Tidbit 7/8

• New York Magazine - Regis Philbin -

  At a party fêting Kelly Ripa for being on the July cover of Hamptons (and in which she said that Clay Aiken would be "a great father"), Regis Philbin said his favorite bathing suit is a Speedo.

• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Jonas Brothers take on their tween fans -

  Now working with producer John Fields (Mandy Moore, Clay Aiken and Pink) and Robert Schwartzman (a member of the Hollywood Coppola clan who fronts the band Rooney), the Jo Bros are making well-crafted power pop that pushes all the right buttons — in the right order.

• Reality TV World - Former Idols perform at San Francisco show -

  The Chronicle said also noted that while former "Idol" contestants Chris Daughtry and Clay Aiken remain the most successful non-winning finalists to date, other finalists from the series are taking part in an "Idols" tour taking part this summer.

• Clay nation blogs about the CNN/UNICEF TV Special that aired on Sunday night - Something That Really Happened, The ConCLAYve
• There Was A Man - spotlight montage: Hope: Rising from the Ashes
  

CNN Special Focuses on UNICEF's Role in Saving Children's Lives

The CNN Special, The Survival Project: One Child at a Time, aired Sunday night and focused on four areas where UNICEF is reaching out to save the lives of young children. Those areas discussed are:

• Child protection in Iraq
• Water and sanitation in Laos
• HIV/AIDS prevention in Peru
• Child survival interventions in Ethiopia

CNN.com/world has some very good information about all four areas that were discussed, including links to other sites and videos. Also included are links to various organizations who are working with children around the world. To donate to UNICEF, go to their donation page and you can help save the life of a child with your gift.

Clay appeared in a short segment of the show, along with other UNICEF ambassadors, and gave a brief description of why he works with Unicef and why the work is important. To download Clay's part, go to Clack Unlimited.

Clayscience at The Clayboard has put together a summary of the CNN show. As you read it, remember, UNICEF needs our help to save the children around the world from dieing. Every little bit helps.

The first segment - clean tap water projects in Laos. A family who lost a 2 year old to illness because of contaminated water was the focus. The village now has a simple $5000 clean water tap thanks to Unicef.

Second segment focused on HIV / AIDS prevention in children, using Peru as an example. 2 million children at risk of infection in world, most in Subharan Africa. In Peru, there are 1500 cases of maternal to child transmission. There is mandatory testing there now. An example was made of a young mother who had two children. She passed HIV to her older child during childbirth. That was prevented in her younger child by the use of C-section (avoiding the greatest risk of transmission during vaginal birth), by no breast feeding for six months (also a risk of transmission) and by putting the child on prophylactic anti-retrovirals.

The commentators were Lucy Liu and Vivian Lopez, regional advisor, HIV/AIDS. The treatment and testing rates have been doubled in the past two years.

Celebrities - Clay, Dale Haddon, Al Roker, Ne-Yo, Nicole Ritchie, Amare Stoudemire, Marcus Samuelson give brief introduction on why they work with Unicef and why the work is important. A new celebrity ambassador to be introduced later.

3rd segment - Iraq and casualties of war.

Worldwide - 2 million children dead due to conflict in last decade, 1 million orphaned.

Kareem - has to sell gasoline on street to support family to provide $1 per day for each of mom and 3 siblings. Dad was killed in conflict. Kareem is only source of support and is not in school or sports.

2007 - 1.2 million Iraqui children forced from homes, 70,000 new widows. 14 million children at need in Iraq.

Unicef is vaccinating children against polio and measles.

Luciano Calistini, an emergency specialist, was panelist. Noted Iraq is the most difficult country to assure safety for Unicef staff. Noted that people need to turn their "anger into action", becoming activists, fundraisers.

Ethiopia, one of highest child mortality rates due to malnutrition.

