Tidbits 5/17

• Tampa Bay Online asks: "Which American Idol non-winner will have the most successful career?"... CAST YOUR VOTE FOR CLAY!
  
• Associated Content - it's David vs. David on American Idol finale -

  No other singer on the competition has been able to recreate a moment like this on the show since Clay Aiken performed "Solitaire" back in 2003.

• Cleveland Plain Dealer - Taylor Hicks to join Broadway's Grease -
  

  Taylor Hicks is going from "Idol" to "Angel." The "Amer ican Idol" alum will join the Broadway cast of "Grease" on Friday, June 6, play ing Teen Angel in the revival of the popular musical. The gray-haired singer - whose "Idol" fan base was called "The Soul Patrol" - said he plans to add "soulful flavor" to his performance of "Beauty School Dropout." The flashy role, he said, is "a classic fit for a classic performer." Hicks, 31, took home the title in the fifth season of the top-rated Fox show. He'll be the latest "Idol" to hit Broadway, following runs by season-three winner Fantasia Barrino ("The Color Purple") and a host of also-rans including Clay Aiken ("Spamalot"), Diana DeGarmo ("Hairspray") and Constantine Maroulis ("The Wedding Singer").

• Dallas Fort Worth Star Telegram - another article about Taylor Hicks -

  Another 'Idol' on Broadway
  
  Idol's silver-haired winner Taylor Hicks is following Fantasia Barrino and Clay Aiken to another stage: the one on the Great White Way. Hicks will make his Broadway debut June 6 in Grease as Teen Angel.

• More on Taylor Hicks heading to Broadway:
• Los Angeles Times -

  The Alabama-born crooner's run ends Sept. 7. Hicks, 31, will be the latest "Idol" to hit Broadway, after runs by Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino ("The Color Purple") and a host of also-rans including Clay Aiken ("Spamalot"), Diana DeGarmo ("Hairspray") and Constantine Maroulis ("The Wedding Singer").

• Seattle Pi -

  Hicks is following the footsteps of other "Idol" alums, including Fantasia Barrino and Clay Aiken, in appearing on Broadway.

• Chattah Box -

  He will follow other Idol notables who have also headed to Broadway, including Fantasia Barrino, Clay Aiken, Diana DeGarmo, and others.

• Fashion.ie -

  Ex-American Idol champ Taylor Hicks is heading to the Great White Way — just like fellow Idol alums Fantasia Barrino (The Color Purple), Clay Aiken (Spamalot), Diana DeGarmo (Hairspray), Frenchie (Rent) and Constantine Maroulis (The Wedding Singer).

• eFluxMedia -

  The gray-haired singer's run ends on September 7. He'll be the latest "Idol" to hit "The Great White Way," following runs by season-three winner Fantasia Barrino ("The Color Purple") and a host of also-rans including Clay Aiken ("Spamalot"), Diana DeGarmo ("Hairspray") and Constantine Maroulis ("The Wedding Singer").

• Blogcritics - "Season two runner up Clay Aiken is currently starring in Spamalot, season three's Diana Digarmo was in Hairspray, and season four's Constantine Maroulis was in The Wedding Singer."
• Associated Press wire -

  The Alabama-born crooner's run ends Sept. 7. He'll be the latest "Idol" to hit Broadway, following runs by season-three winner Fantasia Barrino ("The Color Purple") and a host of also-rans including Clay Aiken ("Spamalot"), Diana DeGarmo ("Hairspray") and Constantine Maroulis ("The Wedding Singer").

• TV Squad -

  With Clay Aiken having wrapped up his run as Sir Robin in Spamalot, the Idol quotient on Broadway was down. Fortunately for theatergoers, it's Taylor Hicks to the rescue. Kind of. He's a bit of a step down from Clay Aiken, isn't he? I mean, Clay's new album debuted at number four, and Taylor was dropped from his label.

• Radar - "(Hicks joins Clay Aiken in the illustrious roster of Idol contestants who wind up stunt-cast on the Great White Way.)"
• People Magazine - "Taylor Hicks is following in the footsteps of Fantasia and Clay Aiken: The American Idol winner will make his Broadway debut June 6."
• Rolling Stone -

  Following in the footsteps of fellow Idols Clay Aiken and Fantasia, former people’s champion Taylor Hicks will hit the Broadway stage by appearing in Grease from June to September.

• NY Post - "Clay Aiken recently wrapped up a three-month stint as the cowardly Sir Robin in "Spamalot.""
• E! Online -

  Hicks, who is no longer signed to Clive Davis' J-Records, joins Clay Aiken, Fantasia Barrino, Tamyra Gray, Frenchie Davis, Diana DeGarmo and Constantine Maroulis on the list of Idol winners, shoulda-wons and also-rans who have appeared on Broadway in the past several years.
  

