Carolina On My Mind Blogs About OMWH As It "Chugs Up The Charts"

If you are like me, you have been watching various music sites as the songs from On My Way Here are slowly climbing their charts. AOL songs and videos is a perfect example of this. OMWH is dominating the top songs at AOL. Like the Little Engine That Could or the tortoise who began the race slow yet still beat the hare, OMWH is doing great things right now.

Carolina On My Mind has written a blog that tells us just what OMWH is doing at some of the online sites. Read her blog below and then click on the links that lead you to those sites. And while there, give Clay's songs and videos a hit and listen to some really great music!

'Little Engine That Could'

OMWH Songs Chug Up Charts

"On My Way Here," the lead single on Clay Aiken's new CD, has aptly been dubbed "the little engine that could" by Internet fans. Slowly but surely, the song and others from On My Way Here are chugging their way through a host of music industry charts, as well as into the hearts of many new fans.

Cagney1950 of Clayversity reported 120 Mainstream AC spins for "On My Way Here" Sunday morning, a +17 over last week and .235 audience impression. The song is currently #27 on the Mainstream AC Chart "with a lovely red bullet." Saturday the song #29 on the Mainstream AC Jump chart with +13 spins.

For the week ending June 12, "Ashes" was #9 on Billboard's Top 10 Video Streams, moving up from #20 the previous week.

Clickable AOL Top 11

"OMWH" and "Ashes" are currently #1 and #3 on the AOL Top 11 Music Video Countdown AND in the "most viewed" videos listing at AOL. [NOTE: "Ashes" moved to #2 Monday morning.]

At AOL Music, "On My Way Here" continues to hold its stronghold as the #1 "most played" song in all genres. At 3 p.m. Sunday, seven other OMWH songs were listed in the top 24, including "Ashes", 3; "Everything I Don't Need," 6; "Falling," 10; "As Long as We're Here," 11; "Something About Us," 19; "Lover All Alone," 22; and "Weight of the World," 24.

This list changes constantly and currently represents 509 songs. To join other CA fans streaming, listening, and viewing at AOL and Yahoo, use these links:

* Audio song tracks: AOL Music
* Five-song video performance: AOL Sessions
* OMWH video at Yahoo Music.

On My Way Here Debuts at #29 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart

According to Donna Reynolds at Foxes on Idol, Clay's On My Way Here debuted at #29 on Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary Chart? Here's what she says:

Idol Chartwatch, June 17: New Idol Singles Hit the Charts
by Donna Reynolds -- 06/17/2008

It had to happen sometime. Older American Idol albums began to lose steam this week, with several falling fairly significantly on the charts. But two new Idols’ singles made their debuts, and you may be surprised to learn who they’re from. Read on for all the details.

For some reason, I always get a little bit excited when an Idol’s single debuts on the charts, especially if it’s from an artist that is all-too-often ignored by mainstream radio. And, strange as it may seem, finding Clay Aiken on the Billboard charts is almost cause for celebration, even for someone like me who is decidedly not a Claymate.

Yup, that’s right. Clay’s “On My Way Here,” the title track from his most recent, and I’d say best, CD to date debuted on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart at #29. Will it get any airplay? It’s too soon to tell, but having chart visibility could help sales of the album, which haven’t been robust. In fact, On My Way Here slipped from #106 to #162 on the Billboard 200 this week with sales lingering around 137,000 copies.

In addition she says that On My Way Here is at #1162 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Now that Clay has charted on the AC chart, let's hope that more radio stations will begin to play OMWH. Let's hope we see OMWH climb higher on the AC chart in weeks to come!

Hits Daily Double Final Totals Posted

Hits Daily Double posted its final CD sales totals for last week with Clay and On My Way Here coming in at #39 with sales of 14,391. This gives him a total of over 128,00 for 3 weeks.

When Billboard posts its final figures, we will let you know what their final total is. This will hopefully add a couple of thousand to Clay's total.

