In Defense of Clay Aiken

2 fantastic editorials have come to Clay's defence after this week's National Enquirer story was published. Clay's management have produced evidence which completely vindicates Clay from these allegations.

• James Shepherd at Beavers on Idol says it's all a smear campaign. "This is not the first time that the Enquirer has "picked on" Clay Aiken, but then, the Enquirer and other tabloids like to center on true celebrities because this is what gains them higher readership."
• Diane Sprague says, "What I realized though is that it is all a marketing ploy because across from the publications on the other side of me are the candy bars. Yawn. Idiots."
  

CNN Reality TV Story

CNN just ran a story about Reality TV on its main channel. The preview offered a clip of Clay from the 70's segment of the Jukebox tour, but there was no Clay mentions in the actual story iteself.

CDD VIDEO: Thanks to Amy Hearts Clay for the video clip of this.

Happy Anniversairy Clay Nation!

It's been 3 years, since our 'nerdy' Clay popped up on the Atlanta auditions episode of American Idol 2.

Check out this retrospective montage by hosaa.

Read mamarose's 3rd anniversairy post.

Clay Mentions 1/28

• Raleigh N&O article about Jamie Foxx- mentions Clay's popularity
• Boston Globe posted the BAF article which appeared in the Concord Monitor a few days ago.
• News-Record.com- Clay won the heart of fans
• Grace and Strength- CAtheidealidol.com
• CUTE- Parodies of Clay songs- thanks to CAtheidealidol.com for the heads up!
• Quiana's journal.
  

Tsunami Book Mentions Clay

Clay is mentioned in a new book about the late 2004 tsunami that hit Southern Asia and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Clay, as a UNICEF ambassador had an active role during the organization's tsunami response.

"Tsunami" by Susan Blackhall is available at Amazon.com for US $12.99.

From the CB's gengen:

American TV shows Entertainment Tonight, The Early Show, and The Insider joined forces with UNICEF to "raise money and awareness" for Tsunami-affected countries.

Clay Aiken was the first to join the all-star effort, through a series of public service announcements airing on ET and The Insider. He said: "It's not a situation where we have to feel helpless. We can actually help out. We continue to see the death toll rising on the news, but I think the biggest story and the biggest need is to help those survivors continue to survive and get back to their normal lives."

TVSquad: We Don't Believe It

TVSquad offered its opinion in the allegations against Clay which came out today in the National Enquirer.

TVSquad's Adam Finley said:

This would be a great story, perhaps one for next year's Christmas letter, but I don't believe it. It's from the National Enquirer, so it loses some credibility in that respect. Also, I can't imagine Clay, who stays relatively cool about the whole gay/not gay thing, would risk exposing himself by contacting some random guy via the Web. Clay has money, and if he wants a gay rendezvous with no strings attached he could make it happen. If not, then what's the point of having all that money?

Allthingsclayaiken.com Needs Your Support

Clack site Allthingsclayaiken.com is asking for your support. The site had to shut down a few servers today due to high demand. Media stored on the site accounts for over 1,000 GB of storage (to put that into perspective, that's how much data 25 40GB computers would hold). Click here if you can help out with a monetary donation of ANY AMOUNT.

Entertainment Tonight 1/26 Mention

Brief mention of Clay on ET last night during a report on American Idol's San Francisco auditions. ET showed a clip of Paula defending Clay, after Simon made a comment on one of the auditioner's image. "Isn't that what you said about Clay Aiken?" an angry Paula demanded.

Clay CD's Continue To Ride High

WOW!

Clay's done it again! Clay's rankings on Amazon.com are staying incredibily high for the 3rd day in a row. Yesterday, Measure of a Man was the 3rd bestselling item in the Music department. Currently, it has dipped ever so slightly to #7, but still beats new releases from Jamie Foxx, Neil Diamond, Madonna, Michael Buble, Il Divo and Barry Manilow. Merry Christmas With Love rose to #524 yesterday before dropping overnight to #688 -- incredible, considering it's not even the holiday season!

Clay Mentions 1/27

• A mention of Clay being from NC, but it's a little bit inaccurate (says Clay came from Greensboro)
• This artist has a gorgeous Clay drawing up on her site. Get the thudmat ready!
• Idol auditioner wrecked a 'good Clay Aiken song'
• Samatha's Clay Aiken page -- cool!
  

Statement from CDD: Clay's Daily Double Joins The Call For Boycott of American Media Inc.

