• Third season of 'American Idol to premiere January 20 and 21

  November 17, 2003
  FOX has announced that its hit American Idol series will make its highly anticipated third-season debut on Tuesday, January 20 and Wednesday, January 21. The series’ special two-part premiere will kick off with a two-hour episode from 8-10 PM ET/PT on Tuesday followed by a special one-hour episode on Wednesday from 8-9 PM ET/PT on FOX.

• Clay Aiken wins American Music Awards "Fan's Choice" award

  November 17, 2003
  Clay Aiken might have lost last spring's American Idol 2 viewer voting contest to Ruben Studdard, but his devoted fans apparently made sure that Clay wouldn't fall just short a second time. Powered by the efforts of his "clay maniacs," Aiken took home the American Music Awards Fan's Choice award on Sunday night, beating out 50 Cent, Justin Timberlake, and Beyonce among others. The award is the only AMA award where the winner is determined by online fan voting.

• 'American Idol 2' semifinalist Jaered Andrews acquitted in bar fight death

  November 15, 2003
  Looks like Jaered told the truth.

• Strategy shift: RCA to release commercial CD of Clay Aiken's "Invisible" single

  November 15, 2003
  RCA should have listened to us in the first place. When you have an artist who only gets respect at the cash register, make use of it.

• Clay Aiken CD drops to #8 in U.S. as total sales top 1 million units

  November 12, 2003
  Billboard reports that, in a week dominated by new releases, the debut CD from American Idol 2 runner-up Clay Aiken has dropped to eighth place on the Nielsen SoundScan U.S. Album Sales charts (which also serve as the Billboard 200) in its fourth week of release. The CD, Measure of a Man, sold 113,000 copies for the week ended November 9 -- a 19% drop from its sales during the previous week.

• Clay Aiken CD falls to third in U.S. ... but is only 741 copies from first

  November 5, 2003
  E! Online reports that Clay Aiken's CD Measure of a Man has fallen to third place on the Nielsen SoundScan U.S. Album Sales chart for the week ended November 2 after two weeks in the top slot. However, the gap between Clay and the top two CDs, which also were released by labels in the BMG Music Group, is only 741 copies.

• Clay Aiken's 'Measure of a Man' remains #1 in U.S. with sales of 225,000 units

  October 29, 2003
  Debuting at #1 ... great. Remaining at #1 over both a Rod Stewart and an Eagles debut ... even better.

• Clay Aiken single comes up just short in bid to retake #1 slot in U.S.

  October 24, 2003
  Clay Aiken may have the top-selling CD in the U.S., but his bid to also have the top-selling single in the same week was derailed by Christian rockers MercyMe.

• 'American Idol' winner Ruben Studdard delays debut album 'Soulful' until Dec. 9

  October 24, 2003
  We now know that Clay Aiken, runner-up in Fox's American Idol 2, has achieved the greatest success of any Idol contestant so far. But we'll have to wait a little longer to see whether Ruben Studdard, who edged him in the finals of Idol 2, can match that success.

• Clay Aiken's 'Measure of a Man' album opens at #1 with U.S. sales of 613,000 units

  October 22, 2003
  Nothing succeeds like success, and American Idol 2 runner-up Clay AIken has had a lot of it lately. According to Billboard, Clay's debut CD, Measure of a Man on RCA Records. ranked #1 in its first week on the Nielsen SoundScan U.S. Album Sales charts (which is the same as the "Billboard 200" album charts), with a stunning total of 613,000 units sold at SoundScan-reporting outlets for the week ended October 19.

MORE AMERICAN IDOL NEWS