New Clack From GMA Courtesy SecretlyLovesClay

A FEAST FOR YOUR EYES

When the Clay nation is in a lull, we can always count on the CB's SecretlyLovesClay for more clack. And boy, did she deliver! Check out some of these wonderful photos from last Thursday's GMA appearance. SLC also included a recap and video, which you'll find below.

Video (all these links are for the same video)

• Watch video at Photobucket
• Download video in MPEG format at SendSpace
• Download video in WMV format at SendSpace
• Download video at ClackUnlimited

Recap

My GMA Recap – with visuals!

We got to GMA about 5:30 a.m. and there were about 15 people in line. Not too bad at all – we should get a good spot! About 6:15 a.m. a school (I think) arrived with a lot of young kids….maybe 6-7 year olds? They let them in first and put them in the back corner.

So we are still freezing our butts off and at about 6:30 a.m. a HUGE group of people – I would say, in their 70s all arrived with bird hats and bird signs that said KU on them. Huh? Anyway, we THEN find out that the weatherman has 68 – yes sixty-eight VIPs!!!!! ACK!!!!! They are the VIPs!!!! And they were ALL very tall!!!! So they let them all in and they all got the front spots, and then finally we are let in and there is nowhere to stand but behind them. And I am VERY short. I could not see at all whatsoever. I even tried lifting up the camera, and still would not be able to see. I wanted to cry.

As it was getting closer to Clay’s segment, I didn’t know what to do. Finally, I saw Dazaccent and her sister, who were standing on the very end, and so I mustered up all my courage and squeezed my way over to ask her if I could stand in front of her. She is tall too, and would be able to see over my head. And she said yes!!!! I couldn’t believe it! If it was not for her, I would not have been able to see at all or get any Clack. They were so very kind to me!!!! Thank you!!!!! I love them!

It’s almost time for Clay. They were telling the children that he was going to come out and talk to them. They asked them if they knew who he was, and they all just kinda looked around at each other with blank faces. Samantha Green (the audience coordinator) moved some people by the door before the kids so he could walk down a line of people and then stop to talk to the kids. She then told us, he was going to continue down the line. EEEEEE!!!!

Here he comes!!!!

The door opens, the crowd screams and he walks down the row shaking hands and then stops at the children and starts talking to them - asking them why they aren’t in school. Haha!

OMG, he was soooooooo beautiful….he just took my breath away…

So he’s talking to the kids and the camera guys tell him that Robin and Diane are asking why he isn’t outside freezing with them. What? No! So he turns around and leaves to go outside. Waahhhh…..he didn’t come over to us. :bluesniff

Now it’s almost time for his segment, so he comes back in and heads over right past us to this little girl who’s birthday it was. She was wearing a hat that looked like a birthday cake. I think she was turning 11? Don’t know for sure. So he comes in and walks over to her and starts talking to her, and he’s only a few feet in front of me. Wow.

I went in for a closer look……

Then……….he bent over right in front of me! What is a girl to do???

And someone behind me says, "OMG, I don't think he's wearing any underwear!" :yow

Then he sat down for the interview, and he gave us some very pretty, interesting shots….as well as some tongue!

During these shots, the camera people and workers kept standing and walking around in front of us. VERY frustrating. At one point, I was literally squatting on the floor with my arm extended out to the right in front of the person standing next to me, just to get the shot. When someone else got in our way, someone actually walked right over to the guy tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to move. :laugh One of the camera guys says "you guys are crazy!" Heh.

And then before I knew, it was over……

We went outside to catch him as he left, and, unfortunately, I reused an old tape, and all the footage was ruined. I just caught the last bit of him as he was leaving. Oh well.

But as he came by, he grabbed my left hand with BOTH of his hands and gave it a good shake. Of course, stupid me, I forgot to take off my glove!!! Doh!!!!

And this lovely is for my good friend, hotclay……….and myself………and whoever else wants to enjoy it.

Psalm42's Clay Aiken Ice Cream Meltdown

Sorry... this was just way too funny for me not to post. The CB's Psalm42's reponse to Clay's ABC News Now interview in which he mentioned the fact he liked Breyer's peach ice cream...

