AIKEN NEWS NETWORK JANUARY 18

[aikenseeker]

Good Morning Everyone!

Mummy appears to be sleeping in today so I figured I'd surprise her and start the thread for her.  

Board meeting today, gotta be at work by 7:30. UGH! And, it's bellow zero out. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Here's Clay's horoscope for the day from yahoo.com.

Quickie:
You're at the top of your game. Everyone will acknowledge it soon.

Overview:
Just a few hours of putting the nose to the grindstone and you'll be free to go -- well, freer, anyway. In the meantime, don't put anything off, and do try to keep your sense of humor, even if you're tired.

Daily Extended Forecast:
You've been working extremely hard lately, so much so that you're actually too tired to go out tonight, no matter how lovely that offer is that you've just received. Before you refuse, though, think it over. Can't you grab yourself a power nap after work and rally? Sure you can. You're a superstar. Besides, you have your reputation to think of -- you're the life of the party who's always game for 'just one more' of anything.

Daily Flirt:
It's all about taking care of business, baby. Put off the good times for later, after the bills get paid and the bathroom gets cleaned -- or whatever it is that you absolutely have to do right now.

Daily Couples:
Attend to your duties and make time for fun at a later date. Offer to do a special favor for your lover -- you'll reap generous rewards.

Daily Singles:
You're happy to go out of your way to lend a helping hand, especially in some matter of the heart. And with your current excellent powers of communication, you're just the one to do it.

Daily Career and Finance:
Even though you're already feeling a little too tied down, double-check that you've taken care of all your mundane responsibilities. One or two misplaced forms could multiply out of control now.

[aikenseeker]

Clay Aiken Plans To Hit The Studio In March

Mon Jan 17, 7:00 AM ET
   

LAUNCH Radio Networks

Clay Aiken (news) plans to hit the studio in March to begin working on material for his third studio album, the follow up to 2004's Merry Christmas With Love. The American Idol star, who just wrapped a holiday tour, told LAUNCH that before doing that, he hopes to take a break this month to relax: "I'm gonna take a little bit of time off in January. That's what I promised myself. We'll see if I end up doing it or not. I really don't like to sit down, do nothing for too long. We'll probably start working on the album some time in March, and I'm looking forward to hopefully spending a little bit more time on this next one and really picking songs that I like and working with producers that I like to make it all work."

   

Aiken released his debut album, Measure Of A Man, in 2003, shortly after he finished American Idol.

The new American Idol season begins Tuesday (January 18) on FOX.

YAHOO

[Her]

Good morning Miss Susan...have a terrific Tuesday and thanks for the info!

[aikenseeker]

Good morning Miss Susan...have a terrific Tuesday and thanks for the info!

You're welcome sweetie!

You have a terrific day too!

I have to give my notice at work this morning so I'm wicked nervous!

Hope everyone has a great day!

[houstonclayfan]

Daily Singles:
You're happy to go out of your way to lend a helping hand, especially in some matter of the heart. And with your current excellent powers of communication, you're just the one to do it.

   Sometimes Yahoo is right on target  

Thanks, Susan!  Good Morning y'all!

[clayMaine-iac]

They're winners, but only on TV?
By Jeanmarie Tan
jeanm@sph.com.sg

REALITY TV Show American Idol was supposed to reinvent the traditional star-making machinery and launch music careers.

Sure, it remains a successful TV phenomenon, ratings-wise.

But that success hasn't automatically translated into record-breaking album sales and retail popularity in the fickle music business, and there are indications that Idol fever is fading fast.

Inaugural American Idol Kelly Clarkson was special, and received a little more love from curious audiences.

But most recent finalists Fantasia Barrino and Diana DeGarmo are now already fifth and sixth in line.

True enough, their first-week album sales figures performed sharply below second season finalists Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard.

Also, neither Clarkson, Aiken or Studdard are selling as well the second time around.

It seems that Idol fame and the mainstream music these artistes represent is working against them in terms of credibility.