As of Monday night, Hits Daily Double With 15.29% Sales In

As of the writing of this article, Hits Daily Double has posted 15.29% of sales for the past week. Clay and On My Way Here is at #42 with sales of 3,238.

Hits Daily Double will update these numbers every 5 minutes on Tuesday until 100% of the numbers are in. We'll post the final numbers in tomorrow's CDD, and then will post the numbers from Billboard when they are final.

A Billboard Debut #1 We Overlooked

During the week of the debut of On My Way Here, there was so much excitement going on. Spamalot had just ended; CD Release parties all over the country had been planned and were being attended by fans; Everyone was buying their CD's and listening to them over and over again. Keeping up with all the fan comments, reviews, and appearances kept everyone busy.

The next week we were checking on chart numbers from Hits Daily Double and Billboard. But there is one number that was overlooked, at least by some. Probably not everyone, but definitely by some. And that is another #1 for Clay reported at Billboard by Fred Bronson. Read on for what Fred has to say:

177 AND COUNTING: It might not be long before the Davids -- Archuleta and Cook -- have their own No. 1s on the Billboard charts, adding to the grand total of "American Idol" No. 1s racked up since 2002. But even without their contributions, the total increases by one this week, as Clay Aiken's "On My Way Here" (19/RCA) debuts at No. 1 on Top Internet Albums. That is the 177th No. 1 for the "Idol" franchise, counting all national, domestic charts compiled by the Billboard Information Group.

How I overlooked this I'll never know. But this is an amazing number for Clay to debut at the #1 spot on Top Internet Albums.

Here's another accomplishment that Clay took a part in. Check this out in that same Fred Bronson article:

ALL BY MYSELF: Take a careful look at the top 10 albums on The Billboard 200. Notice anything? No? All right, here are the 10 artists in this week's top 10: Neil Diamond, Toby Keith, Madonna, Clay Aiken, Mariah Carey, Leona Lewis, Gavin DeGraw, Josh Groban, Dierks Bentley and Luis Miguel.

How about now?

Sharp-eyed Chart Beat readers will have noticed that every album in the top 10 is by a solo artist. There are no groups, soundtracks or multi-artist collections.

How rare is it for the top 10 albums to be by 10 different solo artists? So unique that our chart department hasn't been able to find any other album chart like this one yet, and they've already checked back to 1963.

Clay and the fans can feel extra good about these two accomplishment made during OMWH's debut week. If you already knew about this, well, enjoy reliving this recent memory. If you didn't, then this is something to smile big about until we hear from Clay again.

On My Way Home Makes #18 in Billboard 200

Clay's CD, On My Way Home, placed at #18 on Billboards Top 200 this past week. This is Clay's second week on the chart. He was at #4 last week.

Clay's total sales via Soundscan for this past week were 20,527, for a two week total of 114,648.

First Week Sales: 94,071

Clay's "On My Way Here" debuts on the Billboard 200 this week at #4, moving 94,071 copies in the first week. This is Clay's 4th top 5 opening on the Billboard chart, a rare feat for any artist.

A number of news websites are running stories about this. RCA issued a press release today, as well:

NEW YORK, May 14 /PRNewswire/ - RCA Music Group artists dominate the Billboard album chart this week with three of the country's Top Ten best-selling albums. Additionally, RCA Label Group tops the Digital Album Chart with GAVIN DEGRAW at #1, Clay Aiken's ON MY WAY HERE at #3, and Leona Lewis's SPIRIT at #4.

Clay Aiken's RCA Records/19 Recordings, ON MY WAY HERE debuts this week at #4 with 94,071 units sold this week, making this Aiken's fourth Top 5 debut. Released on May 6th, ON MY WAY HERE is Aiken's fourth album and his first album of original songs since his 2003 chart topping, double platinum debut Measure of a Man. The title track and first single from the album "On My Way Here" debuted at #1 on the AOL streaming chart week of release, rocketed to #1 on the Amazon chart the week it was made available as a pre-release, and debuted at #1 on the Amazon download chart the day it was released. Aiken appeared on Good Morning America, The View, The Today Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, AOL Sessions, Entertainment

• Variety -

  Clay Aiken’s “On My Way Here” (RCA/19 Recordings), his fourth album, sold 94,000 to open at No. 4. Aiken debuted songs on a “QVC Presents QSessions Live” event on April 28 and appeared on TV shows “Good Morning America,” “The View,” “Today” and “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” during the week of release. Appearances on “Rachael Ray,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson” are scheduled for this week.

