Clay’s X-Factor

American Idol 2 has run its course, and Ruben Studdard has won the crown, leaving Clay Aiken a very close second. Clay fans are now in mourning, but determined, now more than ever, to stand by their idol.

As a testimony to this, the following is from the owner of ClaytonAiken.com, expressing the sentiments of Clay’s millions of fans:

Know that YOU are our WINNER and time will show that you are what legends are made of. You have a rare and beautiful gift and you have touched lives all around the world. (...) Thank you for sharing your gift with us.

A new language has built up around him. There are Claynadians and fans from the UClay. Clay is ‘acclaymed’ and his fans are ‘infatuaiken.’ At least six websites have been created specifically around him – and counting. Message boards are legion and have been constantly active, day and night! Women declare their love for him. His cause, autism, is receiving much-needed attention because of him.

So what is it about Clay? What has given Clay Aiken the X-factor?

Here are my top ten Clay-factors:

1) That voice! Well, what can I say. That amazing voice became more searingly beautiful every week. It could have come straight from Heaven.

Off-stage, Clay, by his own acknowledgment, is more hyperactive. On-stage he acquired a groundedness, depth and resonance which was almost ethereal. His voice spoke to the depths of the soul and touched emotions we didn’t know we had.

2) Love. Clay is loving and caring. This is very evident on stage. When he smiles, hearts melt. He seems to express such joy that people’s hearts go straight out to him. A fan explained this much better than I could: “Clay puts love and joy out there ... he gets it back ... and gives it out again ... that’s why we stay in love with him.” “And when he smiles ... he just has you smiling back. He is thoroughly enjoying himself ... and we enjoy him back.”

He also loves his mom, and is very tactile towards women. How sweet was that to watch. No matter what country they were in, women would have been mesmerized. The same fan said, “And he’s so sweet and gentlemanly - what’s not to love. He stands there before us with OPEN ARMS ... and we just want to fall right into them.”

3) The ‘geek to chic’ factor. Clay has transformed himself before our very eyes. At his audition he was an ordinary student – crumpled, thickly bespectacled, red-haired, skinny, and with prominent ears. The judges didn’t think he looked remotely like an idol and were even unsure whether to allow him into the next heat.

Then he transformed himself into a love-god. Turned out all the time he was not an ugly duckling at all! He got a makeover, or several. He stopped contorting his face. He got sharp suits and leather jackets. He got lighting. He got great songs to sing. His voice was fabulous. The mix became irresistible.

So what emerged? A swan.

4) He forgot his words once, but he picked himself up again. During a potentially beautiful rendition of Don McLean’s “Vincent,” the unthinkable happened, and Clay forgot his words in two places. Did he collapse in a heap, show visible signs of nerves or flunk out of the contest? No way. This is Clay!

What Clay did was blithely carry on as if nothing had happened, finishing, as Paula Abdul noted, with dignity. And when Ryan asked him how you pick yourself up from something like that, he said, “You bring it! You bring it next time!” And he proceeded to do so, and then some, knocking us out with “Mack the Knife” and “Unchained Melody.”

What Clay was doing here was saying in not so many words, “It’s okay to mess up! We’re all human, and humans go wrong sometimes. When you do, you don’t have to rip yourself to shreds because of it or hope the floor will swallow you up. You don’t have to brand yourself a failure and give up. It’s okay! Just carry on, and you’ll get there in the end.” People love him for it.