Clay Kisses Tyra At Taping

The buzz is back on! From all the reports on the boards, we're in store for one of the best Clay TV appearances in the history of the Clay nation. Clay taped an episode of The Tyra Banks Show yesterday. No TV air date has been announced yet, but we should see this episode of the show on TV later this month, or early next month.

• Clayboard- many indepth reports for you to read.
  

Here is a fantastic (and long) recap from the CH's spotlightlover:

I thought nothing would ever top Kimmel.

I.Was.Wrong. LONG LIVE THE CLYRA!!!!!!111!!!!

Where to start. Well, Clay kissed Tyra Banks on the lips. In front of God and everybody, and me.

They were all over each other. Tyra LIKES to touch Clay. Wouldn't we all. She was our perfect surrogate, and we didn't even hate her for being beautiful and rich and touching Clay. Permaswooned says she's not sure Clay's ever cuddled with anybody that much other than Raleigh. There were laps involved as well as lips. Did I mention lips? Hers? His? Together?

Awright. Now I'll start from the beginning. This is a joint recap from Permaswooned, artquest, ncgurrl, ocregmom, calclay, polyvinyl, California Clayfan, and spot. It will no doubt be in segments because while we wrote a lot of this at the restaurant, the later stuff is in scraps because we started to get hazy. I see Nelle and others have already spilled a lot of the beans. Thank heaven for Permaswooned and her photographic memory.

First, the preamble. We waited. And waited. And waited. And pottied. And waited. Some folks were there from 10 a.m. and we didn't get into the studio until after 5 p.m. The audience wranglers were very nice and gave us granola bars and drinks so we wouldn't pass out. I heard many remarks – as at Kimmel – on the order of “Why do we do this again?” Finally they led us into the studio. We had to take a huge elevator – cattle-car-sized – up a couple of floors. As we were walking down a long hallway, the entire band walked right by us in the opposite direction. ncgurrl gave a wolf-whistle to Clarence's @#%$ as it passed.

The studio is smaller than Kimmel, only 125 in the audience. The audience warm-up guy was a very funny fellow. He explained that the delay was caused because they are not used to having LIVE singers and it took time to get the sound just right. He was very complimentary about Clay's live singing and made some remarks about lip synching. He told us his name was Dix and said that's D-I-X so don't get too excited. He did not try to lick California Clayfan.

ncgurrl got to sit in a second-row center aisle seat and she got a free Tyra t-shirt. We ran over her after the show.

A young girl behind me gave a Clay pin to the warm-up guy and he felt obligated to put it on and talk about it. Shortly after that, one of the cameramen ran over to the same girl and asked if she had any more. She gave him two pins and HE put them on!

Audience: we think no more than half the audience was hard-core Clay fans. There were a lot of PYTs who were Tyra fans sitting in the front rows and well-scattered throughout the audience. There were a few young guys with their girls.

The songs came first. The band came out and were introduced one at a time. The piano guy's name is either Doug or Don or Dan, we can't seem to agree on what was said. OK, CCF insists it's Don. Whatever. They pumped us up and explained that Clay would first sing 1000 Days and then a Christmas song. @#%$? polyvinyl saw them hammering and sawing on a piece of the Christmas set backstage only minutes before the show started.

Clay was introduced to the expected shrieking. I think we impressed them with our craz-er, enthusiasm. Tyra come up in the second row of the audience and sat two seats away from me and CCF to do Clay's introduction into the camera. She may have sat there for the song, we're not sure as we were watching you-know-who.

Clay marched up to the microphone, very focused, to sing 1000 Days. He was wearing a charcoal suit, a charcoal pin-striped shirt, and a charcoal tie, and the usual black boots. The hair was different - very long in back, very puffed up, almost a pompadour, brushed back on both sides away from his face, with a side part. The forehead was making a comeback. The hair looked a little big for his face for me, but most liked it. 1000 Days was one of those "workin' it in a small space" performances, very much played to the camera. ncgurrl says he sang it directly to her. artquest and thought it was a bit phoned-in, and I thought he was trying a bit too hard like he does when he's not really feeling a song, but naturally we were loudly overruled. It certainly wasn't BAD, but I think it was just difficult for him to come out there cold and start with that song.

artquest was watching the camera monitor right in front of her, and watching Clay, and she could see that Clay always instinctively knew which camera was about to come on. They were pumping a bit of smoke onto the set for his song which made it a little hard to see, very soft-focused with a lot of light reflection. Clay left the stage almost immediately after the song, so he could change clothes and they could change the set.