• The Week Daily -

  Diamond edged out Toby Keith, Clay Aiken, and Josh Groban for the top spot, and his record sold 146,000 copies in its first week.

• E! Online -

  It may have taken him more than four decades and 40-plus albums to get there, but Neil Diamond is finally No. 1, to the dismay of Toby Keith, Clay Aiken and Josh Groban.
  
  The season two runner-up sold 106,000 copies of On My Way Here at No. 4. While he's released two cover albums and an EP in recent years, On My Way Here is Aiken's first album of originals since 2003's Measure of a Man, which set the mark for best sales week by an Idol alum with 613,000 debut copies.

• FMQB - "Clay Aiken debuted at #4 with On My Way Here, selling 94,000"
• Reuters -

  Meanwhile, Madonna's "Hard Candy" (Warner Bros.) falls from the top slot to No. 3, moving 94,000 copies with a 66 percent slip. "American Idol" star Clay Aiken debuts at No. 4 with "On My Way Here" (RCA), with a slightly lower sales total than "Hard Candy." Aiken's last studio album, 2006's "A Thousand Different Ways," started at No. 2 with the much larger sum of 211,000.

• LiveDaily -

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

• MTV -

  Other mad, mad business in this coming Top 200 include Clay Aiken’s On My Way Here, which bows at #4. The Claymates predictably snatched up the former Idol’s latest, placing Aiken just 100 fewer copies behind Madonna’s Hard Candy at #3 (94,000). (Um, how does Madge feel coming in just behind Clay in only her second week on the chart…?)

• Monster & Critics -

  Clay Aiken’s RCA/19 Recordings album, ‘On My Way Here’ debuts this week at #4 with 94,071 units sold this week. Released on May 6th, ‘On My Way Here’ is Aiken’s fourth album, fourth Top 5 debut, and his first album of original songs since his 2003 chart topping, double platinum debut Measure of a Man.

• Rolling Stone -

  Former American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken also got a rub from his old show (and probably a Mother’s Day surge as well) as On My Way Here debuted at four

• Undercover.com.au -

  In fact, it is a brand new top 3. Toby Keith is at no. 2 with '35 Biggest Hits' and at no. 3 Clay Aiken with 'On My Way Here'.

• FOX News -

  Also pushing Madonna down are Mariah Carey, whose shotgun wedding certainly helped spark interest in her latest CD, perennial country music fave Toby Keith and creepy "American Idol" star Clay Aiken.
  

Billboard's OMWH Review

Billboard published its review of On My Way Here. Not too bad, at all. In fact, it's pretty good!

On My Way Here
CLAY AIKEN
Producer(s): Kipper, Jaymes Foster
Genre: AC
Label: RCA

In the Broadway show that is Clay Aiken's public life, he is, of course, the leading man. His fourth full-length progresses just like the Original Cast Recording, with character development songs early ("On My Way Here"), beatific love songs in the middle ("Something About Us") and a dénouement of regret and lessons learned ("Lover All Alone"). Aiken, who debuted on the Great White Way this year in "Spamalot," sings like a theater veteran: almost too perfect, with a self-aware showmanship. But that doesn't make pop-rock nuggets like "Ashes" any less catchy, or the ballads-on which Aiken's breathy tenor could break housewife hearts-ring any less true. With big American melodies, stock AC production and general inoffensiveness throughout, this should satisfy his army of self-dubbed Claymates. -Kerri Mason

Tidbits 4/27

• Reuters has picked up that Billboard interview from earlier this week and it's now showing up on some big news website including The New York Times and Yahoo! News:

  By Chuck Taylor
  
  NEW YORK (Billboard) - During its six previous seasons, TV juggernaut "American Idol" has launched countless music careers -- but the caveat is maintaining staying power.
  
