AIKEN NEWS NETWORK JAN 10

[clayMaine-iac]

Have a Terrific Tuesday everyone!!

Idol Chartwatch, January 9: A Ho-Hum Week on the Charts
by Donna Reynolds -- 01/09/2006
 
This was not a particularly exciting week for Idols on the Billboard charts. Although both Carrie and Kelly are still doing great, other Idols have disappeared entirely. Read on for all this week’s numbers.(snip)

Clay Aiken’s Merry Christmas With Love was #15 on the Top Holiday Chart.

FOXESONIDOL

[clayMaine-iac]

Simon Cowell Says A Southerner Will Win American Idol 5
The South has ruled American Idol for four straight years.  American Idol 1 Winner Kelly Clarkson is from Texas.  American Idol 2 Winner Ruben Studdard is from Alabama.  American Idol 3 Winner Fantasia Barrino is from North Carolina.  American Idol 4 Winner Carrie Underwood is from Oklahoma.

Not only has a Southerner won American Idol for four straight years, but the first runner-up has also been a Southerner for the last three years.  American Idol 2 Runner-Up Clay Aiken is from North Carolina.  American Idol 3 Runner-Up Diana DeGarmo is from Georgia.  American Idol 4 Runner-Up Bo Bice is from Alabama.  And even though American Idol 1 Runner-Up Justin Guarini grew up in Pennsylvania so we didn’t technically include him in this count, he was born in the Southern state of Georgia.

With the strong record put forth by Southerners on American Idols 1 through 4, it is no wonder that Simon Cowell is predicting that a Southerner will win American Idol 5.  In a recent interview on IdolonFox.com, Simon Cowell says “Every year a Southerner’s won, and I think a Southerner will win again this year.” 

REALITYTVMAGAZINE

[clayMaine-iac]

Recently, a conference call interview was held with Randy Jackson, one of the judges on American Idol. Though I was unable to participate in the interview, the people at FOX were kind enough to send me a transcript of it. Here’s what “The Dawg” had to say:
(snip)

That’s right. Is there anything in general you can tell us about the first few singers that do make it that we see?

I’ll just say that we say it every single season, but this year I think it’s really 100,000% true; the talent is far better than any other season. There are always great girls and I think it’s going to come down to the wire at the end. In the past, we kind of knew that Kelly was great. We knew that Ruben and Clay were great. Well, Clay kind of grew; we knew Ruben was great. We knew Fantasia was unbelievable. We knew Carrie was really good. I think this time it’s going to come down to who grows the most during the competition, in front of the American public, because I think everybody is that good at the start.

ALWAYSREALITYTV

[clayMaine-iac]

From the Ideal Idol:

I'M SORRY, ELVIS

[Her]

Hi M.B....stay warm!  just think of Clay 

Thanks for the news

[clayMaine-iac]

Good Morning Buddy!!

Got something in the mail yesterday!!


It snowed where I live in Maine yesterday--all day long.

Warm is gonna be tough.

Here ya go:

[ANGELA]

HELLO DEANNA & JAYNE,    
DEANNA THANKS FOR BRINGING US THE NEWS WAY BEFORE THE SUN COMES UP.

HAVE A SUPER DAY EVERYONE,
ANGELA

[stargazer]

Good Morning early birds
Deanna as usual thanks for the starting the day with some news.
It's beautiful here this week. No snow, No cold, No rain. 

[shaikeninseattle]

From the Ideal Idol:

I'M SORRY, ELVIS

This was hilarious and I have the Elvis newsletter in my email this morning! 

[Claymaniac2000]

I'M SORRY, ELVIS
I could have written every word in this article. This is exactly the way I feel. I loved Elvis for so many years but Clay has taken over. I still have a small place in my heart for Elvis but Clay is now the KING.

[mainer]

Thanks, Deanna -- and while I've never seen Clay in concert (or Elvis, for that matter) -- we all here think that it is just a matter of time (and CDs.....) before Clay overtakes Elvis and Frank and Jim, et al.  And so, we hope he does!

[ILClaymate]

  Good morning/afternoon! 

Caregiving: Servants -- and autocrats
By ALEX CUKAN
UPI Health Correspondent

My series on the U.S. nursing shortage and my articles on Clay Aiken being a role model have come full circle. I was deep into writing the nursing shortage when I began getting a deluge of responses to the articles on inclusion and Dick Clark's comeback on New Year's Eve.

