Carmen is just a sweetheart, how can anyone not see that?
My personally commnet not posted here was that the amount oftime allocated to each singer probably varied from week to week depending on what they sang and what could be changed. and how aggressive the contestant pressed for help. Being so young, I would imagine tha Carmen was not very assertive of her rights.
I was so surprised to hear about Carmen's going away party on Rewind and how many people loved her on the show - contestants and staff. That will probably always be a special memory for her.

Don't let a few crazy Claymates make you think all Clay fans are nuts, many of us who read Carmen's column understood what she was getting at but just didn't feel the need to post a comment about it. I'm not a fan of Carmen's music, either now or on Idol, but she always seemed like a nice girl and I wish her lots of success.

As to TMZ, they always put the worst possible spin on everything, always post the most unflattering photos they can find, and make fun of people when they have done nothing wrong. Everyone knows it, so, Carmen, don't worry about it, nobody cares what they say.

Carmen, I'm sorry. As a blogger myself, I know attacks on what you've written can be tough, but the good thing is someone will write something that's even more gossip worthy or twistable and people will forget all about what they were focusing on before. Hang in there!!!

I am a Clay fan. I love Carmen.
We know how words can be edited to come across in a way they were not meant.
It is great that she and Clay are close. I hope they keep in touch often because good friends are to be cherished.
Carmen needs to understand that not all people who post ugly comments about her are Clay fans.
There are many who want to make us look bad.
You know who you are Carmen. Clay knows who you are.
Don't worry about those who know nothing.
Just keep on being sincere and a good friend to Clay.
I know he must appreciate you.

I am sorry that this happened to Carmen but I would like to suggest that the next time she talks to her "brother" Clay Aiken, she might ask him why he continues to allow his Claymates to run down anyone that they think is damaging their "boyfriends" reputation. The Claymates quickly judge anyone, yet Clay Aiken remains silent, why is that???

Thank you so much for this article. I hope this one gets as much publicity as the one which was taken so grossly out of context. Carmen is a sweetheart and I adore her. Keep your head high girl, you are incredible.

Kassa, exactly what is Clay supposed to do about what others say? He has said in his own blog that he doesn't need defending, that he's fine, yet the defense goes into hyperdrive with some. That is not his responsiblity. He has millions of fans...if he has already said it himself to basically back off and they don't, what's he to do? Find each person and tell them himself? Not his responsibility beyond what he can say in a public way.

People need to be accountable on their own as it's their own statements and actions that result in poor reception from others.

Please leave Clay out of both sides.

Peace!

Clay has some crazy fans but have you heard some of the things John Mayer's fans do? Every singer has crazy fans. Clay has a lot of nice fans as well.

Glad that the D-News wrote this artticle. I was pretty surprised at the outrage. When I read her article the other day, nothing controversial even crossed my mind, and then I read the comments and was really amazed at how people interpreted it. I've always thought Carmen had amazing talent, even when she was just a young girl on American Idol, but I've read her book and have her new CD and I just think the world of her.

Great article! Couldn't have said it better myself. Carmen is extremely talented and deserves nothing but the best. She's so beautiful and I love her voice. I had no idea that she was such a talented writer too. To all the haters, get off the computer and get outside every once in a while. It'll be good for ya.

Scott, I think that's pretty cool of you to write this article. I think you hit the nail right on the head. I have really liked reading Carmen's articles and I've even posted on here before how it's cool to hear interesting stories from an insiders perspective. I'm sure what we see on TV isn't exactly how it seems. Thanks for this article and thanks for having Carmen write her article. I hope there are many more to come.

Carmen's column smacked of bitterness as if she had been unfairly treated. Everybody could see that in what she wrote. She was whining. Countless comments were made that showed a majority of readers got that out of it.

Carmen, you disappointed me. Good luck to you, but don't count me as a fan. You have too much growing up to do before you can earn my respect again.

I love when a media outlet slams another media outlet for publishing information that isn't accurate or is sensationalized, because the D-News would never stoop to such low levels to sell advertising/newspapers.

Carmen gave a good interview, and every outlet could take and write a different headline and give a different first impression just like happens with all newsstories.

... seem to be whining in her column. It seems like she's still a little bitter. I could see why TMZ jumped to that conclusion from the tone of her article.

I am a Clay fan and understood what Carmen was saying. It annoys me when I see posts that say it can't be Clay fans saying such rude things--not true, he has a group of nasty fans and to continually deny they exist doesn't help.

Sorry, Carmen, that you were a victim of these hateful crusaders. I feel badly for Clay, he is a good guy and has some great fans and then there are the others who call themselves fans but certainly don't follow his lead on how to treat others.

