American Idol Finals - Live Thread!!

Fox ^ | May 21, 2003 | all of us

[merry10]

I'm only taking one 14 year old and one 9 year old girl. I think I'll be screaming the loudest!

[fightinJAG]

I was the one screaming the loudest last year!

[fightinJAG]

a little fun fact for y'all!

CLAY'S RECORD SALES BEATING RUBEN

(New York-AP) -- Not having the title of "American Idol" isn't hurting Clay Aiken as far as record sales go.

The New York Times says Aiken is getting four times as many orders for his upcoming single as Ruben Studdard has been getting for his.

Aiken's medley of "This is the Night" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water" has been #1 on the Amazon.com sales chart for the last two weeks.

http://www.wgrz.com/storyfull.asp?id=14367

[fightinJAG]

Idol exchange: U.S. finalists visit Canuck contestants


FROM CANADIAN PRESS

Try for lots of ZZZs. That's as philosophical as it gets when chatting with the winners of the American Idol series.

"Get a lot of sleep," says a tired looking Ruben Studdard, who has become a bona fide celebrity since winning the title of the Idol a couple of weeks ago. "Whenever we get a chance for down time we sleep."

Studdard and runner up Clay Aiken were in Toronto on Monday to perform with the 146 finalists who made it to next round of the Canadian Idol competition.

CTV flew in the newly christened star power to help promote the station's fall TV launch at the Princess of Wales theatre and the highly anticipated Canadian series that begins airing next Monday.

"Be ready for hard work," said Aiken, seated cross-legged on the floor of the theatre's green room as Studdard's brother Kevin styled his spiky hair. "I would say be ready to do some stuff you don't want to do. Be ready to have some of your time taken away from you. But the payoff is definitely worth it."

Despite the last-minute plan to fly to Toronto (the duo admitted to being afraid of SARS), Aiken says he's never felt owned by the Idol franchise, which has branches in a half dozen countries including Norway and France.

"We would never do anything we didn't want to do. It's just that when I would rather be sleeping or eating, we were having to do a shoot of some kind," said the 24-year-old. "But never anything that I thought was morally wrong or inappropriate."

Studdard, the laid-back 25-year-old who went into the competition unemployed, said he thinks it's unfair for people to criticize Idol and its method of producing a new generation of singers.

"Everybody should feel like an American Idol," he said, grinning widely. "I've been working since I was five or six to do what I'm doing right now. Some people think that me and Clay are overnight successes but me and Clay have been working a long time at this singing thing. American Idol just so happened to be the venue that helped bring us through."

Adds Aiken who lost to Ruben by 130,000 of 24 million votes cast by telephone: "It was a great jumping off point. Yes, for a while we're going to be living in the shadow of (the show) but we're not owned by them. Both of us have the opportunity to show that we're more than just game show contestants."

And while some people love to hate the show — basically a karaoke singing competition — its ratings prove that a large portion of the population seems to enjoy the chance to select their next singing sensation. About 3.85 million people watched the series finale in Canada, where residents weren't allowed to vote for competitors of the American series. (It was watched by 38.1 million viewers in the U.S.)

"It gives an opportunity to take ownership over a person's career and take part in helping someone reach their dreams," Studdard, of Birmingham, Ala., said.

Those dreams, however, also include some heartache, as the duo have been finding out. Each has had to contend with splashy tabloid spreads about their personal lives.

For Studdard, the stories surround his weight and rumoured health problems.

"People make assumptions because they see your size. They don't know you at all. They've never been to the doctor with you. They generalize because they see me on stage sweating," he says. "My weight has never been an issue until the show ended."

Aiken has been defending his sexuality, with some trying to ``out" the Raleigh, N.C.-native.

"You come into the public eye and you expect someone to say something stupid and incorrect," he said. "We've been in the tabloids for many different things. You just have to learn, unfortunately, to cope with whatever comes at you. It's an inappropriate comment."

[OldFriend]

I went into our local video store and asked if Clay's CD was out yet and the local yokel told me it wouldn't be out for months.....that's what I get for living in a backwater.

Believe me I will be purchasing Clay's CD on the day it arrives in the stores. Just thinking about his last song makes me smile. Course, I'm from the generation that heard that song the first time around!!!

[fightinJAG]

Me, too--I was a youngster when Simon and Garfunkle were like a galaxy all by themselves. (If you haven't seen their Concert in Central Park recently . . . whew, it blew my socks off.)

You can order Clay's CD on amazon.com. 'Course they'll charge you shipping. But if you wait until it comes out (as opposed to pre-ordering) AND you have other books or whatever you were going to buy anyway, you can likely qualify for free shipping.

I figure the shipping cost is like a poll tax. I want to cast my vote (by buying) so . . . :)

[mystery-ak]

I can't believe they took them to Toronto....with the SARS scare.

[fightinJAG]

I guess the Toronto auditions are the biggest thing that's hit Canada since the Queen visited . . .