Clay you had to go and mention that you like Ice Cream didn't you? Next to you , that is my biggest weakness!
Now here in Canada we have BRYERS Ice Cream , that is a given , but ya think they would have peach ............noooooooooooooooo.......not in all of Victoria and believe me , I called them all ! (Shows you what a life I have huh?). It sure made for some fun conversations though when I explained that cus CLAY AIKEN suggested this flavour , I just had to have it .......one girl and I got talking about just how fantastic he is and she did not know he was coming on Jimmy Kimmel on Valentines Day so she is going to watch (so that call was not a total loss !!).

Do you think you guys in the states can mail me some Bryers Peach Ice Cream ??? LOL!!

Yes... all this trouble (in the middle of the Canadian winter, I should mention) just because of Clay. And now, you'll see why her post title "DARN YOU CLAY AIKEN" is so very appropriate.

America Responds In Droves To Clay's Yahoo! UNICEF UpClose Answer

"What can we do to get more Americans committed to supporting programs that help children?" ~ Clay Aiken

In just several days, almost 5900 replies poured in to Clay's question (shown above). Yahoo! and UNICEF teamed up last week to gather suggestions on how to better improve their program and how to better engage the public. The question is now closed, but here are some of our favourite answers:

Clay, Ask UNICEF and our own schools to initiate programs where our children communicate with the children/teachers who need assistance. Let them hear first hand what is needed. When these kids in need become real to our children, kids will be sharing what they've learned, and asking their parents to help. In addition, our children will one day grow up into adults who will understand the need out there in the world.

Awareness is always key. The videos on the UNICEF site are powerful but are only seen by a fraction of the people who could help. Perhaps getting network support for more visibility during primetime will start the awareness. Use this primetime exposure to encourage electronic penpal matching with children from the US and counterparts in some of the countries (via the local UNICEF offices). Perhaps American parents can make a donation for their child to enter the virtual penpal program (Keyboard Kids?) Use these stories to show how donations and this virtual friendship changes these children's lives.

Make professional documentaries and air them before and after the American Idol.

Start young students exchanging letters and artwork with children in another part of the world. Match a US classroom with a foreign classroom, and both sets of children will learn about each other's part of the world and begin to care.

One of the things we need to do is to start by helping out the children in our own country. I donate to UNICEF but at the same time I also donate to local children's charities. We need to stop hiding what is happening to our own children. Another thing we need to do is to teach our children to be HONEST with themselves and who they are, and to let them know that no matter their circumstances they can be whatever they want.

How about if every classroom in America could sponsor a UNICEF child? That should probably be on average $1 per month for each child in the class. Then all of those children could take home the message to the parents. Of course, you couldn't force these sponsorships, but perhaps it could be offered as an opportunity for service and a way to bring the community together.

You, as a musician can help by creating music that you feel brings a positive message to that idea. After all, music is the universal language. Also, I think that every high school student should take a class on humanitarianism. Possibly as a required course. Press also has a huge influence. More Americans should write, speak-out and share the noble-ideas and beliefs that they have. Campaigning doesn't always work, but chain-letters and the postal service are also excellent means. Its also a matter of convincing others through one's peer network. Churches and other similar spirited institutions should share these programs with their members. The ideas of these institutions align with the ideas of UNICEF and other similar programs. Leadership in this field is a huge factor. We can learn from good leaders of the past such as Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy, who sparked huge movements in Civil and Equal Rights. If there were more leaders like them fired up in this area, more Americans would get involved.

Well, sorry Clay, but I think what we need to do is to get more attention to the issue, and that starts by putting less focus on the antics of Paris Hilton or the new season of American Idol. I don't have anything against entertainment per se, but our country seems to be deifying celebrity, and while many actors and such don't care for it, the studios encourage it, because maybe you'll go see a crappy movie with the ten bucks you could have sent Unicef just because you feel you have a personal connection with Pauly Shore. It's not just the Hollywood thing either, we're constantly fed that we need a bigger tv or to take pictures with our phones, because most people in America, their needs are met, and need isn't really that profitable anyways, instead they have to pander to selfish wants. Maybe if they put the focus they put into advertising into educating people about these programs, and people weren't worried about paying their cable/cell/internet/xm/ect. bills, paying for these petty desires, then we'd have a broader perspective.

Tidbits 2/3

Check out this and more gorgeous wallpapers from the Clayboard's cindilu2. The above wallpaper feature photos taken by MixNJude at this week's GMA appearance.

• OnOurTV - petition started to bring back 60-year old Sherman Pore who was given the rare chance to audition on AI last week. Mr. Pore brought Paula Abdul to tears as he recounted the story about his wife's battle with cancer; Mr. Pore was with her every step of the way.

