On Saturday, April 8th, there were some “interesting” articles about American Idol contestants. As a popular former contestant, Clay Aiken is most often a part of these articles. The following are a couple of different articles that were published during the last few days.
The first article is from a web-site titled Oh No They Didn’t!
American Idol’s Top 5 Alumni Based on Album Sales in USA
This article provides a list of albums recorded by alumni of the popular American televised singing competition American Idol in the post-Idol career. It only lists main albums released in the alumni’s post-Idol career. American Idol compilations , individual artist’s pre-Idol recordings, EPs, and compilation albums are not listed here. As of April 3, 2011 – US album sales (Billboard):
1. Carrie Underwood – Season 4 Winner
Total Album Sales: 12, 247,000
First album: 7,090,000 (7x platinum) Second album: 3,180,000 (3x platinum) Third album: 1,977,000 (2x platinum) *still charting*
2. Kelly Clarkson – Season 1 Winner
Total Album Sales: 10,633,000
First album: 2,745,000 (2x platinum) Second album: 6,160,000 (6x platinum) Third album: 815,000 (platinum) Fourth album: 913,000
3. Chris Daughtry – Season 5, Fourth Place
Total Album Sales: 6,044,000
First album: 4,795,000 (4x platinum) Second album: 1,249,000 (platinum)
4. Clay Aiken – Season 2, Runner-up
Total Album Sales: 4,960,000
First album: 2,785,000 (2x plantinum) Second album: 1,416,000 (platinum) Third album: 531,000 (gold) Fourth album: 165,000 Fifth album: 63,000
5. Fantasia Barrino – Season 3 Winner
Total Album Sales: 2,758,000
First album: 1,793,000 (platinum) Second album: 530,000 (gold) Third album: 435,000 *still charting*
6. Ruben Studdard (Season 2 Winner) – 2,562,000 (NO. 7) David Cook (Season 7 Winner) – 1,345,000 (NO. 8) Kelly Pickler (Season 5, 6th Place) – 1,318,000 (NO. 9) Jordin Sparks (Season 6 Winner) – 1,216,000 (NO. 10) David Archuleta (Season 7 Runner Up) – 1,078,000
For the entire article, click HERE
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Idol_alumni_album_sales
Another fluff piece was found at The Hollywood Reporter. This site decided that American Idol’s need help with their clothing. The April 8th article is titled:
10 Worst “American Idol” Performance Outfits
The site lists the “chosen” Idols and includes a slide show to see the outfits. Be sure and stop by and see the entire article. HollywoodReporter
The following is what they said about Clay:
10. Clay Aiken “Always and Forever” (Season 2)
He was the librarian look like who has great voice xoxoxo….He also said him self as a nerd who wore the wrong clothes. But look at him now, everything is perfect on him and we are all falling in love with him… thank you from Japan
It was easy to fall in love with Clay!!
Thanks for posting here today. We love it when you join us. I hope that everything is OK for you and your family!
It's amazing the sales for Clay considering no radio play. I can only imagine what they would have been if he had 1/10th of the promotion the others have had. They are never off the radio. He has not had any promotion in years. I hope that changes in the future, cause it's a shame more people can't hear his beautiful voice. But I'm sure he is working on a plan. As far as the outfits, I noticed they used Clay's outfit when he auditioned, not actually performing. I guess having him mentioned is a good thing though.
LOL, I volunteer to by Clay's stylist!! 🙂
With record sales all over the place in the music business these days, it will be interesting to see what Clay's next step is. Looking forward to it.
I don't think it's the striped shirt that's all that bad, but the shell necklace?????? 😉
Pretty awesome to see Clay in the top 5 Idol sellers – very impressive for someone who has zero radio play and has pretty much zero prime time exposure since 2006. Well done Clay!!! That's quite a drop between Kelly's 2nd and 3rd CD – wow!!!
yes, that shell necklace, where did he get that from? LOL
Considering Clay's serious lack of air play, he's done fantastic selling nearly 5 million CDs. Clay's audition look was certainly not my favorite look for him, however, I'd still love him just as much even if his look remained unchained. It's that special voice inside the wrapping that really matters.
I don't think the striped shirt was that bad–he looked like a typical college kid–just not like the star that he was to become. The writer of the article was right about one thing–the striped shirt could not hide his raw vocal talent. His voice is one in a million–just like he is!! Clay Aiken is one of a kind.
I really miss Clay in the great moment like this. We know he is so funny and also an awesome vocalist. He can sing three songs with three different emotions, but with the same expressions, same dreamy look on his face.
PS: thanks for you kind attention, we are OK. All we can do is just do the best for better Japan.
Yep! Clay is in the top five sellers…even without promotion. What does that tell you? Last I heard I thought AI said he finally made it to 5,000,000 in sales. Who cares what he wore…you can't hide that gorgeous voice or looks. Clay is one of a kind…and that is just what I like. Never change Clay!
Wow I disagree that Clay didn't improve on AI! His improvement is the stuff of legend. Thanks for the article and the one above with the Leno pix. Yummy!