Tidbits 5/28

• Clay's OMWH is #4 this week on HitPredictor, -'The "Hit Predictor" chart ranks the songs that tested the best in R&R's listener surveys (based on songs rated by promosquad.com members).'

  HitPredictor - Mainstream AC
  New releases that tested with hit potential prior to airplay, updated each Monday.
  
  BDS TW / Song Title / Label / Artist / HitPredictor Score [Note: BDS TW refers to This Week's R&R AC chart ranking, determined by # of spins]
  1 Love Song Epic Sara Bareilles 84.70
  3 Lost Reprise Michael Buble 82.50
  30 New Cinderella EMI Steven Curtis Chapman 81.40
  35 New On My Way Here RMG Clay Aiken 80.20

• Desert News - mention of the Independent Tour - "When Clay Aiken and Kelly Clarkson came to town during another concert, I reviewed the show and said I felt Clay had the better set. Well, the hate emails came in, and I even got three death threats."
• Foxes on Idol - Idol Watch -

  After a respectable start, Clay Aiken’s fourth album, On My Way Here, took a hit this week, selling just over 20,000 copies and dropping from #4 to #18 on the Billboard 200. The album came in at #6 on Top Digital Albums and #6 on Top Internet Albums. Obviously, the Claymates can only carry their man so far, and if sales are any reflection, their numbers appear to be dwindling. It’s too bad, because this is a solid effort on Clay’s part and has some really, really nice tracks that are both melodic and meaningful. This is the album he should have released third, that’s for sure.

• Philadelphia Weekly - Neil Diamond achieves chart success -

  Weirdly, Diamond never achieved tremendous sales with the sparkly stuff that’s occupied his discography over the last 40-plus years. Home Before Dark is his first ever chart-topping album. In fact, it entered the Billboard charts at No. 1, knocking down both Mariah and Clay Aiken as the first unexpected breakout of the summer. Not bad for a guy who’s been recording since before the Jurassic era.

• The ConCLAYve brings up some interesting points about how singles are selected for albums -

  I’m really curious as to how a record label selects a first single. In some situations the choice seems obvious, such as cases where a song is part of another medium such as a movie soundtrack or a television backdrop song. In other cases, what criteria is most important in this important selections? Other schools of thought are that the second single is the one to drive an album.
  
  I ask this question because of the current choice of single for Clay Aiken’s incredible album called On My Way Here. There are so many possibilities for a single choice from that album, many which are radio friendly and which also would raise an eyebrow or two from those who associate Clay with ballads.