To see the full calendar, go to CDD's page at Google Calendar:
A full list of upcoming events is also available at the CDD Claytracker.
Note: CDD does not necessarily endorse or subscribe to the editorial opinions of these websites/blogs.
Florida Today's Pam Harbaugh posted this article about Clay's local backup actors/singers he used on the recently-finished Joyful Noise Tour 2005.
Brevard players get in on the act with Clay Aiken
BY PAM HARBAUGH
FLORIDA TODAY
Clay Aiken fans may not realize a whole background of actors/singers at his recent King Center concert was supplied by the Henegar Center for the Arts. Continue reading -- Brevard players get in on the act with Clay Aiken
FOX's Dear Santa special, which aired last month and included a special performance from Clay drew poor ratings, according the the CB's onesingergal:
i haven't seen this posted, and i got curious, so i checked the nielsen's ratings for dear santa in the daily variety, issue date dec. 14.....
dear santa had about 3.02 million viewers in the first 30 min. and 2.64 million viewers for the last 30 min.....where clay was shown....
maybe he's got that many claymates !!!! :thumbup (i don't think we're all on the internet, though.....:laugh )
btw - i had hoped maybe 5 million viewers had watched it....clay used to get 10 million viewers.....
The new issue of Billboard mentions Clay's success with Merry Christmas With Love in 2004. None of last year's Christmas discs came close to matching Clay's sales.
From the CB's Ilovemycat0851:
It said that Diane Krall was No. 1 for 6 weeks, but the best-selling Christmas title was Il Divo. Both surpassed the half-million mark. Il Divo 544,000, and Diana 530,00.
Clay Part:
"Both fell about 50% shy of the best-selling holiday set of 2004, Clay Aiken's(their bold) "Merry Chistmas, With Love", which rang 1 million copies during that year's last eight weeks (and another 179,000) during the 2005 season"
"Thanks in part to Aiken, holiday album sales were stronger in 2004, with the year's top 50 Christmas sellers (including are released in earlier years) reaching 8.2 million copies, compared with 7 million for recent holiday crop."
This interesting article about a Clay and the music industry was published today. We're only posting a snippet. Click on the title to read the whole article.
What I Learned by Being a Clay Fan
1/13/06
By Diane Sprague
I learned a lot these past few years. Of course, most of it I forgot, but a couple things remained and I thought I would jot them down before they go away too. That way when my children finally reach the point where they are about to figure out that they really are smarter than I am, I can use the wisdom I obtain to create a diversion. Continue reading -- What I Learned by Being a Clay Fan
A new writer debuts
By DAN HOLLY, Staff Writer
We know we can't rest on our laurels and we're always trying to better reflect your world in our pages, and Teri will help us do that. Teri Saylor's first column is about Jane Bugaeva, a North Raleigh resident who is trying to become a member of the U.S. Olympic figure skating team.
The odds are against Bugaeva, even though she's very good -- she's ranked 12th in the nation. But she's already well known in local figure skating circles, and it's a story for us whether she makes it to the big show or not. (In the same way, we once wrote stories about a skinny kid named Clay who was trying to make it as a singer.)Teri will be following local athletes in every sport, at every level. Her contact information is at the end of her column.
The above quote is taken from the Jan. 13, 2006 edition of the Raleigh News & Observer. CDD does not own the copyright to this piece and therefore it may not be distributed in any way, shape or form. This quote is solely for informational purposes.
Many images on our website may not be loading correctly due to an exceeding of our allotted bandwith. We are attempting to fix it. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Update: Most of these issues have been fixed. Some pages may still show errors- I am aware of that and will be fixing it when I have time.
Click here to read a heartwarming story about Clay that was posted several days ago, but was taken down so quickly (due to privacy issues), we never got a chance to bring it to you.
When Tommy met an Angel
The Beginning
My son Tommy and I are fans. Big fans. Have been since the day we saw "Him" on American Idol auditioning. Couldn't believe that voice came outta that body! Our adoration grew throughout the season and by the time AI ended - we were hooked!
Continue reading -- When Tommy met an Angel
A caller into today's 'Live With Regis and Kelly' mentioned Clay.
From the CB's nky4clay:
My hubby just called to say that the person that Regis called today (to win the prize)...mentioned on the phone that she was a huge CLAY AIKEN fan and had 2 dogs, one named Raleigh and one named Dolly,
Did anyone see this...or get it on tape etc???
New videos from the Jukebox Tour are now up at Allthingsclayaiken.com from SecretlyLovesClay.
Click here for Gilford, NH
Click here for Boston, MA
Vermont and Atlantic City are forthcoming.
