Tidbits 4/21

• LiveDaily - summer tour update:

  Singer Clay Aiken has filled in a few gaps on his upcoming summer tour, adding several new shows to a trek that supports his most recent studio album, "A Thousand Different Ways."
  
  Aiken has piled new stops in Dallas; Houston; Tulsa, OK; and Syracuse, NY, onto his itinerary. Details for the entire tour, which kicks off July 4 in Dallas, are included below.
  
  The singer made news earlier this month when UN agency UNICEF hailed his role as a traveling Goodwill Ambassador.
  
  "As a former teacher, I recognize that spark of hope and excitement all children possess when given the opportunity to learn," Aiken, who spent five days traveling between Kabul and Bamyan in the central region of Afghanistan, said in the organization's press statement. "Rebuilding schools, training teachers, providing essential supplies and teaching materials are just some of the advances UNICEF and its partners have made to keep that hope flourishing."

• Charlotte Observer - In an article about Sanjaya being voted off AI, it talks about the lack of excitement left in the remaining idols. Concerning Clay, it says, "Clay Aiken vs. Ruben Studdard pitted two men who offered very different styles and excited fans on all ends of the spectrum."
• TV.com - Day's Of Our Lives - Monalisa57 from The Clayboard has found some videos, including a behind the scenes video, of Clay on Days of Our Live's website.
• AV Club - AI contestants not successful enough? "Second-season winner Ruben Studdard is the kind of throwback chubby R&B singer that no A&R man would've signed six years ago; ditto his runner-up, the schmaltzy, nerdy Clay Aiken."
  
• Spokesman Review - uh... article about music in general -
  

  On the background music front, only those who know the words can truly be overcome by the fumes of sanitized, instrumental-only versions of songs like "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" or "Every Breath You Take." For those who don't, it probably sounds like something either their parents or Clay Aiken fans might like – sort of like oatmeal with prunes.

• Philadelphia Inquirer recaps Clay's interview with ET and The Insider:

  American Idol hero Clay Aiken tells The Insider that with Sanjaya gone, the show is boring: "I rooted for him. I thought it would be great for him to win." Great, as in a gift to music? Or great, as in a piece of irony?
  
  Clay shows no mercy. "I haven't been watching [Idol] at all," he said, explaining the Sanjaya phenom was "the excitement for this year." And now, it's all over.

• Nothing here yet.