My Top 10 American Idol/X Factor performances: #10
Just to pass time, I’ve come up with a short list, this time involving my personal top ten performances from American Idol/X Factor. Each contestant is only featured once, so hopefully that should allow for a nice range in style of song etc. I was tempted to choose several songs from the same few contestants, but this way should keep things slightly more interesting. I realise a lot of people (who may or may not be reading this blog) don’t watch both of the shows, but watch the videos I link anyway…you’ll most likely be impressed. Please feel free to comment on my choices, or even post your own favourite Idol and/or TXF performances. Hope you enjoy. 
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10 – Clay Aiken – ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ – AI Season 2, Finale
Other performances worth viewing: ‘To Love Somebody’ / ‘Unchained Melody’ / ‘Solitaire’ / ‘Build Me Up, Buttercup’ / ‘Here, There and Everywhere’
Clay really hit his stride during the final weeks of the competition. He’d been consistently good throughout the season, no doubt, but it just seemed to kick up a notch from Top 5 or so onwards. Naturally he still lost, but oh well. I’m not exactly a fan of Clay’s recorded work, but I do think he was brilliant during Idol, and I thought it was fitting that his best performance was his final one.
‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ is traditionally quite an overdone song on this type of show. Voices With Soul, Leona Lewis and Rhydian Roberts have all covered it on the X Factor, to mixed results. However, Clay’s version of the song was the first and to this point the last time the song was performed on an American Idol stage. Why? Because he absolutely tore it apart (in a good way), and it’s been synonymous with him ever since.
The choir definitely helped him out here, particularly in the opening. It gave it that epic, ‘important’ atmosphere that makes you think, ‘Wow, this is gonna be good’. Then Clay starts singing in his crisp, precise, love-it-or-hate-it voice, and it just works. He started this slowly, yet the choir gave it the bounce it needed so as not to become too restrained. It builds and builds, until finally he hits that amazing high note to end it. Everyone knows Clay is a brilliant singer, but the power of that note was startling.
I still can’t help but feel that Clay was screwed out of the AI2 thrown. Ruben is obviously a very talented vocalist, but he was distinctly average during finale night, and really, how does a person NOT win after that? 
Tags: Amazing, American Idol, Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue, Louis Walsh, Cheryl Cole, The X Factor, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, Sharon Osbourne, Ryan Seacrest, Clay Aiken, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Best Idol performances, high note, video, Season 2, Ruben Studdard, finale, simon and garfunkle, Claymates, vocals, song, great
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