By now, every Clay Aiken fan has gotten their hands on several versions of his song, 1000 Days, which he performed during last summer's Jukebox Tour, and will be part of his new album, A Thousand Different Ways, to be released on September 19.

On Thursday, Clay asked his fans to step up to the plate and donate money to UNICEF in an effort to aid children in Lebanon. By the close of Friday, Clay's fans donated close to $50,000. Clay's response:

...that's 254 school-in-a-box kits serving 20,338 children or 195 emergency health kits for 194,906 people for 3 months...I am CONSTANTLY AMAZED by your fervor and your enthusiasm, to say nothing of your generosity...The Claymates' contributions make up 17% of the total monies raised for the Lebanon crisis!
They say it is absolutely unprecedented...Sometimes I wonder how I'd ever make it through this world without having you. I just wouldn't have a clue!...(that was a specific hint for you... as a thank you! ;)

A tip from my friend Erin and a little googling confirms that the clue Clay is hinting at is another song from the new CD - a cover of When I See You Smile by Bad English. I'm a big John Waite fan, so I'm excited to hear Clay's take on this song. It's also giving me hope that Clay's new CD is going to be in the vein of an artist like Michael Buble, who can cover a song uniquely and wonderfully, without making it sound cheesy or lame.

Here is the link to the Unicef donation page, if you're so inclined.

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