Clay For Sale!
Some may call it a desperate act of attempted career resurrection. I call it an act of marketing genius. But whatever you call it, next Monday, April 28, Clay Aiken will hawk his fourth album, On My Way Here, on QVC--the shopping network so very popular among his core demographic of shut-ins, grandmas, and Hummel figurine enthusiasts.
"Starting my career on national, live television, it seems fitting to be unveiling my new album live on QVC," Clay announced today in a statement. "To be able to connect with QVC's viewers and broadcast my performance to over 93 million households is an amazing opportunity."
This is why Clay is still the third-best-selling Idol of all time, and the best-selling Idol runner-up.
Yes, Clay is no dummy. People might scoff at the unhipness of performing on QVC, but since the day he entered the Idol audition chamber rocking those geek glasses and that toilet-brush hairdo, Clay has never concerned himself with being "hip." He knows his fanbase is not the hip crowd. His audience is the hip-replacement crowd.
So while other Idol also-rans keep struggling to shift units by playing the Kimmel/Conan/Carson circuit, Clay will direct-market his music on QVC, with a convenient toll-free number ticker-taping across the screen. And he'll probably make enough money to fill a McMansion 10 times over with Hummel figurines, if he so chooses.
Why do I have a feeling Michael Sandecki already has that toll-free QVC number on his speed-dial?
Found something from "Deseret News" that might be of interest.
Carmen isn't bitter about 'American Idol'
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695272555,00.html
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An Excerpt:
"It can't be easy to be an "American Idol" finalist. Attention from the legitimate media is hard enough to accept; gossip on the Internet rises to an entirely different level.
More accurately, gossip on the Internet falls to an entirely different level.
And the attention doesn't end even after you've left the show. Our own Carmen Rasmusen has been the subject of ridiculous and inaccurate Internet chatter as the result of the column she wrote last week for the Deseret News.
"'Idol' Reject Claims, The Show's Rigged!" screams a headline on TMZ.com. The story — accompanied by the most unflattering picture of Rasmusen the folks at TMZ could find — goes on to say that some "American Idol" contestants "aren't even given a fighting chance."
It's great gossip. Attention-grabbing. Juicy.
And the fact that Rasmusen wrote absolutely nothing of that sort didn't stop TMZ from printing the story.
Rasmusen's April 18 column gave us a behind-the-scenes look at how "Idol" works. She wrote of one experience waiting to consult the show's vocal coach while Clay Aiken was being coached.
"I could hear him going over and over his song, dissecting it. Finally, after about 30 minutes, the door opened. It was my turn. I walked in and sang my song about three times before being dismissed. Hardly the personal one-on-one attention Aiken had just received."
TMZ managed to twist this around into "the show's rigged!"
Beyond distorting the facts — or just making things up — came the accusation that Rasmusen is harboring some sort of grudge, that she's bitter about not winning the second season of "American Idol."
That, as TMZ so nicely phrased it, "She went home in sixth place, to lead a life of obscurity and bitterness."
Again, Rasmusen wrote nothing of the sort. Again, never let the truth get in the way of good gossip.
"The only point I was trying to make was that some contestants get more attention than others," said Rasmusen, who — surprise! — was not contacted ...CONTINUED AT THE ABOVE WEBSITE...
Grandmothers and Hummel collectors are proud to be at that point in life. And a sale is a sale is a sale!