Clay Aiken: American A-Hole?

Tags: Clay Aiken + American Idol + Joshua Willard

TiFF posted on Dec 29th 2006 5:52PM; via ww.tmz.com/2006/12/28/clay-aik...

Clay Aiken's diva-like behavior has got one former fan pissed off. The former "American Idol" star is being accused of booting a 15-year-old boy off of a concert line-up simply because he wasn't festive enough.

Joshua Willard won a North Carolina singing competition, which gave him the chance to perform with the Greensboro Symphony during Clay Aiken's Holiday concert on Saturday. Willard told TMZ he rehearsed his song, Stevie Wonder's "Superstition," and had just finished a soundcheck when managers of the Symphony told him the devastating news that Aiken's camp had decided that he would not be allowed to perform because he was not singing a Christmas song. Bah humbug!

Curiously, other singers who did have holiday songs prepared were also not allowed to sing. Instead, Willard was only allowed to lead a 30-second group singalong. Lisa Crawford, CEO of the Greensboro Symphony, told TMZ that the children were never promised they could sing with Clay; "It was his tour and show. We were just hired to play."

A photogallery of Stars Behaving BadlyDuring his concert, Willard says Aiken "was trying to be more of a comedian than a singer," -- and an unfunny one at that. Aiken made multiple references to his controversial appearance on "Live with Regis and Kelly," where he attempted to put his hand over Ripa's mouth. Willard says Aiken was rude to audience members and told several people to sit down and cover their mouth. Clay even showed a raunchier side by pretending he had flatulence every time feedback came through the speakers. Talk about making a stink!

An hour after the show, Willard got to meet Clay, but says that Miss Thing was "snotty" and acted like he was too good for his little fans. The former Claymates were even told not to take individual pictures with Aiken, only group shots. Willard is devastated and says that due to Aiken's behavior, he now "could care less of Clay." Joshua hopes to tryout for the next season of "American Idol," to show the world what a down to earth Idol is really like.

6 votesEmail this | Bookmark

Comments

	tammy says: If I paid good money to listen to Clay sing and I had to watch some young kid sing, I would have demanded my money back. Anyway, wasn't it supposed to be a Xmas concert. Posted: 12/30/06 13:09
	debbie says: Joshua needs to learn some manners. I came to hear a symphony and Clay Aiken sing not alot of wannabes. Let's have some respect for the season. Maybe Clay was being kind and spared you from being BOOED! We've seen lot's of kids who won contests and who think they can sing on American Idol to know better.. Live and Learn Kid! Posted: 12/31/06 13:55
	Katherine says: Here is the REAL story!!! Typical journalism: only printing a story for the sensationalism, not the real facts!! AIKEN FACTS 1_ Greensboro Symphony was hired by a promoter to be the orchestra for Clay Aiken 2_ The promoter informed the Symphony that we needed to prepare a 50 minute first half 3_Although we protested and said it was too long and people were coming to hear Clay, we were still requested to prepare a first half. This was also included in the rider sent by Aiken management. 4_ After checking with several orchestras, we prepared both a 50 minute and 30 minute first half. 5_ Due to our contracts with musicians, we are not allowed to perform something without a rehearsal, if it has not been performed within 30 days. 6_ We were told that we would only have about 15 minutes to rehearse. We informed promoter we would be performing pieces from our Holiday Concert so we would not need much rehearsal time. Our Holiday concert is mostly singing. We informed promoter we would have singers and e- mailed the program 7_ We received an e-mail from Community Theater asking if the 2 Triad Idol singers could perform on concert. They had performed with us in October at our education concerts. We checked with promoter and were given the green light to invite them to perform WITH the Symphony not WITH Clay Aiken. 8_ Once rehearsal began, Aiken management asked that we not perform any non-Holiday songs. We only had orchestra charts for the Triad Idols for 2 songs and they were non-Holiday. 9_ We told the 2 Triad Idol singers, we would need to cancel their songs. We still wanted to include them in the concert and we asked Aiken management if they could lead the Christmas Song sing-along. Aiken management was very gracious and said this would be fine along with the little girl singing the Hippo song. When we told the Triad idol singers, they seemed very glad to still be part of the show. Throughout the evening, they did not indicate they were unhappy. 10_ We cannot control what people do in order to gain 15 minutes of fame. We do not believe in feeding a media frenzy over nothing. Posted: 12/31/06 23:44
	Kelly says: I find it hard to believe that Joshua's parents allowed him to vent his feelings to the media. I have a very talented 15 year old daughter and she too would be devastated if this happened to her, however as a parent I have taught her that life brings disappointments and how to handle these disappointments with grace and CLASS, something that Joshua has not been taught. Posted: 01/05/07 13:28
	Chelsea says: Okay everyone, clam down! I know Josh Willard personally and he is a very nice guy. He is a dramatic person, but all performers are so just chill out! He HAS manners and class and is one of my most favorite people in the world so please back off! Posted: 03/23/08 21:57