Tidbits 7/12

Clay searches are up dramatically over at Topix after the "footgate" incident. The same trend was shown at Yahoo and MSN.

• Clay is #9 this week on the Lycos50, up 2 spots from #11.
  
• A few American Idol related mentions:
  
• Reality TV Calendar - "I am not kidding, if teenage girls could vote for President (by text message), Clay Aiken would be President of the United States. "
  
• Heckler Spray -

  If kids really want to feel like popstars they should practise not writing their own songs and running offstage when the tape they're lip-syncing to skips in the middle of a performance. Anyway, each clothes item will have one of the most popular song titles or lyrics from the show visibly displayed on it. We're not sure if we're more excited about purchasing a pair of goucho pants honouring Clay Aiken's Build Me Up Buttercup, or a shirt with William Hung's picture with the caption She Bangs, She Bangs on it. Yeah, that'll help us express ourselves for sure.
  

• TV Squad - follow up to their post claiming Clay took credit for reviving Jericho -

  If you like hard work, being yelled at, no money, and scalding hot coffee being thrown on you in response to a negative comment I received on my Clay Aiken post, shoot me an email and join the team!

• ... NOW Toronto has another Jericho article -

  If casey-from-mr.-dressup-look- alike Clay Aiken and 50,000 pounds of peanuts can convince a TV network to grant a floundering show a stay of execution, then I feel it's my duty as a TV critic to give it an hour of my time, if only to see what's gotten the American Idol alum's knickers in a knot.

• Richmond.com - Harry Potter article compares H.P. fans to Claymates and Elliot Yamin's fans - "Trust me, if you thought Elliott Yamin and Clay Aiken fans were over-protective, you ain't seen nothing yet."
• Concert listings:
• Tampa Bay Tribune
• Dallas Morning News - "Clay Aiken" awlful? They need to clean their ears out -

  Clay Aiken was awful, the fireworks were great, and half will never come back due to traffic problems. It is a shame the city puts on such fabulous events that conclude with so many in misery.

• Bay Area Reporter (website contains some mild adult content, so we are not directly linking to it) - gay actor Ben Patrick Johnson comments on his charitable UNICEF work with Clay and gives another example of outrageous crap the media throws around with no due cause:
  

  When he had friend Clay Aiken, the former American Idol contestant who's been dogged by speculation about his sexual orientation, videotape a public service announcement about UNICEF to run during his show, Johnson found himself in the center of an online storm of rampant speculation that he was Aiken's lover.
  
  The controversy led Johnson to confront the gossipmongers, writing on one blog that Aiken's private life is his own business and not something he has discussed with the singer.
  
  "From the first I heard of Clay's activism, back in his Idol days, I was interested in his work and his foundation. Last year after I helped build a school in rural Thailand, Clay and I met to talk about how we could harness attention for what we believe in," wrote Johnson. "So ... yes, Clay and I are friends. We share beliefs and are both convinced the world can be made a kinder place. We meet on that level, and it's wonderful. I'm gay, and Clay? His private life is his own business. It's not yours, nor anyone else's. And it's not a part of my dialogue with him. We're busy talking about other things ... things that matter more."
  

• Carolina On My Mind - Clay puts on sizzling shows in Texas, Oklahoma.
• Carolina On My Mind comments on the media frenzy over Clay's "footgate scandal". (Thanks Caro for the link back to us!)