Clay Aiken

• "I always like the idea that you can turn on the radio and say, 'Oh, that's Clay Aiken. Oh, that's Barbra Streisand. Oh, that's Frank Sinatra, Oh, that's Tony Bennett.' They're a star if you can identify them immediately by their sound. That kid has his own sound. He's got energy. He's got soul. He's got it all. That voice pours out of him."
  —Merv Griffin

• "To be fair to all, nobody from the show can tell a finalist whether a song choice is good or bad, no matter how much they want to know. Byrd remembers Clay Aiken: "He'd say, 'Byrd, if this is a great song choice, blink your left eye.' "
  —Debra Byrd (talking about American Idol)

• "What a dear young man."

"It was like watching magic."

"Absolute pure song. The boy stopped being there and there was nothing but singing."

"It was like watching magic...this young man unzipped himself and emerged like a butterfly."

"He did it so naturally and so beautifully that I think all of our jaws dropped and we thought "wow." Clay Aiken. What a great kid."

—Ken Jenkins (Scrubs backstage interview)

• "When I review the tape [of the show] the next day, there's lots of screaming and crying,"..."Then I recover the same way I do anytime I'm injured: ice, elevation and my Clay Aiken CD."
  —Ellen DeGeneres (US Weekend Magazine)

• " In the last ten years, as editor in chief of Today's Caregiver Magazine, I have interviewed many people who are living in the public eye, all of them having something of importance to say to family caregivers. Most times they've become caregivers after becoming famous, usually due to themselves or a family member taking ill. Our keynote speaker today is unique in that he is a professionally trained caregiver before he became known to all of us. And through the unbelievable constraints that have been placed on his time, he's never lost sight of his goal of becoming a teacher and helping children living with developmental disabilities. Only his classroom has become a whole lot larger than he ever expected.

One other positive effect of his personal dedication is that as he increases the awareness of children with developmental disabilities and their need for inclusion, he's also created a dedicated and knowledgeable group of child advocates, also known as his fans. I've spoken with many of Clay's fans here, at the Hawaiian Voices for Change Gala, online and through our support of the Florida Voices for Change Gala, and I've got to tell you, they've become true ambassadors for inclusion, driven and knowledgeable in all aspects of inclusion. The bell has rung and Mr. Aiken's classroom is now truly in session across the world.

It's also our true privilege to present the Robert M. Barg Memorial Achievement Award to Clay. This award is very special to our hearts as it is named after the kindest man that we have ever met, our dad. It's rarely given and only presented to those who share that special brand of kindness and who work hard to truly make a difference in the lives of those in need. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Mr. Clay Aiken."
—Gary Barg speech at the Today's Caregiver Convention in Florida - 2005

From American Idol Judges

• "Clay, you sing like Andre Agassi plays tennis, perfection, perfection. And I would kill to write and produce your first CD."
  - Neil Sedaka, American Idol 2 guest judge -

• "And Clay, I want to say something to you. I think you are one of the few people I've met throughout this competition who can take criticism like a grown up. Learn, You definitely got better, You've lost some of this facial thing which I think was distracting, and You just did a really grown up, fantastic performance. Congratulation."
  - Simon Cowell on "Solitaire" -

• "Clay I think, without a doubt, this performance, that song, is the best performance of the entire competition that I've ever known. Unbelievable, unbelievable.
  - Paula Abdul on "Unchained Melody" -

• "Clay, I think this is the third pop idol, or American idol have done, if you include the english one. Probably one of the best performance I've ever heard through the entire competition.
  - Simon Cowell on "To Love Somebody" -