Aiken Fans Share OMWH Virally

ON MY WAY HERE - All 12 tracks of Clay Aiken's new CD, On My Way Here, have been ranked in AOL's Top 20 Songs this weekend. Graphic by Amazing_CA.

Montages Market CD Songs

All OMWH Tracks in AOL Top 20

Friday all 12 tracks from Clay Aiken's new CD, On My Way Here, lined up on the front page of AOL's Most Played Songs. The list changes constantly with the latest streams, but early Saturday morning the tracks were still there.

At 6:40 a.m. Saturday, the "most played" list of OMWH songs charted like this:

1. On My Way Here
2. Ashes
4. Everything I Don't Need
6. Grace of God
8. Falling
9. As Long As We're Here
12. Something About Us
14. Weight of the World
15. Sacrificial Love
18. The Real Me
19. Where I Draw the Line
20. Lover All Alone

At 7:30 a.m. Sunday, the OMWH tracks were charting like this:

OMWH, 1; Ashes, 2; LAL, 3; WIDTL, 5; Falling, 6; GOG, 7; EIDN, 8; ALAWH, 9; SAU, 10; SL, 12; TRM, 13; and WOTW, 15.

A final check for this entry at 6:20 a.m. Tuesday yielded this line-up:

OMWH, 1; Ashes, 2; Falling, 4; EIDN, 5; GOG, 6; ALAWH, 9; LAL, 13; SAU, 15; SL, 20; WOTW, 21; WIDTL, 22; TRM, 23.

Sunday morning Cagney1950 reported that "OMWH" has 121 spins, +3 over last week with audience impressions of .259. The single remains at #28 with a red bullet.

Tuesday the report for "OMWH" was 125 spins, +8 spins over last week with .345 audience impressions. The single remains #28 with a red bullet.

OMWH #1 Video at AOL

This weekend four of the five Sessios performances populated top positions in the Most Viewed Videos and Top 11 Music Video Countdown at AOL.

As shown in the Saturday morning screen cap above, OMWH, Ashes, WIDTL, and EIDN were 1, 2, 3, and 5 then. Early Tuesday, OMWH and Ashes were still 1 and 2, while EIDN and WIDTL were 5 and 7 in both charts.

Part of this phenomenon can be attributed to the dedicated streaming by Internet fans, who no doubt have been joined by Not.Just.Us, casual, and new fans.

Here are the streaming links for listening, and viewing at AOL and Yahoo:

* Audio song tracks: AOL Music
* Five-song video performance: AOL Sessions
* OMWH video at Yahoo Music

Montages Magnets for New Fans

Via videos at YouTube, the CA fandom's talented montage makers have played a key role in introducing OMWH songs to newcomers.

Among the latest posted are "Something About Us: An Obama Love Story" by Hotshortie and "Grace of God: Obama for Change" by AshFoals. At noon Monday, the first had registered close to 80,000 views. Tuesday morning the tally was 86,187.

Politics aside, both are receiving amazing comments by a multitude of new fans:

Something About Us: An Obama Love Story by Hotshortie:

I was STUNNED to find out it was Clay Aiken. It is indeed a BEAUTIFUL song, and I have a whole new respect for Clay Aiken. I might even buy his new album with "Something About Us" on it.

That's Clay Aiken???? WOW!!!!! I love that song ... I need to find that song and get it. Wouldn't that be perfect for my wedding?

Other than on American Idol, I had never heard any of Clay Aiken's music. This song is excellent.

Grace of God: Obama for Change by AshFoals:

Very moving video. Extremely well done!

Clay Aiken must be the Best Kept Secret in America! I had no idea he had such an incomparable voice. And the video -- perfection!

Graphic by Amazing_CA

A Tour of OMWH Montages

Believe me, it's not difficult to lose a couple of hours (or more!) "researching" OMWH song montages at YouTube. Many thnx to the montage makers in the CA fandom for sharing their creations. The updated links below are still just a sampling of what's out there.

These selections will get you started, and I hope you will discover several other montages to add to the list. Perhaps you will provide suggestions for the one song not represented: "Where I Draw the Line."

ASHES: Rise Up From the Ashes -- UNICEF, Suereu; Rising From the Ashes by IUGal; and John McCain Tribute by Lacy704.

AS LONG AS WE'RE HERE: ALAWH, Aspiegirl; ALAWH (Somalia) by Suereu; ALAWH (inspired by Clay's UNICEF work) by lampmstar; and Nureyev & Fonteyn ALAWH by Yollie950.

EVERYTHING I DON'T NEED: EIDN, Suerue

FALLING: Dancing with the Stars (from various seasons), musicg57, and Clay Aiken - Falling, kaaca

GRACE OF GOD: Earthquake in China, Renegade79; Grace of God (UNICEF missions), Emerson032; Clay Aiken - Somalia Awareness by Yollie950; Clay Aiken in Somalia ("Grace of God") by Brolio42; Survival Project - UNICEF ("Grace of God" - Clay Aiken) by Gerwhisp; and Obama for Change - Grace of God by AshFoals.

LOVER ALL ALONE: Lover All Alone - Grey's Anatomy by AprilJolex and Lover All Alone - The Notebook by loveholic6364.

Graphic by Sally

ON MY WAY HERE: OMWH, Aspiegirl; OMWH April-May Performances (GMA/Kimmel/QVC/etc), Salamander5230; and OMWH by Dreamlarge.