Unicef training 30,000 young women in an outreach effort. They go to villages, use a simple tool to measure bicep to determine malnutrition -with green as okay and red as malnourished (less than month to live)

6 million children in drought areas, food more difficult to buy due to rising costs, hurting Unicef's efforts

New health workers refer children to clinics. Example of young mother receiving "Plumpy'nut" nutritional high energy peanut paste supplement for her child.

Dr. Nicholas Alahui was panelist, discussed highlighting successes, gave example of how tiny arm is that shows malnutrition.

New celebrity ambassador introduced - Joel Madden of group Good Charlotte, has been involved in efforts to help children, now honored to be invited by Unicef to be ambassador.

Ishmael Beah, former child soldier, from Sierra Leone.

Rescued by Unicef, now a Unicef advocate for children affected by war.

Does public speaking to highlight this problem. It's difficult for him to relive the memories and talk about the war, but says without Unicef he wouldn't be there.

Wrote a book - Memoirs of a Child Soldier

book is available on Amazon

Close of show - how to help.

Urged people to go to cnn.com/impact to see ways to help and list of organizations (not just Unicef).

Ann M. Veneman of Unicef noted Americans are generous and most generous nation in world.

At present, 9.7 million children die yearly of preventable causes. But this is an improvement from the former 13 million per year.

Carol Stern of Unicef noted that Unicef would continue fundraising efforts - being in supermarkets, schools, etc to highlight efforts and improve fundraising.

UNICEF Article Reminds Us of CNN Special - "The Survival Project: One Child At A Time"

"UNICEF will be the focus of a special global broadcast on CNN and CNN International this Sunday," begins an article on UNICEF's website. This broadcast will include reports on UNICEF's work with children all over the world. Clay will be one of UNICEF's ambassadors to be included in video diaries talking about their experiences with UNICEF.

UNICEF's article, in full, says:

‘The Survival Project’: CNN programme shines spotlight on UNICEF work

© CNN/2008/Gajilan

NEW YORK, USA, 3 July 2008 – UNICEF will be the focus of a special global broadcast on CNN and CNN International this Sunday.

The Survival Project: One Child at a Time will feature work that UNICEF is doing to protect and support children in countries such as Laos, Iraq, Ethiopia and Peru.

“CNN’s correspondents will show the challenges faced by children around the world and will offer viewers an opportunity to effect helpful change,” said the Executive Vice President of Content Development and Strategy for CNN Worldwide, Sue Bunda.

Joining the fight for child survival

Anchored by CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, ‘The Survival Project’ will premiere on Sunday, 6 July at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Eastern Time in the United States, and will be simulcast on CNN and CNN International.

The broadcast will also feature UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lucy Liu and musician Joel Madden as panellists speaking about their experiences with UNICEF. Other celebrities – including Clay Aiken, Nicole Ritchie, Al Roker and Marcus Samuelsson – will appear in video diaries about their volunteer work, encouraging viewers to join the fight for child survival.

A challenge to the audience

Child mortality rates reached a new low last year. For the first time since the United Nations began keeping records, the number of children who die each year before the age of five has dropped below 10 million.

‘The Survival Project’ will focus on the challenges that remain.

“As many as 9.7 million children die each year before their fifth birthday, largely due to preventable causes like measles, malaria and diarrhoea. That is 26,000 children every day,” said US Fund for UNICEF President and CEO Caryl Stern. “We’re extremely grateful to see the world’s top news network not only highlighting the difficulties facing children’s survival, but moreover, challenging its audience to put an end to this injustice.”

Entertainment Tonight Mentions CNN UNICEF Special

A short segment on Entertainment Tonight mentioned the CNN special that will be on this Sunday, July 6. Clay will be included in this special, The Survival Project: One Child At a Time. In addition, ET mentioned that Clay (as well as Nicole Richie and Joel Madden) is supporting UNICEF's efforts in public service announcements.

In the short segment, Clay said, "Helping children have the basic needs to live is a no brainer." Be sure to tune in Sunday at 8 p.m.EST, with a repeat at 11 p.m. EST and 2 p.m. EST (July 7).