Billboard magazine reported that some radio stations and even MTV have been resistant to playing Idol songs.

For instance, Barrino's I Believe was the top-selling single for last year, and made Billboard history as the first artiste to debut at No 1 on the Hot 100 charts - but it also had the lowest radio airplay of any No 1 song in the chart's history.

But even if the public doesn't support them, at least the Idols will always have each other.

'We all went out and caught each other,' Barrino told USA Today.

'Ruben said to me, 'I got your album.' I said 'I got yours, too.' I hope they all sell great.'

So before the American Idol assembly line prepares to enter its fourth season and continue cranking out fresh winners, The New Paper finds out how the old dogs stack up.

No 1: Clay Aiken
(Season Two runner-up)
First-week sales*: Measure Of A Man (613,000), Merry Christmas With Love (270,000)

CLAY Aiken once acknowledged that with Idol comes baggage.
 
He told USA Today: 'The show is an amazing stepping stone, but there is a stigma that can follow you.

'You're seen as being a reality-show contestant as opposed to a real artiste. You're automatically considered a flash in the pan.'

But as the most commercially successful Idol to date who has taken his career above and beyond American Idol, the 26-year-old has proven his staying power.

Industry watchers feel he has the best chance of long-term success because, as a lovable Barry Manilow-like geek for a new generation, he stands apart from the Idol pack.

Aiken's new CD, Merry Christmas With Love, had the biggest first week for any Christmas album since SoundScan began tabulating sales electronically in 1991.

It spawned a TV special now available on DVD (A Clay Aiken Christmas), a book (Learning to Sing), the Joyful Noise concert and - take a deep breath girls - the 2005 Wall Calendar.

As a major heart-throb who has since developed a huge, rabidly loyal following, Aiken need not worry - the Claymates will see him through.

GO HERE TO READ ABOUT THE REST:
ASIA1.COM

[clayMaine-iac]

That ``American Idol'' Clay Aiken's charitable foundation will turn over a $31,996 grant to Concord High School Jan. 25 so the New Hampshire school can hire a teacher to implement a ``peer-to-peer'' program. Clay, who has a degree in special education from the University of North Carolina, is a big proponent of matching up students without disabilities with those who have special needs. Applause all around!

BOSTON HERALD

[clayMaine-iac]

REALITY CHECK
By Robert Philpot
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Even if you're not a fan of the singing styles on American Idol, you can appreciate the show's root-for-the-underdog quality: A bunch of young Americans go up against British meanie Simon Cowell, as well as somewhat more forgiving judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson. Its opening episodes, however, always find the series at its worst, with the condescending and sometimes mean-spirited samples of really bad singers flunking the audition process. There are good singers, as well, and one will become the next Kelly, Ruben or Fantasia -- and as Clay Aiken can tell you, coming in second isn't so bad, either.

American Idol may turn to Britain for its villain, but Supernanny finds its heroine there. As the women on Fox's Nanny 911 do, Jo Frost helps flustered parents whose next step after a nanny is probably exorcist. The season premiere finds Frost helping the Jeans family of Denver get a handle on their willful 4 1/2-year-old daughter and 3-year-old twin girls. Is it just a coincidence that mom Barbara bears a slight resemblance to Desperate Housewives' Felicity Huffman, whose character deals with similarly obnoxious boys? We see a synergy-generating crossover cameo in Frost's future.

DFW.COM

[clayMaine-iac]

Keeping it fresh
A glut of reality shows is not all that "American Idol" is up against. While the talent competition has made past finalists like Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken into mini-sensations, 2004 winner Fantasia Barrino has not been as popular with music buffs.

Last season's finale drew 25 percent fewer viewers than the 2003 finish.

Barrino's debut album, "Free Yourself," sold 686,000 copies in the first six weeks after its Nov. 23 release, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures. That's roughly half the 1.3 million that Clay Aiken's "Measure of a Man" sold and 15 percent below early sales of Kelly Clarkson's "Thankful."