I am a huge Clay fan since season 2 and I did read Carmen's article and thought nothing about it other than that Clay can be quite a perfectionist.

Then I read the comments that came after that. I thought many of them went way overboard. Sure many of them came from Clay fans and many came from non-Clay fans.

However, please know that there are many, many Clay fans like me who didn't read anything negative into Carmen's article and am aware of the friendship that exists between Carmen and Clay.

So please don't be so quick to lump all Clay fans together and even more ridiculous is the comment that accuses Clay about not keeping a tighter grip or lid on his fans. I totally agree with Jay's response!

I think Scott did a great thing in writing the article. It is nice to know who your friends are. The comment board is interesting in that people feel free to say anything-most of which they would never say to you face to face. Many of the comments are very mean-spirited and you have to consider the source! What do these comment boards even accomplish?? What good comes out of it??

Chances are none of the nasty comments were made by Clay fans. There is an organized group of people who would like nothing better than to see Clay lose his career. One of the things these haters do is to go around posing as Clay fans.

Carmen,

Where exactly were these concerts that you and Clay did together? The only concerts other than the AI Tour, was one where he pulled you out of the audience to sing a song with him.

I do believe you and Clay are friends, he is a nioe guy. Just wish his "friends" wouldn't use his name to get attention for themselves.

Clay fans had nothing to do with the TMZ's take on the article. They formed their own impression.

I saw no problem with Carmen's original comment.

Clay has told the fans not to defend him but he can't control what they do all the time. Clay has some wacky fans but he also has some wonderful fans.

carmen is a big girl. she should be responsible for her own action. isn't sweet that somebody have to come to her rescue. clay get the truth distorted all the time but i don't see other people defending him not even his own suposed friend carmen. the 17 year old carmen used to be sweet but i don't know the grow up carmen . if youn want to be in the big league get a tough skin .

Now I'm mad. Just because the article was linked to a Clay fan board does not mean that Clay fans were leaving the nasty posts. Every internet article gets horrible responses from the sick and bored cruising the net.

So this is where people go when their thumbs get tired of texting and their brains have turned to mush.

Faith, Carmen did a concert with Clay Aiken at Abrovonal Hall in Salt Lake City a few years ago. It was for his Christmas tour.

Carmen, you're an awesome singer and deserve the best-we love you!!!

Carmen, You're a sweetheart and I love Clay too.
I'm glad that the two of you perform together sometimes.

I am so sorry that you have endured this thing. Some fans are too protective. And then there is TMZ!

TMZ and Harvey Levin are snide and ugly. TMZ is a tabloid TV and internet site, always making something out of nothing. Harvey Levin is old enough to know better and an attorney at that.

carmen have never done a concert with clay except with the idol tours. clay headlines his own tour. when he was in utah for his christmas tour he just asked carmen to sing one song with him. carmen is again streching the truth. i was at the concert.

it doesn't sound like TMZ exaggerated that much - they pay more attention to some contestants than others, which gives them a better chance. not a very good job defending carmen here. and the picture on their site was more flattering than the one here.

"They knew he was going to go farther than me" - should be 'further' here not 'farther'.

Carmen used Clay's name to get attention, now she cries because she got just that? HA! Try being poor Clay, who got dragged into this and has said nothing. THAT is who I feel sorry for, not Carmen who claims she is good friends with him. Who needs friends like her?

It amazes me once again how a simple article can turn people into foaming, frenzied fanatics. Carmen, you're a sweetie. Ignore the idiots. By idiots I mean the few Clay fans who go over the top with things and pick and dissect everything to pieces to find fault and reason to attack any individual whose opinion does not agree with theirs.

I am a major Clay "fan". I am not a Claymate. Claymates are the ones who behave like the abovementioned fanatics. Clay fans know Clay is a man who can handle himself, yet still feel the desire to pick a fight, and where one goes, they all go. Good Luck with your book. Good luck with your marriage, and it's ok to talk about experiences with your friends. It's called Freedom of Speech!

Carmen sang half of Silver Bells with Clay - likely lasted about 2 minutes.

I hate it when people who lack skills, abilities and overall talent period try to complain about those who've actually taken the time to perfect thier craft. She needs to grow up and learn that this is not your mommy and daddy who are there to ego stroke you because you have a boo-boo. Stop crying, GROW UP and try harder

As a fan of Clay Aiken, I just wanted to say that I agree with your article and see Carmen's point. I have long suspected that AI was practicing this sort of favoritism behind the scenes, from coaching to clearing song choices. I don't see Carmen as harboring any resentment towards Clay at all. Her problem is with AI. But, knowing how AI works with the excessive praising of their favorites, I can see why this might be going on behind the scenes. It's a manipulative TV show and Carmen signed her name to the contract. In other words, that's what she bought into by going on the show!

