Tidbits 10/13

Wow! Only when seeing this photo by the CH's fountaindawg did it strike me- Clay Aiken looks nothing like the Clay Aiken we were introduced to 3 years ago. See more Then and Now comparisons here.

• Clay's Tyra Banks Show taping will begin tonight at 7 PM EDT/4 PM PDT. Full recaps will be posted on CDD tomorrow.
  
• Cashbox Magazine- "The Clamour for Clay" --

  Clay Aiken’s Third Album makes him the 4th artist ever to have his first 3 albums debut in the Top 5 on Billboard Charts.
  
  His fan support is stronger than ever, hundreds of fans were there at Virgin Megastore in Hollywood on Sept. 26 for an in-store signing by Clay. The signing lasted an unheard of 3 hours at which point Clay had extreme writers cramp and laughingly admits to signing one CD as: “Clay Clay”
  
  A check of one music web site that allow voting for your favorite artist find him out distancing the top artists by amazing numbers. Clay Aiken currently Scores 1505 Excellent votes for “Without You”. The closest competitor is JoJo with 138 Excellent Votes for "Too Little Too Late". The rest of the ratings for The Fray, Snow Patrol, Evanescence, Elton John, Nickelback, Beyonce and Fergie fall somewhere between 20 to 64. Normally these ratings would be decent and a good gauge of a successful single but Clay can thank his super strong following of internet savy fans who aren't satified with just "decent" for their powerhouse prince. You can bet this kind of reaction is going to continue as Clay's followers keep clamoring for more and more.
  

• Foxes on Idol - ATDW sales continue to dip.
• Dallas Fort-Worth Telegram - reader response to their less than glowing review of ATDW -

  OK, here's another e-mail because you mentioned Clay. ;-) You're entitled to your opinion about his album, ... Some people just don't go for adult contemporary fare and that's OK. I happen to enjoy artists like Beck, R.E.M., Pink, U2, Eminem, the Dixie Chicks, Evancescence, Outkast, Keane, and I'm greatly looking forward to the new Who CD after all these yrs. But I also love Clay's voice, personality and heart ...
  
  And I found his new CD, though not what I was hoping for by a long shot, to be a lovely romance album. There is room in this world for love songs performed in a unique style by an amazing singer. ... But what on earth are you thinking dissing his new hairstyle???
  
  Have you even looked at him lately with an unbiased eye? The guy has NEVER looked better, more mature, confident, handsome. The hair frames his face perfectly. God, if cheap shots like yours send him back to those crappy spikes, there will be hell to pay, woman! LOL!

• Ottawa Sun - Suzie McNeil performs her duet with Clay @ Ottawa concert - "Backed by four of Toronto's top session players, she'll be singing some of the songs she performed on Rock Star, a couple of cuts from her album, and I Want To Know What Love Is, which she sang on American Idol Clay Aiken's latest album."
• The State SC - Xmas concert mentioned - concert calendar
• Cinematic Happenings Under Developement - DVD called "Blue Collar TV" includes impersonation of Clay Aiken (???)
• Reality TV News - American Idol Rewind takes you through good-old AI memories.
• ATDW mentions - Honolulu Advertiser, Orlando Sentinel
• Clay shows up in the weirdest places, including in this Trinity Western University PR about a Canadian news program called The Standard, which Clay appeared on last year.
  

• USA Today Music blogs - comments on Clay's sales, now this comment submitted to the Idol blog speaks volume of ATDW's success:

  All things considered, Clay's album is selling amazingly well. How many other pop artists have produced these numbers without benefit of a video or radio single, not to mention absolutely no pre-promotion to speak of??? Name me one, Ken, then I'll buy your disaster theory. Clay is selling on the basis of his voice & name ALONE. Despite the covers concept & despite a vast national lack of supply at retail. Any other artist in his situation would have probably fallen off the chart by now, yet there he is hanging in at the Top 20. You've also given no thought to how well he traditionally sells during the holiday shopping season where this CD & his Christmas album will most likely be promoted together.

Technorati tags: Clay Aiken, A Thousand Different Ways, ATDW, American Idol, Without You, Invisible