Clay News!

The Broadway strike is over!!! Clay gets to be Sir Robin!!!!

http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071128/Ent/71129003

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Aiken's holiday fare doesn't disappoint faithful fansBy JEREMY D. BONFIGLIO
Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND - Julia Maish stood on the right side of the Morris Performing Arts Center stage recounting one of her most vivid Christmas memories.

It involved a borrowed black dress, a handsome, but intoxicated young stranger, an unfortunate fire to said dress, and a bowl of eggnog that doused the flames.

"That was the first time I ever really sizzled," she said as Clay Aiken smiled broadly at the center of the Morris stage.

Maish was one of four South Bend audience members invited to share their holiday tales Wednesday night during Aiken's "Christmas in the Heartland" tour stop.

The stories, solicited for the tour as part of a fan club contest, were interspersed throughout the 90-minute set, bringing a dose of hometown charm to a concert that, at times, felt almost too formal.

<snip>

A relaxed and polished Aiken, dressed in all black, eased into a soft rendition of "O Come, O Come Emanuel," then, with the Bill Porter Orchestra, a Chicago jazz band, in tow, he launched into the first of the show's three holiday medleys. Joined by talented supporting vocalists Angela Fisher and Quiana Parlor, the trio zipped through an arrangement that somehow morphed "Away in a Manger," "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "Silent Night" into a single, pleasant entity.

Maish, who lives in Chicago, was the first of the four storytellers to step onstage. Up until Tuesday, she didn't expect she would be sharing any of the four stories she submitted to the contest.

"I found out last night at 9:30 p.m.," Maish said. "I guess he liked this one."

While Maish's story was played to comedic perfection, the others included more traditional tales - a Christmas tradition between mother and son, a woman's connection to her goddaughter, and an immigrant's recollection of her family's first American Christmas.

"<snip>

Perhaps it was the orchestra setting, or the backup singers in formal gowns, but the first act came off as a bit stiff, despite Aiken's obvious vocal acuity.

It's clear he has grown as a singer and performer since his "American Idol" stint, and after the break, he proved by just how much.

Aiken's tender version of "O, Holy Night" set the tone for the rest of the night.

He was inspired throughout "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and "O Come All Ye Faithful," before yielding to Parlor for her soulful rendition of "Where Are You Christmas?"

It all led to the undeniable concert highlight, "Don't Save It All For Christmas Day," a tune once sung by Parlor.

"I like it so much," Aiken admitted, "I stole it from her."

Whether they knew it or not, this was the moment the audience was waiting for. Reminiscent of his "American Idol" performances, Aiken pushed his vocals to hit the big notes, which he did to perfection.

The song's crescendo was such a stirring moment that audience members actually leaped to their feet like they were at a church revival.

They were still standing when Aiken left the stage and remained that way until he came out for the one-song encore, "All is Well." It paled in comparison to "Don't Save It All For Christmas Day," but the song's tender moments turned out to be a fitting ending for a holiday show that left Aiken's faithful following delightfully giddy as they exited the theater

I think he's really beginning to hit his stride as a mature performer. Nice review. I wish I could see it live. Thank you for the Clack!

You're welcome!!

Yes, he is! This concert is beautiful! I so wish I could see it live too! I don't know why he has stopped coming to The Chicago Theater. I saw the first two Christmas tours there. So very beautiful. He is not coming closer than about 3 hours from us, and that is with good weather, and on weekdays that just make it impossible for hubby and me unless we took vacation days. I don't get paid if I don't work so that makes for a very expensive evening! He is playing in Waukegan on a Thursday. If I take a Thursday off I am out $300. Add $150 for tix plus gas money in our conversion van and that's a $500 concert. Right before Christmas and second semester college tuition and books.

Just watched some of those old videos again. It just reminds me of how extraordinary his talent is: it's four years later, I've had three other fandoms since his year, and he's the one who draws me back in again every single time I hear him sing. It's just about the singing. He really is that good, and most AI contestants really aren't. There's a reason most of them - even the top 12, the folks who are supposed to be the creme of the creme of over 100,000 people, could not become famous on their own and will not be able to sustain it. They were not really good enough to be famous.

