Clay Aiken Diary No. 1

Thursday, April 24: After I've been covering hometown "American Idol" finalist Clay Aiken for nearly two months, Fox publicists call to tell me they're lifting their moratorium on interviews with finalists and I'm to be the
first reporter invited to interview Clay since he made the show's finals.

Plus, I can tag along to the premiere of "X2: X-men United" with the five
finalists and attend the live "AI" show on Tuesday. Thank goodness for
low-fare airlines - I manage to find a reasonable plane fare and win
approval from my editors to go to L.A.

Monday, April 28: Alarm goes off at 4 a.m. - ugh. After eight hours of traveling, I arrive at 11 a.m. Pacific time. I learn Aiken has pushed back
our interview to 4 p.m. because he thought he was going to see his mother,
Faye Parker - who's visiting L.A. for the first time since February - but
she's a no-show because she got tickets to see "The Price is Right."

3:40 p.m.: I arrive early at the Hollywood mansion where the finalists are staying. It's as gorgeous as expected, but messy - it bears evidence of lots of people going in and out, with items stacked all over the kitchen counters
and papers strewn on tables.

Though Aiken is afraid of water for reasons he won't discuss, he leads me to
a chair beside the undersized backyard pool for our interview. He talks in
stream-of-consciousness jumps, at one point telling me his grandmother was
nearly caught on camera napping in the studio audience of last week's show.

His on-show rival Ruben Studdard appears on a balcony briefly before being
led off for an interview with a reporter from his hometown, Birmingham.
Aiken leads me to the atrociously messy above-garage bedroom he shares with
Marine Joshua Gracin, proudly showing off his collection of 14 pairs of
designer shoes. After I've talked with Aiken for an hour, a Fox publicist
interrupts, saying Aiken needs to get ready for the premiere.

6 p.m.: I find my way to Grauman's Chinese Theatre for the "X2"
premiere. The red carpet has turned blue in honor of the coloring of several
of the movie's characters. Each reporter has a tiny square marked off on the
carpet where they're allowed to stand and interview the celebrities as they
walk by. I'm crammed in next to Brad Schmitt from the Nashville Tennessean,
in town to write about another on-camera Aiken rival, Kimberley Locke.

I spot ousted "AI" contestant Kimberly Caldwell a few spots down the carpet
from me - she's been hired to cover the premiere for Fox Sports Net. I try
to angle next to her for few comments, but a snarky woman on the carpet
yells at me: "Is your name Jimmy Kimmel?" Apparently I'm standing at the ABC
late-night host's carpet square, though he's nowhere in sight. I give up and
head back to my spot.

My favorite celebrity interview: Hunky Australian Hugh Jackman, the
only major star to hop the barricades to shake hands with his fans.
My dorkiest moment: After "AI" judge Randy Jackson bypasses me to talk to a
TV reporter, I yell to get his attention: "Dawg! Randy! Over here! Dawg!"
Luckily, it works and I nab a few comments for my story.

8:30 p.m. Schmitt and I are shunted to a nearby B-list theater to watch "X2" while the celebrities watch from inside Grauman's. I can tell that "X-men"
fans will find this movie really cool; however, as I'm nearing the end of a
23-hour workday, the violence and loudness make my head hurt.

Tuesday, April 29:
10 a.m.: The day starts with an interview with "AI" co-executive producer
Nigel Lythgoe. Birmingham reporter Marie Jones and Schmitt are
with me; each of us angles to ask questions about our hometown contestants.
Lythgoe drops a few tabloid-esque tidbits during the conversation, such as
bringing up a rumor that Caldwell, single-named singer Trenyce and former
contestant Corey Clark were in a love triangle in the mansion.

11 a.m.: Our next stop is the oddly cramped wardrobe room with stylist Miles Siggins. We spot all the outfits the finalists are planning to wear on
Tuesday night's show hanging on a rack. Trenyce's rainbow-colored creation
is actually a shirt, but she's tiny enough to wear it as a minidress.

After we're finished talking to Siggins, we find our way to the studio where
the contestants are rehearsing. We aren't supposed to be there, but the
publicists agree to let us stay as long as we don't publicize any details of
the show before it airs. Gracin rehearses his first song, "Then You Can Tell
Me Goodbye," with a plan to walk out into the audience and sing it to his
wife. Aiken later tells me he talked Gracin out of the move, saying it would
look odd to sing a breakup-themed song to her.

12:30 p.m.: The last interview is with vocal coach Debra Byrd, who describes the song selection process: Each contestant chooses five songs for the
week's theme. Then production officials make sure they can get the rights
for the songs to be sung on-air. The ultimate song choice is the
contestant's, but Byrd offers advice as they winnow the selection down.

3:30 p.m.: After lunch and shopping at the mall next door to the studios, I head back to find judge Simon Cowell out behind the studio, smoking and
talking to Lythgoe. I want to approach to interview Cowell, but publicists
stop me, saying he's already declined requests from all of the contestant's
hometown newspapers. So I head over to the side of the building to look for
wacky "AI" fans to interview as they wait in line to be led inside. There
are plenty to choose from.

5:00 p.m.: The show begins and airs live on the East Coast. The studio, with 500 cheaply-made seats banded together with what look like garbage twist ties, seems much smaller in person than on TV. We reporters are seated in the
second-to-last row, where our chances of appearing on camera are nil. They
don't want anyone who looks like reporters to be shown, we're told. But
there are no bad seats in this room. Thanks to the speaker system, every
singer sounds great in person. The audience grooves to every song, but
Studdard, Locke and Aiken seem to get the loudest and most enthusiastic
crowd reactions.

During commercial breaks, host Ryan Seacrest and Lythgoe keep up their
ribbing of Cowell, who takes it good-naturedly. At one point Lythgoe
conducts a goofy dating-game style contest with three audience members to
pair one up with judge Paula Abdul - she rewards the winner with a hug.

6:30 p.m.: I'm invited to dinner with Aiken, his mother and their entourage of about six other friends. We head to a tiny Italian restaurant on Santa
Monica Boulevard. The place has about six tables. Two customers recognize
Aiken and approach to shake his hand while he tries to eat a plate of
ravioli.

The manager turns up the TV as the tape-delayed show starts at 8 p.m. Aiken
watches each performance intently - including his own. When he suspects a
singer has missed a note, he grows still and grips the edge of the table. He
doesn't like the special lighting effect used for his final song,
"Solitaire," saying the spotlight shines awkwardly through his legs.

Wednesday, April 30:
After filing my final story by dictating it into a cellphone while running
through the L.A. airport, I barely make my flight back to Charlotte. During
a layover in Chicago, I call in to check with editors - and learn that
Studdard, widely viewed as a frontrunner, has shockingly been voted into the
bottom two contestants. (Trenyce ultimately is booted).

Is complacency among Studdard's fan base the explanation for the poor
showing, or could the voting have been rigged to increase the show's drama?
Since co-producer Lythgoe had declined to answer some of the questions I
tried to ask him about the vote-tallying procedures, I don't have enough
information to judge.