Tidbits 1/13

• Toledo Blade on Clay's post-AI success -

  The wildly successful Clay Aiken, who ultimately finished in second place behind Ruben Studdard in Season 2, was cut early, and then brought back for the wild card round. Since his time on Idol, he has released four albums, has gone on twice as many tours, and has seen remarkable commercial success
  

• Looks like that interesting Newsweek interview is getting a lot of attention from the media:
• Anorak - "CLAY Aiken, singer, is in conversation with Newsweek magazine. Dim the lights, soften the focus and coat with syrup:"
• Akron Beacon Journal -

  Irked Aiken. Newsweek.com interviewed singer Clay Aiken about his upcoming role in Spamalot and other topics. The mag learned that Aiken hasn't watched American Idol since Season Four, that until three months ago ''I thought Monty Python was a person'' and that he's a bit careless when selecting socks in the morning.
  
  But some topics were off limits.
  
  Asked about his dispute with a woman on an airplane flight, he said, ''I'm not going to talk about it.''
  
  Asked about his set-to with Kelly Ripa, he said, ''I'm not going to discuss it.''
  
  Asked then what he wanted to talk about, he said, ''I think we're done.''
  
  It wasn't done, but it didn't get any more pleasant. Asked what he did for fun, Aiken said, ''I watch the news. I read news magazines, but I'm reconsidering that now.''
  

• 2Snaps.tv -

  During an interview with NEWSWEEK to promote his run in Broadway's Spamalot, Clay Aiken refused to answer questions about some his recent headline grabbing antics.
  
  When asked about the incident a few months back where he fought with woman on a plane, Aiken responded "I'm not going to talk about it," and the proceeded to tell the interviewer that he thought he was talking to NEWSWEEK and not the National Enquirer, further stating that he would "hate to have a job where I had to be rude to people."

• Monsters & Critics -

  Clay Aiken was interviewed by Newsweek about making his Broadway debut in Spamalot, and things went bad very fast.
  
  The interview started normal, but when the interviewer started asking about his public imbroglios, Clay channeled his old mentor, Simon Cowell.

• HollyScoop -

  Clay Aiken has changed a lot since the cute little dork with a makeover who won over our hearts during Idol. But now, he's got a lot to say if you cross him, and it ain't too nice.
  
  Clay did an interview with Newsweek, and the reporter started out by asking Clay how rehearsals were going for Spamalot. But when she started in on his personal life, Clay went all diva on her.
  

• The Huffington Post -

  Newsweek has a "web exclusive" interview with "American Idol" runner idol runner up Clay Aiken to promote his appearance in the Broadway production of "Spamalot". But some of the questions proved stunningly awkward. An excerpt:

• Lo Hudson Journal News - Ruben Studdard article -

  Representing the 205 with class, the soft-spoken Stud upset the Manilow-esque Clay Aiken in the final. Unlike the previous year, when Clarkson was pretty much expected to defeat Justin Guarini, the show had its first controversy involving the voting for the final two contestants.
  
  After Studdard barely made a blip on the music radar with “Sorry 2004,” the years that followed—from a professional standpoint—could be described as “Sorrier 2005” and “Sorriest 2006.” (Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Sorry.) Perhaps it was backlash from the Claymates, poor marketing or mismatched songwriting, but whatever the reason, it seemed that Studdard’s newsmaking was limited to stories involving lawsuits and lost weight.

• Charlotte Observer - American Idol looking to turn things around after poor season 6 showing -

  Last season's crop of finalists -- typified by the weak-throated but well-Mohawked Sanjaya Malakar -- were widely considered to be deficient in appeal, compared with the breakout personalities of other years like Taylor Hicks, Kellie Pickler, Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken.

• E! Online - Katharine McPhee dumped by Sony BMG -

  It's only partly surprising, since Idol number twos often do better than winners. (Hello, Clay Aiken; goodbye, Ruben Studdard.) In a way, of course, McPhee did do better than winner Taylor Hicks—he was dumped by BMG before she was.

• Cleveland Plain Dealer - American Idol's most infamous controversies -

  Season two: There are claims that millions of votes were dropped because the phone system was overloaded for the final between winner Ruben Studdard and runner-up Clay Aiken. Studdard's margin of victory is 130,000 votes.

• Carolina On My Mind - Clay helps raise money for Inclusion, begins "Spamalot" rehearsals in New York -

  After last weekend's Golfing for Inclusion fundraiser in Palm Beach, FL, Clay Aiken headed back to New York City to rehearse for his Jan. 18 debut as Sir Robin in the Broadway show "Spamalot."
  

• ClaySpots comments on the Newsweek interview and how respected newsmagazines are becoming a breeding ground for tabloid fodder -

  Clay Aiken gave an on-line interview to Ramin Setoodeh from Newsweek on Friday, January 11th. Here was an opportunity for a respected news magazine to do a good interview with one of the most fascinating and controversial celebrities around. Why fascinating? Because he's not a one dimensional, a one-size-fits-all, so to speak, celebrity. Why controversial? Because everything he does gets noticed and commented on. Fall asleep on a plane and get in a bro-ha-ha with an attacking passenger? Covered in over 500 newspapers, news sites, tabloid rags, and TV shows, including CNN Headline News.
  
  [...]
  
  I'll shut up now. I just wish that respected news magazines would write with a little more respect for their readers. We're not stupid and we'd like the style and method of writing to reflect the intelligence of the readers. I just wish that reporters would do their job with integrity and to the best of their ability instead of pandering to the lowest common denominator

• All That Is Clay Aiken addresses another major problem in the blogosphere...

  I said that when I set up my blog about Clay Aiken, that I would only post good news about Clay. This is not one of those posts. There has been such wonderful things happening with Clay as of late that I hate to post the words I have thrown together, BUT this has been really bothering me.
  
  I have been trying to understand the thought processes of many bloggers.
  I know; pot meet kettle. I understand my own thoughts, but others is another question.
  
  My blog is a Clay Aiken blog as you can see. Daily, I Google or do a search on Lycos for anything Clay Aiken. I have noticed that there are many blogs out there with the name Clay Aiken in them. I will read the blog and it has NOTHING to do with Clay. These are just for hits. It makes their blog look like it is not worth reading if they don’t throw Clay’s name in there. Yes, I like to read his name, but I would like there to be something that will tie his name to the subject matter.
  
  Another thing I have noticed - No matter what the subject of Clay is in the blog - many CANNOT resist throwing in an innuendo or two. It can be an article of Clay being on a UNICEF trip in Mexico, his Spamalot Broadway appearance in January, or his singing on the Capitol One Holiday on Ice special. The first annual "Golfing for Inclusion" tournament was held at the Mirasol Country Club in Palm Beach, FL on January 7th 2008. It was a hit. Of course there had to be a blog or two throwing the innuendos left and right. There was no evidence that the writers of these blogs were even there!

• Chexxxy's Pearls - setting the record straight about Clay Aiken ... "Clay Aiken for Dummies" -

  Impersonating Clay Aiken online has been going on for almost 5 years. Some people first met him in chatrooms, in anonymous postings and instant messaging with faceless strangers who spoof and role play Clay Aiken online. There was and still is fan fiction and slash written about him and he has been paired with everything from Simon Cowell to Mrs Beasley and everything in between. I think the only one he hasn't had a fictional relationship with is Lassie, although I might have missed that one.