"I haven't heard a Fantasia song on the radio, not that I go looking for it," said Adgate. He acknowledged the slower sales could be a warning sign. Or, he said, it could be a fluke.

This time around, however, Fox is shaking up the format, although the judges -- Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and the caustic Simon Cowell -- and host Ryan Seacrest return.

But instead of 32 semifinalists, 24 contestants split evenly between men and women will advance out of the initial auditions. The men will compete one night, the women the other.

During the elimination episodes, "American Idol" will go to three nights a week.

MONEY.CNN

[clayMaine-iac]

Well, well, well… here we are again. It’s Idol Eve, and I couldn’t be happier! It’s hard to believe that nearly eight months have passed since the grand finale of Idol 3. At the time, I remember thinking how far away January seemed and how much I would miss my weekly “Idol” time. Now it’s January! Poof, just like that.

As Sting pointed out in his preview piece, American Idol has grown up and so have the contestants. Everyone knows what’s at stake and can only dream of achieving the kind of stardom that has befallen Kelly, Ruben, Fantasia, Clay, Kimberley, and so many others. The show has proven to be a veritable star machine, offering not only the winners, but also other finalists, a huge boost to their careers. The show itself is a ratings killer, blowing out the competition and remaining the TV talent show that others can only dream of emulating.

FOXES ON IDOL

[HavinaClayAffair]

Good Morning!! At -2 degrees F without windchill...it is ~cold~.

Well..tonight is the night of AI4- I plan to watch. Clay?? Will you be watching this time around??

Thank you for the news and Have a really great day!

Lora- Antarctica

[HavinaClayAffair]

Found this from the Winnepeg Sun 01/18/2005:

Tue, January 18, 2005


Idol's Simon still quite a charmer

By BILL BRIOUX  
 
UNIVERSAL CITY -- Some of the stuff Simon says! Cheeky Brit Simon Cowell was at his quotable best in a chatty and catty press scrum immediately following a session yesterday to publicize American Idol's new season, which starts tonight on CKY and Fox at 7 p.m.

Asked by one critic if he ever got tired of being a "prick," Cowell shot back: "I'm English -- we're all pricks. We have a history of being pricks. It's the way we were brought up by our parents -- very repressed. In every way."

Asked if he thought Saturday Night Live lip syncher Ashley Simpson could win the Idol competition, he said, "she'd have to sing, wouldn't she?" Then a rare second thought. "I have to defend her," he said. "I know how long it takes to get a great vocal in the studio. Sometime it takes a month. They can't do it every night."

He doesn't think a little vocal cheating for TV is such a big deal. "I could care less. You'd be surprised how many well-known artists (do it)," he said. "All the big ones, or a lot anyway."

Which American Idol discovery would have the biggest career 10 years from now, he was asked. "Clay Aiken, and do you know why?" he replied. "Clay understood more than anybody else on this show why he won, who watched the show and what the people who watch the show want to buy."

Cowell said earlier during the session that he would "never in a million years" have offered Aiken a recording contract -- and he would have been wrong. Aiken hit a middle-of-the-road demographic that just isn't being served on radio, said Cowell. People who hate MTV and love Michael Bolton -- "that's who he's selling to."

On the other hand, there's Kelly Clarkson. "One minute she's singing Celine Dion -- and she did incredibly well with that -- and then she's an R&B artist after she's won the competition," said Cowell. "If you understand what made you popular you have a better chance at long-term success, and I think Clay understands that better than anybody else."

Then one of those goofy questions: Would be like to be a TV critic? "I sort of am in a way, aren't I?" he said, neatly sidestepping the giant pay-cut thing. "I'm like you guys. You get to say what you're thinking and I get to, too."

In a too-safe, PC world, TV needs more shows where, "we can tell someone who's ugly we think you're ugly," he added. "Otherwise it all gets a bit boring and safe, and I can't stand that.

"You gotta always look at this show with one raised eyebrow," he said. "It's a fun show to do, and you must never take it too seriously. We all know that the majority of the people who turn up on a show like this are completely disillusioned, and this is a bit of a reality check.

