Clay Aiken: Sorry for my 'colorful' critique, Adam

AP, May 23, 2009 1:00 pm PDT
Clay Aiken says blood didn't truly pour forth from his ears when he heard runner-up Adam Lambert sing "Ring of Fire" — and hey, he's sorry for his "colorful choice of words."

The former Idol contestant writes in a blog on his Web site dated Friday that "I obviously meant it as a colorful statement to imply that I did not enjoy what I heard." He also says he didn't mean it as "a 'slam' on Adam as a person."

He had blasted Lambert's take on the classic Johnny Cash tune as "contrived," "awful" and "slightly frightening." Aiken says he hopes Lambert can forgive him — but adds Lambert probably doesn't care about what he said.

Aiken lost out to Ruben Studdard in 2003. He's since released several albums, appeared on Broadway and publicly confirmed he's gay.

More Artist News

Clay Aiken vs. Adam Lambert: He Made My Ears Bleed

May 22, 2009 10:00 am PDT

Well, me-ow. Don't count Clay Aiken among those upset by Adam Lambert's second-place finish on American Idol. Or, for that matter, among those who can be bothered—or care enough—to even watch the show. There's app...

Top 9 Best American Idol Finalists (Who Didn't Win)

May 5, 2009 2:00 pm PDT

You guys! There's only three weeks left till the American Idol finale! Which means there's only three more weeks until Adam Lambert is our country's first, um, truly fabulous Idol! (Right? Right!) After seven seasons, we all k...

Clay Aiken called a 'spectacular father'

Apr 2, 2009 4:00 am PDT

Music producer David Foster sees nothing strange about his sister Jaymes having a baby with Clay Aiken. David Foster told AP Radio "She's very close with Clay, they're best friends. It made perfect sense to me that he'd want to have a chi...

Claymates in Mourning! Aiken Splits With Label

Feb 20, 2009 10:00 pm PST

It's a dark day for the Claynation. Or, at least, what's left of it. Clay Aiken has joined the fallen ranks of American Idol alum and parted ways with his longtime record label, RCA. According to Billboard, the split happened a ...

Clay Aiken parts ways with record label

Feb 20, 2009 5:00 pm PST

Season two "American Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken has parted ways with RCA Records. A source told Billboard that the pop singer left the label a couple of months ago, on the heels of his 2008 album, "On My Way Here." That set sold just 159...

1-6 of 7 videos