  Sherman Pore was the gentleman in his 60s who sang in honor of his lady love, who died of cancer. This story has been receiving a lot of press, and someone has even started a petition to bring him back to sing at the finale. I’d certainly rather hear him than the Taylor Hicks “look alike” (like last year’s Clay Aiken “look alike”).

• Mrs. Giggles - putting a lid on tabloid lies... "Top ten stupid things to keep in mind" --

  Just because you think Clay Aiken isn't gay, that doesn't mean he is necessarily straight, or vice versa. Unless you personally had had sex with Clay Aiken, you do not have concrete proof of his hetero- or homosexuality so everything is speculation.
  

We've got a wonderful selection of blogs today... read on...

Graphics In Mind's latest creation... stunning.... (above)
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• RECOMMENDED READING - The ConCLAYve - losing more credibility with each passing day. Celebrities declare war on tabloids. Go to YouTube to watch Tyra Bank's beautifully unscripted response to tabloid "speculation" that she is fat.
  

  This past week, Tyra Banks discussed the hurtful pictures and comments that addressed the fact that she's not a waif thin runway model anymore. She is a beautiful woman with a beautiful body but for some reason, even though she's not asking anyone to buy anything from her because of the shape of her body, it's OK to call her names, draw infantile grafitti on her pictures (not to mention that the pictures themselves were taken while she was on her personal time). It's OK to say to young girls struggling with their weight that Tyra Banks is fat as they look at themselves and think “Tyra is much thinner than I am.”
  
  Clay Aiken has been tabloid and especially blogger fodder for a long time. Most of it centers around the fact that they think he is a closeted gay man, despite the fact that he has said on countless occasions that he is straight. Of course, many stories about Clay say he has never addressed his sexuality which is blatently untrue. I guess it would take them too long to look up his Rolling Stone interview or others like it.
  
  Clay's had photoshopped pictures made up of him as if he trolls gay websites looking for men. He's had fake AIM chats published, despite the fact that all AIM chats can be edited. Heck, you can set up two accounts and chat with yourself and make the two “people” say whatever script you want. He's had pictures manipulated, stories made up around pictures taken in innocuous moments but made to seem like “evidence”. He's had a group of people who find him so fascinating in their hate that they can't walk away but instead spend more time on his career than most fans by feeding these gossip sites ideas. It takes all types but typically consists of people who will lie for fame, money or because they are a few cards shy of a full deck.

• Taking A Moment - too much Clay... too little time?

  I know everyone has been so busy this week, what with all the assignments that Clay gave us, GMA just this past week, Kimmel coming up soon, and various other activities and appointments that tend to make our lives clayotic.
  
  I know, for myself, I worked all day long yesterday on my ATD Valentine poem, and hardly had time to go to the bathroom or finish off a liter of vodka, much less think about my annoying loving yet demanding family.

Clay Featured 2 Times on UNICEF USA Homepage

All the buzz this week surrounding Clay and UNICEF is welcome news for UNICEF. In fact, UNICEF USA is featuring Clay twice on their homepage!

Clay's UNICEF profile has also been updated to include info about the Yahoo-UNICEF promo -

In early 2007, Clay Aiken is participating in UNICEF UpClose, an awareness-building campaign powered by Yahoo! Answers. The UpClose program is a new forum for discussing the challenges facing the world's most vulnerable children. He asked: "UNICEF is working for the survival of children worldwide. What can we do to get more Americans committed to the cause?"

Clay's Interview With ABC News Now

After making his Good Morning America appearance on Thursday, Clay sat down with ABC News Now's Be Seen, Be Heard for an interview. The interviewer says "Clay was one of the nicest guys I've ever met!"

Clay talked about why he chose to join UNICEF, noting it was UNICEF who approached him about becoming a celebrity ambassador - "Well, they asked me which kind of sparked my interest. I was a teacher before I started singing. UNICEF has ambassadors who focus on different areas... different areas that UNICEF works in... they didn't really have an ambassador who was focusing on education, so there was there natural synergy for me to be that person." The reporter then goes on to show clips of Clay visiting Indonesia and Uganda in 2005.