Lora
WINNEPEGSUN *edited to add link-Ms D*

[lorraine]

GOOD MORNING DEANNA AND MY OTHER EARLY MORNING FRIENDS.

BOY IT SURE IS COLD HERE TOO IN CT.  I NEED SOME WARMING.  

LOVE THAT PART ABOUT HEART THROB.  HE SURE IS MINE AND NO ONE WILL EVER REPLACE HIM.  I LOVE HE WILL BE GOING BACK INTO THE STUDIO AND START HIS NEW CD IN MARCH AND THAT HE IS GOING TO TAKE MORE TIME WITH THIS ONE.  YOU GO HONEY.  I WILL BE WAITING.

THANKS FOR THE NEWS GUYS AND WILL CHECK BACK FOR MORE UDPATES.

[clayMaine-iac]

Good Morning, Lora!!  Good Morning, Lorraine!!!

I seem to have moved to Antartica, also.  

Thanks to Susan for starting the "News" today.

Good Morning to MB!!  Did you notice the new flavor of the day??

If you really want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money cannot buy.  

I have had my life enrichened by all my friends here at Claymaniacs!!!

[Tammy]

As a major heart-throb who has since developed a huge, rabidly loyal following, Aiken need not worry - the Claymates will see him through.

You got that right!!!!


Morning ladies!!!  I am freezing my booty off...  Her, can I come live with you?

[clayMaine-iac]

Good Morning, Tammy!!

Wait for me!!  I am coming with you!!

[HavinaClayAffair]

From the Chicago Sun Times 01/18/2005:

Partial Article:

'Idol' readies prickly-nice 4th year

January 18, 2005

BY PHIL ROSENTHAL TELEVISION CRITIC

LOS ANGELES -- The complaints about perpetually busy phone lines and other voting irregularities in "American Idol'' are all music to Simon Cowell's ears, and everyone knows how picky his ears are when it comes to music.

"The minute we've lost our controversy, I think we've lost a hit show,'' Cowell said Monday, a little more than 24 hours before the hit program's fourth-season launch at 7 tonight on WFLD-Channel 32. "So when it goes wrong, in my opinion, it goes right, which is why I'll always fight about sanitizing the show. In other words, it's a reality show and you have to allow for things to go wrong -- and they will.''

Fox and "Idol'' producers take the stance that nothing is broken with the No. 1 series in prime time last season, so there's no reason to fix the voting system. Their tweaks for this season have less to do with issues of fairness and technological limitations than packaging and promotion.

"We can expect to see some declines [in the ratings],'' Fox boss Gail Berman said. "I think that's only natural for a fourth-year show. What surprised me last year, as a third-year show, is that we saw it grow. We certainly don't expect to see that.''

The age limit for this year's would-be Kelly Clarksons, Ruben Studdards and Fantasia Barrinos has been bumped up to 28, and there will be two extra tryout-city cattle calls. The big changes will come in the middle part of the contest, where the field of 24 semifinalists -- 12 men and 12 women -- will be halved over a three-week period in which the show will air three times a week beginning Feb. 21.

One night will feature the men competing, another will feature the women and the third show each week will present the results with two men and two women sent home from their respective groups. Wildcard berths, like the one that gave Clay Aiken a second chance to compete after he was voted out by viewers, have been eliminated.

A problem for "Idol'' in past seasons was that semifinalists would advance two at a time and then vanish from the show for weeks, causing ratings to slip. This keeps the singers still in contention continually on the air and in front of America.

"You're going to be able to get to know these contestants a lot better,'' said Paula Abdul, who always seems to see the world through rose-colored contacts.

Abdul looks to continue to embrace the "speak no evil'' role among the "Idol'' judging trio this season, while Randy Jackson seems happy in the "hear no evil'' part. Cowell is another piece of art altogether, maybe Munch's "The Scream.''

"There's something magical about this season,'' Abdul said, relentlessly pounding the drum. "I think this season is going to be magical for all of you to watch.''

