I got to thinking about who has actually made the transition from Idol fodder to actual artist. And other than a few artist: Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, he probably has the most rabid following. His voice, weather you think he's good or not, is pretty timeless.
When I saw this in the "Last Post" column, all it read was "Is Clay Aiken an American...", and I got my hopes up for a Clay Aiken birther thread. Very disappointing.
Katharine Mcphee is having a nice career, though it's in acting. She's always wanted to be an actress and I think she just used AI to meet that goal. She is gorgeous. We should start a Kathaien Mcphee thread.
People makes jokes about him but his fans are hardcore. I'm tellin you; and he's been the butt (no pun) of many of a joke and he still can sell out arenas. It's amazing. But his voice is REALLY good.
There's been a ton more AI contestants who've made it bigger than Aiken: Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Adam Lambert, Chris Daughtry... I'd say he's in the second tier of stars from the AI factory: Kris Allen, Fantasia, Katherine McPhee, Kelly Pickler, etc.
I would say that few of them you listed have as many fans as Clay has. Only Carrie and Kelly (and they might not rival it) in 2005 he was namded “the most-loved reality star of all time” Claymates: "Claysians" (Asian fans), "Claynadians" (Canadian fans), "Clayropeans" (European fans) and "Claydawgs" (male fans).
Carrie Underwood 12 million albums Kelly Clarkson 11 million albums Chris Daughtry 6 million albums Clay Aiken 5 million albums Fantasia 2.7 million albums Ruben Studdard 2.6 million albums Huge Gap Then the platinum Idols David Cook 1.4 million Kellie Pickler 1.3 million Jennifer Hudson 1.2 million Jordin Sparks 1.2 million Then Everyone else.
I think he is a legend...but in his own mind. Anyone with a penis would kick someone's ass if they were called a "Claydawg".
I'm surprised by you manny on this one. You usually accept good music and aren't bias. The difference between Clay Aiken and most other singers is that Clay doesn't need to have good material to make you want to listen to his songs. His voice is on par with other singers like Karen Carpenter and others who you listen to for the sheer pleasure of the voice.
Wow, did not realize he had that many album sales. I can't name a single song of his, and I was pretty big into AI until pretty recently. I'm also pretty surprised at Studdard's sales. Shows what I know about gospel music.