Clay's Daily Double is joining the call for Claymates (and for that matter, the general public) to boycott American Media Inc. and all of its magazines and properties.

American Media's National Enquirer will be publishing an "expose" on Clay THAT HAS BEEN PROVEN FALSE with records from Clay's management.

Yale graduate, former CIA agent and an writer at the National Review William Buckley says that the rag is a "disgrace to journalism."

William F. Buckley in his National Review magazine once branded the National Enquirer a "disgrace to journalism." A journalism scholar, in an academic publication, called it the epitome of "low-taste media"; another suggested it be tossed into an incinerator "without a second thought."

This was posted by Louise over at the fanclub. Her son is a journalism major who took a special class on rags such as the National Enquirer, published by American Media.

You should have seen the serious expression on his face. He wasn't about to be kidding. One of the topics within that class was specifically about The National Enquirer and other rags just like it. The instructor taught that those publications literally make things up--- Literally. Make. Things. Up.---He backed it with provable examples. My son said that even the guy who is being quoted as having the one night stand with Clay could be completely made up as well. Non-existent. Not necessarily, but COULD BE. If his lying self does exist, the paper will protect him as best as they are prepared. And they are usually pretty well prepared, if not welcoming in their preparedness. They have no boundaries. They have no ethics. They have no morals.

He went on to say that they make stories up with the hope of getting sued. Let me repeat, for emphasis, THEY WANT TO GET SUED. They still come out ahead, he says, considering it to be the best advertising dollar they could spend with all the attention it will give them. Amorality at it's finest. No, evil. It is evil.

What The National Enquirer does is exploit society's need to have their ears tickled, and their willingness to believe lies so they can go out and spread some more. It is the stuff gossip is made of, which is quite tantalizing in a fallen world. It is innate in our human fiber. We have to work not to participate, otherwise we kinda find ourselves interested, too. The Bible goes so far as to call it sin. It causes damage horizontally within human relationships. And it causes damage vertically between man and God. In other words, it is serious with Him.

You can act now by cancelling your subscription and not purchasing these magazine titles:

• National Enquirer
• Star
• The Globe
• National Examiner
• Weekly World News
• Country Weekly
• ¡Mira!
• Thalia
• AMI's Auto World
• NOPI Street Performance Compact
• MPH (Maximum Performance Horsepower)
• Shape
• Shape En Espanol
• Men's Fitness
• Fit Pregnancy
• Flex
• Natural Health
• Muscle & Fitness
• Muscle & Fitness Hers
• Looking Good Now
• Celebrity Living

Calling All Fanclub Members

The Official Fanclub has started a brand new contest for all fanclub members. To those of you who are good at making Clay puns like 'Claynation, Claymate, Claynadians', etc., you'll want to pay extra close attention!

01/25/06 / New Fanclub Contest!!
A new fanclub contest is here - Clay on Words: A Contest of Clay Aiken Puns!

It's time to put on your cre"CLAY"tive thinking caps and come up with your very best Clay Aiken pun!

Submit your best pun using either 'Clay' or 'Aiken' or both (e.g. CongreCLAYtion for congregation or CLAYmerAIKEN for American) and Clay will choose his favorite pun as the grand prize winner!

Make sure to check out the "Contests" section of the fanclub for details on how you can participate in this CLAYmazing contest. Don't delay, the contest begins today, January 25, 2006 and ends March 31, 2006.

MAD Mag's Idol Cover

You've gotta love this! The American Idols are featured on the February 2006 cover of MAD magazine, on newsstands now!

Measure of a Man Amazon Sales Increase 8000%!!!

Today, Measure of a Man made huge (and I mean HUGE) leaps on Amazon.com. As of 3:28 PM EST, it is the 5th bestseller in Amazon.com's Music section, with a sales increase of over 8133% compared with sales yesterday. Normally, MOAM is ranked at around 2500-4000 range on the list! WOW! Earlier today, it peaked at #3.

A few more stats: #1 on Amazon Music's Adult Contempory list, #4 on General pop, #1 on Pop Vocal. Thanks to Clayworthy for the stats.

WOW!

The recent incidents (again, since it is outside our news posting policies, if you do not know about them, contact us. I will e-mail you some info to you.) may have fueled many fans to buy more copies of the disc to show their loyalty to Clay.

Don't forget you don't have to buy another CD to show your support -- show your support by leaving a comment for Clay here.

Thanks to the CDD visitor D.E. for the heads up.

