AIKEN NEWS NETWORK JUNE 23, 2010

[wvclayfan]

Crystal Bowersox Doesn't Let Second Place Prevent Her From Record Deal

American Idol runner-up, Crystal Bowersox, won't let second place mean that she's ignored by the music industry. Instead, she just signed what may pan out to be a lucrative record deal with 19 Recordings/Jive Records. Following in the footsteps of Jennifer Hudson and Clay Aiken (yeah... we know), Crystal Bowersox hopes that this deal in tandem with her notoriety as the 'different girl' on American Idol will springboard her into music biz success.

DimeWars

[wvclayfan]

Music Hall of Fame plans Idol exhibit

Young music fans may not know North Carolina music legends John Coltrane or James Taylor, but they probably can sing along with American Idol stars Clay Aiken and Kellie Pickler.

North Carolina has a unique ability to generate American Idol contestants, including Aiken, who's from Raleigh, and Pickler, who grew up in Albemarle.

To help attract younger visitors to the N.C. Music Hall of Fame in Kannapolis, organizers want to showcase five American Idol contestants who hail from North Carolina: Aiken, Pickler, Fantasia from High Point, Chris Daughtry from McLeansville and Bucky Covington from Rockingham.

Salisbury Post

[fhmmany2]

Good Morning!

 Good Luck to everyone trying for 2010 Gala tickets this morning - here is the link to purchase tickets, which go on sale at Noon Eastern time today:

2010 GALA TICKETS

[Marilyn]

From mamarose:

Hey CV...I wanted to share my news with any folks from my neck of the woods (upstate NY). I caved and emailed the PBS station that I get, WMHT in Albany, NY.

And Clay's special will be airing on WMHT at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 3! YAY!!!

[Marilyn]

American Idol's" second season runner-up Clay Aiken has his own idea of what the show should do to replace departing judge Simon Cowell.

"I've always thought it would be a great addition to the panel to have someone who's a former contestant and knows what it's like to be up on that stage and be critiqued," Aiken tells Billboard.com. So is he raising his hand? "Well, I'm so far removed from it at this point that I don't know if I remember what it's like, but who knows. I would not put myself out there to be as caustic as (Cowell) is, but if they want to call me, bring it on. We can talk."

Aiken, however, has plenty of singing to do before having that discussion. The North Carolina-based singer released his fifth album, "Tried & True," on June 1; the collection of pop standards -- including "Unchained Melody," "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," "Misty," "Mack The Knife" and "Moon River" (with Vince Gill) -- marks his first release away from the "American Idol" enclave of 19 Recordings and Sony Music (he's now with Decca), and Aiken feels it shows the measure of the man better than his previous releases.

"It's what I've wanted to do for the past seven years," says Aiken, acknowledging he felt like "a square peg in a round hole" on his more contemporary pop albums. "I like songs that have incredible melodies and nice orchestrations and arrangements that are really about the voice and the melody and just being beautiful, and these songs are that. People talk about it being a big decision to change course, but I actually see it as an opportunity to kind of get back to what I've always wanted to do."

Besides the album, Aiken performed a special concert in March at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium which was taped for a PBS special that will air in August, along with an accompanying DVD. Meanwhile, Aiken is gearing up for the July 23 start of his 16-date summer tour with second-season "Idol" winner Ruben Studdard, who was one of the guests at the March concert.

"We've been talking for years about trying to do something together and had never really found the time to do it," Aiken notes. "But both of us looked at our calendars around December of last year, January of this year, and said, 'Wait a second, we don't have anything this summer we're dealing with.' He's working on an album right now, and mine will have just been released, so...'Let's just do this. It's now or never.'"

Aiken promises the shows will feature quite a bit of collaboration between he and Studdard, too. "It's kind of a musical revue of sorts -- some of the biggest hits and greatest songs -- from our point of view -- and songs that have influenced us from over the past five decades," Aiken explains. "We'll start in the 50s and do some medleys and then move on from their. We're really good friends and have a great time when we're together, so I think it's going to be a lot of fun to do a tour like this, for us and for the audiences, too."

BILLBOARD.COM

[Marilyn]

From Cagney 1950 at CV:

Guess what was in my inbox? This station is in Harrisburg, PA.

Indeed, I have put the Clay Aiken special into the WITF television lineup for August. It will air from 8-9:30pm on Sunday, 1 August, and a repeat broadcast on Thursday, 5 August from 1-2:30pm.

Thanks for your interest!

Best wishes,

Mitzi
Mitzi Trostle
VP, Multimedia Content & Distribution