We call these albums our 'year at a glance'. It is a quick look at each year in a picture form.
American Idol appeared in many different magazines in April and May of 2003. US Weekly, Entertainment Weekly, People, People Extra, In Touch, and even a platinum Celebrity Series.
On 4/29/03 "What the world needs now" was released as a charity single and the American Idol Season 2 All Time Classic American Love Songs Compilation CD was released.
In April and May of 2003 American Idol had a number of releases that included Clay. An album called "All Time Classic American Love Songs" and two singles, "God bless the USA" and "What the world needs now".
On 5/12/03 Clay appeared on the Wayne Brady Show along with other contestants from the show. It was called Secrets of American Idol.
On 5/13/03 Oprah visited AI2 during the week of the Top 4. Her crew filmed behind the scenes.
On 5/17/03 Clay and the other Idol contestants appeared on KIIS FM's Wango Tango show. They performed the national anthem.
On 5/20/03 Access Hollywood profiled Ruben and Clay. Faye provided a clip of ten year old Clay singing "Great Balls of Fire".
May 20/03: Geoffrey Graybeal had been a friend of Clay(ton)'s back in middle school and high school. He wrote this lovely piece about watching the friend he knew grow into a newly famous performer throughout the American Idol process.
May 22/03: Ronnie Womack talked about his experience working with Clay (then known as 'Clayton') in his group 'Just By Chance'. The group appeared in numerous talent showcases in the Triangle area between 1998 and the early 2000s.
In Late May 2003 Clay and Ruben appeared on many interviews together.
On 5/23/03 Clay appeared on Larry King Live with Ruben Studdard.
On 5/23/03 Clay appeared on The Early Show. They discussed the results of the finale and Clay's future.
On 5/23/03 Clay appeared on U-Pick Live on Nickelodeon between cartoon segments.
On 5/26/03 Clay and Ruben appeared on MTV's Total Request Live for a post-finale interview.
On 5/26/03 Clay appeared on the Today show with Ruben Studdard. Clay was interviewed by Katie Couric and he and Ruben sang a duet of "God Bless the USA."
On 5/28/03 Clay appeared on Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer. He sang "This is the night" and was interviewed by Diane.
On 5/28/03 Clay appeared on Live with Regis and Kelly. He was interviewed and sang "Bridge over Troubled water".
In May, American Idol had the top three contestants go home for a week. Clay went home to Raleigh and the media there was wonderful to him.
On 6/1/03 Clay appeared at New York's Z100's Zootopia with Ruben Studdard. He sang "Bridge over Troubled Water" solo and "God Bless the USA" with Ruben.
On 6/3/03 Clay and Ruben appeared on Canada AM, the top morning show in the country.
On 6/3/03 Clay and Ruben made their first international stop in Toronto to introduce the Canadian Idol singers who made it past the audition cities. They lead the group in singing "Ain't no stoppin' us now".
On 6/10/03 Clay's first single, "Bridge over Troubled Water" and "This is the Night" is released. Both Clay and Ruben released singles on the same day. Clay's first week sales were 393,000 and it would go on to win the single of the year.
On 6/10/03 Clay appeared on Oprah with Ruben Studdard and Justin Guarini.
On 6/12/03 Clay attended the American Film Institute Life Achievement Awards Ceremony. It was held to honor Robert DeNiro. He took along his friend Amanda.
On 6/28/03 "This Is The Night" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #1.
On 7/10/03 Clay appeared on the cover of the Rolling Stone.
On 7/15/03 Clay appeared on Entertainment Tonight with Kim Locke. The show took a look at the American Idol 2 Tour as it took off for the summer of 2003.
On 7/15/03 Clay appeared on Total Request Live Backstage. This show focused on the music video being shot for "This Is The Night". This video was never released to the public on TV but a version did show up online later.
On 7/16/03 Clay appeared on MTV's Total Request Live to give a behind the scenes look at the AI2 tour. He talked to Kim Locke, Julia Demato and hammed it up with Ruben Studdard.
On 7/22/03 the American Idols Tour Group appeared on Canadian Idol to sing 'What The World Needs Now". They received Canadian gold certifications for their compilation CD. Ruben & Clay also got multi-platinum awards for their respective singles which had hit the charts.
