Clay Mentions 1/4

JuiceeNewsDaily's new articles about American Idol.

All About American Idol
On to Hollywood
After 8 were chosen, a wild-card round featuring singers who were previously eliminated but whom the judges felt deserved a second chance gave the audience the chance to select one additional contestant through viewer voting, while each judge selected an additional singer to advance to the finals, filling the field of 12. It is worth noting that the season 2 runner up, Clay Aiken, was the viewers' wild card choice (reportedly Aiken garnered over 8 million of the 11 million votes cast that night), having originally fallen short to eventual winner Ruben Studdard and third-place finisher Kimberley Locke in the second round of 8.

American Idol Season 2 Recap
In season two, Seacrest surfaced as the lone host, since Dunkleman reportedly hated working on the show, and the studio was dissatisfied with his performance. This time, Ruben Studdard emerged as the winner with Clay Aiken as runner-up. Out of 24 million votes cast, Studdard finished just 130,000 votes ahead of Aiken, although there remains controversy over the validity of the reported results. Despite Studdard's win, Aiken has enjoyed more widespread popularity.

American Idol mention...

LETTERS FROM A BROAD: A New Exorcise Program for 2006
PopMatters

6. Promises from American Idol that this upcoming season is going to be even more exciting than ever. Stop it. And while I'm at it, please, eradicate all "Reality TV". We've had our fun but now, even Clay Aiken's devoted fanbase knows it's not really reality, after all.

Mention in TV column.

Remote Patrol
This week's picks for can't-miss TV

Special event pick: "An Evening of Stars: Tribute to Stevie Wonder," airing Sunday at 5 p.m. on ABC.
This Wonder tribute / fundraiser for the United Negro College Fund will feature performances by Lou Rawls, Maroon 5 and India.Arie. Also, "American Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino will perform. [*Editor's note: At first, I had included a lame joke here about how Barrino could perform only because her mall food court gig was canceled. From my experience (cough, cough, Clay Aiken), I should have known that any half-hearted "American Idol" dig would get me in trouble.

Clay mention in CD review

Chad VanGaalen
Infiniheart (Sub Pop)

Just as Jessica Rabbit can't help that she was drawn like a vixen, Chad VanGaalen can't help that he sounds like Neil Young. I'm sure he's tried to sound like Joe Cocker, Ray Charles, or Clay Aiken, but to no avail. That arrow-sharp quiver, that angel-haired and ethereal falsetto, never sleeps - it's his fate and fortune to huff, puff, and ache like his Canadian musical kin - and that voice persists through most of the wonderful homemade tracks on Infiniheart, whether the backing sounds ring with Modest Mouse-like bucolic briskness ("Clinically Dead"), noodle and bleat with Sonic Youthful retuned, modal monkey business and glitchy-and-scratchy beats ("Kill Me in My Sleep"), or clatter like a junkyard massive of sampled dog barks, tin-can gamelan clang, and fuzzed thud ("J.C.'s Head on the Cross"). Imagine Young coming up with a suede-fringed laptop in a post-'90s Alternative Nation - like Shaky, VanGaalen is intent on putting that seraphic wheeze through its paces, finding it an infinitely flexible instrument.