ABC then showed some video questions submitted by fans. The first clip brought a smile to Clay's face as a sweet girl asked "What can kids do to help UNICEF?" Clay responded saying that it was important to "research, study and have an interest in what is going on [around the world]... I'm constantly amazed at the grassroots efforts the [Claymates] come up with to raise money... a lot of them are college students or individuals who do not have the ability to financially give. It's amazing when people are passionate -- they'll figure out a way."

The next question came from a Claynadian who wanted to know whether Clay was "inspired" by his UNICEF experience to write a song about it in the future. In response, Clay says: "I'm not the most creative... I think people have talents in different areas. Have I seen things that I think are inspirational enough to have a song written about them? Absolutely. I leave that to the experts - a friend of mine, Steven Curtis Chapman, is a prolific song writer."

The interviewer then moved on to Clay's Yahoo-UNICEF question - "What can we do to get more Americans committed to the cause?" - and some answers from ABC viewers and Yahoo readers. One suggested "more funding for exchange programs to allow our kids to visit these countries, work there, and see for themselves."

After dealing with the subject of UNICEF, ABC moved on and showed viewer questions about other "important" subject matters...

• On the 3 things he would need if he was stuck on a desert island: "my dogs... but that's two dogs and I've only got one thing left and I would probably die. Um... I really like Breyer's Peach Ice Cream, so I have to take that, my cell phone to talk to people - I'm a gadget person... but I don't have a charger! How about a helicopter and a manual on how to use it?"
• On his next tour and when he'd come back to Canada: "Well, I won't be taking a UNICEF trip to Canada. We were thinking of doing a concert tour in developed nations, or a UNICEF visit to somewhere like Bowsman, Montana and that's it... Oh! You mean a truthful answer... We're working on a tour, trying to get something together for the summer. As far as the next trip for UNICEF, there are a number of different countries we are looking at. We're in the process of looking at different possibilities."
• On his college grades: "I was a good, well, decent student in college. I got good grades in college. In high school it's a completely different thing. I always thought I'd go to college for music. My favorite subjects were social studies... maybe I wish I did better in high school."
• On Jennifer Hudson's success and his joke about being (possibily) the 2nd most successful runner-up now: "Oh my god... I'm so embarassed!"
• On a 2008 Clay Aiken Calendar: "We haven't found a camera that will take 12 pictures of me without breaking." (ROTFL!) ... "We're working on it, but we're only managed to get up to June. Maybe that will get us in gear?"

Watch the entire clip at ABCNews.com or download the clip at SendSpace.

... Well That Was Fast - BAF Gala Sells Out

Hours after going on sale yesterday, tickets to the 2007 Bubel Aiken Foundation Champions For Change gala were sold out - unless you are ready to shell out $10,000 for a "Gold" table or $25,000 for a "Platinum" table. Anybody who tries to order Bronze or Silver level tickets, available for under $175 were given this message from the Bubel Aiken Foundation website:

Thank you for your order. Please remember that if any item on your
order is on backorder, the entire order will be held until we can ship your
entire order. Please print this page for your records.
If you have any questions about your order, please Contact Us.

The gala will be held on March 31, 2007 at the Cardinal Club in downtown Raleigh. Clay is scheduled to make an appearance.

Tidbits 2/2

There was a nice little blog posted to UNICEF's official blog about Clay's Yahoo! Answers/UNICEF question...

Clay Aiken is featured on the homepage of Yahoo.com this morning. Clay is asking, "What can we do to get more Americans committed to supporting programs that help children?"

It is not even noon yet and 2,312 Yahoo! users have already answered Clay's question! If you haven't posted an answer yet, please do. Go to Yahoo.com, search on Clay Aiken and then click the UNICEF link at the top of the search results page.

• 
• Clay mention on Feb. 1's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Does the guy to the right even remotely look like Clay? Well, according to a reporter on Leno, he does... claysthe1 recaps:

  The boy didn't look at all like Clay. Actually, the interviewer told the boy he reminded him of Clay Aiken and asked if he could sing. He said not like Clay Aiken, because he was a great singer, but he could dance better than Clay.
  
  Very cute. Everybody wants to mention Clay. LOL!

