Tidbits 12/21

• Many thanks to the Poughkeepsie Journal's Sean McMann for mentioning CDD by name for our coverage of HIS fantastic coverage of Clay's Poughkeepsie Christmas concert earlier this month -

  Again, thank you to everyone who's come to the blog in the past nine months, reading everything I've posted from Barry Manilow and Clay Aiken and Taylor Hicks, to "Star Wars" [...]
  
  Thanks, too, for the thoughtful comments hundreds of you have left. It's nice to know that people are actually reading — if not enjoying — the stuff I put out there, enough to share their thoughts with the rest of us. (And don't think your kind words on message boards like Taylor Is The Boogie! and Clay's Daily Double, among others, go unnoticed. Yes ... I do check! Thank you.)
  

• Reality TV World on Ruben Studdard being dropped by J Records -

  RCA chairman Clive Davis' J Records -- which signed Studdard in the same May 2003 week he barely bested Clay Aiken as Idol's second-season champ -- "quietly" dropped the "Velvet Teddy Bear" from its roster earlier this week, the New York Post reported Friday.
  
  Studdard joins Aiken as the latest former Idol finalist-turned-actor. Aiken will play the role of Sir Robin in Monty Python's Spamalot, making his debut in the Tony Award-winning musical on January 18 at the Shubert Theatre.
  

• Christmas tour mentions:
• Southtown Star -

  Star Plaza Theatre - Interstate 65 and U.S. 30, Merrillville, Ind.; (219) 769-6600 or (773) 734-7266. Lineup is: Clay Aiken with an orchestra, Saturday; Styx, Dec. 28; Omarion, Mario and Trey Songz, Dec. 29.

• Clayigraphy celebrates the twelve days of Christmas in Clay Aiken style... this is so cute!
• Carolina On My Mind - Clay Aiken winding down his 2007 Holiday tour -

  A packed concert hall and appreciative audiences greeted Clay Aiken & Co. for back-to-back performances of the Christmas in the Heartland show in Minneapolis, MN, Wednesday and Thursday.
  
  Present both nights at Orchestra Hall was Faye Parker, Clay's mother, who reportedly was in the area not only to attend her son's 2007 holiday concert, but also to complete holiday shopping at the famous Mall of America, the nation's largest retail and entertainment complex. Jaymes Foster-Levy, the singer's executive producer, joined Ms. Parker for Thursday's performance.
  
  Remaining tour concerts -- Omaha, NE, Slosburg Hall/Orpheum Theater, Friday, 8 p.m. CST, and Merrillville, IN, Star Plaza Theatre, Saturday, 8 p.m. CST -- are being promoted in area media. Excerpts are provided here, but the entire articles can be read via the accompanying links.