Clay was, and is, and may be the only male the franchise has found who is.

3 fandoms?? Con, Sanjaya and ? Please tell. How'd I miss #3?

Anway, here is a link to download Pinkarmchair's story from last night. Pink is famous of course for her Climmel stories. She is a wonderful writer and speaker. This video is SOOOO worth downloading to hear not only her story, but they way she tells it. What a great lady she seems to be!

Pink's story/reading!

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3 fandoms?? Con, Sanjaya and ? Please tell. How'd I miss #3?

Taylor.

Duh

It's like Taylor has been erased from my memory

HAPPY 29TH BIRTHDAY CLAY!!!!!!


Hope all your wishes and dreams come true and may this year be filled with wonderful adventures for you and your fans!!

(and please bring your sweet little self close to me sometime soon!!)

Beautiful Birthday Boy!!

Beautiful pic of some of the lighting. This concert is getting such rave reviews and everyone says it is just beautiful! Happy for him/them, sad for me

Everyone says this is by far his most polished and artistic concert/show. Wish I could see this. The description below sounds just beautiful!

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8:00pm came and no Clay. Amazingly, no one was fretting. We continued to chat with whoever wants to talk. Suddenly, the lights were turned off and the curtain was raised. Screams and hollering came on until light focused on Jesse. The spotlight came on directly on Clay. Very dramatic. He started to sing Emmanuel. He voice is heavenly. He had this aura about him that seem to be stronger and inviting. You can’t take your eyes off of him. He was wearing all black, not long coat but a regular length. He had rimless eyeglasses on. He was a perfect sight. He was standing on a platform not moving but his hands and his head.

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All songs were sung with confidence and love. He disappeared after the last note of DSIAFCD. We all stood up. Almost everyone remained standing until he came back for All is Well. Before the last “well” all the above lights started going crazy then all stopped in one place , on Clay for a brief moment , he was bathe in bright white light. He looked like an angel and as suddenly the lights went out. Then four thin lights came on to focus on the mike without Clay. The angel was gone. He told us “All is Well” and not to worry “All is Well”.

Some more pix!

Contra Costa Times

People

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AND THE AWARD FOR BEING THE HOTTEST THING ON THE INTERNET GOES TO ... Clay Aiken. Yes, no matter how many folks are out there feverishly chasing down tidbits about Britney Spears' underpants, she has not been the most-searched-for term on Lycos, the search engine announced Monday.

