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 If
you love or hate American Idol,
you cannot deny it's a genuine
phenomenon and second season
runner-up Clay Aiken is a big part
of it. While Aiken lost out to
Ruben Studdard
by 134,400 of the 24 million votes,
at times it was hard to determine
who the real winner was...>>>
Book Clay Aiken for Your Event
Aiken
appeared on the cover of Rolling
Stone a month before
Studdard. His first single, "This Is
The Night," backed with his cover of
Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over
Troubled Water," debuted at No. 1,
one position ahead of Studdard's
"Flying Without Wings," when both
songs bowed on the Billboard
Hot 100 in June 2002. Not bad for a
24-year-old former camp counselor
from Raleigh, North Carolina.
During the American Idol
contest, Aiken managed to garner the
attention of children and
middle-aged housewives with his
crooning, creating near Clay-mania
in the process. He even managed to
nearly bring celebrity judge Neil
Sedaka to tears with his version of
the Sedaka-penned Carpenters hit
"Solitaire."
While Aiken preferred to keep much
of his past private during the
American Idol run, he did open
up in his Rolling Stone
interview. He revealed he's a
church-going Baptist who attended
the University of North Carolina at
Charlotte, where he majored in
special education. He co-founded the
Bubel/Aiken Foundation, which aims
to provide opportunities for
individuals with autism and other
physical and mental disabilities.
He's scared of water, favors instant
grits over the real thing and,
believe it or not, bites his
toenails.
Aiken also is the product of a
broken home. His biological father
is Vernon Grissom, but the
star-to-be opted to legally change
to his mother's name in the late
'90s. Grissom, according to Aiken,
was a violent alcoholic who
abandoned Clay and his mother when
he was 1-years-old. Aiken prefers to
think of Ray Parker--his mother's
second husband, who died in July
2002--as his real dad.
Aiken's debut album, Measure Of A
Man, was released in October
2003. The album was recorded in Los
Angeles, Miami, and London, with
executive producer Clive Davis,
American Idol creator Simon
Fuller and producers and songwriters
including Steve Mac, Cliff Magness,
Desmond Child, Steve Morales, and
Rick Nowels.
>>>
Book Clay Aiken for Your Event
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