CDD
RSS feed
Bookmark CDD using AddThis
Add to Homepage
You can now add CDD's headlines to your personalized homepage at any of these service providers. CDD - keeping you connected with the Clay nation!


Google Reader or Homepage
Add to My Yahoo!
Subscribe with Bloglines
Subscribe in NewsGator Online

Add to My AOL
Add to Technorati Favorites!
CDD
Your Source for Everything Clay Aiken!
CDD Clay Today

We've partnered with FeedBlitz to provide you a daily digest of the latest Clay news from our website. Get CDD's headlines in your inbox every morning.

Subscribe to CDD Clay Today

Enter your email address:

Powered by FeedBlitz

Close [X]

The #1 Clay Aiken News Website

BurberryAiken's CDD | Home & News

Latest News From CDD

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Tidbits 1/15

  • Tons and tons of American Idol mentions today. The new season premieres tonight on FOX:
    • CTV.ca names its top 5 American Idols -
      Since 2002, the show has created countless new stars, from Sanjaya Malakar to Clay Aiken.

      [...]

      He’s not the highest selling “Idol” contestant to date -- that distinction goes to Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Clay Aiken -- but Chris Daughtry’s first album became the fastest selling debut rock album in Soundscan history.
    • Lo Hudson Journal News - Top American Idol contestants - "Clay Aiken was first to prove the “Idol” title was in name only;"
    • Lo Hudson Journal News - Kelly Clarkson the #1 American Idol -
      Without the success of Kelly Clarkson—the George Washington of “American Idol”—no one might have ever heard of Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson or Clay Aiken. The show could have been canceled before their auditions had a star not emerged by Season 1’s end.
    • Lo Hudson Journal News - Chris Daughtry experiences considerable post-Idol success -
      While Clay Aiken’s sold more than 6 million total albums since 2003, you’re less likely to hear Aiken on a Top 40 station these days. And, um, good luck requesting an Aiken song on K-Rock here in New York.
    • Kansas City Star -American Idol "stuck"?
      Then Season 2 winner Ruben Studdard sold 1.7 million copies of his first album; runner-up Clay Aiken sold 2.8 million copies of his.
    • Boston.com - American Idols turn to Broadway -
      Perhaps shy bank teller Lakisha Jones or gawky Clay Aiken, who had worked with special-needs children, might have ended up with featured roles in Broadway shows, but neither was seriously pursuing that career. (Jones recently signed on to "The Color Purple," which has also featured season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino, and Aiken is joining "Spamalot" in a starring role.)
    • Roanoke Times -
      The serious vocalists ace their auditions, go on to future episodes and win over fans. Their names fill a million iPods: Clay Aiken, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry.

      [...]

      Don't mimic the stars

      It's the downfall of the untrained singer: Memorize the song, practice with the CD and imitate the pop stars. Judges will be more impressed by contestants with their own sound -- the Ruben Studdards and Clay Aikens -- than a second-rate imitation of the Top 40.
    • Courier Post Online -
      Still, the viewers get the final say about who wins. Then the public decides who has a big career.

      Clay Aiken finished second and still put out hit records.
    • Hollywood Today (needs a fact checker about Ruben's sales stats - he sold 1.7 million copies of "Soulful") -
      Clay Aiken also faired well, though he came in second behind Ruben Stoddard, who’s career never quite took off and sold less than 300,000 copies of his debut album.
    • Minneapolis St. Paul Star Tribune - Idol returns to TV tonight ...
      8. Your other viewing options aren't all that bad. Tonight's offerings opposite "Idol" include the well-reviewed "Lonesome Dove" miniseries "Comanche Moon," new episodes of "One Tree Hill" and "NCIS," plus PBS's "Nova" presentation of "Absolute Zero," which explores, among other things, Clay Aiken's and Kelly Clarkson's career-comeback chances.
    • Dallas Fort Worth Star Telegram -
      But what about Ruben Studdard, Taylor Hicks, Katherine McPhee (all of whom, incidentally, have been dropped from their labels in recent weeks because of tepid sales), Fantasia Barrino and even Clay Aiken, who had successful debut albums and quickly faded from the scene?
    • The Ledger - Idol stars dogged with controversy - "First and foremost in this category - sorry, Claymates - is Clay Aiken, who has been consistently dogged by rumors and allegations that he's gay."
    • Newsday - Idols being dropped by record label -
      And just to note: Season 5's "Idol" runner-up Katharine McPhee is now off RCA Records, according to Entertainment Weekly. That leaves Lewis and Clay Aiken as the only runners-up still signed to major-label deals.
    • The Celebrity Cafe - not sure why they think Clay will be "axed", given the fact he is currently working with RCA on his 4th album -
      It seems as though Idol voters enjoy crowning a winner, but not necessarily buying the album they produce. Nonetheless, Hicks isn’t alone as the first Idol contestant to get the boot. J Records dismissed season 2 idol Ruben Studdard last year, Katharine McPhee lost her recording contract as well, and Season 3 winner Fantasia, along with contestant Clay Aiken, may be the next idols to be axed.
    • Quincy Herald Whig - "Past winners and competitors such as Clay Aiken, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson and Chris Daughtry are now part of our pop culture."
    • OK Magazine - "It was the guys' time to shine on Idol, as voters picked soulful Teddy bear Ruben Studdard over unlikely pop star Clay Aiken
  • MTV.ca - Clay gets in an argument with Newsweek reporter -
    CLAY AIKEN CUTS INTERVIEW SHORT. Clay Aiken still does not like answering personal questions. According to the World Entertainment News Network, the singercut short an interview with a Newsweek magazine reporter after some queries hit too close to home. The interviewer began asking the former American Idol about recent controversies and Clay would apparently respond, "I'm not going to talk about it" or "I'm not going to discuss it." After the writer asked what Aiken would speak about, the singer said, "We're done. I thought Newsweek would be more reputable. I'm surprised. This is Newsweek. It's not the National Enquirer." Aiken begins his run in the Broadway musical Spamalot this week
  • More coverage of the Newsweek interview in the press -
    • NJ.com -
      Clay Aiken won't sing for his supper. The "American Idol" star, who is debuting as Sir Robin in Broadway's "Spamalot" this week, got testy when a Newsweek reporter asked him about last year's on-air scrap with Kelly Ripa after he tried to muzzle her on "Live with Regis and Kelly" and other tempests-in-teapots.

