[photo: ocregister.com]
Some may wonder why I include someone as seemingly mainstream as Clay to my list - others may wonder why I didn’t add him to the list long ago. True, he has no formal vocal training and lives with the curse of having the title ’American Idol runner-up’ forever associated with his name, but his voice still has a quality to it that touches me.
I still think that Clay’s voice was too good to be on a show like American Idol, where the contestants are put into molds and come out as polished, non-descript ’pop stars’. The first time I heard him sing; I think it was O Holy Night, it was not at all what I’d expected – I didn’t expect someone who shot to fame on a show like that to possess such a big voice. It’s very strong and powerful – in the beginning I felt he turned the volume up a little too much but he seems to have ’calmed down’ a little through the years. A brilliant example of that is the song he wrote himself, ”Lover all alone”, especially on live performances. You are instantly drawn into that little world that is Clay Aiken and his voice.
The thing with Clay though is that, modest as he is, he doesn’t really seem to grasp what instrument he’s really got to work with – like his voice is too big for him to know what to do with it. That’s why, I think, some songs may turn out a little unfortunate. I do think he’d benefit from some vocal training to help that but more importantly I also think he needs the freedom to create more music of his own – so that we’ll hear more magical moments like ”Lover all alone” in the future.
If you want to hear and see Clay sing, his eager fan base has somehow managed to capture every syllable that has escaped his mouth and uploaded it to clackunlimited.com.