[fightinJAG]

[interesting record producer droppings]



Unlikely Pop Idol Sells Like Real Thing

Associated Press
Despite a second-place finish in "American Idol," Clay Aiken has signed with a record label and his CD single is selling briskly.

By JENNIFER BAYOT


lay Aiken, rail thin with big ears, a goofy grin and a voice some critics dismiss as better suited for Broadway than MTV, does not appear to be your typical pop heartthrob. But his close second-place finish in the most recent "American Idol" contest on Fox was enough for the music impresario Clive Davis to sign him to the RCA record label he oversees.

Executives at RCA, part of BMG, the music division of Bertelsmann, say that producers and songwriters are clamoring to work with him. And even though Mr. Aiken's CD single, which includes "This Is the Night" and a remake of "Bridge Over Troubled Water," does not come out until June 10, it has spent the last two weeks as the best-selling CD on Amazon.com. According to Amazon, it has already sold four times as many copies as the pending CD single by Ruben Studdard, the winner of this latest version of "American Idol."

But since prevailing pop-star theory fails in many ways to explain Mr. Aiken's popularity, RCA will be navigating uncharted marketing currents as it releases the single, and later an album, which is expected in August or September. Asked what their advice would be on Mr. Aiken's musical choices and image, music industry executives and journalists were pleased to oblige.

Rick Krim, executive vice president for music and talent at VH1, said Mr. Aiken needed "to figure out what he's going to be."

Although singing pop staples on "American Idol" earned him his current admirers, he should consider trying something else entirely, Mr. Krim said. He pointed to the example of Kelly Clarkson, the first "American Idol," who tweaked with the style of her big hit from the show, "A Moment Like This."

"Listen to `A Moment Like This' and her new single, and it's a completely different artist," he said. "It's got more punch to it. It's got more attitude. RCA has that same opportunity with Clay. I think it's what they need to do — not just follow the template."

Joe Levy, music editor of Rolling Stone, said RCA and Mr. Aiken should be wary of producing songs with big vocals but little personality — a frequent mistake when a recording artist can sing almost anything well.

A similar warning goes for Mr. Aiken's public persona. "Clay Aiken has connected because he is cute, but not too cute," Mr. Levy said. "He is a little geeky, which means, for his female fans, there's something approachable about him."

But he does need to add a little edge, and perhaps maturity, to his act, Mr. Levy said. "He's 24 years old and he plays it like he's a teen pop star," the magazine editor said. "He gives safe answers designed to please everyone in the audience and reveal very little."

Even so, he added, Mr. Aiken shows great promise. "He could have connected with an audience if he'd been working the drive-through at Burger King."

Mr. Aiken's path to near-stardom was almost as strange. A native of Raleigh, N.C., Mr. Aiken was one semester shy of becoming a special-education teacher before he auditioned for "American Idol" at the urging of the mother of an autistic child in his charge. "I honestly never imagined myself being in this position," he said. "Having started in church, you never expect something like this."

Mr. Aiken was a surprise finalist on the show, but a commanding voice, dramatic style and some Southern charm earned him an ardent following. He ended up losing to Mr. Studdard by only 0.56 percent of the 24 million votes cast.
Mr. Davis, who is known for finding and developing young artists like Alicia Keys and rejuvenating older musicians like Santana, then quickly signed Mr. Aiken, while Mr. Studdard went to the other label Mr. Davis oversees, J Records.

RCA executives acknowledge that Mr. Aiken is different from the current crop of young stars, like Christina Aguilera, but say the label intends to trust the value of that image and play to the tastes that have already made him popular.
"He's just a good guy who happens to have an unbelievably great voice," said Aaron Borns, marketing director for RCA Records. "We're not going to make him something he's not."
Whatever the genre of his album, the songs will showcase his vocal skill, he said. And the fans, Mr. Borns said, will follow. "A powerful singer the way Clay is — he can forge his own way, so to speak," Mr. Borns said.

[mystery-ak]

Clay is the American Idol.

[OldFriend]

Clay is beloved by a huge portion of Idol fans because of his sweet nature as well as his huge voice.

[mystery-ak]

Are you watching American Juniors...may be funny?

[OldFriend]

Nope, I am boycotting all things produced by the Idol folks.

[mystery-ak]

boycott....have I missed something....?

[ican'tbelieveit]

You know, I was hoping we would have a live thread on the American Juniors. I think the parents will be great amusement. Maybe Howlin will be interested.

[MississippiMan]

Thanks for the ping, Jag.

Nice.

MM

[pbear8]

Am Jr has ended for some or all of you. I have a couple of loads of laundry to fold tonight so I will give it a try when it hits my time zone.

If you watched what were your impressions?

[mystery-ak]

Sorry...I started to watch, but was interrupted by two phone calls, so I missed it.....let me know how it was.

[pbear8]

I know how that goes, it seems like they plan it that way.

[OldFriend]

I watched the search for the next top fashion model on our channel 9.......fascinating!

I will not be watching anything to do with Idol anymore.