They took down several chandeliers on the set and put up a kind of picket-fence thing with white lights in the background, probably what polyvinyl saw them building earlier. When they were done, Clay came out to sing again. I saw on the teleprompter that he was going to sing Mary Did You Know. Tyra once again introduced him while sitting in the audience. The hair had changed a bit, there were now some feathered bangs partly over his eyes but not the heavy bangs we saw at Kimmel. He was wearing a dark-brown jacket with a pinstripe, looked like either corduroy or velour, the same shirt, a brown silky tie, and jeans. He sat on a stool to sing the song. The Random Lyric Generator kicked in immediately, he sang the "kissed the face of God' lyric twice but never flinched. I could hear his actual acoustic voice over the sound system, he was only about 15 feet away. The song was lovely, and we cheered in places - both in response to Clay, of course, AND responding to the stage manager who was whooping us up. Clay left the set, they started to move some things, and then Clay came back. They were going to do it again. We cheered!

At this point Clay started to relax a bit and look at the audience. Dix the warmup guy had made some warbling noises like he was going to sing, and Clay said he should. Dix seemed surprised that Clay talked to him, so he walked over and shook Clay's hand. Clay said "you're very entertaining". Dix remarked to the audience that he was going to put his hand up for sale on eBay. We cheered!

Before the second take of MDYK, the stage manager explained that they wanted a "clean" take without any audience noise, so we were not to applaud. Clay made face of astonishment and flung his arms wide, like "WHAT?!? No applause?!?!". We laughed, and then obeyed and were silent. They started the music. Clay sang, "Mary did you know, that your baby boy ----uh buh buh" and stopped. The audience laughed. Clay said to the stage manager, "It's YOUR fault, because they didn't applaud!" Sooooo - he got to start AGAIN! We cheered!

The third take was perfect. @#%$. As Clay left the stage again to change, I saw him say "thank you" to the stage manager.

They had to take down the Christmas set and all the band instruments, and set up couches for the interview. They told us that to find out when the show would air, go to tyrashow.com and search for Clay Aiken. The band got a big round of applause.

Next, they would film the opening of the show. Tyra sashayed in on her "runway" and the audience was instructed to go crazy. Tyra narrated a short video of Clay's journey on American Idol and afterward. She introduced Clay, and HE sashayed in down the runway, walking like a male model displaying his jacket. Tyra looked surprised but caught on quickly. They hugged and went over to the couch, and Clay's foot immediately went under his butt. Yes, he sat on his foot for the entire show.

We had been told there would be two interview segments. Tyra settled onto her spot on the couch and launched into naming the Claymates, the Claynadians, the Claysians, and then announced that she was proud to be a Clayfrican American. Clay looked puzzled and laughed. She said it again, and he still didn't get it, so she explained - "You know, like African-American?" and Clay said, "OOOOOOOHHHHH!", laughed, and reached out and touched her. There was a LOT of touching. Did I mention that?

Tyra asked about his allergies and he mentioned tree nuts. She asked specifically if that included pecans, which she loves, and he said yes it does. Clay said that he swells up (uh - taking a moment here) if he just touches someone who has handled nuts (um, taking another moment here). He talked about being on a plane and refusing a bowl of mixed nuts, then later the flight attendant put her hand on his while taking a picture and his hand swelled up with a big welt. Clay said, "But we cleared your set of all nuts today", and she said, yes, she went looking for some but there weren't any there. Clay said, "But the good part is, I'm going to LIVE."

Then he listed his other allergies - mushrooms, mint, shellfish, coffee, and chocolate. Tyra asked him if he has the same swelling-up reaction when he touches chocolate. He said, "No". She said, "Good", and proceeded to take his hand and rub it all over her face with a big grin. She said, "I'm glad you're not too sensitive to a little chocolate." He was liking it. We were DYING. He scooted closer to her and they practically -- well, there was more touching. They kind of snuggled up together on the couch. We cheered!

Since Tyra was now thoroughly warmed up, she started to talk about "there's this thing you do with your eyes to the camera", and Clay laughed and said, "I've heard that", and that people are always telling him to open his eyes when he sings. CCF sat on me so I wouldn't jump up and yell, "It's an Eye%$#$! An Eye%$#$!"

Tyra started talking about his new look on American Idol -- we thought she meant AI5. Then they showed the Teen Wolf picture and Clay said, "Oh, no!" and put his hands over his eyes. He explained that when he found out he was going to get to go to Hollywood, he went to a salon in Charlotte and asked them to make him look like a popstar, and that was the result. Then they showed him in the lumberjack plaid shirt, and he said that was a shirt he just pulled out of his backpack. Then there was the Billboard picture with glasses. He said he wore them then because he thought he would look smarter. Tyra said "I have contacts," and Clay said, "Oh, I do too", Tyra said "Let me see" and they both leaned forward, faces about five inches apart, staring into each others eyes. She gazed into the green orbs for fully ten seconds, and survived. We cheered!