"If the public chooses the right winner this year, it will be the best 'Idol' yet,'' Jackson declared, picking up the beat.

Meanwhile Cowell, bless him, called Kenny Loggins, one of this season's celebrity guests, "the judging equivalent of Valium.''

It falls to Cowell to say what much of the audience is thinking, even if the audience is presumably too polite to say it out loud. One competitor on Wednesday's show of St. Louis auditions is told that her voice sounds like she's on helium. Singing triplets are dissed as three "overweight Jessica Simpsons,'' even though body type has never seemed to matter much on "Idol.''

Asked about the triplets, Cowell struggled to recall his remark. ("He forgets what he says,'' Abdul sniped. "Of course, they don't ever forget.'') Then he apologizes, but added: "My attitude is, you think it you say it. And I don't like your shirt.''

"I can't remember all these people,'' he said. "You get it right, you get it wrong when you're out there, to be honest with you. Many, many times I've watched it back on TV and thought, 'You idiot ... Paula.' ''

Cowell said it's not his fault he's this way. "I'm English -- we're all [jerks]. We have a history of being [jerks]. ... It's the way we've been brought up by our parents.''

But "Idol'' surely owes much of its success to that trait, and Cowell is the first to admit his opinion is no more or less important than anyone else's, even if he's absolutely certain he's right.

"You've got to always look at this show with one raised eyebrow,'' he said. "You must never take it too seriously.''

These days he will tell you that 10 years hence, second-season runner-up Clay Aiken is likely to have the strongest career of any "Idol'' finalist to date.Yet he also will admit that he, like the viewers who voted Aiken off the show early, had no idea of his potential early on.

"I would never ever in a million years have offered Clay Aiken a recording contract if he walked into my office the way I [first] saw him [and] I would have been wrong, because the competition has turned him into a star,'' he said. "Unpredictability is the key to making great reality TV.''

Lora- Antarctica still
SUNTIMES *edited to add link-Ms D*

[ANGELA]

HELLO EVERYONE THANKS FOR THE NEW--IT WAS INTERESTING---SIMOM IS ACTUALLY ADMITTING HE WAS WRONG-- :duh ---WOW!!!

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY EVERYONE.

ANGELA

[GWENN]

SIMON GETS IT----BLESS HIS HEART.

MORNING ALL.

GWENN

[clayMaine-iac]

I'm going to do my own editorial on the news today!!

For instance, Barrino's I Believe was the top-selling single for last year, and made Billboard history as the first artiste to debut at No 1 on the Hot 100 charts - but it also had the lowest radio airplay of any No 1 song in the chart's history.

I beg to differ.  Clay debuted at #1 on the Hot 100 with TITN/BOTW. I have seen this quote is various articles.  It obviously was misquoted by "someone" originally and then irresponsible journalists have continued to quote this as fact rather than to check for the truth.    

Barrino's debut album, "Free Yourself," sold 686,000 copies in the first six weeks after its Nov. 23 release, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures. That's roughly half the 1.3 million that Clay Aiken's "Measure of a Man" sold and 15 percent below early sales of Kelly Clarkson's "Thankful."

I would like to point out that Free Yourself sold in 6 weeks what MOAM almost sold in it's FIRST week alone!! I am one of those who actually believe--"It is not a competion", but I point this out just to remind everyone how great MOAM really sold!!! I wish that the writer of that article had pointed this out.

Cowell said earlier during the session that he would "never in a million years" have offered Aiken a recording contract -- and he would have been wrong.

Simon really does know alot about the music industry, but he was limiting his views to certain criteria during AI2. I think he was looking to sell to a "specific demographic"--one that he felt Clay would not sell well in. Therefore, he was rather harsh with Clay throughout AI2. It is nice to know that he at least now realizes he was wrong. Unfortunately, Simon doesn't do well at admitting he is wrong (huge ego and all LOL).  He still sees Clay's fanbase as a "very specific" demographic, whereas I believe that Clay has fans of all ages.

 :rant Deanna