Clay News!

I agree Janice! Nothing beats Clay in person!

Funny montage!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOD5cwbyFJg


Nice Clay mention in Forbes!


http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2007/10/26/infamy-celebs-tips-oped-cx_apr_1029infamy.html

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Or you could just come in No. 2. Do you really remember who won American Idol 2? Neither do we, but we do remember a guy named Clay. He was the runner up to winner Ruben Studdard. Clay Aiken seamlessly shot to fame without the help of the juggernaut that is the American Idol crown.

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Nice Clay mention in Forbes!

I will be honest with you; I have always strongly believed that they did something to those phone lines to make it easier for Ruben's people to get through. I DO think that Ruben probably did get more votes through that were actually voted; they managed a paper victory, but it was manipulated. Nice to see that it has thoroughly and permanently backfired. I wish Ruben no harm at all, but I am still very angry that they ignored America's wishes when it was SO clear what they were. It's not even so much about Clay and Ruben, since Clay obviously came out on top. It was about refusing to allow their own process to have integrity, and I've been skeptical every season since then.

And to this day the mainstream press still doesn't realize that Clay won the vote by a substantial margin every single week except finale night. That's not fangirl speculation. Nigel up and admitted it in an interview. I'd have been appalled if it had been any other year as well.

I totally agree Abrahammy - with every word. Not just being fangirly. It was admitted on TV that Clay was FAR ahead every single week. I don't know if it was manipulated, or just that phone lines really did jam up with so many people trying to vote for Clay. Whichever it was, it still breaks my heart that Clay did not have that moment. That the biggest vote getter every.single.week. had to walk off that stage and watch all that celebration for Ruben (even though Clay loves him). I still cannot watch that moment. I keep wondering, if he had "officially" won, would the press still love to take all those potshots at him?

On a happier note, Clay blogged today at his OFC and he is very busy getting ready to speak about Afghanistan on behave of UNICEF, preparing for the skating event, getting ready for the Xmas tour, working on the new CD and apartment hunting in NYC, and I bet reading Spamalot scripts! So happy BF is so busy and has so much ahead of him!

Fox News review of the Neil Sedaka tribute

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Maybe the oddest part of the night, though, was an appearance by Clay Aiken. An acquired taste to say the least, Aiken enjoys a fan base that travels with him. They are called Claymates. At least 50 suburban housewife types screamed through his one song. They don’t care about the rumors, the stories, the scandals. Their scary devotion to him recalled Liberace’s huge following in the '50s and '60s, and Barry Manilow’s in the '70s and since then. Using this as a barometer, the Broadway producers of “Spamalot” are in for quite a culture shock soon.

Everything about that is insulting, which is why I didn't post it here. It's insulting to Neil, who chose Clay to sing and who gave Clay a standing ovation (one of only two for the entire night). It is insulting to everyone who was there and gave him a standing ovation - which was not just 50 old hag housewives.

This man is just another asshole in a line of many assholes. He couldn't say Clay sang the song poorly - because he knew darn well he didn't, and he couldn't bring himself to be uncool enough to say something *gasp* NICE about Clay - so he brings up rumors, tabloids and insulting the man's fans. It would be funny if weren't so obvious and pathetic. Funny, in the rest of the review he reviewed the performances. Not Clay. No with him rather than review the performance he brings up a bunch of crap that has NOTHING to do with the tribute to Neil

Thankfully I did NOT click on the link above and give the prick a hit. I was able to read it elsewhere. I hope other fans of Clay's do the same.

The fans didn't scream all through the song, just at the beginning, the glory note and the end. And from what I understand, the fans of the other artists also clapped and cheered for their favorites.

ETA: In case anyone else doesn't want to give the guy any clicks, I'll just summarize the rest of the article and say everyone else - except for the jazz trio who he didn't mention at all -- got a very positive review.

I have a slightly different view on this. OK, Clay Aiken has a big, loud fanbase that includes (among other people) a lot of middle aged women like me. So did Liberace and so does Barry Manilow - and it is now understood that Liberace was certainly was gay and Barry probably is, too.

So what?

Liberace was an excellent pianist and a great showman (although not really to my taste.) Manilow set the standard for the particular kind of music he plays and writes.

Talented gay men that appeal, for some reason, to middle aged women. So? You got a problem with that, buddy? Why? What's the part about gay that makes you so prickly? What's the part about middle aged female that makes you so condescending and rude? Is it that this isn't going to be edgy, cutting - edge angsty music? OK, it's not.

SO WHAT????!!! IS IT GOOD for what it is? Hey, I know a horrible little band called Pray for the Soul of Betty that used to try to be edgy and angsty. Their lead singer nearly destroyed a fairly decent singing voice screaming for their crap. Would you rather listen to that garbage?

And if Clay has turned in that kind of performance for Spamalot instead, might that not indicate that HE is looking to broaden HIS horizons? Will Spamalot be getting the culture shock, or will it be the people who have Clay in a box and don't expect him to step out of it?

Hey, Clay, say the swear words!!!

I hope he says the swear words and we get Clack!

And once again Abrahammy - WORD!!

