One thing we've learned about Clay Aiken fans:

They're quick to come to their hero's defense.

On Monday, the music blog Idolator ran a poll in its "Cover-Song Showcase Showdown," pitting Raleigh, N.C., homeboy Aiken against rapper Joe Budden.

The poll asked which cover of Mr. Mister's "Broken Wings" is superior, the version by Clay Aiken on his new album, A Thousand Different Ways, or Joe Budden's interesting freestyle rap version.

By late Tuesday afternoon, Budden was outpolling Aiken 63.1 percent to 39.9 percent, with fewer than 200 total votes cast.

Figuring Clay Nation could use a nudge, we posted a link to the contest in the "On the Beat" blog and a challenge to the Claymates: "So are you really going to let this stand?"

Two hours later, the results were (not surprisingly) dramatically different -- a total landslide with Clay Aiken getting 91.6 percent to Budden's 8.4 percent.

By Thursday afternoon, our man had racked up more than 1,600 votes, while Budden had yet to crack 100. Take that, Joe!