Diane Bubel Interviewed by Disability News Radio

Diane Bubel was interviewed in 2004 by Disability News Radio, a online radio station about people with disabilities.

You can listen to the the radio station via their website - Dec. 26, 2004 show.

Read DNR's Press Release -- Clay/Diane mention..

Clay Mentions 1/26

A LOT of mentions about last night's Clay mentions on the San Fransicso audition episode of American Idol. Read about it here, if you prefer not to go through all these AI articles with a few mentions of Clay here and there.

• TV Guide article referring to AI contestant who said he was similar to Clay
• Clay mention in article about new TV network CW.
• Another mention of the AI contestant who claims to be Clay
• ...and another one from TV Squad...
• Another TV Squad AI recap
• News & Issues from NY mention about Clay's 'dedicated' fanbase
• AI article, AI2 finale mention
• AI article, Clay mention
• Another AI article- next Clay Aiken?
• Simon walks out of auditions- Article mentions Clay
• Another article about Simon storming out, same article on MSNBC
• AI runner ups experience success: Article
• Rock Star INXS contestant releases 'Clay Aiken CD'
• Will NC Idol hopeful be the next Clay Aiken or Fantasia?
• Kingston Trios (a band) praise Clay: "It's almost impossible not to like Clay"
• Beavers on Idol's AI Greensboro auditions article
• American Idol or American Idiot-- article
• Please keep this letter from Clay's mom Faye in mind as you pray for Clay in the next few days as the 'events' unfold. (if you don't know what I'm talking about, contact me... I'll get you caught up to date- we're not posting the story because of its contents)
  

  Since Clayton has become one of the most famous men in America our life has been on a roller coaster. Never in all my dreams would I have thought so much would have happened by one little boy getting a recording contract. I knew at an early age that Clayton had been blessed by God with much talent. It is not ours to know what God plans to do with our lives. We each have a purpose and it is truly remarkable that at such a young age Clayton has been shown his. Not only has his voice been used to entertain but it has brought a message to so many people. We get numerous letters about how his voice and character have touched their lives in so many ways. From getting them back to church, to helping them heal old hurts and loneliness, helping them make new friends through the internet and his concerts. Inspiring them to do good deeds for other, lose weight, mend a relationship, etc.
  
  Through his music, God has used him to form the foundation that was special to him as a special educator graduate. Clayton has a place in his heart to help the disabled that have no voice. To find a way to include them in the mainstream of America. After all these are God's children just as any one of us. Who are we to feel more special just because we are healthy and have a voice.
  
  I think that I am just as proud of my son for what he is giving back than for what he has become through the American Idol adventure. One of his favorite songs on his first demo CD. was the Christian song "The Great Adventure" God has truly put him on the great adventure. It is up to him, using God's guidance to continue that road.
  
  Many thanks to those who have been so supportive past and present. God had blessed us with such amazing friendships. The last two years of our lives has been shared with sorrow and gladness. Losing my husband, who I know is popping buttons in heaven with pride at his sons. He always believed Clayton was going to make it some day. He would also be so proud of the youngest Brett for the choice he has made to serve our country and Lord through the United States Marine Corp. Please keep them all in prayer and pray I do not lose my sanity. I know God does not give us more than we can carry and that when there seems to be only one set of footprints he is carrying me.
  
  God Bless,
  Faye

Clay Has Been Vindicated

Originally posted 1/25.

As you may know, several tabloids will be publishing a story from a man who claims he has proof that Clay is gay because he 'met Clay' in a hotel a last month. (This is as far as we will go with the details.)

HOWEVER

Clay has been cleared in these allegations. Clay's management has produced proof that Clay was not involved in the incident because he was in New York when it occurred, not in North Carolina as it was alledged to have taken place.

Also keep in mind that Clay was on tour on Dec. 16 in Nashville, TN and therefore could not have been able to access the internet alone. We all know that while on tour, Clay is surrounded by probably 100+ assistants, band members, tour managers, producers etc.

In the meantime, we ask that you keep Clay in your prayers.

This morning on Toronto's Z103 FM, the DJ's laughing off and discrediting the story by saying "that's what you expect from the rag tabloids." The radio station also mentioning the below post by ClayBrat.

ClayBrat posted this (CDD has censored part of this message):

HEY, YA'LL...I just stopping by to tell you not to worry anymore about the story...it's a scam. CLAY WAS IN NY ON THE DAY/NIGHT IN QUESTION. This comes from management. The guy is a total liar!

