Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard Buddy Up on August 6, 2010, in Chautauqua, NY

When I think of musically significant years in my life, 2003 is one year that shines out especially clearly. That’s for two reasons. The first is that 2003 was the year I finally got to see Simon and Garfunkel in concert, thanks to their much-anticipated Old Friends Tour. Those two have been a major part of my musical landscape since I was seven, and given their rocky relationship, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to see them live. But see them I did, in October, and though I was irritated that it was probably the most I’d ever paid for a concert and the worst seats, even though I bought them in a presale, the show was amazing, and I enjoyed anticipating and rehashing the tour with my friends on Art Garfunkel’s message board.

The Internet also played a role in my other major musical obsession that year: American Idol, then in its second season. As the show progressed into the semi-finals and the Wild Card round, I found myself falling hard for a contestant by the name of Clayton Aiken, and in those pre-YouTube days, I spent long nights downloading the videos of his various appearances, both on the show and off. I chatted with random fellow fans on one of his first unofficial fan sites, and I held my breath every week to see whether he would make the cut yet again. While I cheered on Clay, my best friend Libbie rooted for Rickey Smith, a gold-hearted guy whose favorite activities included singing to the ducks in the park, but neither of us begrudged velvet-voiced Ruben Studdard the crown he eventually claimed.

Over the past seven years, we’ve continued to follow the progress of these young musicians, particularly Clay. We caught the American Idols Live tour that summer, and I saw Clay in concert three times after that, while Libbie and I also managed to see and even meet Rickey here in Erie once. We’ve followed their public appearances, with my grandparents often tipping me off that Clay or Ruben was about to appear on a morning television program. These marvelous entertainers have made their way into many of our conversations, both online and off, and when Clay turns up in their paper, they make a point of sending me the article. I also have Clay to thank for introducing me to my friend Cynthia, who found me on MySpace thanks to a mutual love of Clay and John Denver.

So these guys have been a big part of my life for a while now, and by the time Libbie and I went to see Clay and Ruben in concert yesterday, they felt like “old friends” themselves. Certainly, their affection for one another, apparent from their days as contestants, was a big part of their reason for launching this particular tour, and their easy rapport with one another was one of the most enjoyable aspects of the concert.

We went to see them in Chautauqua, NY, at the same amphitheater where I saw Peter, Paul and Mary perform in 2006. The crowd this time was comparable, with few empty spaces in the crowd and several fans who preferred to stand at the top of the amphitheater rather than venturing down to find a seat. Whenever it came time for one of the more upbeat numbers, these people on the outskirts were always the first to get up and dance. Although we had a long line ahead of us, it would seem that most of the first-comers were in the Preferred Section, since we were able to get seats near the very front of the General Section. We also arrived with plenty of time to go up and peruse the souvenir stand, though this didn’t amount to much, since the only items on sale were CDs and t-shirts. I had hoped to buy a program, but I satisfied myself with a Chautauqua newspaper featuring an article about the concert. I wouldn’t have minded a t-shirt, which had nice photos of Ruben and Clay on the front and a list of tour dates on the back, but ultimately I decided that I didn’t need to plunk down another $30 when I already have three Clay shirts.

Even though I didn’t buy anything, I’m glad I looked at the souvenirs when I did, because if I’d planned on scoping that out during intermission, I would have been out of luck. That’s because Ruben and Clay sang for a full two hours without any break. Well, I should say without any break for us, since backup singers Quiana Parler and Casey Thompson each had an opportunity to shine as soloists while letting Ruben and Clay get off the stage for a bit. Additionally, each of the headliners had a couple of full-blown solo songs, so there was ample time for both of them to rest their voices.

The concert began in a most entertaining fashion, as Ruben came out and launched into Flying Without Wings, his American Idol victory anthem, only to be pushed aside by Clay singing This is the Night, which would have been his victory anthem had he won - though the vote was so close and the subsequent album releases so comparably successful, it really felt more as though Ruben and Clay had tied. For several minutes, they went back and forth, finding more devious ways of relieving each other of the spotlight. This good-natured bickering went on throughout the night.