SACRIFICIAL LOVE: Dancing with the Stars, Season 6, musicg57

SOMETHING ABOUT US: Apolo and Julianne: The Reunion, Betty897x; Legends, Yollie950; and Something About Us - Jammy (Guiding Light) by kamaly3; and An OBAMA Love Story by Hotshortie.

THE REAL ME: Reveal Me Completely, Yollie950; The Real Me (wave videography), Gerwhisp; and The Real Me, Aspiegirl

WEIGHT OF THE WORLD: Iron Man HIS Perspective, 1agerard

The final three montages were created with OMWH bonus tracks:

FORGET I EVER KNEW YOU (bonus): FIEKY, Suerue

IT'S IN EVERYONE OF US (bonus): IIEOU (inspired by Clay's work with UNICEF and TBAF), emerson032, and IIEOU, Iampmstar

Remember your assignment: get lost in OMWH montages at YouTube and, if you would, add your suggestions to the list!

PHOTO INTERLUDE: Featured in this clickable interlude are graphics by Amazing_CA, 1 and 3, and Llbun, 2. Photographers include Claylilly, 1, and SecretlyLovesClay, 3.

Fans Employ Viral Marketing

"Viral marketing" by CA fans remains a viable tool in spreading the word about OMWH. Below are four June examples, each posted at a different message board but news of which quickly traversed Clay Cyberspace.

PINK ARMCHAIR: I had given a copy of On My Way Here, one of many I have distributed, to an Aftican American coworker of mine. She thanked me politely and promptly tossed it in the back seat of her car. She told me this morning, rather sheepishly, that somebody had sent her a link to the Obama "Something About Us" montage and she instantly fell madly in love with the song.

She had no idea who was singing until the end. When she found out, she realized that she actually owned it. Now she says she's fallen in love with the whole CD, has been playing it nonstop in her car, and has forwarded the link to the Obama montage to everybody she can think of.

Maybe Clay isn't being played too much on the radio, but this certainly seems to be a pretty effective way to get his music out there. Hits on the montage have been phenomenal. I've had a few people tell me they've been compelled to check out the album after seeing the "Grace of God" montage, too. The power of YouTube!

INVISIBLE926: I showed my coworker the "Obama Love Story" video on YouTube. She loved the video and the song so much that she's emailing the video to all of her friends and is going to use "Something About Us" for her own wedding anniversary video.

Classical Fan Loves OMWH

NIGHTOWL: I have a neighbor who is a big classical music fan. She goes to concerts and chamber music performances at Lincoln Center and listens to a classical music radio station. She mentioned that she loves cello music especially. I asked her if she'd like to hear a song that Clay wrote and sings with a cello. She said yes, so I lent her one of my copies of OMWH.

I received the following email: "I listened to the Clay Aiken CD today. I loved it. I especially liked "Lover All Alone," "Something About Us," "Falling," "Where I Draw the Line," and "Sacrificial Love." The whole CD is really good. On My Way Here is a good title."

She asked if she could keep it for awhile and said she will probably buy it.

KATHLEEN06: This weekend my town had a Relay for Life, sponsored by the American Cancer Society. After the opening ceremony, they asked the survivors to walk the first lap; and since I am one, I participated.

The song we walked to was "On My Way Here." It was so wonderful to hear that voice as all these folks walked around the track celebrating their win over cancer! Wish Clay could have seen it for a few moments. Once again, he touched people that he does not know about. He is always an inspiration.

'The Tenth Circle' featured on Lifetime.

Picoult's Book Lifetime Movie

The Tenth Circle by one of my favorite authors, Jodi Picoult, is the featured Lifetime movie at 9 p.m. EDT Saturday. Other telecasts are scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT Sunday and 9 p.m. EDT Monday.

Longtime fans, as well as those who will become familiar with her work this weekend, will enjoy the related links at the above site. There is also preview information about her next publication, Handle With Care.

This best-selling author knows how to write about tough subjects, as both The Tenth Circle and Handle With Care prove. I firmly believe Nineteen Minutes should be required reading for all parents, educators, and young people.

Take a look!

Clay To Blog at Field Notes

Anticipating Clay Aiken's return from his latest UNICEF mission in Somalia, fans are keeping close tabs on the Field Notes blog link. Once home, the celebrity ambassador will post reports about his Somalia experiences and observations.

On Friday, the Carolina blog's Feedjit map and "live traffic" feed registered a hit from Somalia. I'm sure other journals featuring Clay's UNICEF trip did as well. Wednesday's news release from Reuters is still prevalent on media sites around the globe from the US and Canada to Thailand and Malaysia.

Below is a clickable of Amazing_CA's opening graphic:

Stay tuned for the singing ambassador's initial report on Somalia. Have an awesome weekend, Clay Nation!

Caro

RELATED TAGS: Clay Aiken, On My Way Here, AOL Music, AOL Sessions, AOL Top 11 Countdown, Yahoo Music, Something About Us: An Obama Love Story, Grace of God: Obama for Change, montage, viral marketing, You Tube, Somalia, UNICEF, Goodwill Ambassador, Field Notes Blog, Jodi Picoult, The Tenth Circle, Lifetime Movie, Official Fan Club, Clay Nation