Tidbits 8/21

• Lycos 50 - Clay moves up 2 spots to #14
  
• Orlando Sentinel - complaining about Hard Rock Orlando and how they treated Clay:

  Second, Hard Rock Live. I covered the Clay Aiken concert for the Sentinel on Sunday night. I didn't mention this in the review, but it was quite distracting when the Hard Rock started breaking down the bar during one of Aiken's quieter numbers, a song he wrote himself. My seatmates and I were turning around in our seats to see what the ruckus was. Poor Clay's on stage pouring out his heart about being alone without love, and all I can hear is the dishwasher starting and ice being dumped!
  

• San Jose Mercury News - article about a local singer prepping for a big show -

  At 6 feet 3 inches, Ryan's a tall, dapper man who looks 10 years younger than his 29 years. With blue eyes, baby-smooth skin and Clay Aiken hair -- his term -- he's quite the looker.
  

• The Inquirer (Philippines) - Kathy Griffin ...

  But some of the most gut-busting are those that the redhead delivers (in her packed performances or in the show’s interspersed booth commentary), about more popular celebrities like Tyra Banks, Sharon Stone, Clay Aiken and Whitney Houston, among a gaggle of others.

• Knox News ... uh... not sure what to make of this; but Donald Trump shouldn't be uttered in the same breath as Clay Aiken, if you ask me:

  Mind you, I have absolutely *zero* interest in just about any version of "The Apprentice," but I am intrigued by the idea of the upcoming celebrity version, coming in early 2008. New York tabs are reporting that The Donald is trying to nab Paris Hilton and Britney Spears -- which would get me to watch in a heartbreat.
  
  Here's who I'd like to see:
  
  Ann B. Davis ("The Brady Bunch"), Lucas Grabeel ("High School Musical"), Kathy Griffin, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, Steve-O, Masi Oki, P Diddy, Clay Aiken, Peyton Manning and Dakota Fanning.

• Cinema Blend - is American Idol on the way out?

  After the backlash of season six, the question now seems to be whether or not the show will be outlived by the stars- Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, and hopefully Jordin Sparks- it created.

• Buddy TV - "So You Think You Can Dance" winners face "uncertain future" -

  American Idol breeds stars, So You Think You Can Dance does not. The reason is simple: pop singers are viable commodities, dancers are not. Idol has given us Kelly Clarkson, Katharine McPhee, Clay Aiken and Carrie Underwood. No So You Think You Can Dance winner will ever sniff the success of any of those singers. Is this the way is should be? Could it be different? Can FOX do anything about it?

• Taking A Moment ... Jemock, being her usual comedic self: "Oh NOES!! The Tour is OVER?!?!? What the..?!!?!?"
  

Tidbits 8/8

Video of Jerry Aiken and Aron Hall's appearance on UNC-TV's N.C. Now is now up on ClackUnlimited. What great exposure for the TBAF!

• Clay is #9 this week in the Lycos 50, as you will see in the Lycos PR issued today (scroll down... it's near the middle of this post). He moved up 5 spots from #14.
  
• Des Moines Register - "Juice" - tips for AI auditioners: "Wanna be the next Ruben Studdard? OK, maybe Clay Aiken?"
• New York Post - article about AI4 6th placer Constantine Maroulis -

  EVERYONE knows even losers are winners on "American Idol."
  
  Need proof? Take a gander at Clay Aiken and Chris Daughtry - both are chart-topping, platinum-selling artists, even though they weren't crowned "Idols" - and don't forget Jennifer Hudson's Oscar win and Katharine McPhee's McPheever.

• Atlanta Journal Constitution/Access Atlanta -

  First place is overrated.
  
  Just ask "American Idol" losers Clay Aiken or Chris Daughtry — or Miranda Lambert.
  
  The country singer from Texas placed third in the first season of the USA Network's "Nashville Star," "American Idol's" country cousin, in 2003. But like those other two runners-up, Lambert has climbed higher than most of the series' winners.
  

• Raleigh News & Observer - Raleigh rap artists looking to be the next big thing out of Raleigh -

  As Raleigh police hurried the video shooters and bystanders off the corner early in the day, Small World thought about why he'll follow Clay Aiken as the next big thing from Raleigh and why North Carolina rappers haven't made a dramatic dent in the hip-hop scene.
  

• United Press International wire story - top search terms at Lycos -

  The week's other most popular terms were MySpace, YouTube, Pokemon, Naruto, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Disney, Clay Aiken and WWE.

