♥ Blue ✈

I may be one of the last people in the country to become aware of the show American Idol. That I know anything about it now is entirely the fault of Pandora.com and YouTube. That darn Pandora and YouTube! I may not watch tv, but a body can seriously wile away the hours watching vids on YouTube.

Anyway, Pandora.com introduces me to all these songs that I've never heard before, and sometimes I want to hear them again, so I'll search YouTube to see if anyone has put it up there.

So there I was, blithely listening along when suddenly I heard this song that I've loved my whole life, but I liked this new version SO MUCH BETTER than the original. I had to find out about the artist...which is a simple matter of link-clicking with Pandora. And there he was, some kid named Clay Aiken. Wikipedia told me all I needed to know about Clay. He's living the American Dream...small-town kid tries out for a big, once-in-a-lifetime-competition, and though he looked like an unlikely candidate, he won the hearts of the country and has had a total life-transformation. And no wonder--if you hear the big voice that comes out of this guy, it blows you away. He seems to be a really nice person of substance too; hasn't let fame and fortune go to his head. I'm sure part of the reason I'm fascinated is because there are a lot of aspects about his (pre-fame and fortune) life that I can relate to.

Youtube supplied me with loads of Aiken vids, and I've become a fan. Why at my age, for the first time, am I developing fan-ness? I mean, first Josh, now Clay. I've never been a fan before--with the possible exception of Donny Osmond and his purple socks when I was a kid (only I was "a little bit classical")

Here's the song that hooked me in the first place. I hope you enjoy this new rendition of the old classic by Dolly Parton. And though it does nothing for him, and reminds him of bad Woolworth's elevator music, I must dedicate it to Doc. Thanks for comin' again!