Tidbits 5/25

OC Register asks: "Is David Cook the best 'American Idol' singer ever? Who was the best singer from 'American Idol'?"
VOTE FOR CLAY ... CLICK HERE

• Edmonton Sun - late night laughs ... Jimmy Kimmel mentions Clay in monologue -

  JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE
  
  Jimmy Kimmel
  
  America has a new American Idol. Hillary Clinton called the loser, David Archuleta, and told him not to give up ... Lots of people have gone on to have huge careers even though they did not win: Clay Aiken, Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson, Sting. Bruce Springsteen didn't win American Idol either.

• Seacoast Online - OMWH debuts at #4 -

  4. "On My Way Here," Clay Aiken. S/19/RCA/RMG.
  

• AOL Sessions - According to The Clayboard, Corabeth from CH (who has a contact at RCA) gives us this information about Clay's performance at AOL Sessions:

  Corabeth (from the CH) has updated her original post about this:
  
  RMD has just confirmed 5/27 for AOL Sessions in an email.
  
  ETA: He didn't say in this email but prior to the taping he had told me he thought 3 songs.

  So everyone check out AOL Sessions on May 27.
  
  
• REMINDER!!! Don't forget that if you order OMWH from amazon.com, to go through Goodshop to do so. BAF gets 1.5% of your purchase there. Scroll down and note all the other shopping sites who will donate a percentage of your purchases to BAF, including Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Circuit City, Target, and Office Depot. Do all your online shopping through Goodsearch! It adds up for BAF!!
• R&R - Radio & Records - OMWH adds -

  CLAY AIKEN ON MY WAY HERE (S/19/RCA/RMG)
  WJXB, WLDB, WLHT, WSHH, WTFM
  

• Fort Wayne Journal Gazette - Hicks headed to Broadway -

  The Alabama-born crooner’s run ends Sept. 7. He’ll be the latest “Idol” to hit Broadway, following 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”).
  

• American Idol -
  
  • Aldiatx.com - a Clay mention ... in Spanish -

    El joven de Murray, Utah, se tuvo que conformar con ser el segundo mejor de la competencia, pero como lo han probado concursantes anteriores como Clay Aiken o Chris Daughtry, no se necesita ganar "American Idol" para tener una carrera musical exitosa.
    

    In rough English:

    The youngest of Murray, Utah, had to be content with being second best in the competition, but as has been proven as previous contestants Clay Aiken or Chris Daughtry, there is no need to win "American Idol" to have a successful musical career.
    

  • TVNZ.co.nz -

    The "Davids" duel is the first time two male contestants have competed for the "Idol" title since Ruben Studdard defeated Clay Aiken in the show's second season in 2003.

  • redOrbit -

    While American culture is very focused on winners taking all, the history of "American Idol" suggests that some runners up and finalists have had more lucrative careers than some winners. Jennifer Hudson, who was sixth runner-up in the 2002 run of "American Idol," won an Oscar for her role in the hit motion picture "Dreamgirls." Other notable runners-up include Clay Aiken and Chris Daughtry.

  • Newsweek -

    Real Champ
    David Archuleta Tween heartthrob is like the next Josh Groban—but with louder groupies.
    
    Clay Aiken He might be odd, but his fans adore him. He's sold 5 million albums.
    
    Chris Daughtry He finished fourth on the show, but he had the No. 1 CD of last year.

• The ConCLAYve - berkleylovesclay has dug up some really interesting information on the musicians behind "On My Way Here".
  

Tidbits 3/21

So I upgraded to Windows Vista last night. It took almost 2 and a half hours from start to end, but I think it was well worth it. The above is a screenshot of Vista's Aero Glass Flip3D feature... Nice!

• The picture seen to the right is being used by the Greek Theatre in LA to promote Clay's upcoming summer concert there... Looks new to me! HAWT!
  
• Lycos50 - down 3 this week to #19.
  
• Hollywood Reporter American Idol update ...

  Some winners do even better than that. Six of the artists discovered through "Idol" -- winners Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Hicks, plus Season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken -- have combined to sell more than 23 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

• CBC.ca (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ... most popular Canadian news website) - wonderful Clay mention in this AI6 article:

  Doolittle and Jones are both so ferociously good that they shouldn’t even be expected to show up on the Wednesday elimination show – which isn’t to say they’re safe indefinitely. Idol has a funny history with black women. Despite a song-list heavy on Mariah, Whitney and Chaka, Fantasia Barrino is the only African-American female to have won the competition and she hasn’t achieved the mainstream success of Season One winner Kelly Clarkson. (The only African-American man to win, Ruben Studdard, has been overshadowed by his runner-up, Clay Aiken.)
  

• Barre Montpelier Times Argus - American Idol hall of fame ...

  Other contenders require more help from products and flat irons. During Season 2, Clay Aiken's hair was transformed from messy-geeky to artfully tufted. Nowadays, he's evolved post-post-show into a much lengthier, lankier 'do.
  
  SEASON 2: Clay Aiken. His journey from geek to chic resulted in one of the best "Idol" makeovers ever. Do you love or hate his new lanky look?

• Press Telegram (via Billboard) - no doubting the impact of American Idol -

  Even with its pop focus, "Idol" has managed to churn out a diverse roster of talent, ranging from pop crooners Clarkson and Clay Aiken, r&b belters Ruben Studdard and Fantasia, country queens Underwood and Kellie Pickler and rocker Daughtry.

• St. Petersburg Times - back up singer Tanya Green got a "gig" with Clay - "She even managed to snag a backup gig with American Idol star Clay Aiken. " Green is now releasing her own CD.
  
• The Hotline - article about Sen. Hilary Clinton's campaign mentions Clay ... "Terry McAuliffe introduced the Clintons at 8:11. At 8:13, grown men are reduced to adolescents at a Clay Aiken concert, as they eagerly hold up their camera phones. Bill Clinton begins his introduction of Hillary Clinton at 8:14. Hillary takes the mic at 8:25 and Bill exits the stage."
• Shabby marketing on American Idol tonight... take a look at the sign being held by the cast of FOX's ready-to-be-cancelled show "Til' Death" ... it reads: "Clay Aiken hurt me". What a pathetic attempt to be funny.
  
• 411 Mania - not too good AI6 related mention - "Howard Stern is urging his listeners to vote for Sanjaya Malakar, who is of course the barely pubescent contestant of this season of American Idol. Which is quite hilarious really, as he's helping to destroy the legitimacy of the show and you just know he gets off on that. Hey if the people want a closeted girly boy with Farrah hair to be their idol so be it. It worked for Clay Aiken. "
• National Ledger - Rosie ... "Also she struck out at Kelly Ripa and lambasted for secretly wishing Clay Aiken had worn sanitized gloves when muzzling her, dubbing her a homophobe even though Clay insists that he is not gay."

• Chexxxy's Pearls - looking forward to an exciting summer with Clay!