Pre-Concert Article in Columbus Dispatch

Aiken Using Fame to Help People In Need

By Howard Cohen
Knight Ridder Newspapers

In the case of Clay Aiken, the measure of a man is defined by the deeds he does under the spotlight.

"I think celebrities have an obligation to the public to not just sing or act," Aiken, 26, said from his Los Angeles home - his real home, not a hotel, as he happily noted.

The most successful singer to emerge from American Idol - and he didn't even win - will perform tonight at the Ohio State Fair.

In the past two years, since his run on Idol ended, Aiken hasn't often basked in the luxury of home.

This year, he visited Indonesia and Malaysia - where, in his role as a UNICEF ambassador, he joined a field mission for tsunami relief, touring camps for displaced survivors.

"Not everybody gets a mike this big," he said. "I feel I should use it in as positive a way as I can."

Stripped of the shows, the million-selling albums and the magazine covers, Aiken wouldn't be far removed from his pre-Idol life as a special-education teacher in his hometown of Raleigh, N.C.

"I went to school for special education," he said. "I always assumed, when I had the opportunity, I would love to try and help kids with disabilities.

"There's a push in education programs to get kids involved but not too much of a push in the extra-curricular world. I worked with the YMCA in Raleigh and watched kids get turned away from after-school programs because there wasn't enough funding or training with the staff to work with the kids. That's how this idea was born to include or fund programs at organizations like the YMCA."

Other stories about Aiken persist - such as the Claygate incident reported by the Philadelphia inquirer in December and picked up by the tabloids.

Seems that a group of New Jersey high schoolers, invited to sing with him, were bullied, berated and stiffed for their services. When a New Jersey Teacher of the Year spoke out, Aiken reportedly went primadonna.

The singer laughed.

"I will leave it at the discretion of the readers how much they want to believe the columnist in Philadelphia. There were two conflicting stories, very conflicting stories. I don't like to talk about it to give it credence."

And then he did precisely that.

"It was not true," he continued. "It disappointed me. I spent so much time working with kids. I have nothing but respect for students and the teachers who do amazing work. Certain people overreact to certain things, and there were a number of extreme embellishments."

Aiken talked briskly and laughed a lot, basting it all in a cordial Southern drawl.

He gladly discussed his post-Idol life - especially the Bubel/Aiken foundation he founded in 2003 with disability activist Diane Bubel, who persuaded him to audition for American Idol when she heard him singing around her house as he cared for her autistic son.

Fans will have to wait awhile longer for the follow-up album to Measure of a Man: Aiken is recording it during his summer tour, which will be followed by a Christmas tour.

"It's coming along slowly - I mean slowly," he said. "It's something we'd love to have out by the end of the year or at least the beginning of the year.

"We don;t want to put this album out as quickly as the last one. I was happy with the last album, but I wanted it to be more me. The last time, the songs were all chosen for me; this time, I want to be involved.


Clay Aiken will perform at 7 tonight in the Celeste Center of the Ohio Expo Center, I-71 and E. 17th Avenue. Tickets cost $30 at the Ohio State Fair box office.

Great picture of OMC (gma outfit) :thumbsup


Gotta go, we're getting ready to leave for the OSF, I cannot wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Credits to clayneil for typing this up for us!