On 7/23/03 Clay and a few others from the tour group appeared on Canada AM. Seamus O'Regan interviewed six of the performers and got to learn more about them.
On 7/23/03 Clay appeared on ETalk Daily with the other performers from the AI2 tour. There were highlights from the Idol appearance where they sang "What The World Needs Now" which showed someone in the studio distracting Clay.
On 7/24/03 Clay appeared on "Off the Record" with Kim Locke, Rickey Smith and Kim Caldwell. They joined in an open, no holds barred discussion with the host.
7/28/03: Clay met some of the Canadian Idol Wildcard contestants during the Toronto concert. He must have given great advice because one of these singers, Ryan Malcolm, went on to win the Canadian Idol title!
On 7/28/03 Wachovia Bank opened for it's first official day of business in NYC. Clay was present at the ribbon-cutting for the main office at Rockefeller Center. Mayor Michael Bloomberg was also present. Clay opened the first account at that branch for the Bubel Aiken Foundation. Wachovia and Bloomberg both gave the BAF $10,000. Clay appeared at another branch where the employees sang "Amazing Grace" to Clay. He treated them to an a capella verse of "This Is The Night".
On 7/29/03, while in Washington D.C. during the AI Tour, Clay spoke on behalf of the American Film Institute "Screens in the Classroom" Project. He met with several members of Congress, including Bob and Elizabeth Dole.
On 7/30/03 Clay appeared on The View with Ruben Studdard. he sang "This Is The Night".
In July and August Clay did many local media interviews to promote the American Idols Tour. He also appeared on Entertainment Tonight and was featured in some magazines.
On 8/6/03 during the Raleigh stop on the AI tour, Clay and his partner, Diane Bubel, participated in a press conference announcing the official start of the Bubel Aiken Foundation. They also accepted a check from a dedicated group of fans who had done fundraising for the organization.
On August 11, 2003 Clay was a surprise guest at the Camp Timberlake Idol Show. Dressed as the phantom, Clay came onstage to interrupt a camper singing "This is the Night".
On 8/13/03 Clay appeared on CNN Headline News to discuss behind the scenes of the AI2 Tour. Clay, Kim Locke and Ruben gave commentary on what they had done pre-Idol and what life was like on the tour.
On 8/19/03 Clay appeared on American Juniors to send congratulations to the winners at the finale while he was out on the tour. He also included some advice. The winners were Lucy Hale, Chauncey Matthews, Taylor Thompson, Tori Thompson and Danielle White.
On 8/23/03 Clay appeared in New Idea Magazine from New Zealand.
On 8/27/03 Clay appeared on the cover of Entertainment Weekly and they had a large feature article about him.
On 9/15/03 Clay and Ruben appeared in US Weekly with a photo essay about the AI tour. Clay was featured prominently.
On 9/1/03 Clay appeared on the MDA Labor Day Telethon with Jerry Lewis. He sang "Bridge Over Troubled Water".
On 9/4/03 Clay appeared on MTV's Total Request Live. He visited Sheldon High School in Sacramento, California. The choir class was working on a song by U2 called MLK.
On 9/20/03 Clay performed on the Miss America Pageant. He sang "This Is The Night" to the contestants.
On 9/24/03 Clay performed at a benefit dinner for the America-Australia Association.
On 9/25/03, Clay and Ruben appeared at Ford Motor Company Day in Detroit, Michigan. This event as for Ford people only.
In October 2003 Clay did an interview with Allison Glock for Elle Magazine. She later went on to help him write his book, "Learning to Sing".
On 10/4/03 Clay appeared on "Let's Just Play" a Nickelodeon TV Special. He performed "Invisible" and "I Will Carry You".
On 10/7/03 Clay's song "This Is The Night" appeared on Totally Hits 2003.
On 10/9/03 Clay appeared on Primetime Live with Diane Sawyer.
On 10/11/03 ET had a special about Clay's video shoot.
On 10/13/03 Time Magazine had a feature article about Clay called "Building a Better Pop Star".
On 10/13/03 Clay appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He performed "Invisible" and had a great interview with Jay. This was on the evening before his first cd was released.
On 10/14/03 The Great Holiday Classics was released. Clay's "The First Noel" appears on the album.
There was a lot of great promotion for Measure Of A Man.
