He has been around for a long time now. He has a beautiful voice but truthfully to me, he is just a little creepy.

Me, me, me! lol Clay's CD is the only Idol contestant CD I've bought.... I have downloaded songs from a lot of the other contestants but that was my only CD.

He's a pig.

He did a concert in our area a few years back. I actually went to the trouble to buy tickets from a scalper, because the thing was totally sold out. It was the concert where he 'hired' a local high school choir to sing back-up in each town where he performed. The kids had to be there all day to rehearse, they were not fed, nor allowed to leave to get any food. Some of them were actually getting sick. He refused to sign autographs for them. When it came time to pay them, he handed the director an envelope. Which--when it was opened later, WAS EMPTY. I know some of those problems were probably mistakes made by his staff, but it was a horrible experience for the kids (and I know a teacher who teaches at that school, so I know this story is true, and the kids were SO disappointed).

That was the last time I tossed even a penny in his direction. He's not the nice, clean-cut guy who cares about kids, that he likes to advertise himself to be.

I don't watch idol. but I did watch several of these videos. I really like Allison Iraheta , Carly Smithson, Trenyce ... did she shop lift during idol?, Chris Daughtry, Kris Allen and the first idol winner.. can't remember her name! lol Jordan Sparks was really good. oh. and of course Carrie Underwood. Such a lot of good voices out there. Guess you need to "know" people and play politics, just like anything else, huh?

didn't listen to Jennifer Hudson, but we all know how good she is...

I'll add to Azzalea's comment. I didn't attend the concert but Aiken's behavior was reported in the local media. When he was on TV he came across as a normal person who was grateful for all that he had achieved. Well after reading about his 'star' attitude in the newspapers and the way he treated the kids I'm afraid he's just another celebrity with a staff polishing his image.

When it came time to pay them, he handed the director an envelope. Which--when it was opened later, WAS EMPTY. Did anyone contact Clay's staff to remedy the situation?? That sounds like a staff issue as does most of what Azzalea said.

Well, that's disappointing. Azzalea, you have burst my little bubble. Suddenly his voice is starting to squeak. :-)

I'm no fan of Clay Lightloafers, especially since his tyrades then trying to cash in on "coming out" but in fairness something's wrong here. Methinks you're upset unjustly.

If they were hired, there must be something in writing about the terms. NOBODY contacted his staff about it? Why not? You can't in fairness blame him when he clearly delegates this stuff out, can you? IF your allegations are true, it's a staff issue, not Aiken. Yes, it comes under his company but not him personally. He likely didn't fall down on this.

Sounds to me like the school is equally negligent in not following through. Did Aiken's people agree to provide food? Did the school require it as part of the agreement? I'd be surprised if they did. Did everyone just "assume" they'd provide food & beverage for them, thinking this was a social event? When I'm hired on an all day job I'm often not allowed to leave the site and seldom do they provide food and beverage for me. It's my responsibility to bring it or go without. The school, if not the kids' parents should all clearly know this. This is not an uncommon thing. (I'm skeptical the conditions were truly so abominable that they were getting sick short of special needs, and if so, shouldn't the kids and their parents know about that?)

Again, not a "claymate" in any way, shape or form, but I'm a reasonable person. People have a responsibility if they don't get what they're supposed to get they have obligations to inquire. You need to give a chance for it to be remedied before condemning and it's wrong to condemn the wrong people.

This all presupposes that they did fall down on follow-up. If they did and he breeched his contract, that's a different story, but still there's remedies. Assuming all of this is true and he schemed to take advantage of and defraud high school kids, someone should contact all the other towns since assumably he'd do the same thing to them. There could easily be a large lawsuit here. Definitely bad publicity. But somehow, I just don't think this is the case.

Let's be fair, people.

Okay, I'm working my way through the "Top 20," and I've switched allegiances. David Cook not only has a great voice, but he's sexier (from my perspective) than Clay Aiken.

A lot of the other singers on the list are good, too. I'm rather impressed! I think I'm up to #14 now.

I used to be a fan, but after him being so vocal about suggestive songs etc. and how he "came out" after his son was born from in-vitro, I kinda thought he was full of air. I've bought 3 of his albums, but have no plans on buying any more even though I understand he has one coming out in June. I don't even like his current style of singing...seems it's all "covers" (including the new album in June) and nothing upbeat like when he was on Idol. I heard he is starting a tour with Ruben this month. I so enjoyed Season 2 until the end, tho.....