You can download the ET segment at Clack Unlimited. If you are able, leave a donation for Clack Unlimited so they can continue to supply these great videos for us.

Clay Confirmed for CNN/UNICEF TV Special

An unofficial CNN blog, called All Things CNN, is confirming that Clay will be part of CNN and UNICEF's TV special The Survival Project: One Child at a Time, anchored by CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

The show airs on the US and International CNN networks on July 6 at 8 PM EDT, with repeats at 11 PM EDT and 2 AM EDT (July 7).

CNN to Focus Spotlight on Saving World’s Children with Global Broadcast
Dr. Sanjay Gupta Anchors July 6 Special with UNICEF Ambassador Lucy Liu, Musician Joel Madden

CNN will focus a lens on the world’s children in harm’s way and examines child survival issues in-depth during its global broadcast, The Survival Project: One Child at a Time. Anchored by CNN’s chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the special will focus on healthcare, education, water sanitation and protection from violence for children. UNICEF ambassador Lucy Liu and Good Charlotte musician Joel Madden join Gupta as panelists for the program and speak about their experiences with UNICEF. Following recent crises in Myanmar and China, CNN viewers moved by the devastating stories and images are looking for ways to help. In May, the month of the devastating natural disasters in both nations, the “Impact Your World” special section on CNN.com more than doubled the previous month’s page view numbers for users looking for information on how to help. Shot in high-definition television before an audience at the Alliance Theater inside Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, The Survival Project: One Child at a Time will premiere on Sunday, July 6, at 8 p.m. and will replay at 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. All times Eastern. The broadcast will be simulcast on CNN and CNN International.

Clay Aiken, Dayle Haddon, Joel Madden, Ne-Yo, Nicole Ritchie, Al Roker, Marcus Samuelsson and Amare Stoudemire appear in special video diaries of their volunteer experiences and encourage viewers to help children around the world.

For the first time since the United Nations began tracking child mortality, the number of children who die each year before their fifth birthday has dropped below 10 million. Bringing the stories of these children to CNN viewers from four continents, Gupta and international correspondents Wilf Dinnick, Jill Dougherty and Dan Rivers will brief viewers on the challenges that remain to save more lives through the innovative works of organizations such as UNICEF. The United Nations Children’s Fund operates in more than 150 countries in an effort to reduce the child mortality rate everywhere.

Gupta will report on the 1,500 children who live with HIV/AIDS in Peru, as well as those orphaned by the disease. From Laos, Rivers will report on the impact of the second largest worldwide killer of children under age five – a lack of clean drinking water. Dougherty will report from Baghdad on children who have been displaced due to war and conflict. Dinnick will report from Ethiopia on how vaccinations and nutritional supplements are saving the lives of children and pregnant women.

UNICEF: Clay in Somalia, Asks World "Not To Forget"

Clay is currently on an UNICEF trip to the African nation of Somalia, his latest trip abroad for the UN organization. He is using his goodwill ambassador status to once again to remind us "not to forget" about children living in poverty. Clay told OK! Magazine via Thomson Reuters:

There hasn't been much discussion of Somalia since the early 1990s in the U.S. In the lower part of the country, southern part, I feel it's a more desperate situation than any place we've ever been. In Somaliland, you really do have a sense of people who really want to help themselves, who want to do better, who want to effect change for themselves, that is very hopeful.

Reuters.com has a full wire story about Clay trip:

U.S. pop star Clay Aiken appealed on Wednesday for the world not to forget Somalia, where conflict and hunger have created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Aiken said U.S. and international interest in Somalia had been minimal since failed military intervention in the early 1990s.

"There hasn't been much discussion of Somalia since the early 1990s in the U.S.," said Aiken, a U.N. goodwill ambassador, on a visit to Somalia. "The American population kind of got a bad taste of Somalia in the early 90's and hasn't really had much interest in the country since."

Somalia has suffered relentless civil conflict since the 1991 toppling military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

[...]

