Clay Aiken (born Clayton Holmes Grissom on November 30, 1978) is a popular American singer who rose to fame on the American Idol television program, and who has become the most successful second-place finisher in that show's history, even handily eclipsing that year's "Idol" winner in sales. His first CD, Measure of a Man, went triple platinum and was the subject of conflicting reviews: Many fans and some critics recognized and admired the pure pop sound ("so pure it floats") and top-notch production values while others heard only a manufactured sound, noting that the singer hadn't earned his musical chops but "merely" sang his way to the hearts of millions on television, a perceived unjust leap-frogging of "the true path of the true artist." Merry Christmas With Love was his first Christmas album, and unusually for such a seasonal offering, it too went platinum, again with soaring, crystalline vocals and beautiful production work. His accompanying seasonal tour, The Joyful Noise tour, allowed him to combine his faith and moral vision with the triumphant power vocals his audiences had come to love. His latest offering, 2006's A Thousand Different Ways, was, through the direction of mega-producer Clive Davis, largely a covers CD, ten of the fourteen cuts being well known melodic pop songs ranging from Richard Marx, Bryan Adams, Dolly Parton, Mister Mister, and Elton John. Two other songs, available only on digital versions of the album, are "If You Don't Know Me By Now" (through K-Mart.com) and "Lover All Alone" (through iTunes and co-written by Aiken himself).
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