My friend said she wishes that she could get one of the [censored]....they sounded like fun!

So, ladies...it's a [lie]...pure and simple.

CDD's note: ClayBrat is a very credible source. She has previously alerted fans to unscheduled TV appearances, etc.

Idol Contestant Convinced He's The Next Clay

Another Clay mention on American Idol. Contestant Matthew Paulson who auditoned on the San Francisco episode tonight sang Clay's "Measure of a Man" saying that he believed he had "similarities" with Clay. Ryan Seacrest showed viewers a side-by-side comparison of him vs.Clay. On one side of the screen, Clay footage from the 2003 wildcard round of AI2, along with a clip from "Measure of a Man" rolled, while the audition played on the other side. The judges said the audition was bad. Personally, I thought it was great that Paulson did a Clay song.... we've seen Kelly, Ruben and even Fantasia songs before but this was the first time a Clay song popped up on the audition tour.

Later on, in the same episode, Simon Cowell made a comment on one of the auditioner's image ("I have to somehow see you with your eyes closed") causing Paula Abdul to angrily retort "Well, that's what you said about Clay Aiken" yet Clay has become so successful.

Update 1/28: We received an e-mail from Mr. Paulson himself and he would like to clarify that Simon wasn't even in the room when he auditioned. He sent this to us:

Hi Everyone, It's Matthew Paulson, yes the same one from American Idol. I just wanted to say that I'm a big Clay fan, I would not of done a song from him if I wasn't. Yes I may have sounded bad when I sang it but, and this is the honest truth, I was just getting over the flu before I faced the judges. And you all were fooled. Simon did not say those things to me because he had stormed out of the room before they saw me. Simon was edited in. And that is the truth.

Measure of A Man Sees 800% Jump in Sales

We're delighted to report that MOAM made a 830% jump in sales volume today on Amazon.com. Clay hit 311 today, up from his raking of 2893.

Click here to go to Clayscience's CDD Amazon Stats/Charts.

Clay's Teacher's Story

Cool story posted on one of the Clayboards about one of Clay's former Spanish teachers.

From the CB via another Clay board:

One of our friend's taught at Campbell University in Buies Creek, NC. This is a wonderful coed Baptist University in a tiny town. He taught Spanish 1. This teacher always leads the class in simple Spanish songs as he plays the guitar. He has to sing the songs by himself a few times before the class picks it up.

After he left Campbell, this teacher started watching American Idol 2. That kid from NC sure looked familiar. A quick check in his records and yes, that was the same Clayton who was one of his former Spanish students.

This teacher has an awful singing voice. Clayton never drew attention to his voice in class. This teacher had no idea he was singing in front of a world-class singer. He is still embarrassed when he thinks about it today.

Help! Help! Keep Clay on Lycos50

Clay is in danger of falling off the Lycos50, breaking his 135 week (and counting) stint on the list.

Click here to go to Lycos.com and search for "Clay Aiken."

Clay Mentions 1/25

• Need a Clay laugh- Clayboard thread
  
• Clay was mentioned a few times on last night's American Idol, which auditioned in Greensboro, NC.
  
• Delaware Coast Press- article about new artist/former ABC Bachelor, short Clay mention
• Justin Guarini tells MTV: No hard feelings about AI ditching him, picking up Clay
• Article about last night's AI episode, which auditioned in NC.
• Um... not sure what this is... about President Bush?
• Kansas City Star: Clay's a fluke
• MSNBC: another NC idol? "Where have you gone, Clay Aiken?"
  
• The Orion's Idol article
• Curlio.com Idol article
• Article about concert production and staging work
• San Fran Bay Guardian article
• Richmond.com Valentine's story- Mentions Clay CD
• Walmart offering live concert downloads. Clay's a fan of the Beastie Boys: USA Weekend
• Mention of the above USA Weekend article in a punk band blog
• Marion Daily AI article
  
• Kelly Clarkson Blender Woman of the Year, Clay mention
• Simon predicts: More Idols to appeal to older viewers, like Clay
  

Radio Disney Podcast

Clay will be featured on the next edition of the Radio Disney podcast, available via Apple's iTunes software.

Get the latest news and information on your favorite artists, only from Radio Disney! With the Radio Disney Now! podcast you can listen to music news, interviews and more whenever you want...

Hear how CLAY AIKEN helps kids, and how ANNE HATHAWAY nabbed her roll in Princess Diaries; Check out THE CLICK 5's cool new toy; and find out where THE CHEETAH GIRLS are heading next.

