Jazz Musician Stephen Lu Collaborated With Clay

Clay worked with 'hot' jazz artist Brian Culbertson's friend for sophomore album, according to an article appearing in the current May 8-21 issue of Music Connection magazine. It is unclear whether the Lu/Clay song made the cut for the upcoming sophomore album. Maybe we'll have a nice jazzy flair to the album! From the CB's OneSingerGal:

describes Brian Culbertson's music as 'ultra-catchy, easy-grooving' with a 'sensuous, lightly grooving and highly melodic style'. and is the rage in the jazz market. he's a 20 year-old keyboardist and trombone player. has 8 hit albums and 20 No. 1 Radio and Records airplay singles.
.....

Brian Culbertson's most frequent collaborator, however, is the lesser-known Stephen Lu, who Culbertson met through another of his former saxmen, Jimmy Reid. Lu, who does string arrangements for John Fields and has also worked with Clay Aiken, has what Culbertson calls 'a similar production brain to mine,' and the two wrote one song together on Nice and Slow (2001) and several others on Come On Up (2003). It's On Tonight is evenly split between Colbertson songs and collaborations with Lu.

Tidbits 5/6

• Washington Times: Simon predicts all male AI finale would mirror "the May 2003 sing-off between Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard"
• We Support Clay Aiken: this blog has some very compelling evidence against the current gay allegations.
• Stand up for Clay... sign your name here.
  
• Remember last year's InStyle Poll that said Clay was the sexiest crooner? It's time to vote for this year's poll. VOTE VOTE VOTE... InStyle.com.
• Minneapolis Star Tribune: Idol article... mentions Idol's hair stylist/Clay.
• Congrats to the CB's 4192spooky who won the eBay/Wake County Literacy Council's dinner with Faye Parker dinner. Her $2252 winning bid will help improve literacy in the NC area. Spooky will dine with Faye at the 518 West Italian restaurant in Raleigh.
  

Touching Story From Palm Beach Post

The Palm Beach Post published a story about a Florida family dealing with autism. Laura Miller recounts the story of when Anthony, her autistic son, met Clay during last year's Joyful Noise Tour 2005.

Aiken immediately understood Anthony's disability and got up close to him, which is the best way to communicate with people with autism, Miller said.

"Hi, I'm Clay," Aiken said.

"Hi, I'm Clay," Anthony replied.

"That's funny, I'm Clay," Aiken said back.

Miller told Aiken her other two children also had autism. He gave her a hug and said, "God bless you."

The Miller family will be moving to North Carolina soon.

Fanclub E-Mail: Tour In The Works For Later This Year

According to an e-mail sent out today by the Clay Aiken Official Fanclub, a new tour is in the works for later this year. The e-mail promotes a clearance at the fanclub's official store. Here's what the e-mail said:

Everything Must Go Sale!!! With a new album and tour in the works for later in 06’, this is your last chance to purchase any merchandise we have left in our warehouse. Sale begins Friday, May 5th and will run for 3 weeks! We have already SOLD OUT of several items so take a look and see if there is anything you’d like to have while you still can.

June/July Teen People Mentions New CD

The CB's ChocolateMalt informed us of a small tidbit about Clay in the new June/July issue of Teen People magazine.

The magazine, (Ashlee Simpson cover) has a brief mention about Clay's new album coming out this summer. Accompanied with the picture to the left, it says: "One summer, three American Idol alum releases: Clay Aiken's untitled disc, Mario Vazquez's solo album and Josh Gracin's All About Y'all. What will Simon think?"

Awesome Mention on Today's Live With Regis & Kelly

There was another great mention on a morning talk show today. Here's what was said about Clay on this morning's Live with Regis & Kelly (courtesy the CB's msstrombolisir):

Kelly and guest host, Sam Champion, were talking about how Paris got kicked off of American Idol, but how you didn't need to actually win the show to become famous. They said that the show had so much exposure that the kids were already famous. Then they said "Look at Clay Aiken. He didn't win the show, and went on to become one of the best selling artists that year"

Tidbits 5/5

ClayAiken.com's splash page finally has a new picture.

• Entertainment World: Taylor Hicks has Clay-like appeal -- distinct voice and 'different' from the rest of the pack.
• NY Post/FOX News: Cowell predicts a Taylor/Chris Idol finale... will this be a Clay Aiken-Ruben Studdard repeat? 'When the dust cleared, Studdard emerged victorious - although, since then, Aiken has had the more successful recording career (and even has his own rabid following, the "Claymates").' Read this same article under a different title at NY Post's website.
  
