Tidbits 7/2

• Wall Street Journal on who sings the best national anthem -

  In the competitive spirit of "American Idol," my son and I starting wondering: Who was the best at singing the national anthem?
  
  Joined now by my wife and 2-year-old daughter, Emma, we went to YouTube and began calling up performances. We watched a number of "Idol" performers take on the anthem -- Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Fantasia and others. (Follow those links to follow along with us.) Then we branched out to non-"Idol" performers -- Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Jessica Simpson, Christina Aguilera, Billy Joel, Justin Timberlake, and, going further back, Marvin Gaye.
  

• Even more coverage of "Idol: The Musical". Yes, we know you're tired of it, but at very least it's keeping Clay's name out there:
• Cape Cod Times -

  It's not a joke, folks: "Idol: The Musical," playing off-Broadway, is about fans' obsessive love for Clay Aiken. I don't know whether I was more shocked by the show or that Aiken still has fans. If you're one of those Claymates, you might want to head to NYC to see the show. It starts Thursday at the 45th Street Theatre.

• Sign On San Diego -

  But it's entirely possible that the most frightening phrase in the English language is this: “Based on.”
  
  As in, say: “Idol: A New Musical Based on the Worship of Clay Aiken.”
  
  That's the actual title of a show coming soon to New York, inspired not by TV's “American Idol” nor even by a winner of “American Idol,” but by the gooey affection for a long-ago “Idol” loser.
  
  Nothing against the saintly Mr. Aiken, but lately the entertainment biz has seemed engaged in a competition to see who can contrive the most unlikely, esoteric or plain insane pretext for a movie or play or TV show.

• The New Yorker -

  IDOL: THE MUSICAL
  
  A new musical about small-town teen-agers who are obsessed with Clay Aiken. Daniel Tursi directs. Previews begin July 5. (45th Street Theatre, 354 W. 45th St. 212-868-4444.)

• Newsday -

  New musical puts Aiken on a pedestal
  
  The real world has its Clay-mates and Clay-nation - fans of 2003 "American Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken. But those guys pale in comparison to the fans in "Idol: The Musical," who recite terms from a "Clay-tionary" while worshipping in front of an 8-foot-high statue of the rosy-cheeked pop singer.
  
  This was bound to happen: "Idol: The Musical," a new tuner based on Aiken worship, begins performances this week at the 45th Street Theatre Off-Broadway (smarttix.com). Among the numbers spread out over two acts: "Quakin' for Aiken" and "Burnin' Hunk of Clay."

• Taking A Moment tells us how to travel as a Claymate -

  Five tips for the savvy Clay traveller:
  
  1. Book your travel through the cheapest airline you can find. It doesn’t matter if the seats are milk crates or that you have to immunize deported chickens while you’re on there, the more money you can save on airfare, the more you can spend at the “Let’s Buy Clay Another New Car” merchandise booth. I have a favored airline, but I don’t want to seem dismissive of the other cut-rate airlines out there, such as “AeroMaybe” or “Take A Chance” airline, so I won’t mention it by name. Let’s just say that it starts with “Air” and ends with “Tran”. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.
  
  ...

• Chexxxy's Pearls - Clay Aiken fans aren't the only ones buying multiple copies of their idol's CDs. Kelly Clarkson fans' "Operation Thankful" "exposed"
• There Was A Man - a compilation of photos of tour venues for those of you who are curious... very cool!