The bulk of the show consisted of tributes to the 60s, the 70s, the 80s and the 90s, with each decade largely represented by an expansive medley. The downside to this was that we only got to hear greatly truncated versions of several of the songs, and they came so rapidly after each other that it was sometimes hard to adjust. Nonetheless, it was a fun overview, and each decade also included full-length songs to balance things out better.

Prior to the first medley, I enjoyed Clay’s conclusion that Ruben’s 60s were a lot different from his 60s. After they had finished, I concluded that my 60s were quite different from either of theirs, since they’d included no songs from the folk movement, even folk-rockers like Simon and Garfunkel. What’s more, not a single Beatles song was to be heard, though I wonder if that had more to do with licensing issues. I hope so, because otherwise it seems an egregious oversight. But the songs they did perform were a lot of fun, from Elvis Presley’s Suspicious Minds and the Beach Boys’ Wouldn’t It Be Nice to the Turtles’ Happy Together and Roy Orbison’s Crying. Casey closed out the decade with a powerhouse performance of Aretha Franklin’s Natural Woman.

The 60s led naturally into the 70s, where R&B and pop again dominated, leaving no room for mellow singer-songwriters like John Denver, Jim Croce, Don McLean or James Taylor, whose songs have often been a part of Clay’s past concerts. Clay had two big solos during this set: Still the One, which I’ve heard him sing before, and Barry Manilow’s Mandy, which I haven’t. Both showcased his voice very well, while Ruben was right at home with a Marvin Gaye medley and a flawless rendition of Karen Carpenter’s Superstar, one of his signature Idol performances. As with the other medleys, Clay and Ruben were onstage together, along with Casey and Quiana, as the songs continued in rapid succession, but for the most part they switched off on vocals, with only a couple, like Earth, Wind and Fire’s rousing September, being genuine duets. The 70s gave Quiana her moment in the spotlight with Chaka Khan’s I’m Every Woman, the last full-blown solo of the night for either of the women.

The tribute to the 80s began with an entertaining, albeit slightly overlong, sequence that involved “Pastor” Ruben, garbed in a white robe and spoofing money-grubbing televangelists, receiving a sizable donation from Clay’s mother to cure him of his inability to dance. Clay’s supposed lack of rhythm was a running joke throughout the first half of the concert, and this segment brought it to its natural conclusion. Ruben and Clay both cite the church as a major factor in their musical formation, an influence they explicitly noted last night since the seating in the amphitheater is pews, so I didn’t take the bit to be mean-spirited, but Libbie’s mom was a little uncomfortable with the extent of the ribbing, and Libbie and I were both surprised that Clay, so squeaky-clean the previous times we saw him, swore prominently a few times throughout the evening, though the profanity was mild and mostly used for comic emphasis.

Of all the banter of the evening, my favorite probably occurred during the 80s set, when Clay and Ruben went back and forth talking about what the 80s meant to them. As Clay rattled off “macho” icons like MacGyver, Rambo, Mr. T and Rocky, Ruben reminisced about Care Bears, Smurfs, Teddy Ruxpin and My Buddy dolls, even singing the jingle for the latter. In the end, Clay won out, though, launching into the medley with an adrenaline-packed rendition of Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger, in which Ruben promptly joined in. Other songs included Toto’s Africa, Peter Cetera’s Glory of Love and Heart’s Alone, all of which were energetic, but it was Kenny Loggins’ Footloose that got everybody in the crowd up and dancing.

Ruben kicked off the 90s with an ultra-smooth rendition of Bryan Adams’ Everything I Do, which funnily enough was covered by Clay on his album A Thousand Different Ways. My favorite singers seem to gravitate toward this song; Ryan Kelly also sang it on Celtic Thunder’s It's Entertaiment. At this point, I’m inclined to award Ryan top honors by a whisker, but Ruben and Clay also interpret the song admirably.