  Season-two runner-up continues to beat the odds. He is gearing up for the May 6 release of "On My Way Here" (RCA), his first album of original material since his 2003 double-platinum debut, "Measure of a Man."

• PhilStar.com - Neil Sedaka article ... "American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken made his mark with Solitaire."

• The ConCLAYve - the anticipation builds for Clay's new CD -

  Clay Aiken's new CD, On My Way Here, will be available on May 6th. An album of originals - it's been a long time coming. And the short clips that have been posted on Amazon.com sound amazing, fresh, complex and exciting. It really looks like Clay, executive producer Jaymes Foster and producer Kipper have done a great job!
  

• Something That Really Happened - Clay on QVC tomorrow - reminder
  

Billboard Interview Coming Soon; FanBolt.com Looking for Questions for Clay

A new interview with Billboard is coming soon, according to Murah15:

Billboard Interview Coming this week
Just wanted to give everyone a heads up....this weeks edition of Billboard should have an interview with Clay regarding OMWH. Fingers crossed its better than what we saw for ATDW....

Along the same lines, FanBolt.com will also interview Clay soon, and it is looking for questions. You can post your questions for Clay to the Clayboard, where Emma, the editor of FanBolt.com, started a thread:

Hey guys!

My name is Emma and I'm the head editor at FanBolt.Com. I'm going to be interviewing Clay, I originally thought it was going to be today but now it looks like it will be the first part of next week, and I was hoping you guys could suggest some questions for me to ask! I have 15 minutes with him and I want the interview to answer questions that his fans really want to know! I'll be sure to mention these boards to him in the interview as well!

Thanks!
Emma

Billboard: "Clay Aiken Heads 'Here'" with New Album, Tour, TV Appearances

2008 is definitely shape up to be the year of Clay Aiken, as Billboard reveals that Clay will be touring this summer and appearing on several TV shows in support of his new album, "On My Way Here", out May 6 on RCA Records.

Clay Aiken Heads 'Here' On Next Album

March 21, 2008, 12:20 PM ET
Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

[...] Clay Aiken will return with his first album of entirely new material since 2003's "Measure of a Man."

Due May 6 via 19 Recordings/RCA, Aiken's "On My Way Here" was produced by Kipper, best known for his work with Sting and Chris Botti. The album will likely include the title track and a song called "Ashes," but no other details about the project have yet been made available.

Aiken is expected to tour the U.S. this summer, beginning in July. He will also be visible on TV shows such as "Good Morning America" and "The View."

[...]

Clay in Fred Bronson's New Billboard Book

Billboard's Fred Bronson will be releasing a new edition of "Billboard's Hottest 100 Hits" on October 2. 3 Clay songs, "This Is The Night", "Invisible" and "Solitaire" are in the book's top 30 American Idol songs list, according to stripedshirts at CV:

From Fred Bronson:

Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits: 4th Edition coming out in Oct. 2nd will have a Clay mention in there, & a pic. You can preorder on Amazon.com

Preview from Fred on what's Clay-related in the book

"Clay has three songs in the American Idol top 30: "This Is The Night," "Solitaire" and "Invisible." The list is based on the Hot 100, and his Christmas songs didn't appear on this chart. The photo is an older one that predates the new dark hair. But it is quite large on the page and I think people will like the placement. The 4th edition is revised and expanded, so there is a lot of new material, including the top 30 songs by American Idols."

Since in the past few days there has been books discovered w/ Clay content in them, add this to your shopping list.

Order your copy of this book for $16.47 at Amazon.com.

Billboard's Mobile Beat Gives The Greek Concert a Fantastic Review

It is rare that a review of a Clay concert can be found that has nothing but positive things to say about that concert. But I believe that Billboard's Mobile Beat Review by David Chung is just that review!! The review is quite long and there are so many awesome things said about Clay, his songs, his banter, Angela and Quiana, and the orchestra, that just summerizing it just wouldn't do it justice.