      "We're done," he tells the reporter. "I thought Newsweek would be more reputable. I'm surprised." When the reporter persisted, Aiken reminded him: "This is Newsweek. It isn't the National Enquirer. I'd hate to have a job where I had to be rude to people." The reporter tried to resurrect the interview with the softball "What do you do for fun?," Aiken responded: "I watch the news. I read news magazines, but I'm reconsidering that now." We didn't know he had it in him.
    • Metro Toronto ran a small blurb about the interview -
      Aiken Lashes Out At Mag Reporter

      Singer Clay Aiken cut short an interview with a Newsweek magazine reporter after refusing to answer a series of personal questions, imdb.com reports.

      These included a fight Aiken allegedly had with a woman on a plane and ongoing speculation about his sexuality. He said, "We're done. I thought Newsweek would be more reputable. I'm surprised. This is Newsweek. It's not the National Enquirer."
    • E!'s Daily 10 showed a clip on their show today... from the CB's clay44mate:
      I just finished watching the Daily 10 on E, and and the end of the #2 story where they were talking about Chris Daughtry dissing American Idol, and the three Idols that had their record deals ended (Rueben, Taylor and Kathren) , they showed a piece about Clay and his Newsweek interview. They of course, didn't report what happened correctly and/or in a favorable manor, if you know what I mean... instead they made him look bad. That really irks me!!! Did anybody else see it? Our guy deserves soooo much better!!! Rant over!
  • Detroit Free Press - Clay ready to start "Spamalot" -
    A play about cluelessness and a clueless cast member? Perfect! Clay Aiken joins the cast of "Monty Python's Spamalot" on Broadway this week. "The first time I saw it I thought it was the stupidest thing I'd ever seen in my entire life," the "American Idol" runner-up told Newsweek. "My tour drummer is the 'Spamalot' drummer, and (he) said you've got to see it again. ... I thought Monty Python was a person until three months ago."
  • Starpulse quotes Clay -
    "They scare me every once in a while. In Minneapolis, we had a lady throw her panties in the middle of 'Silent Night.' I'm like, 'Are you kidding me? We've had ladies throw Depends (incontinence underwear) that say, 'Your older fans love you, too'." Singer Clay Aiken's is concerned over the wild antics of his more mature fans.
  • AOL Spinner - Clay ready to be transformed by "Spamalot" -
    In just a few days, Clay Aiken is about to be transformed into a brave and gallant knight of song and dance, as he endeavors to join the cast of the Broadway musical 'Monty Python's Spamalot.' Far be it to surmise that this most famous second banana of the 'American Idol' franchise possibly may have been miscast, but not only did he admit to not really getting the revered British comedy troupe's humor, he was laboring under a strange notion of exactly who or what this Python is. "I thought Monty Python was a person until three months ago," Aiken told Newsweek. And upon first exposure to the Python brand of absurdist comedy, the singer was initially none too impressed. "The first time I saw it I thought it was the stupidest thing I'd ever seen in my entire life," he added.
CDD Blogwatch
  • Carolina On My Mind - excitement builds as Clay gets set to star on "Spamalot" -
    With digital precision, message board countdowns are steadily ticking off the seconds until Clay Aiken's opening performance in the Broadway show "Spamalot" Friday, Jan. 18, at the Schubert Theatre.

    Fans -- especially the "southern magnolia" variety -- are cautiously packing layers of long underwear for the initial weekend's predicted temperature span of 21-degree lows to a three-day average high of 33. If I were heading to New York City for the big opening, I would probably follow suit.

    Publicity for the new Sir Robin this weekend has rivaled that of state presidential primaries, claiming at various times a spot among Top Picks on MSN and other media sites.

  • Clayigraphy - Break a leg, Clay! As Clay begins Spamalot, Chardonnay will be on a cruise ship ...
    And I really didn't plan it that way... when we planned it two years ago. It just sort of happened.

    But we do have some conn-ec-tions! As in:

    ~ We will both be sitting in toilet stalls which are way too cramped for our knees. (I wonder if he was referring to MY old toilet seat in his last blog... because that would really make me cry... but in a good way.)

    ~ We will both end up being really hot and sweaty for most of the time.
  • ClayKat - remaining dedicated to Clay "Always & Forever"

0 comments:


CDD supports:

Bubel Aiken Foundation GoodSearch for TBAF UNICEF