Clay in Florida Today

Clay is in Florida as I type for BAF Fundraiser/Caregiver's Conference! The Clayboard will be having a 'galacert' this evening.

First 2 CB Member Pass Contest Entries posted

The first 2 entries are in! Go to http://www.cbpasses.tk to see them!

Another Tour Date Confirmed

Clay will be performing at the Borgata in Atlantic City on August 31. Tickets go on sale April 30th.

IdolonFox.com asks "Which former Idol contestants would you like to see return?"

Clay is one of the options. IDOLONFOX.COM

Clay gets more hits than the IRS!

From KansasCity.com:
Meanwhile, Everson, the IRS commissioner, has said the agency is making great strides, such as improving its telephone service. More than half of all individual returns will be e-filed this year. And the IRS Web site is becoming popular, surpassed recently only by Web pages of celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Clay Aiken, Pamela Anderson, Britney Spears and a poker game

From the Rumor Mill: Clay to be in Disney Movie

From animated-news.com:
Last but certainly not least is a bit of news that should be held strictly as a rumor until proven otherwise. According to the Clay Broadcast Network, via All Things Clay Aiken, pop superstar Clay Aiken will provide the singing voice of the leading male role in Disney's Rapunzel Unbraided. Aiken's previous effort for Disney was his rendition of the song "Proud of Your Boy", in a music video provided for the Aladdin Platinum Edition DVD

Clay in today's Comics

Clay In Florida on Friday to plant trees

From the CB:
Hollywood, FL – American Idol star Clay Aiken will join young people with intellectual disabilities and their Best Buddies to plant more than 40 six-foot tall palm trees and clean up a neighborhood. The Flanagan High School ROTC will also participate in the project.

Clay has written a Children's Book. Now on AMAZON!

Apparently, Clay has written a children's board book, called "Mary Did You Know", due out in September.

It is now on Amazon.com listed at $9.99, onsale currently for $8.99.

CLICK HERE FOR LISTING.

This book includes a CD:
"Little Melody Press is creating a series of musical books with CD's which deliver sentiments of love and family in conjunction with well-known songs that parents and children will treasure together"

Indoor Seating at Wolf Trap Sold Out!

Only outdoor seating is left for Clay's concert in Vienna, VA for WolfTrap!

Clay to be on GMA on July 29

USAToday is reporting that Clay will parttake in the annual GMA Summer Concert Series on July 29th, 2005.
Lifeline
page 1D
U2 won't have to get up early to kick off the summer music segments for Good Morning America (live, 7 a.m. ET). The ABC morning show will join the Irish supergroup on its Vertigo tour, then broadcast five songs May 20. Other acts, which will perform live, include Rascal Flatts (May 27); Shakira (June 3); Santana (June 10); Ringo Starr (June 17); Jesse McCartney (June 24); Fantasia (July 22); Clay Aiken (July 29); Jessica Simpson (Aug. 5); and Keith Urban (Aug. 12). Avril Lavigne closes the series Aug. 26.

Ryan Seacrest to Get a Star on Hollywood's Hall of Fame

From the site of Ryan's Radio Show, AT40.

Ryan Gets His Star!
Our very own Ryan Seacrest will be honored with his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

The guy is only 30 and ALREADY is being honored for his career in radio! How cool this that?! What's cooler, is that everyone's invited. We're going to be there, and hope to see all of YOU there.

If Ryan already has a star now, we can only imagine the tremendous heights he'll reach in the coming years! Many congratulations to Ryan!

Let's show Ryan all the support we can! All of the information is above! (April 20 11:30 am @ Hollywood and Highland)

"The Measure of A Man"

The measure of a man -- charity, then music
MIAMI HERALD

There is life after American Idol. A new CD and tour are on the way, but first Clay Aiken appears at two events Saturday in Fort Lauderdale for his foundation's work with special needs children.

BY HOWARD COHEN

hcohen@herald.com


For Clay Aiken, the measure of a man is more than an album title. It's defined by the deeds one can do under the spotlight.

The most successful singer to emerge from American Idol -- and he didn't even win -- hosts Florida Voices for Change, a Saturday evening benefit dinner in Fort Lauderdale for his organization, The Bubel/Aiken Foundation. During the $200-a-ticket gala Aiken plans to sing Paul Simon's Bridge Over Troubled Water with students from Miami's Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School.

It won't be a full concert, Aiken says, but guests can expect a few songs. He will pay tribute to Miami-Dade Commissioner Sally Heyman and State Rep. Susan K. Goldstein for their work with Florida children with developmental disabilities. Earlier in the day he plans to speak at a conference sponsored by Today's Caregiver magazine.

''I think celebrities have an obligation to the public to not just sing or act,'' Aiken said in a phone conversation from his Los Angeles home. His real home, he points out happily. Not a hotel.

Crashing at home is a luxury the 26-year-old Aiken hasn't tasted much of ever since his run on Idol ended two years ago. He has just returned home from Indonesia and Malaysia where, in his new role as a UNICEF ambassador, he went on a field mission for tsunami relief and toured camps for displaced survivors.

''Not everybody gets a mike this big. I feel I should use it in as positive a way as I can,'' he says.

The Bubel/Aiken Foundation provides grants, services and programs for children with special needs. If you stripped away the platinum albums, the touring and the magazine covers, Aiken's role isn't far removed from his pre-Idol life as a special-education teacher in his Raleigh, N.C. hometown.

''I went to school for special education. I always assumed when I had the opportunity I would love to try and help kids with disabilities,'' Aiken says. ``There's a push in education programs to get kids involved but not too much of a push in the extracurricular world. I worked with the YMCA in Raleigh and watched kids get turned away from after-school programs because there wasn't enough funding or training with the staff to work with the kids. That's how this idea was born to include or fund programs at organizations like the YMCA.''

There will always be other stories circulating about Aiken, such as the infamous Claygate incident reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer in December and picked up by salivating tabloids. Seems a group of New Jersey high schoolers, invited to sing with Aiken, were bullied and berated and stiffed for their services. When a New Jersey Teacher of the Year spoke out, Aiken reportedly went all prima-donna on her.

It sounds hard to believe. Clay? The patron saint of Claymates sassing a teacher?

Aiken laughs. ``I will leave it at the discretion of the readers how much they want to believe the columnist in Philadelphia. There were two conflicting stories, very conflicting stories. I don't like to talk about it to give it credence . . .''

And then Aiken does precisely that. ''It was not true,'' he
continues.

``It disappointed me. I spent so much time working with kids. I have nothing but respect for students and the teachers who do amazing work. Certain people overreact to certain things, and there were a number of extreme embellishments.''

Aiken talks briskly, laughs a lot and bastes it all in that cordial Southern drawl. He'll gladly discuss his post-Idol life, especially the Bubel/Aiken Foundation he founded in 2003 with disability activist Diane Bubel. She convinced Aiken he must audition for American Idol when she heard him singing around her house as he cared for her autistic son Mike.

Don't expect lengthy dissertations on this season's American Idol, though. Tell him you think most of the contestants need a locksmith to help them find the right key, and he laughs heartily, telling you that you sound like acid-tongued judge Simon Cowell. ,

''He was right most of the time -- except when he criticized me,'' Aiken teases, chuckling, memories of performing Grease in a red jacket still blazing in his mind.

''I haven't had a chance to watch it [this season],'' Aiken says. ``I was in Indonesia for two weeks, then my brother went into the Marines, and we went to see him. I kind of want to go by and see a show live.''

Fans will have to wait awhile longer for the follow-up to Measure of a Man. Aiken will record it in the midst of a summer tour, which will be followed by a Christmas tour.

''It's coming along slowly. I mean slowly,'' he says. ``We'll start kicking into higher gear in the coming weeks. It's something we'd love to have out by the end of the year or at least the beginning of next year. We don't want to put this album out as quickly as the last one. I was happy with the last album, but I wanted it to be more me. The last time the songs were all chosen for me. This time I want to be involved."

Miami Herald: Clay says album to drop in late 2005 or early 2006

Clay says he expects to be working on the album during his summer tour, which means it will be out in late 2005 or early next year.

Clayboard Summer Tour Pass Contest!

Let the games begin! It's time again for a new Tour Pass Contest.
This contest is administered by myself and more info, along with rules can be obtained HERE.

AD: Learning to Sing (Apr. 10, 2005)

Clay in Monday's Miami Herald

From the CB:
Just wanted to give everyone a head's up that the Miami Herald is going to have a great Clay interview in the paper on Monday, April 11 (to advance the Voices for Change gala). It was done by Howard Cohen, who genuinely appreciates Clay, and is really reflective of Clay's personality, his music and his philanthropic/humanitarian work. Very interesting comments from Clay. If you want to read it on Monday, the web address is www.herald.com.

Clay to be part of Disney's 50th Anniversairy?

Unconfirmed Report from the CB:
That Clay Aiken is doing something with Disney for the 50th Anniversary? true or not?
Reported by: nlhath@comcast.net on: 4/3/2005
He might sing but thats all i know!
Confirmed By: Andrew drew_dawg04@hotmail.com On: 4/4/2005