The 90s quickly went from earnest to silly when Clay came out in Hammer pants adorned with a gold chain and gave an enthusiastic performance of Montell Jordan’s This Is How We Do It. Most of the songs in the 90s set were ripe with comedic possibilities, and Clay and Ruben got as many laughs as they could out of such numbers as Billy Ray Cyrus’s Achy Breaky Heart, Hanson’s MMMBop, Ricky Martin’s Livin’ La Vida Loca and Sir Mix-a-Lot’s Baby Got Back. The concert ended rather abruptly with Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey’s One Sweet Day, the final song in the medley, but the four quickly returned for an encore of Dirty Dancing theme song Time of My Life, which felt much more like a concluding song and once again got everyone up out of their seats.

While Chautauqua tends to draw a slightly older audience, I saw people of all ages in the crowd, ranging from young children to silver-haired ladies who could boogie with the best of them. We ended up sitting just a couple of rows behind one of my dad’s colleagues and his wife, and when we bumped into them after the concert at the Refectory, a quaint ice cream parlor in convenient proximity to the amphitheater, they told us how much they had enjoyed the concert. While Libbie confessed disappointment that Clay hadn’t sung Invisible, this tribute to pop greats of the past seemed like a fitting way to honor some of Ruben and Clay’s formative influences and give us a peek into pop history. In many ways it reminded me of Clay’s Jukebox Tour, though that did include a set from the 2000s, which allowed him to draw from some of his contemporary recordings, while Ruben and Clay, aside from the opening number, only went as far as the late 90s, which is long enough ago now that many of the songs from that time invite nostalgia.

It’s hard to believe that Clay and Ruben have both been in the business now for close to a decade. Both of them have recorded several albums, and judging by the enthusiasm of the crowd last night, there’s no reason to think that they can’t continue to have lucrative careers. While they may not dominate the charts these days, they continue to put out excellent music appreciated by their ardent fans, and I suspect that these oddly matched buddies will continue to cheerfully support each other long after they have gone on to separate projects.

Clay Rules American Idol Concert in Cleveland, July 23 Concert Reviews

I spent the spring glued to the second season of American Idol, so when I found out that the tour would be coming to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Buffalo, all within about two hours of my hometown of Erie, I knew I had to make it to at least one of the performances. A few friends and I decided on Cleveland, July 23rd. We made the trek earlier in the day so we could take in a few of Cleveland’s sights, which ended up being the science museum and the Hard Rock Cafi??. Unfortunately, we discovered after the fact that there had been an opportunity earlier in the afternoon to meet the Idols outside the CSU Convocation Center, but chances are it would’ve been too mobbed to see them anyway. So I tell myself…

The place was packed with fans of all ages bearing posters and clothing advertising their favorite contestants. This concert was a new experience for me, since I generally attend concerts where most of the audience is two or three times my age. Not so here. While there were plenty of adults, even senior citizens, by far the largest population segment at this concert was teen and pre-teen girls. Girls armed with an arsenal of high-pitched screeches. I, just out of college, found myself screeching along with the best of them with my “I’m Achin’ for Clay Aiken” t-shirt and “What a Day for a Claydream” poster. Though Ruben had the title, Clay definitely received the biggest audience response that night, from mass squealing so loud that his comments were usually drowned out and clever signs waved throughout the auditorium to signature Clay glowsticks and items thrown onstage to him.

The concert made good use of gigantic screens on either side of the stage, which played introductory clips for each performer and zoomed in on the singers during each act. I happened to own a pair of theater glasses and brought them along for the four of us to share. Out by the souvenir stands, binoculars were being rented out for $10 a pair. Crazy! I tried to buy a tour book, but the crowds were so insurmountable but I had to settle for ordering one from Ebay when I got home. Before we entered the theater, however, we got a nice free souvenir when we got our picture taken in a cutout board featuring the Idols.

The first half of the concert went in chronological order, from the first person voted off to the last man standing. Charles Grigsby was voted off the show second, but Vanessa Olivarez, the first to go, was not included in the tour. I would say that the night belonged to Clay in Cleveland, but it also belonged to Charles. This was his hometown, and his mother was in the audience, along with the mother of Trenyce. There really seemed to be a surge of hometown support for this finalist who probably should have stayed on the show longer than he did. He was in top form throughout the evening.

