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
  

November Sweeps Brings Out Lots of 5th Grader Articles

We've been waiting for November 1 for weeks now so we can see Clay on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. And November 1 is the beginning of sweeps for television. So the articles are coming out of the woodworks about sweeps shows, and that includes the celebrity version of "5th Grader". Here are a few of those articles, which will hopefully bring lots of viewers to the show:

• Reality TV Magazine - They call Clay a legend!!

  In a special two hour episode of Are You Smarter Than A 5th grader, not one but two reality TV legends will be making guest appearances. American Idol 2 runner-up Clay Aiken will be playing the game, as well as America's Got Talent season one host Regis Philbin.

• Media Life - Media Life's article about the celebrity version of 5th grader starts off saying, "A supersized edition with two big-name guests". It goes on to say that 5th Grader does not have the best ratings at No. 75, but concerning the celebrity show:

  Fox likely wouldn’t draw better ratings for anything else it put in the slot, and the celebrity element, which will be repeated again the next two weeks, could give “Grader” a slight lift, especially since Aiken maintains a large fan base among “Idol” fans.

• Dallas Fort Worth Star Telegram - Article entitled 'Sweep'-ing viewers away every night says, "The November sweeps period begins tonight,..." and then lists "Stuff to Watch or Record":Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? This two-hour edition, the first in a series of celebrity episodes with stars playing for charity, features Clay Aiken and Regis Philbin. Even if neither is smarter than a fifth-grader, both are certainly richer.
• Louisville Courier Journal - Tom Dorsey, the writer of this article, is a little uninformed concerning his Clay comments, IMO. He says, concerning past sweeps vs. today's sweeps:

  Stars that were really stars, such as Frank Sinatra or Judy Garland, did specials. There were so many competing goodies it was hard to know which way to turn the TV dial.
  
  Now we get "American Idol's" Clay Aiken and Regis Philbin as special guests on "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" tonight at 8 on Fox. Philbin is a great guy, but he's no Sinatra.
  
  I'm not picking on Aikin, either, but in sweeps gone by they would have had the winner of a show, not just a finalist.

  I think Mr. Dorsey needs to do his homework on the last 4 years of Clay's successful career.
• New York Daily News - According to this article, presidential candidates such as Hilary Rodham Clinton and Rudy Giliani were asked to test their smarts against the 5th graders, but they all said "No". However:

  Luckily for viewers, Hollywood celebrities aren't as cautious as White House hopefuls. So Regis Philbin, Clay Aiken, "Access Hollywood" host Billy Bush, Tony Hawk, Miss America 2007 Lauren Nelson and "American Idol's" Kelly Pickler are all ready to prove they know a thing or two about math and science.
  
  Philbin and Aiken get the pencil going tonight at 8, kicking off three weeks of star-studded episodes of "5th Grader" in which the celebs play for their favorite charities.

• Orlando Sentinel In their picks of "10 for your attention", the celebrity 5th Grader is included:

  Will you go for celebrities playing the game? That approach ruined Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Oh, well. The contestant list: Regis Philbin and Clay Aiken tonight, Tony Hawk on Nov. 8, Billy Bush and Kellie Pickler on Nov. 15.

• MTV -

  The new season of "American Idol" is still a few months away, but that's not stopping the juggernaut's presence on TV. Former contestants Clay Aiken and Kellie Pickler will be celebrity contestants on "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" on Thursday and November 15

• Springfield News Leader -

  "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" 7 p.m., Fox. The Fox people were really hoping there would be a seventh World Series game tonight. The Red Sox swept, however, so the network plugs in this expanded version. Clay Aiken and Regis Philbin play for charity.

• Fayetteville Observer -

  “Are You Smarter Than a 5th-Grader?”: This is an interesting pairing. Clay Aiken and Regis Philbin are celebrity contestants tonight, competing to win money for their favorite charities. You may recall that Aiken ruffled the feathers of Philbin’s co-host, Kelly Ripa. I’m sure Regis will put aside their differences for the sake of winning. 8 p.m. Fox

• The Futon Critic -

  WILL THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT? "AMERCIAN IDOL'S CLAY AIKEN AND TALK SHOW HOST REGIS PHILBIN TEST THEIR 5TH GRADER FACTS FOR CHARITY ON A SPECIAL TWO-HOUR "ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER?" THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, ON FOX
  
  The 5th graders extend a helping hand to AMERICAN IDOL's Clay Aiken and talk show host Regis Philbin, who will put on their thinking caps on and play for big bucks with proceeds going to their favorite charities on a special two-hour edition of ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER? Thursday, Nov. 1 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (AYS-205/206) (TV-PG)

• Reality TV Magazine -

  American Idol Finalist Clay Aiken On Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader
  
  In a special two hour episode of Are You Smarter Than A 5th grader, not one but two reality TV legends will be making guest appearances. American Idol 2 runner-up Clay Aiken will be playing the game, as well as America’s Got Talent season one host Regis Philbin.