• South Coast Today - the week that was in history: "2003: Ruben Studdard barely beat out Clay Aiken to win Fox's second "American Idol" competition."
• Vancouver Sun - Simon Fuller developing new shows -

  The partnership between Fuller's 19 Recordings and Sony BMG has yielded a string of platinum-plus albums by "Idol" winners and finalists, according to Nielsen SoundScan: Carrie Underwood's "Some Hearts" (6.4 million units), Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway" (4 million), Daughtry's self-titled debut album (4 million), Clay Aiken's "Measure of a Man" (2.8 million) and Fantasia's "Free Yourself" (1.8 million). Self-titled debuts by Taylor Hicks and Jordin Sparks have sold 700,000 and 655,000 units, respectively.

• Philly Burbs - what should David Archuleta sing on the Idol finale?

  What’s left for him to sing? I don’t know. I’m still really liking two of my previous song choices for him: the Joey Mac opus “Please Don’t Go Girl” and the song “Anthem” from “Chess.” Also stay away from anything previously performed by Clay Aiken.

• WorldScreen.com - AI2 finale remains the most viewed American Idol episode -

  Overall, the most-watched American Idol episode was the final hour of season two on Wednesday, May 21, 2003; more than 38 million viewers tuned in live to watch the face-off between winner Ruben Studdard and runner-up Clay Aiken.
  
  Kelly Clarkson is the best-selling American Idol contestant, with album and digital download sales of 18.9 million, followed by Carrie Underwood in second place with album and digital download sales of 15.7 million. Clay Aiken rounds out the top three with album and digital download sales of 4.8 million and digital download sales of 469,000. Until 2006, when the winner was Taylor Hicks, each season's American Idol champ sold at least 1 million copies on his or her debut album.
  

• The Money Times - what's after Idol for contestants, winner?

  Some Hearts by Carrie Underwood (6.4 million units), Daughtry by Chris Daughtry (4 million), Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson (4 million), Measure of a Man by Clay Aiken (2.8 million) and Free Yourself by Fantasia (1.8 million) are some of the albums, that the 19 Recordings-Sony BMG combo have churned out in the past.

• Press Democrat - Josh Gracin back with new album - "He finished fourth on “Idol,” behind Kimberly Locke, Clay Aiken and winner Ruben Studdard."
• Arizona Republic - "Among the first six champions, three - Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Fantasia - have soared to the top of the charts. So have some - Clay Aiken, Chris Daughtry - who didn't win."
  
• Zap2It.tv comments on Clay's CD sales for OMWH -

  According to media reports, Neil Diamond has scored the first No. 1 album of his career, selling 146,000 copies of his Home Before Dark CD. Considering that Diamond has placed 15 albums in the Top 10 and 46 in the Top 200 in his legendary career, it's interesting that it took a two-night stand on American Idol to put him over-the-top.
  
  American Idol Season Two runner-up Clay Aiken may be wishing he'd spend less time talking about how his reality show roots are something in his past. The Spamalot co-star, whose only Idol appearance this season was a behind-the-scenes tour of his Broadway show, saw his fourth album, On My Way Here, debut at No. 4, selling only 94,000 copies.

• MusicWeek - album sales wrap up -

  All told, there are 20 new entries in the Top 200, with seven crammed into the Top 10. Apart from Neil Diamond and Toby Keith, they are: Clay Aiken, runner-up of the second season of American Idol, whose fourth album, On My Way Here, debuts at number four on sales of 94,000;

• MTV.com - American Idol ...

  "[Archuleta] falls into that Clay Aiken sort of square, which is a tough sell at radio," he said. "And when he was doing the Chris Brown song ... he clearly doesn't have it when it comes to contemporary music."
  
  [...]
  
  "Idol" hasn't been particularly kind to male runner-ups, either, from season-one also-ran Justin Guarini and season two's once-shining star Clay Aiken to season-four former major-label rocker Bo Bice and last season's beatboxing flame-out, Blake Lewis. Though Aiken is back with his fourth studio album and just finished a well-received run on Broadway in "Spamalot," it does seem as if "Idol" fans love voting for the boys but aren't nearly as hyped on buying their records.

• Reality TV World - All male AI7 finale -

  Next week's finale featuring Archuleta and Cook will be the first time two guys have faced off since Idol's second season, in which Ruben Studdard defeated Clay Aiken by a razor-thin voting margin.

• Nielsen Company PR about tracking American Idol viewership -

  The most watched American Idol episode ever was the final hour of Season 2 on Wednesday, 5/21/2003 -- more than 38 million viewers tuned in live to watch the face off between winner Ruben Studdard and runner-up Clay Aiken.

• 411 Mania - OMWH - "Clay Aiken's On My Way Here debuts at #4 with 94,000, less than half the first week sales of his last album."
• LiveDaily - OMWH -

  The aforementioned pair of debuts push Madonna's "Hard Candy," last week's No. 1, down to No. 3, while former "American Idol" contestant Clay Aiken debuts at No. 4 with "On My Way Here," and Mariah Carey's "E=MC2" drops from No. 2 to No. 5.