American Idol 2 runner-up Clay Aiken continues to hold down the #1 spot with his RCA Records single 'Solitaire'/'The Way', both on Nielsen SoundScan's U.S. Singles Sales chart for the week ended April 4, for the third straight week, and on Nielsen SoundScan's Canadian Singles Sales charts, for the second straight week. However, despite this, 'Solitaire' once again plummets in the Billboard Hot 100 charts, dropping another 21 places (after a 23-place drop last week) to #48 on the April 17 chart.
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As we previously discussed, the reason for the drop in the Billboard charts is the lack of airplay for 'Solitaire." Why such a lack? Well, one reason might be that RCA Records, Clay's label, hasn't asked its promotions people to start having 'Solitaire' (or 'The Way') added to radio playlists yet.
As the April 17 Billboard Adult Contemporary chart shows, Clay's previous track, 'Invisible,' still checks in at #18 on the chart after 26 weeks. This ranking is entirely driven by airplay, since 'Invisible' was only released as a promotional single. We have been informed (and our thanks to the informant) that 'Solitaire' and 'The Way' will not be officially released to the "adds" list for RCA's promotional staff until this coming Tuesday, April 13 ... which accounts for the single's limited airplay to date.
Frankly, we're mystified by such a late date, especially considering the amount of time that RCA worked 'Invisible' without ever getting it into the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 ... but we'll wait and see what happens.
Clay's roommate and fellow American Idol 2 contestant Kimberley Locke climbed back to #2 on the U.S. Singles Sales list with her Curb Records release '8th World Wonder,' which also inches up to #62 on the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile, the release of Kimberley's debut album, One Love, has been scheduled for May 4.
Kimberley's album features a long-awaited duet with Clay on the song 'Without You,' which, according to MTV, Clay has been performing on his successful U.S. tour with one of his backup singers, Quiana Parler, doubling for Kimberley. We look forward to hearing the real version, especially after Kimberley and Clay's widely-praised duet on 'Silver Bells' on the American Idol Christmas album.