Tidbits 2/29

• American Idol mentions:
• Playbill - Clay Aiken an American Idol "standout" -

  "AMERICAN IDOL" THOUGHTS
  I've been watching "American Idol" for the past six years (I missed the first season), and during that time there have been only a handful of performers who I thought truly stood out: Clay Aiken (whose pure, clear, rangy tenor was the highlight of the second season), Fantasia (one of the few "Idol" contestants able to imbue her singing with raw emotion and dramatic honesty), Jennifer Hudson (whose big voice was eventually put to wonderful use in her Oscar-winning turn in the "Dreamgirls" film), and last season's always-dependable Melinda Doolittle (who, with her lush alto, managed to breathe new life into "My Funny Valentine," offering one of the finest versions of the Rodgers and Hart standard I've yet to hear).

• Dose.ca - Ruben Studdard invited to sing Idol's "farewell song" -

  Last we heard of Ruben Studdard, the Season 2 American Idol winner (no, it wasn't Clay Aiken) had just been booted from his J Records recording contract.
  
  "It's very soulful, very heartfelt," the track's producer, Terry Lewis told Billboard. "Ruben is singing his pants off." Blecch. And here we didn't think we could get an ickier Idol image in our heads than those Clay Aiken camel toe pics.

• The countdown to Clay Aiken's new album begins - May 6, 2008:
• There Was A Man -

  Finally the moment we for which we have been waiting, news on the new CD which will hopefully be out on May 6th or at least before the summer. Clay announced on at this link. There are three videos related to the new album, so make sure you don't miss any.
  
  Clay's theme for the album grew out of a song submitted to him called "On The Way Here", which was written by Ryan Tedder of One Republic. After listening to the lyrics, he noticed that several songs under consideration had the same theme of journey and growth, so the theme of Clay's journey over the last five years was born.
  

• Something That Really Happened -

  Linda Loveland from WRAL conducted an extensive interview with Clay Aiken about his new album and behind the scenes at SPAMALOT. The videos have been posted on Yahoo! Clay talks a lot about the theme for the album, some of the songs, and you can hear clips of him recording some of the tracks. Fabulous! Especially the song "On My Way Here" by Ryan Tedder which Clay says is central to the theme of the whole album.

• The ConCLAYve - Clay takes WRAL on a tour of Spamalot's backstage area