Former "American Idol" finalist Clay Aiken has some scathing words for the revived singing competition show on ABC. The season 2 runner-up does not hold back with his criticisms whenever he live-tweets about this season.
Last week, Aiken tweeted that the current singing competition is "just a Vacation Bible school talent show," and compared it to his time on "American Idol" from 2002 to 2003. He implied that "American Idol" has lost its cutthroat edge over other singing competitions.
"We were all waiting and nervously anticipating what Simon Cowell had to say," Aiken said.
Aiken's comments drew both positive and negative replies from "American Idol" fans. Some stated that this season's revival -- with judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan, where more than half of the top 10 finalists are Christians -- feels more positive and happy than the previous seasons on FOX, where judges insulted the contestants. Other fans, however, expressed discontent over the judges' comments.
"There were performances last night that Cowell would have raked over the coals," one fan wrote on Twitter. "And his commentary would have helped guide a more appropriate vote and result."
Aiken also wrote an op-ed piece on the Huffington Post where he criticized one of the eliminated fan favorite contestants, drag queen Ada Vox.
"Someone needs to be real here," Aiken wrote. "Ada Vox wasn't voted off because she is a drag queen," he said. "She was voted off because she was not the best voice on the show," he added.
Aiken also said that Vox was not the right person to become the first "American Idol" gender non-confirming winner. He, however, saw that there's a star quality to the contestant, who could perhaps become more popular than the actual winner this season.
"American Idol" airs Sunday and Monday nights at 8:00 on ABC. This week's show will narrow down the top 5 for the grand finale on May 21.