• Foxes on Idol - Billboard chart update... "Clay Aiken’s “A Thousand Days” was #30 on the Adult Contemporary chart."
• Orlando Sentinel - Hicks picking up online fans... "It's open to speculation whether Hicks' fans, who can see the current Idol winner Feb. 24 at Mardi Gras at Universal Studios, could take Clay Aiken's loyal ClayMates in a back-alley brawl. Either way, it would be a good fight."
• People Magazine - now here's an example why the media is so manipulative... this article is about Clay's GMA appearance yesterday and how he jokingly mentioned he was jealous of Jennifer Hudson's success... BUT WAIT... take a look at People's take:

  So much for one big happy Idol family! During a Good Morning America appearance Thursday to promote his work as a UNICEF ambassador, Clay Aiken forgot all about diplomacy and admitted to Diane Sawyer that, yes, he's green with envy over Jennifer Hudson's success.

• University of Chicago Maroon - "Former idles Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken, and the rest of the Scooby gang have garnered little claim to fame besides their dismal fan bases." ... (oh really? How about 4.5 million CDs, a TV special, a New York Times bestselling book and over $27 million in concert ticket sales?)
  

• The ConCLAYve - Kimmel and Clay... kings of cheese... cute 'skit'- "Like I keep saying, Clay...it’s sweeps. I’d have Osama bin Laden on if he could score me some big ratings."
• Carolina On My Mind - winter soup recipes and thoughts on the Clay nation this week...
• Carolina On My Mind - wisdom and laughs from emails... update on the Clay nation.

Ruben: I'm Proud of Clay

Talk about a great friend! When asked last night on Larry King Live what he thought about Clay being "to successful", Ruben responded saying he is very "proud of Clay."

Valentine's Day Contest Announced At OFC

So before we get Clay's "make-a-scandal" contest, the fanclub is hosting their 2007 Valentine's Day contest. Here's the full scoop:

02/01/07 : NEW OFC CONTEST: “A THOUSAND DAYS” OF VALENTINES
By Team Clay

Arrows shooting in the air
Cupid, brings a love affair
to Clay Fans in the OFC
requesting your written poetry

With lyrics, love and heart's desire
found from within "A Thousand Days"
your poem shall incite and inspire
A True Love found in many ways

From quoting lines directly, please refrain
to make this poem of yours to claim
And win him over with loving prose
of thoughtful words that you enclose

Depending on the hymn you scrawl
he may choose you over all
And in February, on the fourteenth day
You may receive a lucky call from Clay

For details and Official Rules, please visit the CONTESTS section of the fan club.

This contest ends one week from today on February, 7th, so be sure to collect your thoughts, write your poems and get your entries in before it's too late!

Clay On E! News, Insider Today

There were several mentions of Clay's GMA appearance this morning on today's infotainment shows.

On E! News... recap courtesy no mistakin aiken:

They showed the AI 6 pic next to Jennifer Hudson's pic.
They showed him on GMA and what he said about Jennifer .
They talked about Jennifer not liking what AI is doing to the contestants.
I can't remember all of it but it was okay, nothing dissing Clay or Jennifer.

Here's a cap courtesy gerwhisp:



Very similar mention on The Insider... clip courtesy Pattilyn:

ET Online Picks Up Quickly on Clay's GMA Appearance

It didn't take ET Online line long to include a story about Clay's appearance on Good Morning America. "Clay's Idol Rival" began with, "Which former "American Idol" contestant is Clay Aiken jealous of?" Thankfully they almost immediately said that Clay's comments were made in a lighthearted way.

"I'm jealous," Clay lightheartedly replied when asked about JENNIFER HUDSON. "There was a point I was considered the most successful 'Idol' loser, but now I'm not anymore. I saw the movie ['Dreamgirls'] and she deserves the Academy Award," he added. "Now I'm going to be in second place again."

Of course, Clay is number one with his fans, the article also says. His fans voted for him and he was ranked as People Magazines "Favorite American Idol" in 2006.

Not to leave out the reason Clay was on Good Morning America, the ET article does talk about his work with UNICEF before commenting about Jennifer Hudson's fame. "CLAY AIKEN made an appearance on "Good Morning America" Thursday to promote UNICEF's public awareness campaign for Child Survival 2007," and "But the singing sensation wants to use his fame to help others, and is a dedicated advocate for children's causes, such as UNICEF's mission to provide health, education, equality and protection for children across the globe," were two things mentioned about his UNICEF work.

Clay also said in the article that one of his roles in UNICEF is to help get people involved. As ET mentions, if you want to find out more about Clay's work with UNICEF you can go to his web page by clicking Clay Aiken's UNICEF Web Page. You can read all about his role with UNICEF here as well as what work he has done in the past. Join Clay today in support of UNICEF.

