'''Clay Aiken''' (born '''Clayton Holmes Grissom''' on November 30, 1978) is an American pop singer who rose to fame on the second season'' of the television program American Idol'' in 2003. RCA Records offered him a recording contract and his debut album Measure of a Man was released in October 2003. Based on album sales he has become the most successful second-place finisher in that show's history.
[http://www.mtv.com/bands/a/american_idol/ai5_feature_060307/index.jhtml, "No Love for 'Idol' Losers," by Corey Moss, ''MTV.com'', retrieved August 24, 2006]Biography
Early years
Clay Aiken, who changed his last name from Grissom to his mother's maiden name, was born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. As a young boy he trained with the Raleigh Boychoir, and later performed with a local Raleigh band, "Just By Chance".
[ ]
http://www.mydailyrecord.com/ "Scouts Remember Fallen Veterans" by Tom Woerner, ''The Dunn Daily Record'', 05/22/2003, retrieved April 7, 2006 - article archivedHe attended Raleigh's Leesville Road High School before enrolling at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Although his ''
American Idol'' activities temporarily delayed his academic pursuits, Aiken graduated with a bachelor's degree in special education in December of 2003. He found his interest in special education while directing YMCA children's camps as a teenager; at age 19 he served as a substitute teacher for a classroom of students with autism at Brentwood Elementary School. While attending college in Charlotte he took a part-time job as an assistant to a boy with autism, and it was this child's mother, Diane Bubel, who urged him to audition for ''
American Idol''.
Television viewers' first glimpse of Aiken came during the audition episodes at the beginning of ''American Idol's'' second season. The show's judges first saw Aiken as a nerdy type unlikely to be any kind of idol, but they were immediately impressed once he began singing Heatwave's ''"Always and Forever".'' The clip of the judges' surprise during this audition performance was replayed many times over the course of the competition.
Aiken made it to the round-of-32, but was cut from the show on his first try, a performance of Journey's ''"Open Arms". '' He finished third in his semifinal group of eight behind eventual winner Ruben Studdard and eventual third-place finisher Kimberley Locke. However, during the "wild card" round, Aiken's well-received performance of Elton John's ''"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"'' propelled him into the final 12. Within the first few weeks (aided by a makeover from the show's producers), Aiken and Studdard emerged as the clear favorites of both the judges and the fans.