Aiken, 29, who was travelling on behalf of U.N. children's agency UNICEF, was in Somaliland, a relatively peaceful northern enclave of Somalia that has declared itself independent but not been recognised internationally.

On Sunday, July 6 at 8 PM EDT, both the US and international CNN networks will air a UNICEF special titled "The Survival Project: One Child at a Time". "CNN will explore why 26,000 children die every day from preventable causes, and what UNICEF doing to save young lives."

CNN Interviews Clay In Soundcheck Video

CNN has put together a great video, complete with interview with Clay and information about On My Way Here, how he deals with the tabloids, and why he likes living in Raleigh. They interviewed Clay when he was making the AOL Sessions videos in May.

Under the video on their website is this title:

Soundcheck: Clay Aiken Former American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken talks about his new album and why he's so guarded about his private life.

Denise Quann of CNN states:

Clay Aiken will talk about anything, anything but his personal life, and don't try to read meaning into the lyrics of his new album On My Way Here."

Clay says in the interview that the songs are not just about what he has experienced in the last 5 years but about what anyone would experience. The video also shows a 2003 interview where Clay says that the tabloids make assumptions based on the fact that he is a "mama's boy" and that he doesn't sleep around. "Personal business is off limits" because it doesn't really matter what he says, the tabloids will believe what they want. And to Denise's credit, she never pushes him for any personal information.

Bravo CNN for a great interview and video of Clay!

And here are a few screencaps from that video:

Tidbits 2/10

• Clay was flashed today on CNN's news ticker, which runs across the bottom of their screen - "Clay Aiken on his role in Spamalot...I'm so sore I couldn't even get off the toilet the other day."
  
• Toronto Star - Clay's comment to New York Magazine gets the tabloid treatment -

  Us Weekly - This week in thank God for small mercies: Clay Aiken has shut off his sex drive.

• INEMA.com.br - Suzie McNeil article - "She is featured singing duets on American Idol finalist Clay Aiken’s fall release; “A Thousand Different Ways”."

• Carolina On My Mind - Valentine's week in the Clay nation!
  

Spamalot AP Story Now on CNN

CNN, one of the largest news websites on the internet, has picked up the Associated Press wire story about Clay debuting on Spamalot this week. The story was featured on CNN.com's homepage much of this morning and climbed to #3 on the "Most Popular Stories" list -

NEW YORK (AP) -- Clay Aiken, who joins the cast of "Monty Python's Spamalot" this week, says its humor was initially lost on him.
Aiken

Clay Aiken joins the "Spamalot" cast as Sir Robin later 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."

Aiken plays one of the leads, Sir Robin, in the Tony Award-winning musical in a stint from Friday through May 4. He told the magazine he was so sore from rehearsals he "couldn't even get off the toilet the other day."

"It hurts so bad. I don't know if it's I'm not coordinated or using muscles I never had to use before," he said.

The show is based on the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," which came out in 1975, a little before the 29-year-old singer's time.

"I thought Monty Python was a person until three months ago," Aiken told Newsweek for editions on newsstands on Monday

Tidbits 5/26

Looks like RCA has set up an official YouTube channel for Clay ... check it out - Clay Aiken YouTube Channel!

• Clay's "The Way" is featured in a commercial for WRAL-FM in Raleigh, says the CB's ncsupack88:

  They were playing a promo of their "Best of the 80's, 90's and Today" and played clips from several artists. The only other one I remember was the song Thank You from Dido and then they say...and Clay Aiken and they play a clip of The Way. While that's all fine and dandy, I figured they would use a newer song seeing that The Way never got too far on their hit list. But promotion is promotion. This is the first time I've ever heard them include Clay in one of their promos of the music they play like this. So it's all good.

• Raleigh Chronicle has a write up about the Raleigh News & Observer's Clay cartoon they posted a few weeks ago.

  The News & Observer daily newspaper of Raleigh has posted another "spoof" cartoon by animator Grey Blackwell and this time, the cartoon focuses on Clay Aiken and other American Idol stars from North Carolina.
  

