Commentary: Clay Aiken 'can really sell you a song'

        Clay Aiken is one Idol who hasn't been idle.  
        The slender North Carolinian has been in constant motion  
since finishing as the runner-up in the second season of "American 
Idol" in May -- a near photo finish with Ruben Studdard, the soulful 
Mutt to Aiken's emotive Jeff. He's toured with the other "Idol" 
contestants and watched his first single, "This is the 
Night"/"Bridge Over Troubled Water," top the charts and become the 
best-selling single since Elton John's 1997 "Candle in the Wind" 
remake. 
        Rolling Stone magazine put Aiken on its cover -- even before  
Studdard -- and all manner of other media latched onto the former 
special education teacher from Raleigh, whom "Idol" made over from a 
bespectacled, self-declared geek to confident heartthrob with a 
lusty legion of fans -- Claymates -- and scores of fawning Internet 
sites hopping on the Clay train. 
        "I haven't exactly skimmed below any spotlights," Aiken, 24,  
says with a laugh, eyeballing a schedule that has him cruising the 
talk show circuit, singing the National Anthem at the first game of 
the World Series on Saturday and performing at the American Music 
Awards and Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in November. 
        The spotlights burn even brighter, of course, with Tuesday's  
release of Aiken's first full-length album, "Measure of a Man." 
Overseen by RCA Records chief Clive Davis and "Idol" creator Simon 
Fuller, the 12-song set marks the all-important Next Step for Aiken, 
the move that will either establish him as a durable talent 
independent of the show -- like inaugural "Idol" winner Kelly 
Clarkson -- or a one-hit bust like previous bridesmaid Justin 
Guarini. 
        "I don't want to be `American Idol' Runner-Up Clay Aiken the  
rest of my life, but I don't know necessarily feel like I have 
something to prove," says Aiken, whose fans have sworn to make 
"Measure of a Man" instantly platinum with a nationwide series of CD 
release parties on Monday night. We just want to make sure that 
there's growth and there's change, and you'll hear that on the 
album. 
        "But it's also important that we don't alienate the people  
that watched (`American Idol') and put me there. If it weren't for 
that show, I would not be in the place that I am now. It would be a 
mistake to forget that." 
        Raised by his mother and grandmothers after his parents  
divorced, Aiken -- who subsequently took his mother's maiden name -- 
never craved a career as a singer, though he did sing in his church 
choir and in school theater productions. Mostly he was happy to 
teach his grade school-aged students and even planned to get a 
master's degree in administration. 
        That all changed when some of his students' parents, who had  
heard him sing, encouraged Aiken to try out for "American Idol." He 
stumbled his way through the audition process, finally getting a 
spot on the show via a wild card round for those who had been 
previously axed. There, as his appearance morphed, Aiken quietly won 
the support of the voting fans and the "Idol" judges -- even acerbic 
Simon Crowell, who derisively dubbed Aiken's "This is the Night" as 
"American Idol: The Musical." 
        "Y'know," Aiken says, "in all honestly I came into this  
whole experience not really expecting to ever be a recording artist 
or to have an album. It's not like I had some kind of grand vision 
for how my big recording career would pan out." 
        He does, however, bristle at those who want to position he  
and Studdard as rivals -- and give Aiken the upper hand in the 
battle because of the Rolling Stone cover (the mag's best-selling 
issue of the year) and the fact that the "This is the Night" single 
far outsold Studdard's "Flying Without Wings"/"Superstar." 
        "Yeah, I sold more singles than Ruben did, but his single  
got more airplay than mine," Aiken notes. "It's not that either one 
of us beat the other on anything. He's great at what he's great at, 
and I'm good at what I'm good at. And we're not even competing in 
the marketplace `cause we have two completely different markets. 
        "So it's almost a moot point, this competition thing. He and  
I are not competing with each other at all. We're friends. We 
support each other." 
        More than that, even; Aiken would ask Studdard to knot his  
tie before going onstage during the "Idol" tour. "He can do that 
better than me, too," Aiken says. 
        Being the runner-up, however, did give Aiken a chance to  
finish "Measure of a Man" quicker than Studdard made his debut, 
"Soulful," which is due out November 25. Aiken says that "the basic 
feel is pretty much the same" as what he did on the "Idol" 
telecasts; "I like songs that need to be sung, that you have to 
emote on," he explains. 
        But, Aiken adds, "there's definitely been a progression.  
These songs are a little edgier. We've made them more radio 
friendly. They're definitely more modern types of songs than I sang 
on the show, more modern than `This is the Night.'" 
        Aiken -- who was raised a conservative Christian and still  
wears a WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) bracelet -- did have one 
condition for "Measure of a Man," however. "I came in and said `I'm 
not gonna sing about sex and that type of thing and really horrible, 
suggestive things," he says. "I came in with those standards, and I 
was not gonna compromise." 
        He didn't have to, and judging from the enthusiastic early  
response to the album's first single, a remake of the Irish group 
D-Side's "Invisible," that stance probably hasn't hurt Aiken's 
chances for success. Even Studdard, watching from afar with an 
obviously vested interest, is confident his fellow "Idol" has 
delivered the goods. 
        "He's a great singer, man; he can really sell you a song,"  
Studdard says. "I think me and Clay, we'll both do well and sell a 
lot of copies. And everybody'll be happy."