ArchivesRuben and Clay both disqualified.
A day after Corey Clark was removed from American Idol 2 because of his prior record, finalists Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard have both been disqualified and removed from the competition. Producers cited Ruben’s continued unauthorized promotion of Birmingham’s area code, which is not a paid sponsor of the show, and Clay’s flirting with host Ryan Seacrest, which distracted from Ryan’s flirting with Simon. “Ruben was warned at least twice that only sponsor-related shirts would be permitted,” a producer said. “And Clay just wasn’t willing to go along with the natural banter and persona that we scripted for him.” They’ll be replaced on tonight’s show by Justin Guarini and Kelly Clarkson, who will only sing songs from their upcoming movie. Asked for comment, Paula Abdul said, “This is wonderful—just, wow—those guys are great! The camera loves them. Can I have more NyQuil?”
+ plus: The Smoking Gun reveals that one of the cast members is actually not a criminal.
April 1
Ruben and Clay both disqualified.
link to this story + posted Apr. 1, 2003 at 9:00 AM by Andy Dehnart
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