Tidbits 3/29

Scholastic News Online, a website aimed towards kids and teens has a very nice interview with Clay on being a UNICEF ambassdor:

Name one small way and one big way you help to promote UNICEF.

One small way I help is by encouraging people to support UNICEF. Every penny counts! UNICEF uses the money it raises to help improve kids’ lives around the world. It doesn’t take much money to help a child live a better life. For instance, just $2.50 provides a child with school supplies for an entire year. More than 121 million kids around the world are not in school. UNICEF gives school supplies, trains teachers, and rebuilds schools that have been destroyed in disasters. And just $17 immunizes one child for life against six killer diseases. Many kids around the world don’t get the shots they need to protect them from dangers like measles and tetanus. UNICEF saves more than two million kids’ lives every year through immunization and medicine.

• ABC 7 News - MIT researcher says people are motivated by love, not hate in terms of TV shows -

  "With 'American Idol' younger viewers have a chance to experience the best music of the past with an updated style and fresh faces which are sometimes nice to look at. I've always loved that aspect of the show. I also really like how it can take an ordinary person and turn them into a superstar. Take Clay Aiken for example. Here is a guy who had a very hard childhood, got picked on constantly, but because of 'American Idol' discovering his amazing talent, he is now loved by hundreds of thousands," she wrote in an e-mail.

• {A} - blog about the Six Degrees campaign ... nice TBAF mention:

  I also wanted to take a minute and talk about a scrapbooking connection related to the contest. The other top badge right now is raising money for the Bubel Aiken Foundation which "serves to bridge the gap that exists between young people with special needs and the world around them. We will support communities and programs in creating awareness and opportunities for full inclusion where barriers break and doors open." That is totally something I believe in and something that is beginning to impact our lives more and more as Simon develops.
  
  One of the cool things about this organization is it has a scrapbooking connection. Scrapping 4 Inclusion is a fundraising arm for Bubel Aiken that organizes full day crops around the country that raise awareness and generate funds. Here is a link to their current events and more info on organizing an event in your area.

• Stuck In Idol - AI article, this paragraph about Melinda Doolittle has a nice Clay mention:

  This woman comes so ALIVE when she sings it’s such a joy to watch and listen to her. She makes it look so effortless and that’s the mark of a truly gifted professional. I just love her but won’t proclaim her the winner just yet — this show is waaaay too fickle (two words - Clay Aiken) and I don’t trust the voters either.
  

• New York Times - random Clay mention in an article about Pandora - the free online radio station that adapts to your musical tastes.

  Now that the free ad-supported service has been operational for 15 months, it can use the behavioral data of its six million listeners to add a new layer of suggestion. For instance, even if, on paper, the musicologists think it logical to pair a song by the "American Idol" superstar Clay Aiken with one by the Canadian folk balladeer Ron Sexsmith, several hundred listeners may give the juxtaposition a vote of no confidence.

• Superconcesionario - tips for starting a successful internet business... now here was an interesting idea:

  During the auditions of the second season of American Idol, a young man by the name of Clay Aiken stuck out because of his “nerdiness” and voice. I had a strong feeling he was going to become popular so I created a “vote for Clay Aiken site”. It had a message board and pictures. Some of his friends from North Carolina saw our site and asked our help to promote him.
  
  Because we were the first website to promote Clay, it ranked #1 for almost an entire year in Google. Because our site was at the top, we were able to make an Amazon link to his CD, and thousands of people bought through our Amazon affiliate link.
  
  We weren’t the first person to introduce Clay Aiken. American Idol did that for us. But, we were second.
  
  You never know what’s going to catch on. So, find things that interest you and be the place to go right after somebody scoops something.
  

• The Olympian / Orlando Sentinel - review of a new movie called 'Blades of Glory'... small Clay tidbit: "Heder plays Jimmy McElroy, the sissy- king of skating, all flamboyant costumes and "American Idol"-sappy routines. Think Clay Aiken on ice."
• Glens Falls Post Star- Sanjaya Malakar doesn't deserve a spot on the AI6 top 12 -

  Performances by the 17-year-old contestant from Federal Way, Wa., can be adequately summarized in a single word: suck. Unlike some of my lowbrow critical contemporaries, I'm not going to pick on his hair obsession and I won't scoff at him for making Clay Aiken look like a plainclothes G.I. Joe. I will however state the obvious; Sanjaya Malakar has no place in a legitimate singing competition.

• South Florida News Sentinel - why hairstyles make an Idol contestants and Idol -

  Clay Aiken's prominent ears were camouflaged with a new hairstyle by "American Idol" hairstylist Dean Banowetz, who is often credited with the singer's phoenix-like rise from the ashes of the second season.

• Pittsburgh Post Gazette - reader responds to the Post Gazette's article on why RCA doesn't promote Idols well -

  RCA has made all the right decisions regarding the "American Idol" contestants on whom to plug and whom not to. Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood are proof of that. And let's not forget, they pushed Clay Aiken, who didn't win, harder than they pushed Ruben Studdard.

• Something That Really Happened - "Clay Aiken: Lawsuits, Philanthropy, Concerts"