• PM Media Review: more Clay mentions in reviews of American Dreamz.
• AntiMusic: another random Clay mention I don't get. LOL.
• Dallas Fort-Worth Star Telegram: and another random, pointless mention. "No one buys a Clay Aiken CD" (CDD's note: really? is 4 million CD's sold 'no one'?)
• North Jersey: Neil Sedaka article... mentions Solitaire.
• Media Fiends: An update on AI4's Anthony Federov (suffered from "Clay Aiken comparisons")
• And another one from Media Fiends... current Idol contestant's shouldn't sing BOTW or Solitaire: "'Bridge Over Troubled Water' & 'Solitaie' as Clay sort of made them both untouchable."

Cute Mention on The Today Show

Clay was mentioned again on NBC's Today Show this morning, says the CB's PlatinumClay:

Matt Laurer asked three entertainment reporters what they thought about AI this year, after some talk about Paris being voted off, 2 of the 3 said they were still voting for Clay.

UNICEF Sends Out Letter From Clay

CDD's Clayscience21 recently received this letter and Certificate of Appreciation from UNICEF regarding her work with last year's UNICEF Trick-Or-Treat campaign. The letter and certificate were both written and signed by Clay (a copy, not a real signiture). Clay was the spokesman for the 2005 campaign. Click thumbnails to enlarge scans.

Tidbits 5/4

• Springfield State Journal-Register: Carrie Underwood article. Mentions the fact Clay has appeared at the IL state fair... Carrie has a concert there this summer.
• Idolthoughts: previous seasons of Idol has been predictable... not the case for AI5
• Nice article and compliment to Clay in MTV Asia article that says you have to win or be in the top 2 of Idol to be successful.
• TVSquad: "Speaking of room sharing, did anybody catch Jimmy Kimmel the other night when he pointed out that Ruben and Clay Aiken probably had to share a room before the finale? It's pretty funny when you think about it. Who do you think snores louder? My money's on Aiken. He's hiding a grizzly bear in that button nose of his. I'm sure of it."
• Calgary Herald: Neil Sedeka article... "Thanks to American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken's legions of female fans, the young crooner's version of Sedaka's Solitaire was one of the top-selling U.S. singles of 2004."
• Norwich Bulletin: Elliott Yamin is Idol 5's Clay Aiken.

Clay Sang National Anthem For 916th Wing Civil Engineers

WNYClayFan uncovered an article from March 30, 2006 which detailed a previously unknown appearance Clay made at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C 2 months ago. Clay sang the national anthem at a special retirement ceremony for three retiring 916th Air Refueling Wing civil engineers. The article, posted onto the base's website said "the day was made even more memorable because of RCA recording artist Clay Aiken." It continued on to say that "Aiken, a cousin of retiree Master Sgt. Terry Thompson, offered to sing the national anthem for the ceremony that was held on Sunday, March 12."

Click here to read the complete article.

Tidbits 5/3

• Clay's 2007 Calendar is now on Mead's (the publisher) website.
  
• A RCA PR about the new American Idol compilation CD. Small Clay mentions.
• KLTY Christian radio -- IWCY was #1 on their top 10 countdown last night!
• According to the CB's OneSingerGal, there are several small Clay mentions in the May issue of OnDirectTV:

  clay is mentioned under Hall of Records in the listing of first and second albums by finalists, and on the Hit Parade of successes (double and single platinum albums), as a ambassador for UNICEF under Worthy Causes, and under TVland they mentioned his scrubs and sat. night live appearances.

• A clarification about last week's calendar news. ClayNation at the CB informed us that she did not say that Clay recently did photoshoot for the calendar.
• Fantastic mention in today's Newark Star-Ledger (from the CB's claysthe word):

  In today's Newark Star-Ledger, there was an article on the front page of the Today section in which the writer says that there is nobody with a jaw-dropping performance. They use Clay's Solitaire and say, "with such authority that songwriter Neil Sedaka admitted he had just lost ownership of the tune" We need more comments like that!!!!!!!

American Idol/Billboard Clay Mention On AI Tonight

Tonight there was a Clay mention on American Idol. The contestants were to sing two songs, one which was to be in the Billboard Top Ten. Past winners who made the top ten were shown in the Billboard segment before the contestants sang. Clay's song "This Is The Night" and his CD "Measure of a Man" were both shown among the winners. Thanks to Gerwhisp of the Clayboard, we have two caps of this segment for your viewing pleasure and have included them with this article!

As we all know, American Idol is seen by millions of people each week, so this was a great mention for Clay.

Gibsongirl27 Wins The Amazing Race Clay Aiken

The Clayboard's Gibsongirl27 was declared the official winner of The Amazing Race Clay Aiken Spring 2006. She finished the virtual race in only 1 hour 15 minutes!

Over 300 racers crossed the starting point at 8 PM EDT last night, while 60 Claymates crossed the finish line.

