Vancouver Sun Mentions Clayboard Members

A few member of the Clayboard were mentioned in this article in the Vancouver Sun. Apparently, these member quotes came from the CB's Clay Chatter forum. The Joyful Noise Tour 2005 kicks off in Vancouver, BC next week. Generally speaking, this is a very positive article!

American Idol loser one of show's biggest winners
If adoration and record sales are the measure of success, the singer's album is double-platinum and his 'Claymates' legion

Elaine Corden
Special to the Sun

October 27, 2005

At 10:30 on a recent Saturday night, there are 198 people on the "Clayboard," perusing some 3,124,421 posts made by the board's 12,630 registered members. The posters have screen names like "WhatWouldClayDo?" and "Claysladylove" and they post with astonishing regularity. The topics range from the functional ("Tour Dates 2005" ) to the inane ("What do u think Clay's favourite colour is?" ) , to the downright disturbing ("How many freckles do you think Clay has?" ) .

There is fan fiction, artwork, picture-trading and prayer circles, from devotees (usually women) who range from 18 (the site is adults-only) to 81 years old. The fans, or "Claymates" as they have dubbed themselves, speak in a sort of obsessive Esperanto, wishing each other a "Happy Birthclay" and referring to Clay pictures as "Clack," a derivative of "crack" and "Clay." To say it was over-the-top would be an understatement.

It has been more than two years since Aiken, who starts his Joyful Noise Christmas tour in Vancouver this week, found his way into North American homes via the Fox network's ratings juggernaut, American Idol. Awkward, jug-eared, and looking like a hybrid of Howdy Doody and Ritchie Cunningham, Aiken's Broadway-ready voice and dorky appeal distinguished him immediately from the hoards of half-topped honeys and preening players that normally make the AI cut.

Aside from the normal throngs of tween girls that follow the show, Aiken's southern grace and mild-mannered demeanour won him adult fans as well, and soon grandmothers and granddaughters alike were side by side in their love of the red-headed singer, voting in droves to keep him on the show each week.

As most of are now aware, Aiken did not prevail on Idol, losing to the girthful Ruben Studdard in the final vote. But today, if adoration and record sales are the measure of post-Idol success, it is Aiken who stands the victor, with a double platinum album, and, more to the point, a legion of fans whose devotion evokes the hysteria of Beatlemania.

While "Claymates" might argue that Aiken's voice, which is often found crooning FM soft-rock and MoR ballads, is the reason for his immense popularity, there is something, surely, larger at work.

Over the phone from L.A., Aiken, fresh from the dentist's office, seems as flummoxed by any other outsider by the enthusiasm of his fans.

"We don't call them 'crazy,' " says Aiken in his famously endearing North Carolina twang."We call them energetic. You know what? That's probably been the biggest blessing. Of course, I went on American Idol, and that was a big blessing, and then having an album was a blessing, and being able to go on tour and all that was great. But probably the most surprising thing is that more than 10 people actually want to hear [me] and that more than 10 people have stuck around for so long. "

He's surely underestimating. Two years on from Idol, Aiken is still selling out shows and inspiring adoration.

"What's amazing, as well, is more than 10 people have gotten passionate about what I'm passionate about. I work with UNICEF, and I work with a foundation that I help start for children and people with disabilities. It's amazing that people donate not just their money, they donate their time, they talk about it to other people. It's just amazing."

He sounds genuinely bewildered.

Elaine Corden is a Vancouver freelance writer.

- CLAYMOTION

From the message boards of ClaytonAiken.com (an unofficial Clay Aiken fan site):

"I pray for Clay and his family everyday. I wish I knew specifically what he would want prayers for, but I know God knows."

-- nebclayfan. Posts: 1134

"Today I feel like talking about Clay's Neck . . . specifically that patch of tender, smooth white skin on his throat between the ending of his beard and the beginning of his chest hair. . . . It looks tasty."

-- Georgia Girl. Posts: 1043


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