American Idol 2 - Remembering Clay's Performances - Top 12

As I was watching American Idol tonight, I was thinking to myself, "There just is no one on there that even comes close to Clay." Yes, Melinda and Lakeisha have amazing voices. But Clay's voice, personality, and inner light, as Diana Ross made reference to, are light years above and beyond the others, in my opinion. I got to thinking, "Why not remember Clay's performances for the next few weeks on CDD".

So, for the next 12 weeks, CDD will walk down memory lane and remember Clay's performances each week of 2003, starting with the Top 12. This will be done in conjunction with the Top 12 through the Finale of the 2006 season. Commentary will be mine. So here is the Top 12 week of 2003.

The Top 12 week of 2003 was Motown week and took place on March 11. Clay sang "I Can't Help Myself" on that show and came walking out, waving, with all the confidence of a pro. No fancy dancing or fancy dress, just that amazing voice and some of the things we have grown to love about him -- the deep knee bends, the lip bite, and the eyes that melt the TV screen. Plus that spikey hair and that smile that is illuminated by his light from within. And when he started snapping those fingers and singing, "Burning in my heart, tearing me apart", the crowd went wild.

The judges comments were mostly good. Randy said, "What's Up Dog? You get the Standing O Dog - Brilliant Baby Brilliant." Paula said that Clay has "this confidence about you" like its "just another day and I'm on American Idol and I'm going to sing and its no big deal. Its amazing." To Clay's "thank you" she responded with "thank YOU". The guest judge, who I haven't a clue who he is (someone inform me!) said that Clay looked like a professional, "like you've already arrived; like you've been doing it for years and that's the look of the stars". Very nice! Oh, and then there's Simon's backhanded compliment..its sounded very good, but "if I'm being honest the performance was Motown the Musical."

Of course, we all know it was fantastic. What we didn't know was that Clay was getting about 80% of the votes every week! The public knew talent when they saw it!

The clothes and shoes that Clay wore for this performance are now housed in the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh.

Unfortunately, I was not watching American Idol yet when he sang this song. But thank goodness for clack like we can find at Clack Unlimited. You can go to Clack Unlimited, American Idol 2 Performances and click on Solo Performances to download all of Clay's songs.

Next week, Week 11 and Clay's next song.