Tabloid gossip and all, Clay continues to be a model citizen
For Clay Aiken, the measure of a man is more than an album title. It’s defined by the deeds one can do under the spotlight.
The most successful singer to emerge from “American Idol” – and he didn’t even win – has just returned home from Indonesia and Malaysia where, in his new role as a UNICEF ambassador, he toured camps for displaced tsunami survivors.
“I think celebrities have an obligation to the public to not just sing or act,” Aiken, 26, says from his Los Angeles home. “Not everybody gets a mike this big. I feel I should use it in as positive a way as I can.”
His Bubel/Aiken Foundation provides grants, services and programs for children with special needs.
Indeeed, if you strip away the platinum albums, the touring and the magazine covers, Aiken isn’t far removed from his pre-“Idol” life as a special-education teacher in his hometown Raleigh, N.C.
“I always assumed when I had the opportunity I would love to try and help kids with disabilities,” he says.
There will always be other stories circulating about Aiken – such as the infamous “Claygate” incident reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer in December and picked up by salivating tabloids.
Seems a group of New Jersey high schoolers, invited to sing with Aiken, were bullied and berated and stiffed for their services. When a New Jersey Teacher of the Year spoke out, Aiken reportedly went all prima-donna on her.
Clay Aiken sassing a teacher?
“It was not true,” he says. “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 talks briskly, laughs a lot and bastes it all in that cordial Southern drawl.
He’ll gladly discuss his post-“Idol” life, especially the Bubel/Aiken Foundation, which he founded in 2003 with disability activist Diane Bubel.
She convinced Aiken to audition for “American Idol” when she heard him singing around her house as he cared for her autistic son.
Don’t expect lengthy dissertations on this season’s “Idol,” though.
“I haven’t had a chance to watch it this season,” he says. “I was in Indonesia for two weeks, then my brother went into the Marines, and we went to see him. I kind of want to go by and see a show live.”
Fans will have to wait a while for the follow-up to “Measure of a Man.” Aiken will record it in the midst of a summer tour, which will be followed by a Christmas tour.
“It’s something we’d love to have out by the end of the year or at least the beginning of next year,” he says.
“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.”
The birthday bunch
Actress Barbara Hale (“Perry Mason”) is 84. Actress Hayley Mills is 59. Actor James Woods is 58. Actor Rick Moranis is 51. Actor Eric Roberts is 49. Actor John James (“Dynasty,” “The Colbys”) is 49. Talk-show host Conan O’Brien is 42. Actor Eric McCormack (“Will & Grace”) is 42. Actress Maria Bello is 38. Actress Melissa Joan Hart (“Sabrina the Teenage Witch”) is 29. Actress Alia Shawkat (“Arrested Development”) is 16.