On 10/14/03 Clay released his first full length CD, "Measure Of A Man".
On 10/14/03 Clay appeared on MTV's Total Request Live to promote his first cd, "Measure Of A Man". He made a model out of Clay and hammed it up for the camera.
On 10/15/03 Clay appeared on Good Morning America. He gave a short interview and performed "Invisible" and "The Way"
On 10/17/03 Clay appeared on The Early Show. He performed "Invisible", "I Will Carry You" and also gave a short interview.
On 10/17/03 Clay appeared on The View. He performed "Invisible" and was sniffed to see if he did indeed smell like fresh laundry.
On 10/18/03, Clay sang in the opening game of the 2003 World Series.
On 10/20/03 People magazine included a feature story about Clay.
Clay did an int4erview with the website "PBS Kids: It's My Life". Part 1 While geared towards the younger fans, this two part interview covered a lot of interesting topics for fans of all ages.
"PBS Kids: It's My Life". Part 2
On 10/22/03 Clay appeared on GMA. It was the day first week sales numbers were to be released. They had a surprise for him. Clive Davis appeared with a special presentation. He said the orders were coming in so fast the album was certified double platinum in the first week. That is 2 million albums shipped!
On 10/22/03 Clay appeared at a school in Harlem to read a story to them as part of Wachovia's Reading First Program.
On 10/22/03 Clay appeared on MTV's Total Request Live. The interview was about the first week sales of "Measure Of A Man".
On 10/25/03 Billboard Magazine put up an interview about Clay's album, Measure Of A Man. Fred Bronson talked in depth with Clay about many aspects of the album.
On 10/24/03 two videos showed up on AOL Sessions. Two more followed in January of 2004. "Invisible" and an interview were the first two that appeared.
On 10/28/03 Clay dropped by The Wayne Brady Show with Kim Locke. It was a short but sweet visit.
In November of 2003 Clay appeared in a variety of print media. He was in Cosmo Girl, TV Guide, Lime Magazine, The Examiner, and Blender Magazine.
On 11/1/03 "Measure Of A Man" entered the Billboard 200 chart at #1.
On 11/1/03 Clay dropped by Billboard Magazine to chat about his debut disc, Measure of a Man.
On 11/6/03 Clay appeared on The Ellen Show. He performed "Invisible" and had a fun interview with her.
On 11/13/03 Clay appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Jimmy had been making jokes about Clay for weeks before and Clay gave him a hard time about it. Then they aired a taped segment of Clay with Jimmy's girlfriend Sarah Silverman. Britney Spears was a guest as well.
On 11/16/03 Clay appeared on the American Music Awards show. He sang "Jesus is Love" with Ruben Studdard and "Invisible". He took home the Fan Choice Award and was nominated for Favorite Male Artist - Pop/Rock.
In the November 22-28 issue of TV Guide, Clay and Ruben were featured. There were two different covers issued for regular subscribers and a third issued for cable providers.
On 11/20/03 Clay helped out with the 2003 McDonald's World Children's Day event. Funds raised benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities and critical causes worldwide. They raised over 15 million dollars.
On 11/22/03 Clay appeared at the Raleigh Christmas Parade in Raleigh, NC. He was the Grand Marshal of the parade and his mother, brother and puppy Raleigh all rode with him.
On 11/24/03 Clay appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman. He performed "Invisible" and sat down for a few minutes to talk with Dave at the end of the show.
On 11/25/03 Clay appeared on a TV special called, "An American Idol Christmas". He served as host, performed "Don't Save It All For Christmas Day" on his own and "White Christmas" with Kim Locke. He also sang in medleys with Tamyra Grey, Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Kim Locke and Christina Christian.
On 11/25/03 Clay appeared on MTV's Total Request Live, did a short interview and performed "Invisible".
On 11/27/03 Clay appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. He rode on the Hershey's float and sang "Silver Bells". It was covered on both NBC and CBS
On 11/28/03 Clay appeared on Nick at Nite's Holiday Special on Nickelodeon. He played himself stranded in a snowstorm. He was joined by Bing Crosby with some neat special effects and sang "Little Drummer Boy".
In December of 2003 Clay appeared in a variety of magazines. J-14, Popstar, TV Guide, People and Vanity Fair.