Clay Mentions 1/24

The CB's richieartist is creating a comic book. This appears on page 57 of his book.

• CB's Mamarose "The Measure of a Man" Support (repost)
• Mention of the Dec 2005/Jan 2006 Caregiving articles on Clay
• Musical Director of JNT2005 makes a hit in Philly
• Follow up to yesterday's BAF article from the Concord Monitor
• On TV tonight: AI mentions -- Ashbury Park Press, London Free Press
• Philly Inquirer AI article, mentions AI2 finale
• The Gateway's Idol article
• IdolRising.com's Clay Aiken profile
  

Show Clay Your Support

As we approach the 3rd anniversairy of our 'founding', Jan. 27, 2006, there are several threads on the various Clayboards where you can leave your comments for Clay.

Your support is especially crucial given the events of the past few days (American Media's National Enquirer will be publishing an "expose" on Clay THAT HAS BEEN PROVEN FALSE with records from Clay's management). Click here for the CB 'Circle our wagon'/Always and Forever thread.

Earlier today, Clay responded via his fanclub blog by saying he was happy and quoting a verse from the Bible.

Please keep Clay in your prayers.

You can buy this pin to show your support for Clay.

We are accepting comments for Clay from you. We will try to pass them to Clay via the fanclub next week. To leave your supportive comment, click here and scroll down to the very bottom of the page where you can input your comments.

Clay Aiken Took A Photo of Us!?! : NYC Blogger

There has been another possible Clay sighting in New York City. Yesterday, we reported that Clay attended a Saturday Night Live rehearsal at the NBC studios in New York.

This blogger claims that he and his friend met Clay while walking in NY's Central Park.

The other good thing (besides the proposal) was that I think we met Clay Aiken in Central Park. We were walking up back towards the street and we decided to take a picture of the two of us with the skyline as the backdrop. So Justin was doing the typical extend-one-hand-out-with-camera shot. Clay Aiken was walking by at this exact moment and he offered to take our picture. It was actually Justin who first thought it was Clay because of his voice and looks. Afterwards, we both were too embarassed to go up to him and ask for sure, but Justin is convinced that it is Clay. This is the picture that Clay Aiken took of us:

More Hackings of Clay Sites

We thought last week's MOAF hacking was a random incident. However, it now appears hackers from Turkey or Iraq have been hard at work hacking OTHER Clay sites too. Earlier today, Claytonaiken.com and Clayversity.org went down, after being hacked.

Both sites are up again as of 3 PM EST Monday.

MOAF announced they would be returing later this week.

CDD will most likely not be affected, as we are hosted by the all-mighty Google Inc. LOL.

Clay Mentions 1/23

• 'Fake' popquiz- Will Clay guest-star on FOX's Prison Break?
• Canoe.ca/Toronto Sun AI article- AI going to NC tomorrow 'whence sprang Clay Aiken'
• The penguins want Clay to blog. LOL. Hilarious!

BAF Helping NH School 'Foster Relationships'

The Concord (NH) Monitor published an article today about a program the local high school is running, funded by Clay's Bubel Aiken Foundation. The $32,000 grant has enabled educators and students at Concord High to 'foster relationships between what educators call "typical" students and students with disabilities.' Each of the students taking part in the project is assigned with a 'peer who has a disability.' The article also questions the purpose and effectiveness of the program.

Clay Video Project Wins Award

You may recall Clay appearing in a promotional video from Downtown Raleigh a while back. The video and marketing campaign was honoured with an award for creativity, MMI Associates Inc. announced today in this press release.

Clay Aiken Shows Up At SNL Rehearsals?

Clay may have attended a dress rehearsal yesterday's Saturday Night Live in New York City. The is SPECULATION that Clay also met up with RCA Records executives (in NYC) to talk about the sophomore album.

From the ClayAiken.com message board:

Hey all,

I've never posted here before, but I just wanted to share that I was in the audience for the SNL dress rehearsal earlier this evening, and thanks to a very nice camera man (who took a shot of the audience about halfway through the show, and then lingered on one particular red head), I learned that I had been sitting about 30 feet away from Mr.McDreamyAiken for the past hour. EEEEK!

