Charlotte Observer article

• Clay Aiken: His voice is as bland as tofu, his facial expressions are contrived and he's been billed as the next Barry Manilow. And that's a good thing?

• "American Idol": Four seasons of television karaoke featuring a crop of wanna-be Mariah Careys and Luther Vandrosses. Their personal stories are rarely interesting and most of them couldn't sing their way into the high school choir.