Tidbits 8/8

Video of Jerry Aiken and Aron Hall's appearance on UNC-TV's N.C. Now is now up on ClackUnlimited. What great exposure for the TBAF!

• Clay is #9 this week in the Lycos 50, as you will see in the Lycos PR issued today (scroll down... it's near the middle of this post). He moved up 5 spots from #14.
  
• Des Moines Register - "Juice" - tips for AI auditioners: "Wanna be the next Ruben Studdard? OK, maybe Clay Aiken?"
• New York Post - article about AI4 6th placer Constantine Maroulis -

  EVERYONE knows even losers are winners on "American Idol."
  
  Need proof? Take a gander at Clay Aiken and Chris Daughtry - both are chart-topping, platinum-selling artists, even though they weren't crowned "Idols" - and don't forget Jennifer Hudson's Oscar win and Katharine McPhee's McPheever.

• Atlanta Journal Constitution/Access Atlanta -

  First place is overrated.
  
  Just ask "American Idol" losers Clay Aiken or Chris Daughtry — or Miranda Lambert.
  
  The country singer from Texas placed third in the first season of the USA Network's "Nashville Star," "American Idol's" country cousin, in 2003. But like those other two runners-up, Lambert has climbed higher than most of the series' winners.
  

• Raleigh News & Observer - Raleigh rap artists looking to be the next big thing out of Raleigh -

  As Raleigh police hurried the video shooters and bystanders off the corner early in the day, Small World thought about why he'll follow Clay Aiken as the next big thing from Raleigh and why North Carolina rappers haven't made a dramatic dent in the hip-hop scene.
  

• United Press International wire story - top search terms at Lycos -

  The week's other most popular terms were MySpace, YouTube, Pokemon, Naruto, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Disney, Clay Aiken and WWE.

• Earth Times- Lycos Inc. PR -

  The Lycos 50(TM) Top 10 Search Terms for the Week Ending Aug. 4, 2007:
  9) Clay Aiken

• Entertainment Weekly interviews Simon Cowell regarding his "talent search" based movie... uh... I think I'll pass on this one -

  EW: Any plans to cast past Idols as judges or producers of the competition?
  
  Simon: I can't imagine Clay Aiken producing the fictional show in this movie somehow, no. [Laughs] Maybe a choreographer or something, I don't know.

• Foxes On Idol - article about "So You Think You Can Dance". Mentions Clay in these paragraphs about how people vote.
  

  What surprised me was that Sara joined him out the door, not Lauren! However, I think a little American Idol history can explain just why she went now. In the second season, the final five were Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken, Kimberley Locke, Josh Gracin, and Trenyce.
  
  Josh was clearly the weakest at this point in the competition. Although the other four were all talented, Trenyce was seen as the weakest of them and everyone thought that after Josh left Trenyce would follow him.
  
  But Josh had fans that called and called and called to save him and Trenyce was sent packing instead. She wasn’t as memorable as Ruben or Clay and she split votes with Kimberley, who was considered better. And with Carmen’s departure a week earlier, her fans also became complacent.

• Houston Press - well... I completely disagree with this:

  There’s a lot to be depressed about during the holiday season: a smaller-than-expected Christmas bonus, in-laws coming to visit, Clay Aiken television specials.
  

• Tour mentions
• Knoxville Metro Pulse... what does "dark in there" mean? "Sunday, Aug. 12: Clay Aiken performs tonight at the Tennessee Theatre at 8 p.m. Just one question, Aiken: Is it dark in there?"
• Northwest Herald - Waukegan Christmas concert

• Taking A Moment's Jemock sure has a story she's been waiting to tell... LOL -

  SOMEBODY went and posted those pictures of Clay wearing some seriously and perilously low-slung pants. Gravity-defying britches, people. I don't know what's holding them up. Well, actually I know EXACTLY what's holding them up, but this is a family board, so cypher your own darn physics. I can't do everything, gosh. Oh, and he has his arms raised. Oh mama. Do you know the pictures I'm talking about? They're floating around all over the fandom, you can find them somewhere, I'm sure. Just make sure you have some bail money in your pocket, because these pictures are barely legal. And by "barely legal" I mean "awfully nice in an artistic and spiritual sense". What it is, is Clay's singing and dancing his big o'l heart out, and he's wearing a shirt with the tail untucked and the famously-ubiquitous undershirt has ridden way up somewhere around armpit level, and he's not wearing a belt and he's got some fine, fine hips on him, of which 90% of said hip is nekkidly visible

• Carolina On My Mind - Clay gains new fans in California