Why is it so hard for everyone to believe that Carmen and Clay are still friends? Don't you remember when they were on the show the big question was, "Are Carmen and Clay together?" They would always be seen flirting with each other and holding hands. Even if it was just for publicity, the obviously liked each other and I'm sure they still like each other today. Now everyone...relax...aahh...doesn't that feel good.

I know for a fact that Carmen has performed with Clay more than just Silver Bells at his Christmas concert. I went to a concert they did together in Nashville. It doesn't matter anyway. Give the girl a break.

And another point I wanted to add...

All the coaching in the world was not going to get her to the talent level of Clay's. She was brought back to the show and told by Simon that she was " commercial" just to get the Clay/Ruben fans to vote more. Those were the ones the show wanted in the finals, Carmen was out of her league!

Never heard of ya. Sorry. Time to move on. You're only embarrassing yourself, your family and friends, deary. :-)

Carmen may have been out of her league when she was on the show (she was only 17 for crying out loud), but to say she has no talent is just a dumb, ignortant comment. 100,000 people try out for that show. I don't care if she only made the top 64, she beat out a lot of people to get there. She's got more talent, especially when it comes to music, than 99 percent of anyone who is posting on here will EVER have. You should hear her music now!

Go do a search on USA Today for Carmen Rasmusen. They just wrote a great article about her last week.

Carmen was clearly out of her league on American Idol and should never have been brought back for the Wildcard. After AI, she thankfully disappeared for several years, only to recently show back up to release an album that bombed. Then she whines about Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler being more famous. Now she's dragging her "friend" Clay through the mud while she whines about being mistreated five years ago. She's obviously desperate to be a "star", but since she doesn't have the talent of the aforementioned Carrie, Kellie, and Clay, instead of gracefully accepting it and working harder, she's choosing to act like an entitled brat: "It's not fair that Kellie and Carrie are country stars and I'm not!", "Hey everybody! Clay got special treatment and I didn't!". Carmen, you're in your twenties now and married. It's time to start acting like an adult and quit blaming everyone else for your shortcomings just so you can get an extra two minutes of attention.

Dear it's time to grow up,

What is so wrong in your world? Has anything that Carmen's done affected you so much that you just had to post this extremely negative and rude comment. You just couldn't go on living without giving your two cents, putting down Carmen. She writes a nice, innocent little once-a-week column for the D-News. You on the other hand spend all day posting ignorant, uneducated, hateful comments on message boards. Who REALLY needs to grow up?

I am a Clay fan (one of the sane ones)LOL and I think that Carmen is a sweet, nice young lady and I liked her on the AI2 show. I am also tempted to buy her CD as the little clips really sound good on Amazon.com. I didn't believe anything I read on TMZ as they are a trash talking gossip site. Carmen, don't worry you can't please all the people all the time so just please yourself.

Quite the contrary. True, I don't care for Carmen's singing style or the way she's been acting lately, but I do like reading her articles on this season of AI, along with the behind-the-scenes tidbits. Which is why I was so disgusted with her recent complaining. My post wasn't hate-filled. I don't hate Carmen. I don't trawl the internet looking to bash her for hours on end. I was simply stating my opinion, along with a few facts, which I have every right to do. Not everybody is going to love everything she does all the time. Ignorant? Uneducated? I'm confused how you would accuse me of being these things when it just comes down to me not liking some things she's said recently. And you can't dispute the things she's said and the fact that her album didn't sell well. I did my homework before I posted. I'm sorry you find me such a threat, but I'm not out to destroy anybody, so please don't attack me.

Carmen, good luck to you; I just wish you'd stop complaining and just start working harder if singing is what you really want to do.

I read this article and didn't think Carmen was complaining at all. She was, however, just stating a simple fact. That's what the D-News hired her to do-give behind-the-scenes insights. She wasn't whining or complaining.

I think it's unfortunate that her original column caused such a reaction, but I'd like to note that it seems rather obvious to me she's the sort of person that doesn't whine or act bitter in person. However, that knowledge can only bridge a divide between the spoken word and the written when someone actually knows her personally. Otherwise, it would seem wise to edit her columns as though they were coming from an unknown source and evaluating them as such.

rule #1...be sure to mention clay aiken as much as possible. many many clicks, especially if you can get his fans to post and post and post. good job, deseret news!