Tidbits 9/24

• USA Today is pitting American Idol winners and runner-ups against each other! IT'S TIME TO VOTE, CLAYMATES! CLICK HERE TO CAST YOUR BALLOT.
  

• Not much here either!
  

Clay Wins USA Today Poll With A Landslide

It's no surprise...Clay won the USA Today Idol Chatter poll with a huge landslide.

USA Today was conducting a poll to see who Idol fans would have chosen as the American Idol 2 winner now that it's been over 4 years since Ruben Studdard was crowned champ.

Here are the results, as posted on the USA Today Idol Chatter blog:

A lot of you called this the best season in Idol history, and the passion has clearly endured. I really enjoyed reading the votes that came in with added commentary on the finalists; very illuminating.

Clay Aiken won by a landslide, with an overwhelming percentage of the first-place votes and better than 40% more points than his nearest competitor.

1. Clay Aiken (2)

2. Kimberley Locke (3)

3. Ruben Studdard (1)

4. Josh Gracin (4)

5. Trenyce (5): A lot of love for Trenyce in the virtual room; her subsequent seeming disappearance was a mystery to many.

6. Rickey Smith (8): Big move up for Rickey, whose residual popularity I was unaware of. His supple voice and friendly personality seemed to be his big strong points.

7. Kimberly Caldwell (7): Massive gap between Rickey and Kim C., whose chief rallying point seemed to be her survival as a cable TV personality.

8. Carmen Rasmusen (6): Took the hit when Rickey rose two notches; she was close in points to Kim C. but had pretty lackluster support.

9. Vanessa Olivarez (12): How about this? She very nearly knocked off Carmen for 8th, retaining a lot of good will despite getting to perform in the finals only once.

10. Julia De Mato (10): A few strong supporters but clearly not enough.

11. Charles Grigsby (11): Despite my bias in favor of him (thanks, Howard Roark), he had a pretty dismal showing. He did get one third-place vote, though (and it wasn't from me).

12. Corey Clark (9 -- eliminated without a vote for failing to disclose a previous arrest): Corey has clearly left a very bad taste in your collective minds. Despite one, possibly non-serious first-place vote (or was it from Paula under a pseudonym), he had almost zero support.

USA Today Idol Chatter Poll: Time To Vote, Claymates!

OK guys... it's time to vote for Clay on the USA Today: Idol Chatter poll we told you about last week.

Let them know who we thought should have won ... get to work - click here to go to the USA Today: Idol Chatter poll.

To submit your vote, you must register at the site and leave a comment as per instructions on the page.

Voting ends on Thursday.

"Idol Chatter" to Conduct AI2 Poll on Monday

Over at USA Today's "Idol Chatter" blog, Ken Barnes notes that "Debate still rages over the Ruben vs. Clay battle."

In an effort to see whether America has changed its mind now that's it's been over 4 years later, Ken says he will run polls every Monday asking who you thought should have won each season of "Idol". The series of polls began this week with AI1; Clay's season - AI2 - is coming up next week.

Claymates, get ready to vote for Clay beginning on Monday; each poll will run through Thursday of that week. We will be giving you a heads up on this poll on Monday.

Clay Finally Hits 500,000 in Sales For A Thousand Different Ways

We have some great news via USA Today's "Idol Chatter" by Ken Barnes. Barnes tells us:

And finally, Clay sold another 1,400 copies, enough to put him over the 500,000 mark (500,400, rounded off). Congratulations are in order to him and his fan base, considering he did not have any big radio impact this time.

And Barnes is right...no radio play, little promotion. Clay's CD is top notch and his fans are always there for him, supporting him because they know that he is a class act and his voice is the best out there. CONGRATULATIONS Clay on reaching over 500,000 in sales.

One other Clay mention in this same article has to do with one of the Idol girl's trying out for AI6. She sang "Without You". I heard it and didn't think she did that great of a job. Ken must have heard the same thing. He said, "Alaina Alexander sounds dreadful on her clip of Without You. If Clay's watching, he must be cringing. Bad judgment on the part of the judges, unless they heard something we weren't permitted to. Yikes." Yep, gotta agree with him.