Cutting to the chase, here is a snippet of his review (bolding is mine). Don't forget to head over to the Billboard blog to read the entire thing ... Read it slowly and savor it. This is one to be reread and remembered!

Clay Aiken, The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, August 4th, 2007
by Dave Chung

Part concert, part comedy show, Clay Aiken and a live orchestra performed in front of a few thousand of his most dedicated fans on Saturday night. Before the show, I had spoken with fans of the American Idol runner up, or Claymaniacs, who told me that an Aiken concert is as much about his interaction with the audience as it is about his trademark big vocals. I was a little skeptical about how this would turn out because I appreciate rapid fire performances in live concerts. However, many an Aiken concert veteran assured me that I was in for a great night on this stop of The Soft Rock & A Hard Place Tour. Thankfully, Aiken delivered. In an entertaining two hour set, Aiken and his background vocalists Angela Fisher and Quiana Parler put together an upbeat night (somehow, in a set filled with ballads) that was just as filled with laughter (legitimate “LOL,” “LMAO,” “ROFL” laughter) from the audience as it was with strong performances coming from the performers on stage.

The second I walked into the venue, I knew this was going to be a concert unlike any other. After hanging out with teenage girls (again, holler!) last week at Carrie Underwood’s show, I expected a similar crowd for another American Idol alumnus. Instead, it was a much older crowd than I expected (median age 45?), skewed about 90% female. The stage was set up for a full orchestra, something I wasn’t expecting, but was pleasantly surprised to find. As one of the few non-balding males in attendance (not that there’s anything wrong with balding), I was an anomaly at the show. I found two girls with a “Clay took our concert virginity” poster, which was more of what I was expecting from the night’s audience. Seeing them and their sign made me feel more at ease because I was a Clay concert-virgin that night and they seemed pretty happy with their first experience. I suppose it says something when people come back for more after that first intimate experience…instead of not returning your text messages… nor calling back… perhaps blocking on IM…maybe even Google chat… Wait, what are we talking about?

...

In what was probably the most relaxing concert I’ve ever attended with the most respectful crowd I’ve ever been a part of (I am positive not a single expletive was spoken all night), Clay Aiken put on a great show vocally and in terms of entertainment for the audience in attendance. Not only is Aiken a powerful vocalist who has developed his own identity and following that has gone well past him being a “guy from American Idol,” but he puts on a hilarious show that is filled with more laughs that you’d ever expect from a ballad-filled evening. While I wish that Aiken performed some more songs from his first CD, few Aiken fans would ever leave his show unsatisfied, as the singer manages to make everyone feel like they’re just hanging out with Clay and his band for the night. With strong vocals throughout the night and random banter that surprisingly did not annoy me between songs (almost an impossible task), Aiken became more than just a singer to me tonight, but lived up to his reputation as a strong entertainer as well.

Special AI Report In 3/24 Billboard Mentions Clay

According to LosAngelesDawn at The Clayboard, a special report on American Idol and its 200th show that is in the 3/24 copy of Billboard features Clay in it several times. Here is what LosAngelesDawn says:

Didn't see this posted anywhere and they are small mentions, small for all the Idols because it's about the show, and also pictures.

Page 38:

Six artists discovered through “Idol” - winners Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Hicks – plus season two runner-up Clay Aiken, have sold a combined 23 million-plus copies of their albums, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Page 42:

A little picture chart of 'Idol' Hits – Clay is 3rd (after Kelly, Carrie) with MOAM.

Page 41:

A lot of industry full-page ads congratulating Idol on its 200 episode and one from Tribune Entertainment has the 200 with the first '0' filled with year 1 contestants and the second '0' with year 2. Cute Clay pic.

Page 48:

Pic from Idol tour with Ruben, someone, and Clay in all white, singing.

Its great that on page 38 of this article, Clay is mentioned along with the "winners" on the show. Of course, we all know that Clay is a winner no matter what place he came in. Congratulations to Clay for all the success he has had since being on American Idol!