatant favoritism shown towards one contestant. On that last night, they used their votes against a contestant that they were tired of hearing about, and for the contestant who had been written off," he wrote. "I think they voted AGAINST an 'American Idol' that has, for four years now, been more about the slick productions and polished contestants than it has been about finding the raw talent that it did in its first three seasons."

He closed the post by calling Allen's victory a "resounding and clarion call" and hoped that the "Idol" producers were listening, because the voters are telling them "Enough with the pretention. More Rubens, more Clays, more Fantasias and Tamyras and Kellys please."

And though he obviously feels strongly about the direction "Idol" is heading, Aiken has since removed the blog post from his site. At press time, a spokesperson for Aiken had not responded to MTV News's requests for comment on the post.


This report is provided by MTV News

Clay Aiken - who gives a rats ass about this guy? Not me.

Empress said:

You know you love him.

daPrettyman said:

No, but my mother does. I don't argue with her anymore. She's 75 and can like whoever the hell she wants.

Empress said:

There it is.

I thought AI jumped the shark on its first season before Clay even auditioned

Clay's just pissed no one's thinking about him anymore.

Cinnie said:

I'm saying. Then they made this big deal about his makeover changing him from that "dorky image" to the "suave heartthrob image" or whatever the hell they thought they were doing! So HE'S one to talk about AI being real singers, even then, it was about how you look. Yeah AI picked Ruben but Clay became the "star" for a brief time.

Clay's whole "I don't watch it but I can tell you it is worse now" schtick here is about as useful as orgers who say they don't like a certain act yet never checked the album.

Cinnie said:

Good point...

I may not be a fan of Clay, but he does have a point. AI has turned into a popularity contest. For instance, a couple of seasons ago, Malinda Dolittle should have won, not that stupid Jordan Sparks. JS and Blake Lewis didn't even have any business being in the top 2.

Timmy84 said:

IT's weird, because I heard on the radio this morning that Clay mad $2Million last year. That shocked the hell out of me. I know he has a show on Broadway. So, somebody likes him....still!

daPrettyman said:

For real? Damn, that IS good.

kenlacam said:

I'm not disagreeing with you, but each Idol winner is about capitolizing on a particular market. After the first season, they really started to do this.

For instance, Ruben had to win because he had the potential to be the next Luther Vandross (or so they thought).

Jordan Sparks won because the teen market is very big and Jordan has a lot of appeal to a pop audience, christian audience and a ac (adult contemporary) audience. She managed to chart on all 3 and did rather well.

Fantasia won because they thought that she was going to be a new generation's Mary J. Blige.

So, each Idol won because of how the show was trying to market them and how 19 Entertainment wanted to capture a certain music market. Think about it, Melinda Doolittle could sing her face off, but she doesn't fit the mold of today's music industry...especially for women. She's not a size 0. She's friendly and wholesome. Pop music wants clean, but a little trashy (Britney's debut is the perfect example).

daPrettyman said:

I thought she would have been a great role model for young girls

Aiken said


Plese; that girl just mad cuz she was up there singin Frank Sinatra and ish and she wasnt on there. How she going to have the nerve to only watch one last episode and judhe Adam?

I think if she watched the Track Of My Tears per4mance, she would correct herself

paisleypark4 said:

I loved how you refer to Clay as a "she". I think girlfriend's jealous of Adam.
[Edited 5/22/09 11:26am]

Cinnie said:

Actually A.I. jumped the shark when Jennifer got screwed!

THAT episode should have been a warning sign to all music fans that A.I. has absolutely no credibility as a show.

TonyVanDam said:

And Jennifer SHOWED them.

Timmy84 said:

Well, supposedly it is based on (American) viewer's votes, not "the show".

Cinnie said:

So they say.

Timmy84 said:

She sure did. And she even won an Academy Award along the way, long before she even had a debut album.

Cinnie said:

Until the phone lines "get busy".

TonyVanDam said:

Then she got platinum and won a Grammy Award! OUCH!

TonyVanDam said:

Timmy84 said: