Clay Appears on CBS Early Show

Clay appeared this morning on CBS's Early Show. He sang Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and a part of Mary Did You Know. Clay also appeared outside with supermodel Giesel Bundchen to take part in CBS' toy drive. At the end of the show the anchors gushed over Clay's voice and Clay gave a shout out to his 'mama'. Video is now up at ATCA (look in the Videos>JNT>TV Promotions area), pax-et-animo's VIVAVOICE site (if you have access to that site) and also at CBSNews.com. CBS has also posted fantastic photos shot by a CBS News photographer. To access the CBS photos, click on this link and enter the event code "637A".

From the CB:

Clay comes up around 8:00 a.m with the weather man. Then they came back in the middle of the commercial break at around 8:30 a.m and they showed him in the middle of singing "Mary Did You Know" (it was a teaser to say he will be performing during a later segment). Then around 8:43 a.m Renee did an interview of Clay, then he sang HYAMLC. After he sang HYAMLC they went to commercial break.Then after about 2 minutes, they came back and talked to Clay briefly. He was still sitting on the stool he sang on. And Clay gave a shout out to his Mama. Then the show signed off.

Recap from NYC from the CB's Claykitten:

Hey Guys just got back from The Early Show....

I'm still thawing out, it's cold!!!! Hmm..I wish I could sing "Baby it's cold outside" with Clay. LOL Anyway I got a few pics I'm gonna upload them in few mins.

Ok here is my recap:
I got there a bit late but I got there just in time. I think everyone that was there, was there for Clay. It was a good crowd. They handed out posters and markers to make signs but I didn't get one cause I got there late. From there we waited a while and then this lady (I guess director) told us what we had to do when Dave Price the weatherman came out.
After that a bunch of people came and got together near the table with the toys. That's when Clay and Giselle came out from the studio and started talking to Dave Price. Clay was so close, I don't think I've ever seen him so close. He looked so cute , even though he was cold . They stood there for a while preparing for the shot and then this lady came up to Clay (I think she was the one from that picture someone took of Clay with this lady a while back also from the Early show, when he was arriving or something.) Anyway she came up to him and he started whispering something into her ear, actually in both ears, I guess she couldn't hear him or something.

Then after that they went on the air and they finished and then when he was going back into the studio, he went over to some of the fans and gave them his hand. Too bad I didn't go to that side.

Well after that, they told us that he might be back again but like always he didn't. So we all decide to stay and wait to see if he came out to his limo or something. So we waited and waited and waited and froze LOL and waited once more and we even got to see how they opened up in FAO Shwartz (it was cool) So like I said we waited and then some of the bandmates came out, and right behind them came Angela and Quiana (Too bad my camera stopped working, I could've taken a picture with Angela), she stopped to talk to us. She told us that Clay was still inside doing some interviews or something. So we waited a while more, but nothing. Someone came out and told us that Clay had left in van in the garage inside and wasn't going to come . So we all left and that was it.

Hope you like my recap

Recap of the show from CDD Clay News Weekly subscriber Romy:

Recap of Clay's Appearance on the Early Show

Clay Aiken was introduced by Early Show Host Renee on Monday,
December 5, 2005. They chatted a bit about his tour which he said was
almost half over. She mentioned that it has been two and a half years
since AI and during that time he has toured six times. They spoke of
his "Insider" work that he called "very tough." She told him that she
and her husband drove through some snow last night with his Christmas
CD playing. He laughed and said, "Good taste."
Sitting comfortable on a high stool in front of a Christmas
decorated room with a snowy scene window, Clay wore a maroon sweater
over a purple and lilac striped shirt and jeans. It looked like he had
a light stubble on his chin. He told Renee the story of the concert
and how he was a "control freak", so he finally took over the part of
the "sort of guardian angel." He also referred to himself as "the
sound track of the story."
With accompaniment of Andy on guitar, William Joseph on piano and a
bass player, he sang "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas." He sang
softly and gently, along with his signature high notes. Andy had a
small solo during the song with Clay turning around to look at the
musicians. Later at the end of the program, Clay spoke of Christmas
being unusual this year because brother Brett was bringing home some
Marines who were unable to go to their own homes. He had also invited
some of the cast to his home.

Clay's Daily Double's Interview Transcript:
DO NOT POST ANYWHERE WITHOUT GIVING CREDIT TO CDD.BLOGSPOT.COM AND clayisouridol. THANK YOU.

CBS The Early Show Dec. 5 Transcript

CBS OUTDOOR STUDIOS
CBS: Ahh!! The holidays have come early. We have Clay Aiken and Giesel Bundchen. You never know who's going to come to our plaza for our Wishes for Kids toy drive. By the way, we're partnering with Walmart.com and the United Way and Clay Aiken and Giesel are here with gifts yourself. We are so happy. Good morning to both of you.

Giesel: Good morning!

CBS: Alright, so hold on. A lot of people may not know this Giesel, you actually have a kareoke machine - huge kareoke fan.

Giesel: Yes, I am. I don't sound as good as he does (points to Clay). Maybe I should do a song of yours.

CA: (laughs) You can come in and we'll do a duet together.

CBS: You'll like that!

Giesel: I might ruin the song.

CA: (laughs)

CBS: You will never ruin anything, anywhere, anytime.

CA: (shakes head)

Giesel: I think I might ruin the song for him.

CBS: If Clay doesn't want you singing, you can duet with me, for the rest of my life.

CA: (laughs)

CBS: What do you have here?