The rest of the chronology gets vague, we’re not exactly sure where the breaks were taken and what was in each segment. They just kept taping segment after segment and we got more and more incredulous. We never wanted it to end. We had hit the mother-lode of Clay interviews. More and more people from backstage came out to watch and listen as the show went on and on. The somber guy holding the cue cards laughed a lot. Two of the cameramen were grinning ear-to-ear the whole show. A blonde guy wearing a headset - possibly a producer - came over and shmoozed with Clay during breaks. They were all falling in love.

Tyra said she heard he had a deep dark secret won't share with anyone – his favorite color – and asked why. He explained that during Idol, he kept being asked all kinds of questions about himself, and at some point someone said we know everything about you except your favorite color. And Clay said he decided, you know what, I think I want to keep that one to myself. Tyra said, so only your mother knows? And Clay said no, only about three people know and they are sworn to secrecy.

“My favorite color is yellow,” said Tyra. “Well, that's a good color,” said Clay. She tried to narrow it down: “Is it in a box of crayons?” “It's in the big one with 164 colors.” “Ewww, it’s not burnt umber, is it?” “Tyra, you’re not getting a scoop today.” “I’m going to have to find out.” “Well, if you do, then I’ll just change it.” All this was insufferably cute. They were flirting like crazy.

They talked about his house in Raleigh, and she asked him how big it was. Clay said, it’s big enough to hold me and some friends. She said, 5000 feet? He said, it’s big enough to hold me and some friends. She said, 10,000 feet? Bigger? He said, whose house is bigger than 10,000 feet? Tyra mentioned Kimora Lee, who has a 50,000 sq foot house, and Clay said, “That’s the size of the entire CBS studios!”

She asked about his mother doing the decorating, and what his sense of style was, and he said, basically my taste is Faye Parker. He said he liked contemporary styles, no antiques or granny furniture, but not too architectural and stark, not like the bridge of the starship enterprise. Tyra said, “You'd like my house. It’s like that,” and Clay said, “So I’m invited?” and turned to the audience and gave a thumbs-up “yessssss!” sign with a big grin.

*pant, pant*

Probably after the allergies stuff, Tyra asked what kind of food he likes. He said anything as long as it’s fried and fattening. I think he said he liked comfort foods. Tyra named a couple of foods – then she said “Mac ‘n cheese?” And he squealed a kind of “WOO-oooo” over that one. They had a discussion about the differences between collard greens, mustard greens, and turnip greens, and which ones were tangier. Tyra told him he should come to her house for dinner and she’d do some southern cooking for him. They were both looking pretty ready to eat at that point. Ahem.

She mentioned that his birthday was coming up and what did he plan to do. He told her that for the first time in three years, he would have the day off for his birthday (uh, ex-cuuuuze me Clay, but you @#%$ well better be in Waukegan THE NEXT DAY TO SING) so he would probably just hang out with friends. Tyra said, “What kind of cake do you like for your birthday? Chocolate? Vanilla?” and Clay says, “Well, not CHOCOLATE!” and Tyra went “Oops!” Then she said, “well, there are a lot of different cakes, there’s carrot cake..” and Clay jumped in and said, “but that usually has NUTS in it!” and Tyra got really flustered and laughing and said, let’s just forget about the cake.

Now, a bit of a diversion. Thanks to the efforts of Clandy, CCF had been contacted by Mary, one of the two tattoo sisters. Mary was staying at a hotel in Disneyland, on vacation with her husband and three little boys. We arranged to pick her up and drive her to the show with us. While were were waiting in line, we introduced her to lots of folks and she displayed her tattoo trophy. So during a break, one of the fans mentioned Mary to the warm-up guy, and he of course had to locate her in the audience and let Clay know about it. Even though she is a bit shy and was kinda reluctant, Mary went up onstage.

Mary told us about being onstage later. While they were on stage, Clay asked her if the tattoo had healed OK. He asked where Phoebe was, and if she had come all the way from Utah just for the Tyra show. She replied, no, she was there with her husband and family, and he said Oh, you’re married? And looked at her wedding ring. He asked her if Tyra could see the tattoo, and then he pulled the shirt down to show it to her. He hugged her 3 or 4 times. They videoed a short segment introducing her, and showing the tattoo on camera, and then she went back to the audience.

Mary was great fun and we very much enjoyed having her with us. She took a couple of pictures of our group with her and her tattoo and we hope to get them in email later.

I think you’ve heard about the talk about hair extensions. Clay said that Quiana, one of his singers, wanted to know about Tyra’s hair extensions and then he said, there, did you hear her squeal backstage? Later, during a break, Quiana came out onto the set and was standing behind the couch talking to Clay. Clay turned to the audience and told the story of how Quiana had beaten him in his first AI audition, and how they really should hear her sing. She didn’t want to and started to leave. The warmup guy gave chase as she ran off the back of the set into the hall. Eventually he dragged her back out and gave her a microphone. Clay said to Tyra, “If I get her to sing, will you tell her about your hair weave?” Tyra agreed. Quiana was still being shy, so Clay said, “Get over here, woman!” and pointed to the front of the stage. Quiana then blew away the place with IWALY. The warmup guy talked about what kind of a guy Clay was, how rare it was to see a big star do something like that. (Side note: after the show, calclay talked to the warmup guy, who said Clay was the best interview they’ve ever had.)

Probably as part of the makeover talk, Tyra asked Clay when he looks in a mirror, what does he like most about his look. He was completely taken aback. He kinda babbled for a minute trying to dodge the question: “Wow – you know, I don’t think anyone’s ever asked me that – I thought people had asked me everything, they always say what’s the one question nobody has asked, and that is probably it --- I don’t know how to answer that!” So then Tyra said she would tell him what she liked about his features. She said, “I love the bridge of your nose”, and we cheered. She said she liked his eyebrows. We cheered. She luuuuved his eyelashes. We went berserk. I’m not sure if it was here, but at some point Clay did one of those finger-dimples-in-the-cheeks moves, out of embarrassment. Gawd. He was A-FREAKING-DORABLE.

As they were about to go to a break, Tyra lowered her voice, put on a serious face, and got very dramatic. "When we come back, Clay will answer the one question that is on the minds of everyone." So they come back from break, and Tyra gets all mock-serious. "Clay, are you ready to answer the big question?" Clay looks verklempt. Tyra takes both his hands in hers. "This is a safe place for you. Are you ready to talk about it?" Clay looks like he's fighting back tears. So she says, "Finally - we can ask -- boxers or briefs?" And Clay says
he feels that this is the place he can finally be comfortable talking about this difficult subject. "I wear boxers." Total bedlam. Then she asked if he ever wears boxer-briefs, and he said, "I've been known to, occasionally." "What color? Black? White?" "I like to mix it up, I don't discriminate." It's really impossible to accurately convey this segment, it was so completely a tongue-in-cheek parody of the Diane Sawyer interview.

Tyra said she'd heard that he wants HER job, that he's interested in a talk show, and he said yes, and then pulled out some cards with questions that he'd brought to ask her. The cards had a logo on them similar to Tyra's, but I think it had Clay in it instead. They switched places on the couch. He sat on his foot. They took a break at this point, which may be when Quiana came out.

Clay then proceeded to interview Tyra. Most of this has been posted already - asking her about who she's dating, for how long, would she introduce the guy to her mother. Tyra kept saying, I can't believe I'm telling you all this! He asked her about her first love and she told the story of Antonio Epps in junior high who wouldn't even look at her. Then Tyra said, I wonder where he is now, and Clay said, "He's at home crying his eyes out, that's where!" and then he made a “so there” face at the camera.

He talked about the great career she's had so far and asked what else she wants to do, like perhaps movies. She said yes, she'd like to act, but also to produce movies because she's a control freak. He didn't respond in kind to that one, heh.

He said something about did she feel strange having him interview her, and she said yes, that she should be on the other side of the couch. So Clay held out his arms and said, "Well, come over here!" and she turned around and snuggled up her back to him, practically on his lap. They were doing spoons! EEEEEEEEE!

At some earlier point (I think) they talked about the CD. I must have fainted briefly because I missed the part where she asked about the love songs theme, and Clay said that "Clive Davis MANDATED a love-song covers CD". She asked him about singing styles and could he sing scat, and he said, "You mean like boppety-bip-bop-boo?" And we died. And then he did a little more.

Toward the end, Tyra asked him if he could dance, and he said "NO!" She insisted she could teach him some moves. They did a little two-step thing, then something else - the camera was in my way and I couldn't really see - and then she started doing this really sexy hip movement facing him and he tried to copy it. Then they turned their backs to us and she was really shaking her booty but Clay just dissolved in laughter.

Clay asked how they should end the show, and Tyra said it had to be something really special. I thought they were going to jump on each other right then. So Clay says, "You mean, like a kiss?" and we screamed. Tyra looked a little shocked and Clay laughed and said, "I guess that wasn't in the script!" Then then leaned forward and did a little peck on the lips and we went nuts.

I don't remember if it was before or after the kiss, but then they sang a little theme song, Clay doing one line, then Tyra a line. I don't remember the words or much else about it except that it's pure heaven when Clay sings a capella.


They hugged and then posed for a couple of still pictures, Tyra said his name again, and he was gone.

*Sigh*. That's all I can remember at this ungodly hour. Maybe a few other details will surface. I'm scared to death to think how they will possibly edit this down to one show, it was all pure gold.

A few people got Clayverted tonight, no kidding. ncgurrl remarked at dinner that she "loved how they realized what they had, and just kept rolling." I think they could have interviewed him for four more hours.

He was just amazing.

Technorati tags: Clay Aiken, A Thousand Different Ways, ATDW, American Idol, Without You, Invisible