Next came Julia Demato, and her performance was fine as well. At this point in the season, Corey Clark was booted off the show, and two weeks after Julia left the eternally cheerful Rickey Smith got the boot. He was full of energy, and so was my friend Libbie, who waved her “I’m With Smith” sign, featuring Rickey and some ducklings (an allusion to the famous clip of Rickey singing to the ducks in the park), high in the air. Rickey did a marvelous job, showing that he, too, got the boot too early.

Next up was Kim Caldwell, my least favorite person on the tour. I must admit that she is quite talented, but there’s something in her overall attitude that doesn’t agree with me. For some reason, I can’t recall for sure which songs the first three sang, but I do remember that Kim Caldwell sang the Stacie Orrico song Stuck, which I found rather odd since she had never sung it on the show. There was nothing wrong with the performance, but I personally found it somewhat obnoxious.

After Kim came Carmen, who stayed in the running much longer than she should have by most people’s reckoning. Hers was probably the weakest performance, but it was still decent. No complaints. Trenyce came next, singing Proud Mary. A very good performance. After this, the tone of the concert changed a bit. The Top 3 kicked the proceedings into high gear. There was slight dismay that Joshua Gracin, the Marine who took fourth place in the concert, was absent; instead of there being 10 Idols, there were only 9. Josh had been returned to active duty. As we were going in, my mom noticed a sign reading “Oh my gosh, where’s Josh?” Nonetheless, Kim Locke was very well received. She had several solos throughout the show; I think the one she sang at this point was Band of Gold. Of course, she did a fantastic job, but as soon as she was done singing, the audience was on pins and needles for the one coming out next.

Kim took her time announcing Clay, partly because the excited fans were making so much noise. When Clay finally did come out, raised up to the stage on a platform, the noise was deafening. During his flawless performance of This is the Night, hundreds – perhaps thousands – of Claymates screamed their heads off, particularly during the chorus, if they weren’t singing along. As soon as he sang the words “lift me up,” his fans stood, waving their signs high in the air. It was an exhilarating experience. Finally, Ruben came out and sang Superstar, also very well done and applauded heartily. At this point, it was time for intermission.

After the intermission, group performances began. The first featured the guys in dazzling white suits singing The Lady is a Tramp, followed by the girls singing Bootylicious, and eventually both groups singing at once. The guys came across as classy, while the girls looked, well, trashy. This was the case with most of the group songs, in my opinions. The guys’ group songs were great, but the girls’ were less than enjoyable, unless they were singing by themselves.

Kim Locke sang several more times, including her signature Somewhere Over the Rainbow, while Trenyce got to belt out I Have Nothing. Kim Caldwell got a laugh by pointing out a man in the audience who was dressed as her. She was so impressed with the likeness that she invited him backstage. Later, Clay actually invited him onstage to see if he could dance as well as the real Kim. All of the finalists had several solos in this section. One particularly nice performance by the lower-level contestants was Rickey and Julia’s duet of If I Never Knew You from Pocahontas.

But Ruben and Clay got the most solos. While Ruben showed off a couple songs from his new album and returned in an encore with Flying Without Wings, which Clay described as “an anthem for American Idol.” Clay sang To Love Somebody as part of a BeeGees medley. He also belted out two new tunes: Can You Feel the Love Tonight? from The Lion King and his upcoming single, Invisible. I loved his rendition of CYFTLT, but then I love that song already, and I already knew Clay could nail Elton John. But Invisible, which has been getting so much buzz over on the Clay message boards, left me pretty cold. Part of it could be that it was a song I had never heard before and really couldn’t get a good first impression of because there was so much screaming. I could only make out some of the words and the tune got pretty muddled as well. He seemed really into the song, indulging the females in the crowd with several dramatic shirt tugs, as widely requested on the Clay boards (leading to speculation as to whether he might actually read them). Nonetheless, I didn’t enjoy it very much as a song; just too much like most of what’s on the radio nowadays, I guess. I’m hoping that most of the songs on the new album are more like what he sang on the show and less like this one.