A DVD of Clay's 2004 guest appearance (performance) with fellow RCA recording artist Heather Headley on Broadway, signed by Clay and other guest stars is being auctioned off by Broadway Cares. Proceeds will benefit charities. The auction ends Jan. 17.
Click here to read an article about the auction.
Click here to bid on the signed DVD.
The CH's DaynaB62 reports that Clay visited injured Marines at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethsda, MD recently. Clay's brother, Brett just finished his tour of service with the marines in Iraq.
Sorry for the delayed response as I have been under the weather. Clay Aiken was on the 5th floor of the hospital visiting the OIF patients. OIF is Operation Iraqi Freedom. He went through and spoke with the Marines who were wounded in Iraq and are being treated here. Most of these patients are amputees and some have a lot of disfigurement in the face. I work here with MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation). We have been showing new movies (some before they are out on video) on the wards for the patients and their families. My co worker Carol just brushed by him in the hall on her way to show the movies. Very low key and he didn't have an
entourage with him. I looked for any photos but haven't found any. I will keep asking around.
Luckiest1 and goldarngirl have produced top notch montages/recaps of the August 2005 Toronto Jukebox Tour concert. You can download them at Allthingsclayaiken.com.
The Clay nation's favourite radio DJ, Jon "Mejon", has a 'suprise' for us this Sunday at 6 PM ET on his radio station, KCFO. You can stream online at KCFO.com. Mejon has been playing Clay on his radio station every Sunday since February 2005.
From the CB's mejon:The first surpeisse Clay song will be heard this Sunday at 5PM central time....6PM Eastern on www.kcfo.dom
American Idol 4 contestant Constatine Mouroulis was quoted as saying that Clay was one of the best American Idol competitors earlier today in an interview with a San Diego radio station.
From the CB's pngndancer:
On the radio right now they are interviewing Constantine and they asked him who in his opinion were the top three with the most talent to come off AI. His answer:
Kelly, Clay and he had a three way tie for third between Bo, Carrie and himself. Gave Clay lots of praise and one of the D.J.'s said that even if Clay never put out another C.D. he'd still sell out his shows, he had that much talent. Not exact words but close enough. Clay is never played here so this is something.
Kjoy is played in my office and during the lunch hour they have a name that song segment. Well this week if you guess correctly one of the CDs you win is Clay Aiken's MOAM!!! A few weeks ago in the morning they started a new contest name the celebrity. Well the clue was he's hurting all over and the answer was, you guessed it Clay Aiken.BTW the person who got it right was a guy. And to top it off Monday morning they played TITN!!!! Way to go KJOY.
Very positive mention of Clay on last night's Entertainment Tonight.
From the CH:
[American Idol judge] Paula is on talking about idol and Mary is with her. Mary did a lead in saying "Who will be the next Kelly, Ruben, Fantasia or Carrie?" And Paula piped in with "Don't forget about Clay!" And Mary answered "oh definetely!"
Cure story from the CB's fancynails4. Sears is playing Clay's music while customers hold with their call center.
From fancynails4:
My husband was on hold with Sears and had the speaker phone on. I heard him
start laughing and saying, "I don't believe it". I was upstairs and asked him
what was wrong-he said, "Listen to this." He put the volumn up and I heard,
IWCY. I said to him, "So...Sears knows good music." LOL He said, 'I guess so'!
LOL HE'S EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!
The CB's Martigyrl wants everyone to know that Sean Daly at the St. Petersburg Times is looking for a diehard American Idol/Clay fan to interview next Monday/Tuesday for an upcoming article he is writing. This article will be featured on the front page on a future edition of the St. Petersburg Times according to Mr. Daly.
If you are interested, please contact him at sdaly@sptimes.com or by calling 727 893-8467.
Update 1/11: Sean Daly interviewed the CB's Caprimom.
The Atlanta Journal today had a whole write up on CD's being released throughout the year. They went all the way up to April, then they just list rumored CD's after that. Clay is in that section. They had Clay listed as...his official website says the crooner is working on his next album. What is so cool is that this paper usually finds a way to add a snide remark about him. There were some about other artists, including PINK. But this time, he had no AI reference, no critical or snide remarks. It was great to see that it is coming in print! (But I guess not before April for now)
American Idol judge still insists Ruben was the right winner of American Idol 2. He mentioned clay several times in this interview with FOX-TV, which airs American Idol. Thanks to FOX and AlwaysRealityTV forums for this transcript.
That's right. Is there anything in general you can tell us about the first few singers that do make it that we see?
