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Clay, Ruben: Record-Store Rematch
Call it: Clay versus Ruben--round three.
The mismatched American Idol finalists, who have vied for votes on TV and pole position on the singles chart, will next go throat-to-throat August 19.
That's the just-scheduled release date for the pair's respective debut albums, Billboard.com reported Friday.
The stocky Ruben Studdard, 24, claimed round one of their competition. He edged fellow Southerner Clay Aiken, also 24, by 134,400 votes for the Idol title on May 21. Studdard's victory was watched by nearly 34 million people--more than last March's Oscars.
The gangly Aiken took the next round. His first single, "This Is the Night," teamed with a cover of "Bridge Over Troubled Water," debuted this week atop Billboard's Hot 100 chart, selling 393,000 copies.
That's more than Kelly Clarkson, American Idol's first-season champ, sold last September with her single debut, "A Moment Like This." It's more than any artist has sold in one week since Elton John got the waterworks going with his "Candle in the Wind" tribute to the late Princess Diana in 1997. Clarkson moved 236,000 copies; John, an unprecedented 3.5 million.
While Studdard was outdone by Aiken on the charts, he wasn't that outdone. The 205-area-code booster's first single, "Flying Without Wings," coupled with "Superstar," moved a not-so-skinny 286,000 copies, good for second place on the Billboard Hot 100.
Both Aiken and Studdard were awarded contracts with the RCA Music Group even before the final votes were announced on Fox's Idol closer. Judge Simon Cowell issued the early challenge to the pair's fans, announcing on the episode that their albums would hit stores at the same time.
As the official winner, Studdard's deal with RCA's J Records, label to fellow R&B crooner Luther Vandross, was pegged at $1 million.
Runner-up Aiken was assigned to RCA, Clarkson's recording home. The dollar value of his deal was not known.
To be sure, Aiken's getting more than his money's worth in publicity. In addition to the nation's number one single, he's the nation's Rolling Stone coverboy.
In an interview in the just released July 10 issue, Aiken reveals he likes spaghetti Bolognese, dislikes cats and thinks of estranged biological father, Vernon Grissom, as nothing more than a "sperm donor."
In other Idol developments, Aiken and Studdard, their star status approximately six months old, both now have spokespeople. (Actually, per Rolling Stone, Aiken has two publicists and a bodyguard.)
Less Aiken and Studdard forget Idols can be toppled, they may want to take in a screening this weekend of From Justin to Kelly. Plenty of seats available.
The beach-party flick, starring Clarkson and first-season runner-up Justin Guarini, was dropped into multiplexes Friday without the benefit of critics' screenings. (See: Not a Good Sign, Part I.)
And, despite the efforts of the 1,000-plus Netizens who added their names to an online petition requesting a soundtrack release, the movie--a musical, with, you know, music--was not immortalized in soundtrack form. (See: Not a Good Sign, Part II.)
There was talk that the record people didn't want a soundtrack to detract from the June 10 release of Guarini's self-titled solo debut. That collection bowed on the Billboard chart this week in 20th place, having sold just 54,000 copies.
See: Not a Good Sign, Part III--The Final Chapter?
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