Ruben and Clay also sang a duet, The Girl is Mine. It was pretty cute, a chance for them to do some friendly sparring with each other. Just before this song, Ruben and Clay spent some time dodging gifts, mostly various kinds of underwear, thrown by female members of the audience. Clay also received a marriage proposal with a real diamond ring from a young woman near the front. The back and forth banter between Clay and Ruben at this point in the show was very entertaining. During the encore, after his performance of Invisible, Clay mentioned that he was starting a charitable foundation to benefit children with autism. He also thanked the audience for all their donations to other causes close to him.

The show concluded with Imagine, sung by Ruben initially until the other eight joined in. This moving performance was followed by the grand finale, God Bless the USA, accompanied by flags and small fireworks. The audience stood and sang along, ending the evening on a powerful and patriotic note.

In addition to the nine Idols, there were several dancers and musicians. It was pretty nice to have live music as opposed to the canned music featured on the show, although it was probably easier to hear the performances on the show. Did I mention this audience was really loud?? I had the smallest sliver of hope of getting backstage to see Clay, but I had no reason whatsoever to expect this would happen so I wasn’t too disappointed when it didn’t. By all means, bring posters and homemade t-shirts. It’s lots of fun to identify other fans of your favorite contestant and give them a wave as they pass by. I brought my camera and, encouraged by the hundreds of concert photos I’d seen and read about, shot two and a half rolls. In a few, you can actually tell who I was taking a picture of, but they are about the size of ants. I wouldn’t bother with pictures unless you’re sitting pretty close to the stage. If you’re sitting that close, you might also chance tossing something onstage.

All of the contestants put their best effort into the concert and seem to be having a great time. The concert lasted two and a half hours, a pretty solid playing time. I had a great time at the concert and would especially like to attend one of Clay’s solo concerts if he hits Cleveland, Pittsburgh, or Buffalo. Something tells me I’ll have plenty of chances in the future!

Just Kill From Justin to Kelly

Last summer, I became a certified American Idol junkie, a condition that only worsened when Clay Aiken came on the scene in the second season and blew me away. But from the moment I first caught a glimpse of what was in store for Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini’s hastily made movie together, I had a very, very bad feeling. This was going to be one of those movies. A movie you would only see in the theater in order to laugh at it – at all the unintended moments. And J2K did allow many such opportunities. For the most part, it was pretty harmless, though not, I would argue, as thoroughly G-rated as many of the reviews I read made it out to be. There was skin, skin everywhere, hundreds of scantily clad young adults dirty dancing on the beach. And Alexa, Kelly’s conniving friend, doesn’t seem very G-rated to me. At any rate, the movie is rated PG, so I wasn’t really offended by anything in the movie as I was with Just Married. The main thing this movie suffers from is corniness.

For starters, there’s that title. What kind of title is that? It’s just to make sure that we, the public, who are dim-witted enough to see this movie, remember that we have American Idol to thank for it. A girl named Kelly from Texas. A guy named Justin from Pennsylvania. Oooh, they’re really stepping out of their realm of experience for these challenging acting roles, now aren’t they? I suppose the title is a reference to the text messages that Justin keeps sending to Kelly throughout the movie. During this season of AI, we were being reminded what seemed like every two second that those of us with cell phones could put in our votes via text messaging. Sure, there’s a charge, but who cares if you rack up a hefty bill by text-voting 1000 times each week? It’s worth it! The text-messaging battery continues with this movie, and it runs almost like one extended commercial for AT&T, except for one thing – text messaging almost ruins everything. So much for that idea.

