Tidbits 2/14

• LBFCA's Valentine's day post.
  
• ClearChannelMusic.com - The ATD video is now streaming at ClearChannel's music website. Click on "C" under Video Vault to find a link to the "A Thousand Days" video.
  
• MovieWeb - AI judge Randy Jackson comments on the continuing success of American Idol.... very good Clay mention:

  You listen to music from the '50s and '60s that kids don't even know, but they can sit there and enjoy it with their parents, I think, which is really, really cool. Because it's kind of the Rocky story set to music, if you will. You're pulling for that underdog. You know Clay [Aiken] can change his appearance and win.

• Boston Herald - lower CD sales numbers for former idols (well, duh! Whoever thought of making a covers album and not promoting it!!!??? RCA!!!???)

  But you don’t have to ask Justin Guarini to find that "Idol" exposure doesn’t automatically translate into a thriving career. Take a look at the numbers for the sophomore releases by ex-"Idol" runnerup Clay Aiken and past winner Fantasia.
  Aiken’s "A Thousand Different Ways" sold 211,000 copies its first week last September, but only recently did it creep past the half million mark. Respectable, yes, but also a sign that the glow is off Aiken’s popularity. Meanwhile Fantasia’s self-titled CD has sold fewer than 300,000 copies in eight weeks, despite some of the best reviews for an "Idol"-spawned release.

• TV Envy - questioning why runner-ups often overshadow winners of AI, in the case of Clay, Chris Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson. "And yet, winner Ruben Studdard falters while Clay Aiken makes out like a bandit."
  
• A bunch of Jimmy Kimmel mentions... Clay appears on the show tonight; check local listings:
• Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
• Kansas City Star
• South Coast Today
• Richmond Times Dispatch
• Orange County Register- "fifth rate Clay Aiken clone" cut from American Idol 6. The show will reveal their top 24 tonight on FOX:

  19-year-old Brian Miller of Placentia, who somehow managed to secure a drive up the 101 to the Orpheum by awkwardly overstating Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" like a fifth-rate Clay Aiken clone.

• Reality TV World - more press about Clay's much hyped "Build-A-Scandal" contest:

  Clay Aiken apparently thinks the tabloids do such a lousy job creating what he describes as "fabricated tales and pics involving his sex life" that he's inviting Claymates and the rest of his fans to come up with their own lurid tales through a "Build-Your-Own-Scandal" contest on his blog.

• Southern Girl - Jimmy Kimmel blog... reminding us that tonight is the night for the much anticipated show! Get your TiVo's ready, Claymates!
• Carolina On My Mind - celebrating "Clay Aiken" week as we gear up for Jimmy Kimmel appearance tonight.