So I spent the rest of the show straining my neck (and looking like a fool to the people around me) to try to see as much of Clay as I could. Sooo ... for those of you wanting to get you stalker on (like me), here's what I got:
He was with a very cute blonde spikey haired boy.
He was wearing a baggy green sweater with a blue button down shirt underneath and dark jeans
His hair is more red than I thought it was
He didn't seem to laugh too much (at least not as much as the nbc news lady did who was also sitting close to us)
Amy Poehler and Rachel Dratch kept waving up to him at the end, and it took him forever to notice ... when he finally did notice he just gave a shy smile and thumbs up

and, here's the kicker

When it was time to go, he just walked out of the studio with all of us little people! No SNL staff person ushering him quickly away ... he and his friend just walked out with the crowd. A few people came up to him to say hello and shake his hand. He was very gracious to everyone, of course. I was too nervous to approach him, even though for a good thirty seconds I was walking behind him and was close enough to "grab his tush", according to my friend.

As we left the studio, Clay and Pal went into some SNL or Special People Only area ... so my mild stalking ended there.

That's my story ... I just felt the need to share how Clay made my SNL experience even better than expected (now if Jake Gyllenhaal had shown up to support his friend, host - the awesome Peter Sarsgaard, it would have been totally perfect.)

Another poster on a non-Clay website posted this, validating the first post from the ClayAiken.com message boards.

Attending Saturday Night Live was a load of fun and little did I know, my girlyfriend Heidi had never before attended a television show taping. (Her going to a Dr. Ruth Westheimer show nearly 15 yrs ago doesn't count.) I was stunned as this woman is always out doing / seeing something, so I am doubly glad I asked her to go. If you stayed up late enough, you may have caught the sketch that almost was a complete disaster. Peter Sarsgaard was in a hotel room and couldn't find his remote to turn off the annoying hotel service channel that kept repeating for hours on end. At one point he hits the tv out of frustration which made the tv shut off. It was NOT supposed to shut off! They had to cut to Rachel Dratch while someone fixed the problem. The rehearsal version was really hilarious but knowing live television was going horribly wrong was even better. Clay Aiken was in the audience. Odd. And Drew Barrymore did a surprise little pop in during Weekend Update. Heidi was over the moon.

...and this surfaced at the CH, defending the validity of the second report, above.

the second poster from Feedster has a regular blog and has posted since 2002. According to her bio, she is a PR & promotions person & had written the day before about attending SNL the next night. It appears to me that she is legit. She just added a note to Clay fans, after getting a lot of blog hits that she was surprised to see him in the rafters.

Clarification: For all the Clay Aiken fans (holy cow, he's popular) coming to check out my account of last night. Clay was at rehearsal not at the actual on air show. I found it odd that he was in the rafter seating and didn't manage to get a better seat.

It's Official: Clay's First 'Gold'en DVD

The Recording Industry Association of America has certified Clay's "A Clay Aiken Christmas" DVD gold, which equates to 50,000 copies sold. Congratulations Clay!

From the CB's SueBos:

This may be old news but every once in awhile I check the RIAA site to see if they've certified MOAM as triple platinum yet. (I figure that RCA will do it a little before the next cd comes out so that they can use it as "official" in the press.)

Well, maybe it's old news to everyone else, but this was the first time that I saw that A Clay Aiken Christmas - the video - was certified as Gold. It was certified in December.

AIKEN, CLAY A CLAY AIKEN CHRISTMAS 12/09/05 RCA GOLD VIDEO LONGFORM SOLO Std

James Denton: "Leave the singing to the professioals"

James Denton, star of ABC's Desperate Housewives told the Grand Rapids Press last night that singing should be left to 'professionals' like Clay. Denton hosted last night's broadcast the Miss America Pagent on CMT-TV. A few Claymates heard a 'smidgen of Clay' during last night's telecast which reflected back on previous pagents.

Clay appeared on the pagent, in 2003 and 2004 when it aired on ABC.

From the CB's claikendee:

James Denton, the host says: "No, let's leave the singing to the professionals" the article continues to say Last year, the professional tapped to croon the tune was none other than American Idol Clay Aiken!

Clay Mentions 1/22

Did you need a clack camera? Hee hee...

• Everett Herald article
• Miami Herald article on 'old' Jukebox music mentions Clay's version of Neil Sedeka's 70's hit, Solitaire:
  

  Sedaka [hit his] light-bulb moment during the second season of American Idol. The '60s pop star was a guest judge, and when Clay Aiken turned everyone to mush with his version of Sedaka's Solitaire (which he later recorded, selling more than 400,000 CD singles, a huge number these days).

• Minneapolis Star Trib: American can't get enough of their idols.
• Diane Austin's AI article