First and foremost, Clay Aiken and Elvis Presley possess a unique performance style that is explosive! Their live performances explode on stage with feeling, electricity, and most importantly INTENSITY! They don't just sing a song, they deliver the song, and we, the lucky fans get to be in the delivery room! Both artists are a natural for that undefined 'magic' wherein they seem to 'become the song', generating a magical connection that defies definition. The deliverance is spell-binding and captivating -- emoting their songs over the loud roar of screaming fans. Holding nothing back, they simply put it all out there without reserve in a fed and being fed dynamic, artist and fan are caught up in a phenomenal interaction that makes their concerts exciting and leaves fans clamoring for more. It's the stuff legends are made of and this unlikely red head from North Carolina, since coming in second on American Idol's second season, is showing himself strong as the contender for the King's crown.
Both artists share a diverse fan base including the very young, even preteens to grandmothers and great grandmothers. I recall my mother, who was 44 back in 1956, being as crazy over Elvis as I was. I might add here that if you never attended a live Elvis concert in the late 1950s, you might not make the connection that I'm making with respect to the young, yes, innocent Elvis, who was quite slim, even lanky, who was unsure of himself, had butterflies before every appearance, but who, when he took the stage morphed into a dynamo, inflaming his audiences! It is quite reminiscent of young Clay.
Like Elvis, Clay's fans are insatiable, even demanding, driven, uncompromising, absolute devotion and obsessive! Neither artist could venture out into the public without attracting tremendous attention. The moment they take the stage in a live concert, it's total pandemonium. Fans send them stuffed toys and gifts. Both are considered phenomenal and boast of huge fan bases both nationally and internationally. Both have body guards and are limited to their inner circle because of the fan adoration when out in public.
They are considered by their fans to be drop dead gorgeous! Clay is referred to as Studly Thudly, Opie with an X factor, and many endearing terms reflecting his sweet, home-spun persona. Elvis was often referred to as Elvis The Pelvis, and the first media reference ever made to an artist having 'bedroom eyes', he was considered to be very teddy bear-like. Went so far as to record a single, Teddy Bear which went to #1. Both artists display boyish charm and speak openly of their love and gratitude for their fans, dedicating special songs to their fans in concert, at which time roses, presents, notes, gifts, are handed to them or tossed on stage.
During his solo tour this summer, Clay has been handing out Hawaian leis to his fans and bringing individuals up on stage to dance with him. Elvis, of course, is famous for handing his fans scarfs around the footlights. Elvis and Clay share this charismatic interaction with their fans in their concerts. Additionally, they bander with the band, the backup singers, joking, and popping off with self-depreciating jokes and in general just cutting up -- creating a very relaxed atmosphere that spawns a closeness between fan and star that is rare.
And that's just for openers! Throw in that they hale from the south, share an uncommon devotion to their mothers, and that their fathers were both named Vernon. Additionally, these over 6' phenomos are both RCA recording artists who, incidently, both recorded Solitaire and Bridge Over Troubled Water.
Both were raised in the Christian faith, learned how to sing and first sang in their hometown church, and had never been out of the south until they hit nationally via a TV program. Bonded together in a deep love for inspiration/gospel music, each chose to perform a song reflecting their faith quite early in their careers - Elvis on his national TV debute The Ed Sullivan Show when he sang Peace In The Valley. Clay sings You Were There during his Summer Tour 2004. Elvis would later do another inspirational song written especially for him on the '68 Comeback Special TV show.
Both are tenors possessing multiple octaves including a deep lower register to falsetto at the higher end. They share a musical versatility that is quite unique, including country, gospel, rock, and ballad genres. Not to mention that they're great cover artists second to none.
Though hugely popular and adored, the young Elvis and Clay confess awe at their fame and puzzled by their sex appeal --their awe shucks sweet southern boy innocence serving to further whip their fans up into a frenzy of adoration.
The main difference they share can be summed up in the Timing Factor. When Elvis kicked the door open way back in 1956, he changed America's flavor of Pop music forever and introduced something called Rock-N-Roll. His timing was perfect -- and 'timing' was a major ingredient of that phenomenal era in music history. Elvis will always be 'Da Bomb' when it comes to creating R&R and subsequently crossing over into the Mainstream with his Rock-A-Billy music that had never been heard before. Having honed his musical preferences in the deep south where he spent much of his high school years absorbing back street blues; listening endlessly to records of regional black artists, Elvis felt something inside of him that yearned to answer their call. Still unsure of how to express it, destiny would lead him to Sun Records, Sam Phillips and his first band members, Scotty & Bill. History offers us no clear explanation of just how this threesome, who had never met before, got together and very quickly created their own signature sound. Call it instinct, call it timing, call it a miracle, call it all of the above. It was a new formula that would rock and shock American Pop Culture in the 1950s, changing it forever.
Fast-forward a few meager decades to Clay Aiken -- whose similarities to The King are dramatic. Yet, for all they have in common, are poles apart when it comes to the TIMING factor. In contrast, Clay stands at the door of post multi-generational Pop-Rock Music. Elvis, who had wide open spaces to step into -- Clay has to take one painstaking step at a time. He's such a composite of past, present and what America wants for the future, his head must be spinning. What road does he take? Can he walk on more than one road at a time? He seems to be going with the latter, yet we are getting a sense that he is still learning to define himself musically. Clearly he could do any genre he chose to -- he's that versatile, sings with as much soul as The King, gospel, rock, country, pop, Christian Contemporary. It's all spread out before him, but he would appear to be groping for a new and different path. He can't re-invent a musical genre, or can he? He doesn't have the added advantage that young Elvis had of debuting a new genre, so what is he to do?
Well, nobody has the answer to that -- maybe it's a work in progress, an evolution of talent and personality that both Clay and his fans will recognize when we all get there together! He clearly has the talent and popularity to be the new King of Pop -- right now he's Mr. Versatility -- a musical dynamo of phenomenal porportions!
Witness a recent stellar review from a non-Clay fan who saw Clay perform for the first time at the Syracuse venue July 24, when she interviewed various fans who were there, 'Clay touches something within these people that no one else seems to be able to reach. One woman told me that he reaches a part of her that she 'didn't know existed.' One man - and yes, there were men in attendance - praised Clay's decency and level-headedness. Simply put, they love him and, as it turns out, Clay seems to love them back.'
Clay's fans can only speculate whether or not he will maintain his fervor and reach his potential to ultimately become a legendary peformer, or if he will succeed in taking up the septre left behind by The King.
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