• Earth Times- Lycos Inc. PR -

  The Lycos 50(TM) Top 10 Search Terms for the Week Ending Aug. 4, 2007:
  9) Clay Aiken

• Entertainment Weekly interviews Simon Cowell regarding his "talent search" based movie... uh... I think I'll pass on this one -

  EW: Any plans to cast past Idols as judges or producers of the competition?
  
  Simon: I can't imagine Clay Aiken producing the fictional show in this movie somehow, no. [Laughs] Maybe a choreographer or something, I don't know.

• Foxes On Idol - article about "So You Think You Can Dance". Mentions Clay in these paragraphs about how people vote.
  

  What surprised me was that Sara joined him out the door, not Lauren! However, I think a little American Idol history can explain just why she went now. In the second season, the final five were Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken, Kimberley Locke, Josh Gracin, and Trenyce.
  
  Josh was clearly the weakest at this point in the competition. Although the other four were all talented, Trenyce was seen as the weakest of them and everyone thought that after Josh left Trenyce would follow him.
  
  But Josh had fans that called and called and called to save him and Trenyce was sent packing instead. She wasn’t as memorable as Ruben or Clay and she split votes with Kimberley, who was considered better. And with Carmen’s departure a week earlier, her fans also became complacent.

• Houston Press - well... I completely disagree with this:

  There’s a lot to be depressed about during the holiday season: a smaller-than-expected Christmas bonus, in-laws coming to visit, Clay Aiken television specials.
  

• Tour mentions
• Knoxville Metro Pulse... what does "dark in there" mean? "Sunday, Aug. 12: Clay Aiken performs tonight at the Tennessee Theatre at 8 p.m. Just one question, Aiken: Is it dark in there?"
• Northwest Herald - Waukegan Christmas concert

• Taking A Moment's Jemock sure has a story she's been waiting to tell... LOL -

  SOMEBODY went and posted those pictures of Clay wearing some seriously and perilously low-slung pants. Gravity-defying britches, people. I don't know what's holding them up. Well, actually I know EXACTLY what's holding them up, but this is a family board, so cypher your own darn physics. I can't do everything, gosh. Oh, and he has his arms raised. Oh mama. Do you know the pictures I'm talking about? They're floating around all over the fandom, you can find them somewhere, I'm sure. Just make sure you have some bail money in your pocket, because these pictures are barely legal. And by "barely legal" I mean "awfully nice in an artistic and spiritual sense". What it is, is Clay's singing and dancing his big o'l heart out, and he's wearing a shirt with the tail untucked and the famously-ubiquitous undershirt has ridden way up somewhere around armpit level, and he's not wearing a belt and he's got some fine, fine hips on him, of which 90% of said hip is nekkidly visible

• Carolina On My Mind - Clay gains new fans in California
  

Tidbits 6/1

ConcertShots.com - I haven't seen a few of these before... photos from Clay's December 13, 2003 mini-concert at Q-100's Frosty The Showman 2003.

• Entertainment Weekly - bad season finales this year - "Season finales haven't fared too well this year. The lackluster Idol ender couldn't produce even half the brilliance of Clay's surprise appearance last year"
  
• Reuters wire story on the surge in popularity of classical music recently... mentions Clay's Symphonic summer tour which starts next month: "Cincinnati Pops is teaming up with funk icon Bootsy Collins, and 2003 American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken is planning a summer symphony tour."
  
• Entertainment Weekly - article about FOX's So You Think You Can Dance:

  Clogger Brandon Norris — a cross between Clay Aiken, Elliott Yamin, and Kenneth the NBC Page on 30 Rock — shut Nigel up but quick with his Roadrunner-quick feet after the judge prefaced the audition with the warning that they had never put a clogger through before.

• Canada's Globe & Mail (major Canadian newspaper) - Ruben Studdard part of "all-star" cast paying tribute to Ella Fitzgerald in PBS special airing tonight -

  Studdard was an American Idol winner several years back, but never achieved the fame or notoriety of that season's runner-up, Clay Aiken. How Studdard ended up as part of this all-star lineup is a mystery.
  

• Tour mentions:
• Philly Burbs (negative)
• ABC WPVI-TV Philadelphia - "Workers are still putting the finishing touches on Mann Center stage this afternoon, getting ready for the diverse roster of performers who will be here this summer. People as different as Clay Aiken and Smokey Robinson, Lyle Lovett and Wynton Marsalis."
  
• The Desert Sun

• A few blogs about Clay in Vancouver:
• There Was A Man
• Southern Girl
  

"Run To Me" Featured on So You Think You Can Dance

Clay's "Run to Me", off of Measure of A Man, was featured tonight on FOX's summer dance series, So You Think You Can Dance. The song was featured during the show's audition process which continues next week.

Gerwhisp already has a cap ready for us at SendSpace... great song... terrible dancing!