• San Jose Mercury News ... viewer response about the American Idol finale: " I will never watch American Idol again. First Clay Aiken, now Melinda Doolittle. American Idol is not a singing, or even a performing competition. It is a popularity contest; thus the word IDOL."
  
• Saskatoon Star Phoenix - random Clay mention in sports article ... "Then I'd probably get on Scott Niedermayer for his greying beard. 'Hey, Needs,' I'd say. 'You're looking like Taylor Hicks and playing like Clay Aiken.'"
• TC Palm - tour listing
• CinemaBlend comments on Rosie O'Donnell's brief time at The View: "Her tenure on the show—can you believe it’s only been 8 months?—has been more YouTube-able than any other show on daytime, including that time Kelly Ripa tried to shush Clay Aiken."
• CNN Headline News mentioned Clay this morning in a news piece about Rosie's departure from The View.
  

• Nothing here yet
  

Tidbits 5/20

• OC Register - Idol fan comments on why she watches AI:

  "I'm stuck on reality shows," says Linda Pickle of Orange. "I like the little stories that they have behind them. And watching them grow, like when Clay Aiken came on years ago – that gawky guy with big ears and the great voice – you get to see them grow and mature.
  

• Times Herald Record - E! to show "50 Most Shocking Celebrity Scandals" ... "Just where have Clay Aiken's hands been?"
• Macomb Daily - another tour mention for the Sterling, MI concert ... "Other future acts include Travis Tritt, Clay Aiken, comedian George Lopez, ZZ Top, Quiet Riot, Barney, Donny Osmond, Frankie Vallie and others."
• 94.9 FM Online - event listing for Clay's Tampa Bay concert
• Monterey Herald - random Clay mention in this pop quiz about who said what:

  "I don't understand why people like me! It doesn't make any sense!"
  A. Charles Manson
  B. Clay Aiken
  C. Sally Field

• Canoe.ca - shabby journalism which is why no one reads this newspaper any more in Canada... article about AI runner-ups, but did they really have to insert that last bit there? Since when did Rosie "out" Clay? She was merely speculating.... anyhow...
  

  Clay Aiken
  Season Two finalist
  
  Aiken, the most successful of the runner-ups, released three albums, Measure of a Man, Merry Christmas with Love and A Thousand Different Ways, which all debuted in the Billboard chart’s top five. But while his music career remains strong, it is his personal life that has received the most attention. After years of speculation he is gay (Aiken has never confirmed this), Rosie O’Donnell basically “outed” him on The View, calling Kelly Ripa “homophobic” because Ripa questioned where Aiken’s hands had been, while filming Live with Regis and Kelly.

• Carolina On My Mind tells us why we and other people in the public know there is only ONE Clay Aiken --

  On CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, the newsman and Erica Hill discussed Melinda's unexpected departure from American Idol and the fact that she, like past finalists who didn't win, will still do well.
  
  The subject turned to the Season 5 winner, and Erica remarked that Taylor Hicks hasn't shone as well as others. The exchange ended like this:
  
  He's no Clay Aiken ... Well, who is? ... There's only one Clay ... That's true!
  

Clay Mention on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360

Fantastic Clay mention tonight on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, according to the CB's nky4clay.

Update 5/18: gerwhisp has uploaded a cap of this to SendSpace.

I was just flipping channels...while watching ER....and went to CNN...

Anderson Cooper was talking about AI with a woman...sorry didn't get her name..

They were discussing Melinda being kicked off ....and the woman said..."Listen..she will be alright..I will buy her album...not everyone who wins does that well...Look at Taylor Hicks...not that he is doing that badly but......

Then Anderson jumped in and said...

"He's no Clay Aiken."

The woman said...""Well...then who is?"

And Anderson said.
"Right!!!!"

It was all good

Ruben: I'm Proud of Clay

Talk about a great friend! When asked last night on Larry King Live what he thought about Clay being "to successful", Ruben responded saying he is very "proud of Clay."