• Desert Morning News - "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (7 p.m., Ch. 13): In this two-hour episode, Regis Philbin and Clay Aiken play for charity."
• Los Angeles Times - "Regis and Clay: Regis Philbin and Clay Aiken play for charity on "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" (8 p.m. Fox)."
  

Tidbits 3/14

• A Thousand Days is making its rounds on ClearChannel owned radio stations. For example, you can stream the song live on KLEN-FM's website.
• The CB's renee4clay was featured on The Insider today in response to a question about who would be the best co-host for Kelly Ripa as Regis heads into surgery... "Clay Aiken would be my number one pick. Bring it on Clay", she said.
• Clay was also mentioned on yesterday (3/13)'s Today Show on NBC, says the CB's OneSingerGal:

  yesterday Today did a 2-3 minute tribute to Clive Davis. they mentioned non-idol stars like alicia, britney, justin etc. and discussed whitney and jennifer hudson with Clive.
  
  during a part of it they flashed pics of the recording stars associated with Clive, and mentioned his successes....first mentioned some non-Idols, then mentioned that he's signed Idol winners (flashed carrie) and finalists (flashed a great screencap of Clay from his ATD video....Clay's smiling broadly while singing and his eyes are 'smiling' too...i.e. partially closed....so cute !!! his name wasn't mentioned. ). also flashed pics of other Idols...
  

• There was a cute Clay mention this morning in Chicago. The CB's secretfriendmom updates us:

  I was listening to the Stan and Terry show which is 105.9 FM. They are actually a talk show. But they were talking about last nights American Idol Show and how bad it was, and then they got into talking about Clay and Ruben somehow. And the one DJ goes "Who's Clay Aiken?" and the other DJ goes, "You know the guy that beat Ruben" LOL and he was serious about it too...LOL There was some caller in afterwards that was supposed to have all the "info" on American Idol, so not sure if they set the DJ straight about Clay and Ruben or not. But it made my day...LOL
  

• From One Singer Gal @ The Clayboard:

  Yesterday (the TV show) Today did a 2-3 minute tribute to Clive Davis. they mentioned non-idol stars like alicia, Britney, justin etc. and discussed whitney and jennifer hudson with Clive.
  During a part of it they flashed pics of the recording stars associated with Clive, and mentioned his successes....first mentioned some non-Idols, then mentioned that he's signed Idol winners (flashed carrie) and finalists (flashed a great screencap of Clay from his ATD video....Clay's smiling broadly while singing and his eyes are 'smiling' too...i.e. partially closed....so cute !!! his name wasn't mentioned. ). also flashed pics of other Idols...

• Lycos 50 - Clay has moved up three places to #16 for the week ending March 10. Under his name, it says, "Claymates love him." They have that right! Clay has been in the Lycos top 50 for a total of 193 weeks, just 15 weeks shy of 4 years!
• FOX News -more on Mario Vasquez being sued over sexual harassment allegations... Vasquez has the same lawyer as Clay:

  Vazquez had been convinced by an attorney who had worked on extricating Clay Aiken from his "American Idol" management contract that, should he win, he would be stuck with a long deal that would be difficult to get out of later.

• Fayetteville Observer - as Regis Philbin heads into a bypass surgery, Kelly Ripa will find herself with many guest co-hosts... "As long as Clay Aiken is not sitting next to her, the scheduled line-up should complement the witty Ripa."
• Times Herald-Record: AI article ... "More to the point, every season seems to feature a nice, nonthreatening male figure (think Clay Aiken, Kevin Corvais and John Stevens), whose appeal to adolescent girls (and their mothers and fathers) can't be underestimated."
• MLive - cheering on AI6 finalist LaKisha Jones ... "The judges have loved her from the get-go -- even Simon, which is saying a LOT! She's got an amazing voice and presence, and a great chance at winning. And even if she doesn't win, she'll probably still be a star. Remember, Clay Aiken didn't win."
• Your Hub Denver - AI recap ... "Still, these are the growing weeks, the weeks that managed to make even Clay Aiken a star. You never know."
• Associated Content - fewer and fewer Americans tuning into idol and "often the losers of the show do better than the winners. For example, last summer Clay Aiken and Kelly Clarkson easily beat Taylor's album in record sales. Chris Daughtry, a loser to Taylor, is topping the charts."

• Nothing here yet.