I'll just say that we say it every single season, but this year I think it's really 100,000% true; the talent is far better than any other season. There are always great girls and I think it's going to come down to the wire at the end. In the past, we kind of knew that Kelly was great. We knew that Ruben and Clay were great. Well, Clay kind of grew; we knew Ruben was great. We knew Fantasia was unbelievable. We knew Carrie was really good. I think this time it's going to come down to who grows the most during the competition, in front of the American public, because I think everybody is that good at the start.
Yes. You went to some different cities for your auditions this time than before. Did you get some different flavors that you hadn't heard before? Also, you didn't get to go to Memphis, because of storms. Do you think you're missing out on some of the flavor of down there?
No, we got some of the Memphis people to come out, some of the Austin people to come out. I think that us choosing different cities, I think you look for more and more and more honestly. I think Greensboro, North Carolina, was an eye opener for all of us. We've gotten Clay and Fantasia from the Carolinas, but it's just an honest town. It's maybe not as affected as New York and L.A. You know what I mean? Some of the big cities are a little bit more affected. I often say people watch a little too much VH1 and MTV, so they're trying to mimic those that they see on those channels. I think the different cities proved really, really good for us.
Someone is bringing those bad people up to the final positions, so they come between you three guys.
I just think that people are like us. I don't think they can believe that someone would actually try out for a show where you say, "American Idol: Search for the Next Superstar." We're not saying, "Search for the Next Circus Act." And then you go, okay, four seasons running. Kelly Clarkston turned into a great superstar; Ruben Studdard and Clay, amazing; Fantasia, amazing; Carrie and Bo, amazing. And then people turn out and you just go, "What show were they watching?"
Why do you feel the need to show these people, though, when they obviously don't have any singing talent?
I think you see everything, though. I think you see some really talented people. I think you see some people that are in crazy outfits. I think you see some people that you go, "No, come on," and then some of them open their mouths and you go, "Wow, hey." The same thing could have been thought of when Simon and I saw Clay Aiken in Atlanta. We could have thought, "Okay, wow; this guy should maybe just be in the library somewhere. I don't even know if he can sing or whatever." Then the guy opens his mouth and you go, "Oh, my God." So the thing is you never know and we never know.
You said earlier that you felt that the right person had won every single year. Do you feel that Ruben was the right person and not Clay?
Yes.
Okay, and why so?
I just think that Clay grew during the competition, which I think is going to happen this year to whomever the winner is. Not that that's right or wrong, but Ruben was as good the day we first saw him as the day he won. He was great every single time. It wasn't like he kind of ascended. Clay kind of ascended. Kelly Clarkson was as good the day we met her in Dallas to the day she won. Fantasia was as good the day; you know what I mean? It's that whole consistency thing.
Okay, so that's true, even though, say, Clay has done better at this point in terms of record sales or whatever?
Yes. I think you can't look at the record sales. Looking at the record sales is wrong. The problem with the record sales is that you then could arguably say, I guess, Kelly Clarkston is much bigger than Clay, because she sold 20 times the amount of records than Clay sold. You can't look at it that way. What happens with the records is the records arguably are made by the record label and the A&R person and all of that. I don't think any of the records, except for maybe Kelly's, has been the right record for the artist. That's why the Kelly records are bigger. The records are about tapping into who that person is and who the public identifies with them. It's a lot more complicated when you get to the record sales part of it.
Clay made yet another jump on Lycos's 50 most searched terms list after last week's 13 point jump from #39 to #26. Clay ends the week up 5 spots to #21.
Clay made it into last year's top 100 tours list, coming in at #94, according to concert website Pollstar. Clay's total 65 shows, played in 60 cities during the Jukebox and Joyful Noise Tours grossed an average of $118, 333 per city. Congratulations Clay!
The Bolt board's MixnJude took this photo in a Raleigh restaurant recently and it looks like Clay signed their wall. It's dated Jan. 4, 2006.
Update 1/11: We can now confirm that Clay signed the restaurant wall on Jan. 4, 2006. This blog post was posted on Catherine's Blog. Catherine is an employee at the Lonestar steakhouse on Glenwood Rd. In Raleigh, NC near Faye Parker's church.
Been a LONG time since I've updated, I know. And sooooo soooo much has been going on in my life that I really don't want to put it all down. I DO have a life, and I really don't intend on wasting it trying to basically write a book, haha! But life has mostly revolved around working lately. OH... at work last night, guess who came in to eat at about 9:30?!?! CLAY friggin AIKEN! Hahaha... I didn't believe it was him, but I dropped by the table to check, and sure enough, all I had to do was get within 2 feet and hear him chat on his cell phone to know for sure. His voice sounds just as strange in person as it does on TV, I must say. He signed our wall in the Alamo room before he left.
