What It's All About

Since everyone else is pontificating on Clay Aiken's "trashing" of American Idol, why not me?

I won't repost his members-only blog or link to the sites that did, but basically Clay said he was glad that "boy-next-door" Kris Allen won the eighth season of the show that gave Clay his start.

His actual opinions of the artists' performances don't really mean much since he didn't watch the entire season. He did say that he didn't like what Adam Lambert did with a classic country song ("Ring of Fire"), and based on very limited exposure to either finalist said that public perceptions may have formed around Adam as being "arrogant" (because of all the support that the producers and media had given him over the course of the season).

Clay didn't say Adam was arrogant, just that - rightly or wrongly - the perception of him may have been strong enough to encourage some voters to vote against him.

So what Clay was really lamenting in his blog was Idol's loss of innocence, the loss of the vision of what it was all about in the first place. Like Linus in "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown," Clay took the thumb out of his mouth, dropped his security blanket, stepped out alone onto a stage and a single spotlight, and said what AI was all about: giving opportunities to people with raw talent who would not otherwise have that chance.

The truth is, Adam and Kris are both extremely talented, but since Adam was already a professional with lots of opportunities, he didn't need Idol as much as Kris did. The fact that Idol producers and judges (and the media they seem to control with their targeted messages) had so transparently supported the contestant most likely to become a superstar (and make them all richer) was disillusioning to Clay (and to many of us who have loved Idol over the years).

It's always disheartening to see the crass commercialization of our cherished traditions. Charlie Brown winced at Snoopy's enthusiasm in the neighborhood Christmas display competition. And Clay winced at the obvious AI bias for hot-property Adam.

So, like Linus, that's what Clay was talking about in his blog. He was simply reminding us why the AI experience burrowed itself into our hearts in the first place, with Kelly, Tamyra, Ruben, Clay, Fantasia, and Carrie. The kids next door were getting a chance to make it big.... That could be us! And now with Kris, it still can be.

That's what it's all about, Simon!

Love, hosaa
"id(o)ling"