They came for the voice. They stayed for the man. They buy many tickets really, really fast!

Yesterday, tickets went on sale to the general public for the only Clay Aiken appearance scheduled this year -- at least that is known, as of this posting. Aiken enthusiasts, known for being the most loyal of all Idol fans, were true to form in bringing yet another in-house ticketing system to its knees.

Clay is slated to perform with several Symphony Orchestras across the U.S. this holiday season, with only a December 9 concert in Williamsport, Pa., officially scheduled so far. According to insider sources, fans alerted the venue in advance that Clay Nation has a reputation for crashing ticketing systems, but the location wasn't concerned.

As it turned out, except for a few seats that were sold online before the official start time of 10 a.m., all the rest were done via phone. Memo to future concert sites: Do not underestimate the power of Claymates missing their Idol and looking for tickets en masse.

Clay's new CD, A Thousand Different Ways, is scheduled to be released September 19. We're no math geniuses here at AIW, but we think that's only 35 more days away! Holla!

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.