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Simon Says: Let’s Rip on Clayby David Bloomberg -- 06/26/2003
View Printable version of this article Simon Cowell was on Howard Stern’s show recently, and while I didn’t hear it myself, a number of readers have e-mailed in about it, including one who provided a transcript. As you might imagine, due to the fact that, well, it’s Howard Stern and Simon Cowell, the discussion took a bit of a nasty turn. However, I have to say that I was surprised to see just how nasty it got. First, we have Howard asking Simon why Clay’s CD-single has done better than Ruben’s so far. Simon claims that it’s because Clay has “Bridge Over Troubled Water” on it, and that if Ruben had that song, he would be at number one. To that, I have to say: Bullsh*t. I know Simon wants to continue to defend Ruben as his choice for the winner, but he is ignoring some facts. One of those that very clearly contradicts Simon is that Clay’s CD shot to #1 on Amazon.com while Ruben’s hovered much lower before the decision had been made to put “Bridge Over Troubled Water” on the CD. It might be argued that Amazon.com rankings are not everything, but we’ve seen that it was a pretty good indicator of the overall comparative selling rates of the two CDs. In addition, let’s look at the reason the song replaced “On the Wings of Love” on his CD. It wasn’t just a whim of the producers – it was because Clay knocked the song out of the park on the show. Even Simon himself admitted at the time that his performance of that song might have won the competition for him. Now Simon wants to say it’s the song and not the performance? Wrong. There may be many reasons that Clay’s CD outsold Ruben’s, from the basic one that there are more Clay fans to the more questionable ones that suggest Clay’s fans just bought multiple copies so they could propel him to #1. Simon’s ego certainly would not allow him to state the first, but I’m kind of surprised he didn’t go with the second rather than something that is so blatantly false. It’s like because he liked Ruben more than Clay, he cannot conceive that others might have a different viewpoint. From there, Howard Stern moved into an area that is not surprising, given who he is – asking Simon about Clay’s sexuality. Simon said he hadn’t asked Clay about it, he just had to look at him. And from looking at him, he can tell that Clay is gay. Howard asked about Clay denying it in Rolling Stone magazine. Simon sarcastically replied that in that case, he believes him. Yeah. Right. That clears it all up, he added. This brings up multiple issues. First, Simon seems to be under the misconception that all gay men “look” a certain way. Second, who cares? If Clay told an interviewer that he’s straight, why should anybody care? Why should anybody have even asked the question to begin with? Back when I interviewed Jim Verarros from the first season, Jim (who is openly gay) said he never felt like anybody dealing with the show had any problems with that, including Simon. Now, however, I have to wonder. I guess when you go on Howard Stern you’re expected to discuss such things, and maybe it’s just a continuation of the first point discussed above – Simon still wants to push Ruben as the best and doesn’t like the fact that Clay is so far winning the sales battle. However, many people have wondered why Simon would say bad things about either man, since he is the one who signed them. According to my correspondent, Simon made a comment indicating that he sold the rights to both of them for millions and therefore has no reason to worry about saying something that will impact sales. Still, if Simon is coming back for American Idol 3, you’d think he’s want to restrain himself a little bit. Yes, he’s always been known as the “nasty” one, but mostly he’s just been blunt and honest and, frankly, I’ve frequently defended him for doing so (though not always, such as when he called people “losers.” Now he’s making himself look like a complete ass. He didn’t have to go on Howard Stern’s show, and he didn’t have to lower himself to Howard Stern’s level. Is Clay gay? I have no idea. I’ve heard reports that he is; I’ve heard reports that he isn’t; I don’t really care, and probably neither do most of his fans. What I do care about is that since buying both his CD and Ruben’s, I have found myself wanting to listen to Clay’s a lot more frequently than Ruben’s. Sure, part of it is that I’ve heard “Superstar” enough times that I’ve memorized each and every “baby,” but most of it is simply that I like Clay’s singing better. Since I’ve heard “On the Wings of Love” – the song that was originally supposed to be on Clay’s CD-single – and know that it, like “Superstar,” would have been essentially the same on the single as it was on the full AI2 album, I also know that I stillwould have preferred Clay’s single, and I suspect many others feel the same way. Simon had a one-word description that he liked to use when he thought somebody had done extremely poorly. I think that description fits the excuses he made here: Pathetic. David Bloomberg is the Editor of Foxes On Idol, and can be reached at rno@pobox.com. Be sure to sign up for the RealityNewsOnline/FoxesOnIdol e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on both sites! For all of our articles, check out our sections on American Idol, American Juniors, Fame, and Canadian Idol. Also make sure to check out RealityNewsOnline for recaps and articles covering other reality TV shows. For even more news about reality TV, be sure to check SirLinksALot! View Printable version of this article
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