With the exception of a couple minutes at the beginning, the whole film takes place on a sunny beach during Spring Break. Kelly’s a shy, down-home kinda gal; she has to be dragged to the fun by her two friends, the snotty guy-magnet Alexa (Katherine Bailess) and intellectual Kaya (Aniki Noni Rose). Justin’s just looking for a good time with his buddies one-night-stand king / con artist Brandon (Greg Siff) and cyber-geek Eddie (Brian Dietzen). Each of the four friends is a cookie-cutter stereotype, and each has a few moments to steal the limelight temporarily. Eddie spends the whole movie trying to hook up with a girl he met in a chat room, Brandon spends it hosting dubious events without a permit and incurring fines from an attractive policewoman, Kaya gets involved with a Hispanic waiter and causes trouble for him. But it’s Alexa who gets most deeply involved in the main storyline.

Justin and Kelly spot each other in the midst of a throng of dancing fools. Somehow, that instant is enough to spark a “connection,” especially from where Justin is standing. He can’t believe his luck when he bumps into Kelly again in the girls’ bathroom while, oddly enough, hiding from a throng of girls. She helps him escape and gives him her number, but alas! It falls in the mud and is rendered unreadable. But hope is on the horizon as he bumps into Alexa. Recognizing her as a friend of Kelly’s, he begs for his ladylove’s number. She complies, or so he thinks – she really gives him her own number. Alexa, for some reason that really isn’t satisfied by her lame explanatory speech at the end, is determined to sabotage this fairy-tale relationship.

The rest of the movie is one mishap after another as Justin and Kelly’s messages get crossed and skewered, but they do manage one successful date before everything goes haywire. Kelly begins by telling Justin what a woman-objectifying jerk he is, then for no apparent reason decides to go out with him. At this point they’ve spoken for maybe five minutes total. They spend the bulk of the afternoon on a romantic boat ride singing about how their love is timeless. Right. This takes the “love at first sight” idea to a new low. Of course, this is pretty much where the movie ends as well, after all the messy stuff in between. Whoop de doo.

The acting in this movie, especially by Justin and Kelly, is pretty darn lousy. The dialogue is atrocious. The songs are hopelessly out of place and overproduced. Just about everything about this movie is a bomb. But it’s a pretty harmless bomb, and it’s actually pretty darn funny if you go into it with the pre-conceived understanding that this is not a quality film. So it’s not a total bust. But before somebody starts working on From Clay to Ruben, they’d better take a good hard look at this movie and evaluate what went wrong. As in, everything. Starting with the title.

If Somebody Had to Beat Clay, I'm Glad it was Ruben

I am a die-hard Clay fan, but what is there not to love about Ruben Studdard? I can’t think of two nicer guys to win this competition. I have also liked Ruben since the competition began, and I can’t be too annoyed that he got the crown instead of Clay. How could I scowl in the sight of those dimples? Ruben has a very smooth voice and a shy, gentlemanly manner, both of which endeared him to me quickly. He and Clay will both go far.

Flying Without Wings is a nice track, coming off sounding inspirational with the backing of the choir, though their participation is much subtler than on Clay’s single. I think the producers did a better job with this song, allowing Ruben’s voice to shine at all times. Some of the lyrics sounds just a tad cheesy, but I can deal with that. It’s a sweet song, and Ruben delivers it beautifully. I am a bit perplexed as to why Ruben doesn’t get an original song on his single. It seems a little unfair for Clay to have a song written just for him while Ruben, the declared American Idol, has to settle for another cover. But he makes it work so I guess it doesn’t matter.

Superstar is the song with which Ruben secured his spot in the Top 12, as if there was any remaining doubt he would make it. He did such a soulful job that he managed to bump Clay, with his top-notch performance of Open Arms, into third place and temporarily out of the competition. He delivers a similarly enthusiastic performance on the single, and his velvet voice sails through the song.

Ruben is the official American Idol, though with a margin of .5 percent and an impractical voting system, they ought to have just called it a tie and been done with it. But Ruben deserves the accolades he has received. Congratulations to the Velvet Teddy Bear. American Idol may be a sometimes corny, sometimes decadent, sometimes inaccurate show – and don’t get me started on Ryan Seacrest – but it has brought to the forefront two tremendous young talents. For that, I am grateful.