BMG Music Service Loves Clay

After this and this, there's even more Clay featured at the BMG Music Service. Certainly appears to me that there is a Claymate at BMG. Here's the latest Clay mention in the latest BMG Music Service e-mail. Thanks to CDD visitor Natalie for bringing this to our attention and capturing the email.

Clay Talks About UNICEF and "Idol" on GMA

Clay spoke with Good Morning America's Diane Sawyer this morning about his work with UNICEF. Before the appearance, Clay met kids and fans who had come to see him.

The extremely short interview was primarily focused on Clay promoting the recently announced UNICEF/Yahoo! promotion which features UNICEF ambassadors such Clay posing provocative questions. Clay says he currently has no planned UNICEF missions, but is looking at "options".

Diane also brought up the topic of American Idol. To Clay's surprise, she played Clay's 2002 American Idol Atlanta audition and was asked whether producers prepared auditioners for the rath of the judges. Clay says producers told contestants to fight back to "produce that TV moment".

When questioned about the success of AI3 contestant Jennifer Hudson who recently won a Golden Globe and received an Oscar nod for her role in the wildly popular movie Dreamgirls, Clay jokingly said: "I'm jealous. There was a point I was considered the most successful 'Idol' loser, but now I'm not anymore. I saw the movie and she deserves the Academy Award. Now I'm going to be in second place again."

Video is now available at ClackUnlimited.com.


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Update: GMA added a very small mention of this to ABCNews.com... it reads: "Feb. 2, 2007 -- Singing sensation and "American Idol" alum Clay Aiken is helping children all over the world through UNICEF. Visit Aiken's page at unicefusa.org to learn more about his efforts. "

--

Update 2: the Clayboard's HopelesslyDevoted has uploaded some videos and photos from the GMA studio to her Photobucket account. She was one of the lucky few who got to see Clay this morning.

• Video 1 - inside the studio
• Video 2 - talking with the GMA crew
• Video 3 - Leaving the studios - outside
  

Tidbits 2/1

Clay and his UNICEF/Yahoo! Answers question is once again featured on Yahoo.com's homepage. What great exposure for Clay and UNICEF!

• Clay is #17 today on the Yahoo! Buzz Movers list. Searches for the term "Clay Aiken" increased 276% in the last 24 hours. Clay is sandwiched between "Tyra Banks" and "Tyra"... coincidence? I think not!
  
• Ecorazzi - Another great article about Yahoo Answers/UNICEF:

  Incidentally, today is Clay Aiken’s day (Ruben, we hardly knew ya..) and his page features some excellent video on his visit to Uganda in 2005 and over 5,500 answers to the question he poses, “UNICEF is working for the survival of children worldwide. What can we do to get more Americans involved?” Ponder that.
  Clay will be on Good Morning America tomorrow morning promoting the campaign and speaking about his time as an UNICEF ambassador.

• Houston Chronicle- this isn't new news, but it's a nice mention ... Entertainment Weekly and MSNBC name the best Idol performances... on the list: Clay's "Solitaire" (EW) and Clay's "Build Me Up A Buttercup" (MSNBC)
  
• Boston's Weekly Dig - American Idol recap...says a auditioner has a "Clay Aiken vibe"
  
• Duke University The Chronicle - review of Katharine McPhee's album... nice Clay mention: "American Idol runners-up have a penchant for outshining the winners of their seasons. Take Season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken drubbing Ruben Studdard in both debut album sales and celebrity status."
• Rowan University The Whit - another AI article...

  Sophomore biology/chemistry major John Hetzler agrees that American Idol is one of the best shows around. Although he is pleased with the recent seasons, he says he looks forward to another "Kelly or Clay." Although Hetzler enjoys Clay Aiken's voice, he says Kelly Clarkson is by far his favorite idol because she has "actual" talent.

• Rochester Democrat & Chronicle - random Clay mention in an article about a local idol like contest...
• Detroit Free Press -interview with choreographer Laurie Ann Gibson who has worked with Clay. Gibson will be judging a new MTV show called Making The Band -- "I've worked with everybody -- from the Dixie Chicks to Biggie Smalls to Whitney Houston to, oh God, everybody. Clay Aiken to Hilary Duff to Dido to Michael Jackson, Spike Lee -- I've paid my dues."
  
