Letters

Editor’s note: We seem to have aroused a lot of vitriol with Tuesday’s piece (“American Wash-up”) about American Idol, particularly with our writer’s comments on Clay Aiken. Our readers have made their outrage known…

American idolatry

For your information, everybody absolutely still cares about Clay Aiken because people love Clay Aiken. He is the most popular American Idol contestant ever, and I believe he will become the most successful Idol contestant ever when all is said and done and when American Idol is finally off the air, which I hope is extremely soon, because I believe the results are rigged and that producers and the judges pick the winners at the beginning of the season, regardless of what they say. Clay Aiken hasn’t gotten as much radio airplay as the two female winners you mentioned, but Clay Aiken’s concert sales are more and higher than any other American Idol contestants’ concert sales. Check your tour statistics. I love Clay Aiken! Clay Aiken rules!

Ann

Clay Aiken RULEZ!!!!!11!Eleventy

Not heard of Clay Aiken in the last two years! Are you kidding! Where have you been living, in a cave?

He has completed six tours over the past four years, one just last year, all nearly sellouts, he has been a preferred guest on countless TV shows over the past few years, he has put out three albums, sold over five million albums in the last four years, is UNICEF ambassador of education for children worldwide for which just last month he visited Afghanistan (this was all over the news!) and has his own charity foundation!

The next time you have an inkling to make a statement like that, make sure you do your homework first!

That is very poor journalism!!

Anonymous

Wow, consider us told

On June 10, 2003, Clay released the single “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The B-side was “This is the Night.” This was RIAA-certified platinum on July 15, 2003. It debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot 100 Single Sales Chart, and was the fastest-selling single since Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind 1997,” and the best-selling single of 2003. It was also the first CD single to go platinum since 2002.

Clay’s solo CD, Measure of a Man, was released on October 13, 2003. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and sold 613,000 copies in its first week. This made it the highest-selling debut for a solo artist in 10 years, and according to Wikipedia, the highest debut of any Idol. The CD was RIAA-double platinum certified on November 17, 2003, and more than 2,750,000 CDs have been sold. The single “Invisible” became a huge hit. Also in 2003, Clay won the Fan’s Choice Award at the American Music Awards ceremony, and his CD single “This Is the Night/Bridge Over Troubled Water” won the Billboard award for the Best-selling Single of 2003.

During the winter of 2003, Clay was in Disney’s Christmas Day Parade and the Nick At Nite Holiday Special, where special effects allowed him to sing an awesome duet of “Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth” with Bing Crosby.

In September 2006, Clay was appointed to the Presidential Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. This committee advises the president and the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on issues regarding programs and services for those with intellectual disabilities.

Clay was voted the Favorite Reality Star of 2003 by TV Guide readers, and “the most-loved reality star of all time” in a TV Guide poll in the summer of 2005.

And the beat goes on…

Marin