That distinction goes to "American Idol" runner-up Aiken. Late rapper Tupac Shakur came in second and Spears was third.

~~~~~

Columbus Dispatch.com

They Lycos; they really Lycos

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Another day, another year-end list. This one comes from the search engine Lycos, which says Britney Spears was its third-most-searched term in 2007 and the No. 1 most-searched woman on the site. Dubious as the honor might be, even more fascinating is that former American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken was the engine's most-searched man in 2007. Aiken topped the likes of Tupac Shakur (No. 2) and pretty boy Zac Efron (No. 7).

Clay doesn't want his fans to tape his performances in Spamalot. He commented that he would be pissed and embarrassed if that happened as that is not cool on Broadway. I totally get where he is coming from and that he wants all to go smoothly with his Broadway debut, but for me the thought of never getting to see even a couple mins. of him on Broadway and especially in Spamalot just breaks my Clay loving heart I don't need the whole play or all his scenes, but man I sure would like to see just a little. I want to see what he looks like in his costumes and I want to hear his English accent!! I would sure love to see him dance a little. Bummer. If only I were in a position to go to NYC and see him, but alas, there is no freaking way I can go

If the marketing team for Spamalot has any brains they will put up at least a few officially sanctioned and officially taped Clay scenes on youtube.

From your mouth to the Broadway Gods ears!!!!!!!

Well, if the Clay fans are anything like the GB fans who taped him IN A CHURCH, I have a feeling that even though he's said no tape-y, I guarantee someone will. No way there's going to be that many Claymates going to see this thing and not one of them will record it in some way.

I also agree with Frazz that they will do something officially sanctioned, if only to try to stem the flow of the bootleg stuff that will surely come out.

GE, this is a HUGE issue on the Clay boards right now. People are being strongly encouraged to be good little Claymates and abide my Clay's wishes. I am cool with that even though I am sad. I do think that the truly amazing Clack Goddesses (thank god for them) will get Clack, but it will only be shared behind closed doors, back channels, PMs. I am not a member of The Clack House, though I am always in the concert Chat and they are really nice to me, so I really am not in a position to ask any of those ladies to trust me enough to PM me somewhere. Clay's fear is it getting on You Tube and the cast and crew being annoyed at him/his fans. I think his Broadway Debut means a lot to him and he really wants to be excepted as more than a stunt cast.

I will be beyond thrilled and completely satisfied with any small morsel TPTB are willing to sanction!!

FC, I'm pretty sure that 1. There are Claymates who will tape it no matter what anybody says and 2. it will show up on YOUTUBE. He can try to stem the tide as best he can. He's gone on record as stating he doesn't want this to happen.

His fellow actors are, indeed, actors and I'm sure they're used to crazed fans and understand that this is something they can't control and that there was a huge possibility this would happen once they cast him in the role. They must be aware of Claymania and all that comes with it and not freak out when the inevitable happens.

That little secret club stuff drives me crazy. Still, once one person shares it with another, you can pretty much bet that it will get out. The only way for it not to get out is for the people who have the footage to never share and that just won't happen.

Yeah, you are probably right. I just hope he has a great run with the show, gets some respect from critics, makes some great connections for his acting future and I GET TO SEE SOME FOOTGE!!! Not so much to ask for right??

Well, if this works out in any way like Constantine's stint on Brel and Wedding Singer did, Clay will be invited to appear on the New York talk shows, and they may let him do a song on television. There were bootlegs too, but some of the material we got from those plays was legitimate.

Hey, anybody here with access to The Den at The Clack House could you go and tell me what the heck happened? All I know is someone got a M&G who was big trouble for Clay (they say the fan who said she had a baby by him) and all anyone is saying on main is "Yay for the way Clay handled it! and How much they love him as a man and how great he still does the M&Gs after that and no wonder he was so upset the other night etc.!!! Makes me crazy that they say those things openly but not what the heck happened! I want to know dammit!! I want to know the amazing way Clay handled whatever the heck the situation was! It's making me crazy!

Firecracker, I'm going to go see my mother today but I'll try to pm you later. I am reluctant to post it on this board; I get the strong feeling that if they found out I had taken Den information and posted it elsewhere, I might lose my membership to Clackhouse. It's not like I'm a member in terrific standing anyway - I find them too mother hen-ish, I don't coddle him enough, (he's a man of character and personal strength, he hardly needs it) and because I'm sick of getting scolded every time I post, I don't post often enough.

Abrahammy, that sounds real familiar!

Poor Abrahammy. She can be a fan and enjoy a performer without making them Jesus. Constantly pointing out that the emperor has no clothes.

Thank you so much Abrahammy! I'm just so dang curious what the fan did and how he handled whatever she did!

I think your big mistake at the CH was loving another Idol as much or more than Clay. I used to have a JD avi at The CV and boy some people DID NOT LIKE THAT! I changed it, but I seldom post there anymore anyway.

I hope your mom is doing great and give her a hug from me!!

Is it tomorrow that Clay has the skating show on? What time, what channel? I'll look around here and see, because I didn't see it on the schedule.

Dec 25 - HOLIDAY CELEBRATION ON ICE (NBC) 3:00 PM EST

Sorry I haven't been able to keep up with the Clay info this week

I do know that he is with his mother and brother in Mexico on a UNICEF field trip.

His last concert of this Xmas tour was Saturday night and his mom and bro were there. Bret got a nice standing ovation after Clay mentioned he was home from his tour in Iraq. That was nice. I hope they have a safe and happy Xmas in Mexico doing good work for the children there.