• The Morning Call - uh... "Christmas and a Jan. 1 New Year's are just too significant on their own to be bunched together. It's a frenzied week that flies by faster than Clay Aiken's career."
• Diamond City Electric City - Ruben article...

  And like The Bus, we don't hear Ruben's name so much these days. Yes, he won the second season of American Idol back in 2003 by the narrowest of margins, but the names Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, and Carrie Underwood impossibly seem to hold more weight than Ruben, and recently it even seems like Chris Daughtry is getting more love.

• The ConCLAYve responds to Clay's UNICEF/Yahoo! Answers question -- “He who saves one life, saves the world entire.” --

  Thanks for all you do to raise awareness, change attitudes and change behavior for the benefit of children, here in the United States (through your work with The Bubel/Aiken Foundation, Ronald McDonald House Charities, President’s Committee for People With Intellectual Disabilities, United States Marines Toys for Tots, Read Across America, Disney Teacher Awards) and across the world (with UNICEF and World Children’s Day).

Clay: Fighting Fire With Fire... New Fanclub Contest

As some of you are aware of, over the past month, many tabloid websites have been recycling and manufacturing "new" scandals for Clay... everything from Clay being too fat and on pills to those questioning his sexuality.

Well, if you can't stop them, why not join them? Clay's blogged last night asking you to come up with the BIGGEST SCANDAL OF 2007 in a new official fanclub contest Clay is billing as the "Build-Your-Own-Scandal" contest.

The contest will be launched soon and Clay said he will personally pick the winner.

ATDW Named Favorite Pop Album of 2006 By Popdirt

Readers of Popdirt.com, a popular gossip/music website, have chosen Clay's A Thousand Different Ways at the Favorite Pop Album of 2006.

Claymates Propel Aiken To Top '06 Album Honor

Our previous poll asking which was your favorite pop album of 2006 saw Clay Aiken's 'A Thousand Different Ways' top the list with 38.6% of the votes, holding off a challenge by JoJo's 'The High Road' with 28.3%. Well back in third was Christina Aguilera's 'Back To Basics', with 8.9% of the voting. Check out the complete results here.

Clay on Good Morning America TOMORROW!

Don't forget that Clay will be on Good Morning America tomorrow. Although the appearance is being promoted as an appearance for UNICEF, Diane Sawyer says Clay will be there to talk about "everything". This promo was shown during this morning's edition of the show... as always, thanks to gerwhisp for the cap:

Tidbits 1/31

• ABC is confirming today that Clay's Valentine's Day appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live will feature a musical performance -- "musical performances by Tenacious D on February 9 and Clay Aiken on February 14."
• Houston Chronicle - In an article, "American Idol's (highly debatable) All-Time Best performances", it says, "EW.com's list of ten best American Idol performances includes some expected highlights: Clay Aiken's Soltaire, Jennifer Hudson's Circle of Life, Kelly Clarkson's Stuff Like That There."
• ETonline - In "American Idol is Appointment TV", Randy says,

  I think the music does that," Randy points out. "The genres do that. You listen to music from the '50s and '60s that kids don't even know, but they can sit there and enjoy it with their parents, which is really, really cool. It's kind of the 'Rocky' story set to music, if you will. You're pulling for that underdog. You know CLAY AIKEN can change his appearance and win.

• Lycos50 - Clay moves down several spots to #13 this week.
• Musiqtone - send Clay some votes in this poll which asks " Which Idol do you love?"
  
• TV Grapewine - AI article... nice Clay mention - "Remember how geeky Clay Aiken looked when he first sang? Now he is all Hollywood slick and making a career for himself."
• Delco Times - AI article ... "I don't always agree with the voting audience about the "Idol" winner. The success of Clay Aiken, Diana de Garmo, Chris Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson show why appearing on the show is victory enough."
• Broadway World - Suzie McNeil, who sang with Clay on ATDW, will be starring in a new musical set to take stage in Toronto --

  In 2005, McNeil was the last woman standing on CBS television's reality series Rockstar: INXS and she is featured singing a duet on both INXS’s and "American Idol" finalist Clay Aiken’s latest CDs. Her debut CD "Broken & Beautiful" is being released in March 2007 and her single ‘Hung Up’ is now available on iTunes.

• So so mention in Seattle Weekly food/lifestyle article.
  
