clay article in the New Paper

there was a article on clay in the new paper yesterday. click HERE to read the online version. didn't manage to buy the paper to get a copy myself. so, any kind soul who buys new paper and doesn't want to keep the copy, please give me.

there was quite a bit of controversy/unhappiness about the interview cos of the journalist's apparently not too good attitude/comments. but i think the claymates are just being too sensitive. anyway, now that i'm on my own space...

"Where once he was bored, uncomfortable and guarded during media interviews, Aiken was all sweetness and light"
haha! cute.

"The 27-year-old balladeer was unnaturally chirpy and gave interesting answers, while compliments on his handsome image were met with uproarious, disbelieving laughter."
it's been three years. can't the guy just accept that people think he looks good? this sentence conjures up this little boy image in my mind.

"'Are you trying to say I was ugly before?'"
he was lah. a little. not ugly ugly, just weird ugly.

"Oh Lord, no! I'm not the gym type. Wait, are you saying I've (become) fat? I'm trying to figure out if you calling me fat is a compliment,' he said, highly amused."
if he's fat...then i'm gargantuan. but it's true, he's put on a bit. he looks better now. nice. more macho.

"Aiken recalled: 'It was like facing a time warp mirror. I had not met the young man until I got onstage, and the reaction that came from him... words cannot describe."
ya. time warp mirror is a perfect phrase to describe. michael sandecki was really literally clay's doppelganger or something. who he was years and years ago. it was seriously...clay's described it perfectly. they all say that clay was nervous on that night. but he did a very good job at hiding it. time to go and watch the video again and see if it's true.

"Maybe Aiken's so cheery nowadays because he's been on happy pills."
there was controversy about the journalist calling it "happy pills". don't know. i think it's a matter of perspective. maybe some people think that calling anti-depressants that is offensive. for me, on first glance, it's an ok statement. bit cute too, cos i want happy pills too. but in retrospect, ya, it's not very nice. especially if the person taking it really has a problem and really needs it.

"'Now, I'm not always so nervous in public, and I'm losing my hat more often.'"
i always knew the guy was a little off his rocker.

"Not even bringing up the sensitive topic of his oft-speculated sexuality put a dent in Aiken's aw-shucks armour."
really? i had the impression that the gay rumours were the worse thing to talk about with him. maybe over the phone, she can't really tell how it's affecting him. and good actor as he is, probably he hides his feelings too well.

"'I'm not talking and not addressing this anymore. I'm tired of fighting the fight. My job is to sing and perform and entertain people.'"
you go clay! no point fighting a losing battle there.

"The show continues to maintain its appeal, but after a while the market is saturated with this Idol, that Idol, this Idol."
too right. there's only enough market for a optimum number of Idols. and it's fast approaching the limit (if it hasn't been reached already). singapore with all those chinese talent shows is a prime example.

"'But I do feel this is like my first album again. We're selling it with a normal amount of publicity and fanaticism. "
they're selling with practically no publicity wrt to singapore. i haven't seen cd reviews or radio ads. if i didn't follow online, i wouldn't know that there was a new album out.

"'It's a true test. But from now, anything I do is successful in my eyes.'"
clay once said that failure is when he puts out an album and it's not true to himself. but now that he's doing what he thinks is right, it's a success cos it lives up to his own standards of what it means to be successful. i wish we could all think like that, instead of doing the bell curve and constantly comparing with other people. load of stress that way.

overall, nice article, if you don't analyse it to the depths of being and start imagining all kinds of hidden conspiracies inside it.



mood: ok
listening to: Prince of tides - james newton howard