Citizen Clay Aiken: The Docu-series?

When former American Idol contestant Clay Aiken decided to shelve his showbiz shoes and run for congress back home in N. Carolina, Hollywood came out to support him in… twos and threes.

What did you expect, the Dolby Theater? He was about one deal away from having his own Rubin Studdard franchise in Birmingham.

But it turns out Aiken may not have been seriously vying for the NC 2nd District seat at all.

Frontiers LA.com

Before anyone had any inkling that Tuesday’s elections would be a tsunami for Republicans, it looked like former “American Idol” runner up Clay Aiken had a chance—a slim chance, to be sure, but a chance to defeat Tea Party Republican Rep. Renee Ellmers in Aiken’s bid for a seat in North Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District. After all, the Democrats were all-in trying to save Kay Hagan’s Senate seat, as Aiken told supporters at a Sept. 30 fundraiser at the hilltop Los Angeles home of Extra correspondent Michael Corbett.

That didn’t happen. Hagen lost as Republicans took over the Senate and Ellmers sailed to reelection, besting Aiken 59 to 41 percent. But no sooner had he lost his race than NBCUniversal-owned Esquire Network announced a “docuseries” about Aiken’s campaign that would air in early 2015. “Life is just a reality show for singer Clay Aiken,” wrote the New York Daily News. Some Los Angeles donors to Aiken’s campaign were upset by the news: they agreed to be filmed for a BBC documentary, not a reality show. They feel duped.

Why, that little stinker!

The Daily Mail in the UK put the venture this way:

Clay Aiken lost his bid for Congress on Tuesday and while others might retreat to lick their wounds, the former American Idol star has grasped the opportunity to bounce back on to TV.

Aiken has parlayed his political campaigning as a Democrat in North Carolina into a new fly-on-the-wall docu-series with the Esquire Network….

NBC said: ‘Throughout, Aiken struggles with his desire to be seen as a viable candidate and his need to convince voters (and America) to take him seriously.’

Seriously as in seriously…

Reporter: How do you think the Obama administration has handled the VA scandal?

Aiken: ‘Kay, just what’s a VA, again?

Reporter: You know, the Veterans Administration?

Aiken: Oh. Well, whatever Renee Ellmers says, I vote opposite…

First, Aiken was seriously not gay before he seriously was gay. Then he was seriously running for Congress before maybe not so much.

Yep, has all the makings of a genuine Democrat politician.

The problem with that little scenario was that Aiken inked the deal before or shortly after he inked his application to run… Deceiving his supporters into believing the BBC was doing a documentary on his campaign.

Next to being born, married or raising a family, I can think of few things more important than representing one’s community, state or nation in elective office.

God help us if it becomes no more than an opportunistic pop culture scheme.

But hey, good with the reality series, Clayster.

Happy to say N. Carolinians made the right choice with our Twitter bud @RepReneeEllmers.