Tidbits 1/26

• Thanks to Jocelyn who sent us a news tip last night regarding a Clay mention on The Insider last night. Clay, along with other American Idol runner ups were featured in an Insider poll which asked "Who is your favourite American Idol runner-up?". Clay's won many of these Insider polls, so I wouldn't be suprised if he wins again... keep an eye out for poll results on today's The Insider.
• Clay was also mentioned on CNN's Larry King Live last night. The show was about the tremendous success of American Idol and Larry showed a small clip of Clay. They also showed a short clip from Clay's 2002 Atlanta auditions.
  
• Foxes on Idol: "A Thousand Days" hits the Billboard Charts-- "Clay Aiken also hit the A/C chart with his single “A Thousand Days,” which debuted at #29."
• Raleigh News & Observer- Raleigh home to another up and coming musician --

  Jason Michael Carroll — This country singer is poised to become the biggest thing to come out of Raleigh since Clay Aiken. “Alyssa Lies,” the first single from his debut album “Waitin’ in the Country” (out Feb. 6 on Arista Nashville Records), is already a top-10 country hit.
  

• A few American Idol related mentions today:
• TV Gasm - "Even if you aren't the winner, things can be great. Some argue that Clay Aiken is the most successful Idol of all time, and he surely has the most rabid fan base."
  
• Asbury Park Press- Ruben Studdard makes his return. There's also a small mention in this second article from APP which is also about Ruben.
  

  Only Clay Aiken, who came in second behind Ruben, remains the most popular of the nonwinners. His first disc, "Measure of a Man,'' topped the Billboard pop-album charts, selling 2 million copies. Aiken's latest, "A Thousand Different Ways,''
  came in at No. 2, selling 211,000 copies in late September.
  
  But Studdard doesn't feel slighted … even though Aiken continues to best him on the charts.
  
  "It's all good,'' says Studdard, who will perform today in Red Bank and Tuesday in New York. "I'm too blessed to be stressed.''

• Evansville Courier Press-

  The show, to its credit, taps some amazing talent. Just look at the awards, album sales and stardom of Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Clay Aiken, Taylor Hicks, Jennifer Hudson and, my favorite, Chris Daughtry.

• Daily Tribune - "The show has spawned the careers of Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard."
• Press Enterprise --

  As head of RCA Records, Davis had huge success in signing other "Idol" winners, including Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken and Fantasia Barrino. He must have recognized that the groundswell of support for Daughtry made the singer a hot commodity.

• Sturgis Journal -- "Past "Idol" participants Clay Aiken, Jennifer Hudson, Kimberly Locke, Anthony Federov and last season's Elliott Yamin and Mandisa each met Simon's sharp wit a time or two, but each also went on to make the Top 10."
  
• Bend Weekly: Jimmy Kimmel's ratings continue to climb...

  Although painfully short on trained seals and plate spinners, large celebrity guests - ranging from George Clooney and Britney Spears to Clay Aiken and Kelly Ripa - the late-night gabfest increased its fan base (now at 1.8 million) from 2005 to 2006 by 22 percent, according to company propaganda.

• Kelly Ripa/Clay mentions:
• Phenoxville News
• University of Calgary Gauntlet

• Carolina On My Mind- driving tales and update on the Clay Aiken "drought".
• Meanspeed (non-Clay nation blog) - now here's one of the coolest blog posts I've seen so far this year. Someone at this blog has meticulously and scientifically (by the looks of it) analyzed every song on ATDW... take a peak:

  On September 19, 2006 the universal cultural phenomenon Clay Aiken released his second album, made up of cover songs, called A Thousand Different Ways. Apple's iTunes.com lists each track here under its genre: ‘pop.’ There is a recording company responsible for Clay’s intellectual property: A Thousand Different Ways, ©2006, 19 Recordings Limited.
  
  Clay shows a surprisingly adept manner of handling speed and tempo in a variety of slow ballad to mid-tempo ballad ranges: we hear the meanemotion ranges of surreal (below 55 beats per minute), melodrama (55-58 beats per minute), sincerity (59-62 beats per minute), ceremony (63-69 beats per minute), grace (70-76 beats per minute), loneliness (79-84 beats per minute), renewal (85-89 beats per minute) and natural (98-105 beats per minute). Hence, you will find no songs in the speed ranges of: bittersweetness (77-78 beats per minute), enthusiasm (90-97 beats per minute), lust (106-114 beats per minute), foreboding (115-118 beats per minute), victory (119-128 beats per minute) or mixed fast (129 and above). This Clay Aiken work is not about fast and lusting. This is about deep ceremonial introspection. This is a man singing the modern ballads with truth, honesty and from the heart.
  

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