Tidbits 1/21

• Rushville Republican - Yep Its That Time Of Year Again by Elizabeth Gist says, "Millions of Americans waited for this week to come. Tuesday night, they rearranged their schedules, broke out the Clay Aiken CDs and the “I Luv Kelly Clarkson” posters, and sat in front of their television sets, captivated... That’s right, boys and girls, it’s AMERICAN IDOL TIME!!!"
• Chicago Sun Times - Opportunity Knocked, 'Idols' Answered By Jonathan Cohen, Gary Graff, Gail Mitchell, and Jeff Vrabel asked nine idols what American Idol has meant to their career. Here is their comments about and from Clay:

  CLAY AIKEN
  
  Season/finish: 2003, second
  
  Chart history: The Billboard 200: "A Thousand Different Ways," 2006 (No. 2); "Merry Christmas With Love," 2004 (No. 4); "Measure of a Man," 2003 (No. 1). The Billboard Hot 100: "This Is the Night," No. 1; "Invisible," No. 37; "Solitaire," No. 4.
  "We auditioned for the show because it looked like fun. I think every year after that, the fourth and fifth [season] especially, you found people who got into the show because they knew something big was going to come out of it. I kind of liked seeing contestants come up out of obscurity. It's lost a little bit of its innocence and so it's not as much fun for me anymore."

• Clayboard Thread - nJOYclayFL included this at the Clayboard, and I thought it was an awesome thing that was said here about Clay:

  I just found this on a Miami Poetry Review board, where they were discussing 'Chris Daughtry's new CD'... and the reviewer added the following comment about Clay..."Studdard hasn't done too much since claiming the title, but Clay Aiken is still out there, using his fame to support worthy causes and sell Christmas albums. In that respect, Clay Aiken is the Bono of "American Idol."

• MSN FOX Sports blog - article about the upcoming Super Bowl and its "Half time show" mentions Clay:

  Clay Aiken and U2. The true measure of musicians is how they interpret the material of others. I see U2 and Bono swapping off songs, with the band as backing musicians. Aiken could rip into "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and Bono could stretch out a little on "Build Me Up Buttercup" (which Aiken performed on 'American Idol'). Maybe they could even trade looks. I'm thinking the sunglasses might bring out the sinister side of Aiken, and a good moose and some highlights could help Bono find his inner Aiken.

• North Lake Tahoe - random Clay mention.
• Cinema Blend - AI using "bad" singers to bring up ratings?

  ‘American Idol’ may want you to believe it’s best known for bringing talent into the mainstream like Kelly Clarkson or Clay Aiken, but what fans have always enjoyed are the opening weeks of misguided and tonally impaired denizens of the world making a fool of themselves. Executive Producer Ken Warwick echoed this sentiment in a statement, ”People like the bad singers. It’s more the bad singers that will bring in the ratings.”
  

• Southern Girl - Valentine's Day, Clay Aiken and Jimmy Kimmel.... who cares about candy and chocolates...
  

Technorati tags: Clay Aiken, A Thousand Different Ways, ATDW, All Is Well, Merry Christmas With Love, Invisible