Being a middle-aged woman myself, I certainly think that anybody who appeals to a bunch of us is doing something right.

Halloween Clay!

http://cirruswebsolutions.ca/halloween2007/

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From CV:
AmeraikenInTexas posted:

Clay comment in Toni Tennille's blog:

http://www.captainandtennille.net/tonis-take_blog_01.htm

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QUOTE Now.... for all of you "Claymates" out there who might happen to read this..... I never saw Clay Aiken backstage. He wasn't there for the finale, THAT'S WHEN THE MUSIC TAKES ME, and he didn't attend the afterparty. In fact, I never saw him at all!!! He drifted in and out of the proceedings like a ghost... almost like he was "beamed

She was very complimentary about his performance too.

Don't forget Clay will be on "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth-Grader?" tonight.

Oops, that's weird? I copied the whole paragraph with what she said about his performance and it didn't paste. I didn't even notice - thanks Badger, I am going to go get the rest of it!

Yes, I cannot wait for tonight. Sadly it looks like he will be on in the second hour - putting him up against Grey's. Wish he was in the first hour.

OK, the whole quote!

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Now.... for all of you "Claymates" out there who might happen to read this..... I never saw Clay Aiken backstage. He wasn't there for the finale, THAT'S WHEN THE MUSIC TAKES ME, and he didn't attend the afterparty. In fact, I never saw him at all!!! He drifted in and out of the proceedings like a ghost... almost like he was "beamed" in and out of the theatre. Becky and I sneaked out into the stage right balcony to hear him sing SOLITAIRE, and he sang the heck out of it! And I got such a kick out of the screams of excitement when he appeared on stage, and when he held that four-measure, fortissimo note ("Sol-i-TAIRE!!!!!") in the middle of the song..... the audience went bananas just like all the young girls who screamed for Sinatra and the Beatles! His fans, who appear to be mostly female, absolutely adore him. What a phenomenon. I'm so out of it, I had no idea how huge he is.

I'm so glad they put Clay on first!! Now I don't have a taping conflict

He's doing so good and he is so funny and adorable!!

I went to my acting class tonight (had to take a month off to put myself in "looking for a regular job mode"). I'd love a link or at least a description of what Clay said and did on 5th grader.

Frazz, you can download the show here!

http://www.clackunlimited.com/clack/TV_Appearances/Are_You_Smarter_Than_A_Fifth_Grader/071101_Appearance/

Pick which size file you want and right click and save! He was the whole first hour of the show! You will want to see it all! He was so funny and smart and charming and everything that Clay always is!! It is well worth downloading. He is great with the kids (no surprise there) and so funny with Jeff. At the end Jeff called Clay a "quality human being". I couldn't agree more! Also, Clay did great and won a lot of money for his foundation!

Also, yesterday Clay spoke to teachers at Yale!

Teacher Clay teaching teachers!

When I was in high school, I took a course called "Recent World Crises" in which one of the requirements for passing was the ability to identify each country on an unmarked map as well as to know the capital city of each. So it was cool to see Clay show the unmarked map and see if anyone could mark it correctly.

Thanks for the link, Firecracker - I had to work last night.

You're welcome Abrahammy!! Enjoy! He's adorable!

Hey, you can watch the whole episode here!!

http://tv.msn.com/

I watched the whole thing! I doubt that anybody else could get me to watch this particular show all the way through, but he was, as expected, absolutely delightful.

I know what you mean Frazz I have never watched that show before, and will probably never watch it again - unless Clay is on again He is so delightful! He makes about as many faces as Jim Carey I'm so glad that you watched it!!

Rodney Ho at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution posted about Clay on AYSTAFG:

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You can watch the entire appearance of Clay Aiken on this past Thursday’s “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader” here.

Here are some preview clips below. Clay is a charmer as always and does quite well! He was giving money to the Bubel Aiken Foundation for kids with special needs. (I won’t say exactly how much if you haven’t heard.) Against “Survivor,” “Ugly Betty,” “Smallville” and the NBC combo of “Earl” and “The Office,” the show did okay with about 8 million viewers Thursday.

It's on Yahoo too (not only on msn.com). Here's where you can watch it:
http://tv.yahoo.com/show/41058/videos/


http://www.rickey.org

but if you scroll down that page it's there with video. And a scrunchy face pic. Here's what he said:

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Is Clay Aiken smarter than a 5th Grader? Sadly, no. But Clay Aiken did win a lot of money for his charity. Plus, Clay is so entertaining! What a comedian.

If you think about it, whatever Clay Aiken won was his appearance fee. Now that was impressive for an hour’s work.

From Norm Clarke's column in the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

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Former "American Idol" runnerup Clay Aiken tapes his Christmas skating special for NBC tonight at The Orleans. He'll get some professional tips this afternoon from Sasha Cohen, the 2002 Olympic figure skating silver medalist. The show, which starts at 7:30 p.m. tonight, airs Christmas Day. Ticket information: 888-234-2334 or 702-284-7777.

I love that! "HIS" skating special! Wait until the skaters read that

Good luck today Clay!! Praying for Clack of skating Clay!!