• WebProNews - UNICEF & Yahoo! teaming up for special awareness campaign spearheaded (more info about the campaign here) -

  On the charitable side, Yahoo teamed with Unicef for a ten-day celebrity-studded awareness building campaign. Through Yahoo Answers, celebrities from film, TV, music and sports will ask questions of Yahoo's users to build awareness of children's issues throughout the world.
  
  Actors Lucy Liu, Lawrence Fishburne, Alyssa Milano, Danny Glover, and Tea Leoni, musicians Clay Aiken and India Arie, NBA star Elton Brand, and celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson have been listed as celebrity participants for the program, which runs from today through February 9th.
  
  The opening question, "What can we do to get more Americans committed to supporting programs that help children?", comes from singer and Unicef Ambassador Clay Aiken.

• Ecorzaai - celebs pitch in in Yahoo/UNICEF promo.
  

• Clayigraphy - celebrating 4 years of Clay Aiken:

  I think the first actual competition song I watched him sing was "Grease" which I have to admit took me back a bit since I wasn't completely hooked at that point. But then a co-worker brought in a video tape from the night he sang "Solitaire" and even though she was a "Ruben" and hadn't made it back to her VCR in time to record the first few seconds of the "Cutie Patootie's" song... it was still enough to push me over the edge. So I guess in remembering back I'd have to say "Clay... You had me at 'Man'..." And never let there be any doubt about it... you still have me there.

• MeanSpeed (non Clay blogger) - remember the scientific analysis of ATDW posted by a cool music blog called MeanSpeed last week (see Tidbits 1/26)... they've just posted a new one for MOAM. I personally have no idea what all these numbers mean, but it's kind of cool... Here's a sample set of data for "The Way":

  Track #2
  song title=“The Way”
  composers=David Diegel, Enrique Iglesias, Kara E. DioGuardi, Steve Morales
  meanspeed=74.0 beats per minute
  meanemotion=grace
  meanspace=0.811 seconds per beat
  meanphase=1.23 beats per second
  meanpitch=315.73 hertz, 25 cents higher than D#4/Eb4=311.127 hertz, 75 cents lower than E4=329.628 hertz.

Fanclub Posts UNICEF Information

The Official Fanclub has posted some information about the new Yahoo! Answers/UNICEF campaign Clay is taking part in (we blogged about it yesterday). Here's the post which can be seen on the fanclub's homepage:

01/30/07 : Clay Wants To Know...
By Team Clay

What can we do to get more Americans committed to supporting programs that help children?

"We all need to work together to help the world's children survive," said UNICEF Ambassador Clay Aiken. "Online communities such as Yahoo! Answers give us a powerful forum to talk about the challenges UNICEF faces and discuss new solutions for saving kids' lives."

Today, Yahoo! and UNICEF launch the “Up Close 2007” campaign to raise awareness for UNICEF’s mission to save millions of children around the world. Over the next two weeks, users can log onto Yahoo! Answers to answer questions from film, TV, music and sports stars about children’s survival issues such as safe access to drinking water, reducing HIV/AIDS, immunization funding and making our children worldwide a priority in 2007.

Anyone online can also view exclusive videos from Yahoo! Video of the guest celebrities asking their questions as well as video footage and Flickr pictures of the celebrities on location with children in countries around the world. For more information on Up Close 2007 and a list of celebrity questions, Yahoo! Video footage and Flickr pictures, please visit: http://answers.yahoo.com/info/unicef/

Yahoo! Answers helps bring the knowledge of the Yahoo! community - together for all to access. It’s the place where real people can bring their knowledge to the world and get the world’s knowledge brought to them in the simple form of questions and answers.

TV Squad Write Up For Clay's Upcoming Kimmel Appearance

Now, usually we'd post this kind of stuff into our daily Tidbits post, but I thought this post from popular TV blog, TV Squad deserves some special attention...

Claymates are in for a special treat this Valentine's Day when American Idol's second season runner-up, Clay Aiken, appears on Jimmy Kimmel's ABC Valentine's Day Special on February 14th.

Clay has appeared on Kimmel's show several times and they reportedly enjoy a "good relationship." Let's hope that Clay doesn't ruin this special relationship by placing his hand over the host's mouth while he tries to speak. Not that I can blame Clay for that ugly incident with Kelly Ripa. Who among us hasn't wanted to silence Ripa's big yapping mouth now and again? Still, just to be safe, Clay might want to keep his hands to himself in the future to avoid unnecessary conflict and controversy.