CA: We have trucks... assortment of trucks for younger kids. We've got a bunch of these things to give away. We'll throw them in the box.

CBS: That is great. How about it everyone? Thank you so much. It's so kind of you to be here and you've really brightened our holiday season. Clay- your music is wonderful and Giesel, you've just enlightened every month of the year.

CA: Well, thank you.

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CBS INDOOR STUDIOS

Renee (CBS): Clay Aiken has been a very busy man lately -- not only is the singing superstar on a whirlwind 36 city concert tour, he also has a holiday CD called Merry Christmas With Love, and it's gone platinum. He's taking a break from his busy schedule to perform for us. He's up early this morning. Clay, good morning, good to see you.

Clay: Good morning, thanks for having us.

R: Let me set the stage... My husband and I are driving home yesterday from being out of town, snow has just dusted the area and we're playing your CD and it's fantastic.

CA: Good taste!

R: Yes, good taste, right. Right?

CA: (laughs)

R: 2 and a half years since American Idol. This is your 6th tour, is that right?

CA: Yeah, we've stayed pretty busy on the road.

R: Yeah, but this one's pretty special to you... why is that?

CA: Uh, I've just always loved the Christmas thing. We did it last year, we did it this year, and we tried to add something new -- a little theatrical stuff and it's been a lot more work.

R: But, you wrote that, right?

CA: Yeah, I'm kind of a control freak. I was going to let someone else do it, then I got overwhelmed and said "if you want something done right, do it yourself."

R: Yeah. What is it about? It's about a young boy who --

CA: It's about an older lady who has lost a Christmas spirit. It's a traditional Christmas story. She's lost her Christmas story and the neighbourhood boy comes in and kind of helps her find it, and I play, in some sense a guardian angel... kind of a soundtrack to the show.

R: I got ya. I, uh, is your choir teacher - your old choir teacher, you cast her as the lady.

CA: And I was writing it, I thought to myself, you know what, I kind of wrote it with her in mind and so we called her up and asked her if she'd be willing to do it. My high school music teacher is the lead in the show.

R: Clay, did I ready somewhere that you were not very nice to her.

CA: No (laughs)

R: And now you're trying to pay her back by giving her a role in your tour?

CA: No, she bossed me around, and now I get to boss her around.

R: Yeah, yeah, right. You having a lot of fun?

CA: You know what, we are having a wonderful time. We're just now about half way through -- a little over half way through.

R: 36 cities -- my god. Alright, so, let's see. What else has been going on in your life? You also did some stuff for The Insider.

CA: Yeah, we had a little bit of fun with that. I got an opportunity to kind of take your role for a minute and see.

R: Yeah... did you like it?

CA: It's tough! I didn't know how to --

R: Really? Is it really?

CA: It's really tough. It was really tough. It's a lot tougher than I thought it would be. I thought, you know, answering questions was hard enough -- having to think of them and ask them yourself is even harder.

R: Yeah, yeah.. OK. let's see now. You live in LA, but you're building a home in --

CA: I'm building a home in Raleigh. I kind of wanted to get back to my roots and a quieter, slower lifestyle. So I'll probably be going back and forth between LA and New York, but I want to make a base.

R: Everybody's good? Your mom's good?

CA: Everybody's good.

R: Your brother is just back from Iraq.

CA: My brother came back from Iraq. We're going to have an interesting Christmas this year. He's got some Marines who i'm sure won't be able to make it home, so they'll be at our house, cause he's close by. We've got people from the tour who'll be staying with us. It's an extended family Christmas.

R: Wow! Alright, so... Your voice is warmed up? You're ready to go?

CA: We'll see.

R: We're all here to hear you sing.

=================================

CBS: Talk about putting people in the mood. That was just flat out beautiful.

CBS2: Where are you going to spend the holidays?

CA: I'll be at home. Our tour stops in Raleigh right before Christmas.

CBS3: And you get to be with your mom. Say hi to her for us.

CA: Hi mama!

EARLY SHOW SIGN OFF

CBS News posted this article today.

Aiken In The Christmas Spirit
NEW YORK, Dec. 5, 2005
Clay Aiken on The Early Show Monday. (CBS/The Early Show)

(CBS) Clay Aiken's been a very busy man lately.

Not only is he in the middle of a whirlwind 36-city holiday concert tour, he's got a platinum holiday CD called "Merry Christmas With Love."

Aiken stopped by The Early Show Monday to sing a song (video) from the CD, the classic "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

It's his sixth tour since his second-place finish on the second season of "American Idol."

Aiken tells co-anchor Rene Syler that he's "always loved the Christmas thing. We did it last year, we did it this year, and we tried to add something new and did a little theatrical stuff."

Aiken wrote the script for the Christmas show, the first time he's written a script for any show.

"I'm kind of a control freak," he admits to Syler. "I was going to let someone else do it. Then I got overwhelmed and said, 'If you want something done right, do it yourself.'

"It's about an older lady who's kind of lost the Christmas spirit. It's a traditional story. She's lost the Christmas spirit and a neighborhood boy comes in and helps her find it. I play, in some sense, a guardian angel who's kind of a soundtrack to the show."

And he enticed his high school choir teacher to play the lead.

"She bossed me around and now I'm bossing her around," he jokes.

Aiken's brother just returned from Iraq, and Aiken plans to have him and other Marines, along with other family members and members of the tour troupe, at his Los Angeles home for the holiday. Aiken calls it an extended family Christmas.

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