A list of the top 20 finishers have been posted and more results will be coming soon.

CDD, ClayReport and Clay Aiken- The Ideal Idol were official race sponsors.

CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE!

Tidbits 5/2

• Happy Birthday to Clay's mom, Faye Parker!
  
• FoxesOnIdol: Is Taylor Hick's fans almost as big as Claymates?
• Claym moves up to 37 on the Lycos50. They've put a "Goodbye RCA?" caption under Clay's name... Hmm... colours us confused.
• Attention IWCY Club Members... please check in with Claydreamer!
• MediaFiends: Idol article... many people with good voices get chopped on AI (Clay mention)
• Montgomery Advertiser: article about AI's Taylor Hicks
• AntiMusic: random mention
• Canoe.ca says Clay's new album will be out June 20. Take this with a big bucket of salt. This site hasn't been reliable in the past. It reported in 2004 that MCWL would come out in September!

Top 5 Night - A Stroll Down Memory Lane to AI2

This week on American Idol is Top 5 night. Only 5 contestants remain. Who will go home next?

On April 29, 2003, it was also Top 5 night on American Idol. The theme was songs by Neil Sedaka, and Neil himself was there as a guest judge. Clay was the 5th contestant to perform, and what a performance he gave that evening. For the first time, the contestants sang two songs. Clay's choice of songs was "Build Me up Buttercup" and "Solitaire".

If you remember, after singing "Buttercup", Neil Sedaka had these words for Clay, "Clay, you sing like Andre Agassi plays tennis. Perfection, perfection! And I would kill to write and produce your first CD!" Then Clay brought Neil to tears by his version of "Solitaire", and Neil said, "Bravo Clay...I have lost my song forever to you. It will always be a Clay Aiken song". Clay's Top 5 night was perfection!!!

If you would like to watch the videos of both of these songs, go to All Things Clay Aiken (but before May 31, as they will be closing their site then). You can also see pictures of Clay's performances by clicking here and scrolling through the pictures.

Clay Won't Be On GMA Concert Series After All?

According to ABC.com, Clay won't be on Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series after all. It was previously rumoured that Clay would return to GMA on August 4.

There are still a few dates left unfilled, so we'll keep you informed of any developments.

Clay in Today's Drabble Comic

As you can see, Clay is in today's Drabble comic strip! Some cute references to Clay's popular Claylendar.

Tidbits 5/1

• THE AMAZING RACE CLAY AIKEN IS TONIGHT AT 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT.
  
• Canada.com: Clay's New album delayed... (mentions gay allegations)
• Caroll News Online: The internet opens new doors, "Why would I possibly crack my stats book when I could peruse extensive scholarship on the Ebola virus, slap bracelets and Clay Aiken?"
• Canoe.ca: Neil Sedeka article... mentions Clay's rendition of Solitaire.
• FoxesOnIdol: A trip down Idol memory lane.
• WebMetricsGuru: "It's like trying to redo Elvis, people try all the time but can anyone sing Elvis better than Elvis? Maybe Clay Aiken (well, he does sound good, but he's not really singing Elvis, he's stays himself)."
• Several CB members say they have received a survey from UNICEF asking them about Clay's work with UNICEF's 2005 Trick-or-Treat campaign.
• Clay was mentioned in Diana DeGarmo's mom's blog today.
  
• ClayAiken.com forums has a poll suspiciously similar to our weekly poll. It asks: "Well, we got some cd news finally and the fanbase seems to have mixed feelings about it. Do you like the idea of covers being on the cd?"
  
• The CB's WNYClayFan says there was a Claymate with a creative Clay sign present during this morning's NBC's Today Show:

  Woohoo....there was a lime green neon sign in the audience that read "Patiently waiting for Clay Aiken's CD"!!! It was on just after 8:30 am eastern - you could see it while Katie was talking to some fans with curlers in their hair!!

• P S Bonnie at the Clayboard informs us that UNICEF is sending out email requests to participate in a survey and it asks a few questions about Clay and his role in Trick or Treat for UNICEF. I had deleted the survey they sent me, but was able to pull it up and take the survey. So double check anything you get from UNICEF via email so you can give positive feedback for Clay!
  

Tidbits 4/30

• THE AMAZING RACE CLAY AIKEN is tomorrow at 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT.
  
• Courier Post: AI article... what 'dues' have idols paid?
• Times Diaptch: Idol success is mixed.
• Adweek: random Clay mention... "Clay Aiken lookalike"
• Greenville News: Article about the Peace Center (Clay was there in 2004... sold out concert)
• Baltimore Sun: "facination with band reminds me of my niece's obsession with Clay Aiken"
• AskMen: small Clay mention...