The more one learns about Clay Aiken, the more you realize that he is brilliant, clever and resourceful…and he has been that way long before he became a household name.

On Wednesday I was doing some research for a friend and I went to YouTube, hoping to find some information.  BIG MISTAKE!!  Somehow it is easy to get lost in YouTube.  It is a font of so much information.  You can stay there for hours!!

I found some videos of Clay Aiken that I had no idea ever existed…I thought I was somewhat up-to-date on Aiken News…but it seems I missed a lot.

Did you know that the shrewd Mr. Aiken contacted the local Raleigh media outlets when he returned from his audition in Atlanta, Georgia?  Clay auditioned in Atlanta on October 22, 2002. Upon the return to his home, he contacted the media to see if anyone was interested in his American Idol journey.  Within a few days, Lynda Loveland visited Clay at his home in Raleigh and recorded an interview.  He related the story of his Atlanta audition and even sang a few lines from Over The Rainbow and Always and Forever.  On November 2nd, about 10 days after Clay arrived home, WRAL broadcast the first video.

WRAL must have gotten a great response to the interview because the station covered Clay throughout his American Idol journey.  The station broadcast at least 7 different videos of Clay on the show…and Lynda Loveland even covered the finale live, in Hollywood.

The following video is loads of fun to see.  The quality is rather bad, but seeing Clay tell his story is exciting.

Fun, isn’t it?  If any of you have any videos of the WRAL shows from 2003, I would love to include them in a CANN blog.  Please e-mail me at musicfan@claynewsnetwork.com