The December 2003 issue of Teen People featured Clay on the cover and included a large feature article.
On 12/3/03 Clay and Ruben were named the #2 on a list of Top 10 Entertainers of the year by Entertainment Weekly Magazine.
On 12/7/03 Clay appeared at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, WA for the Kiss 106 Jingle Bell Bash. He sang "I will carry you", "Run to me" and "Invisible".
On 12/7/03 Clay co-hosted YTV's Hitlist. YTV is a Canadian Youth TV show which counts down the top 20 most requested videos.
On 12/10/03 Clay appeared on the 2003 Billboard Awards Show. He opened the show with host, Ryan Seacrest and performed "Invisible" and won the award for best selling single of the year. He brought his mom with him to the show.
On 12/12/03 Clay performed at the Indianapolis Indiana Pepsi Coliseum for the Radio Now 93.1 Santa Slam 2K3. He sang "I will carry you", "Run to me" and "Invisible".
On 12/13/03 Clay appeared at the Tabernacle in Atlanta Georgia for the Q100 Frosty the Snowman Radio Concert. This concert was part of a Radio concert series involving numerous artists. Clay performed "I Will Carry You", "Run to Me" and "Invisible".
On 12/14/03 Clips from a Kevin Hees Photoshoot appeared on a variety of programs including Entertainment Tonight, A&E Biography, and CNN's People in the News.
On 12/14/03 Clay appeared in Miami, FL at the Office Depot Center for the Y100 Jingle Ball. He sang "I will carry you", "Run to me", "The way" and "Invisible".
Some odds and ends for 2003. Clay did many interviews after the AI finale. Good Day Live and ET were two of them. When the AI2 tour stopped in Charlotte, NC, the mayor declared it Clay Aiken day. A Saturday Night Live skit featured an obsessed fan of Clay. Access Hollywood had an interview with Clay where he indicated a fondness for Miss Oklahoma. Ruben and Clay went to see Frenchie on Broadway and a Raleigh cartoonist penned a cartoon about an inventive way to get more fans to the Hurricanes game. Sheet music became available for Clay's songs and JOJO at KIIS FM interviewed Clay.
On 12/15/03 Clay appeared in Lowell, MA at the KISS 108 Jingleball. He sang "I will carry you", "Run to me", "The way", and "Invisible"
On 12/16/03 Clay appeared at the Palace Theatre in Cleveland, OH for the 95.6 KISSmas Koncert 4. He sang "I will carry you", "Run to me", "The way", and "Invisible".
Dec. 16, 2003: Each year, the 'National League of Junior Cotillions' presents a list of the people they deem 'an outstanding role model of good manners and exemplary behavior' for that year. Clay topped their list, winning the 'Best Mannered' Award for 2003
On 12/19/03 Dateline covered Entertainment Weekly's Top 10 of 2003. Ruben and Clay came in #2.
Clay and Ruben were listed on a number of Annual Reviews for 2003. Two of these were Entertainment Weekly and A&E Biography.
On 12/20/03 Clay received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Special Education from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte.
On 12/21/03 Clay and the Bubel Aiken foundation had a "Skate with Clay" day. This was part of the TBAF awareness and fundraising event with the Carolina Hurricanes. Promoting the foundation's belief in combining children with disabilities with those without disabilities, a mixed group skated with Clay.
On 12/22/03 the Carolina Hurricanes and the Bubel Aiken Foundation held a fundraiser. Clay sang the National Anthem, "I will carry you", "Don't save it all for Christmas day", "The way" and "Invisible".
On 12/22/03 Clay appeared at the local Crabtree mall for WRAL's Welcome Home celebration. He brought Raleigh with him and showed her off to the crowd.
On 12/25/03 Clay appeared on the Very Merry Christmas Parade in Walt Disney World. He opened the show with a performance of "Santa Claus is coming to town" and led the grand finale with "Joy to the world" and "We wish you a merry Christmas"
On 12/25/03 Clay's "The First Noel" was part of GMA's Christmas Day special. This was recorded on 10/15/03 when he appeared on the show to promote the release of 'Measure of a Man'.
On 12/31/03 Clay was part of the MTV's New Year's Eve celebration. He performed "The Way" and "Invisible".
Fountaindawg did this collage for 2003.