The response was a bit overwhelming and it took a while to read through, but toward the end one response gave me an "ah-ha" moment.

Renee wrote: "There are a lot of times I think to myself, 'How would Clay handle this situation?' He shows respect to any person. No matter who. He shows love and compassion. He uses his humor.

"Here's a true story," Renee continued. "I was at his Christmas concert and after the show I went to buy a CD of William Joseph, the opening act pianist, and they had Joseph's CD for sale at the merchandise stand. So I just asked out of curiosity if they had any of Clays' CD's."

The man selling merchandise told Renee: "No, Clay won't let us sell his because he doesn't want to take anything away from William Joseph's sales, that's just the kind of guy he is. I've met him lots of times and he is the real deal. I'm just the T-shirt guy and he never gives me the cold shoulder; he's just as nice to me as to anyone else. I have worked with plenty of people before and lots of them, I would quit my job tomorrow if I could, but with Clay, I would be the first to sign up to work with him."
<snip>

UPI~ click here to read the rest of the article!

[aikenseeker]

Afternoon Mummy and Crew!

 

Was just checking out the idolonfox site and they have a new poll out on the main page.

Who is your favorite runner up.

Thought I'd bring over a link.

http://www.idolonfox.com/

[Claymaniac2000]

I really like this guy. Look who he has Clay's name tied in with!

Calling all local talent to the scene
building a local stage
By ZAK SHARIF
Usually I glare at people who refer to these as the latter days, but lately I’ve started to hope they might be right. I’m not sure I want to live in a world where Mariah Carey can be the best-selling musical artist of 2005.

It’s not the mere existence of such fluff, of such crap, that bothers me. It’s how popular this teddy-bear approach to art has become. I am perpetually in shock at how many people seem willing to worship either the inane or the contrived.

I simply can’t believe that people voluntarily wallow in current popular culture, completely ignoring the contributions of true artists including Homer, Rilke and Cummings; Marlowe, Beckett and Mamet; Chaucer, Voltaire and Lawrence; Beethoven, Lennon and Aiken.

Well, the last of these, at least, still gets the attention he deserves for inspiring automatons of every social class to stay the course. Nevertheless, the potential for greatness is out there and we have the means to spread it across the world almost instantaneously, so why are we left with movies like the new version of “King Kong” in our theaters?
<snip>
Then the industry puts on an award show where they bestow titles like “Best New Recording Artist of 2005.” They take that same word and throw it at those who are almost always undeserving (according to our academic definition). They flood our world with images and noises that are supposed to be some part of this continuum spanning Homer and Clay Aiken.

PITTNEWS

*edited to add link (thanks Janet!) - clandy

[lorraine]

I AM A LITTLE LATE BUT ALARM DIDN'T GO OFF THIS MORNING.  THANKS FOR ALL THE NEWS.

SIMON AS CONTINUE TO SAY THIS IS THE BEST YEAR EVER BUT WE KNOW HOW SIMON LIKES TO TALK OUT OF HIS :censorOH AND AS FAR AS FANTASIA BEING CALLED UNBELIEVABLE :lolENOUGH SAID.

HUGS
RAINEY

[mainer]

It seems that Simon has said that each year is the best year ever -- and so I was pacified to read, in a recent interview somewhere, that (of all four years) AI2, with Ruben and Clay, was his favorite year.

Clay is the real deal -- artisitically and personally -- and it is great to see those qualities recognized in the critical press!

[WilsonClaymate]

I, too, could have written every word in I'M SORRY ELVIS. 

I was a big Elvis fan--bought all his records, magazines, etc. and was even lucky enough to see him in concert twice.  I was such a big fan that my husband told his mother I sold our refrigerator to get a ticket to go see Elvis (they were all of $10.00 each) and she believed him.

All said, I am an even bigger Clay fan.  I would never have believed it would happen to me because I'm certainly not a teeny-bopper any longer, but it has.  I absolutely love his voice and love him for the person he is and the joy he brings to all of us. 

So, I'm sorry Elvis but, although you will always have a small corner of my heart,  Clay has completely taken your place in my world and I couldn't be happier about it.