So today I worked the lunch shift, had a blast recounting last nights game (GO LONGHORNS, by the way!!! Vince Young- you FRIGGIN ROCK!!! I swear he's not human, he's some sort of a football god...). Then I came home, ate Cookout for lunch at 3, took a shower and got dressed in the jammies, went over to CHs, took a 30 minute nap on his floor, and came back here to relax some more. So if you get the picture, it's been a nice, easy day for the most part. And I get until 4 tomorrow to hang out here, too. Working the dinner shift for the next two nights, making some MOOLAH hopefully (by the way, I usually forget to check IDs, so if you're looking for alcohol, I'm your girl tomorrow night LoL).
Peace out, time to play some old school super nintendo and chill with the cat until bedtime! :)
The Clayboard's graphic artist clique (called PAHers) have finished making their 2006 Clay calendar and have made it available for fans to download and print off. Don't forget the 2006 CDD calendar I (clayisouridol) made last week for this site and for the Clayboard.
Left photo: Cover by Clayquebec1.
United Press International's Alex Cukan posted a follow up article today (Caregiving: Servants -- and autocrats) in response to her highly popular articles about Clay recently (look in our Dec 2005/Jan 2006 archives) . Mr. Cukan's article says:
My series on the U.S. nursing shortage and my articles on Clay Aiken being a role model have come full circle. The response was a bit overwhelming and it took a while to read through, but toward the end one response gave me an "ah-ha" moment. Continue reading -- Caregiving: Servants -- and autocrats
From the CB's da35:
I cannot tell ya'll how happy I am about this.
I work for my state's library and archives commission; I am the Disability Reference Librarian. I found out this morning that every year my state's Governor's Committee for People with Disabilities compiles of list of noteable news about disabilities from International, National, and State levels.
I received the 2005 one this morning (this kind of year in review had not been sent to me before for some reason) I read it over, and it was almost entirely about government stuff. I thought to myself, "I bet someday our boyfriend is going to make this list." Oops, I mean Mr. Aiken.
Anyway, I thought it was a neat list, so I emailed the Governor's Committee and asked for these lists from the previous five years. I open the 2004 edition, and see notations for the deaths of Chris Reeve and Ray Charles, and their accomplishments. So I think to myself, "Oh wow, its not just government-related. Maybe Clay WILL be included sometime." Then I read this:
"American Idol contestant, Clay Aiken establishes a foundation that provides "Able To Serve" Awards, giving young people with disabilities resources to lead service projects in their communities."
YEA, CLAY!!
I actually ride to work most mornings with the Executive Director of the Governor's Committee, so I think I'll have to slip this into the conversation. I am so proud of our boy!
Dina
A source from inside the TV infotainment show "The Insider" has said the TV show asked Clay to return to the show as a reporter for the 2005 Golden Globe awards next week. Clay reported several small pieces in addition to his 2005 Primetime Emmy's work for the same show last fall.
Please treat this as a rumor. We have no firm confirmation.
The Clayboard is running a new banner contest, seeing the Christmas one needs to be shelved now. The following rules and information was posted yesterday.
Since we all have some time on our hands and we have so many creative people here on the Clayboard, we thought we would ask for submissions for a new banner.
The rules are simple and are as follows:
1. No copyrighted images can be used. If the photo or other image does not belong to you we must have written permission from the owner allowing us to use it on the Clayboard.
1a. The banner must use the words "Welcome to the Clayboard" in a prominent manner.
2. All submissions must be submitted by 11:00 pm EST Saturday, January 14.
3. The Clayboard staff will determine the winner.
4. All submissions must be sent to clayboardadmins@gmail.com
5. Of course, all submissions must be PG and comply with the rest of the CB TOU.
We'll announce the winning banner here once it has been chosen.
ETA: Re dimensions - just use the banner that is up there now as a guideline for the appropriate size, please.
I'm no expert but I'm told the correct dimension is: 600 x 175 resolution 72
Thanks cindilu
Um.....
Read this if you Carrot all
Flame-haired comic gives props to Canada
John Kennedy, canada.com
Published: Monday, January 09, 2006
Q: What celebrities would you want to challenge to a Deathmatch?
A: Clay Aiken would be pretty good. (Danny) Bonaduce would kill me - that guy's a bad-ass. The Gotti boys... it would be fun to smack them around a little bit. Poor guys. What makes them celebs? Just because your dad was a mobster and killed people? Hey, a reality show... that's funny!
Simon Cowell Says A Southerner Will Win American Idol 5
Not only has a Southerner won American Idol for four straight years, but the first runner-up has also been a Southerner for the last three years. American Idol 2 Runner-Up Clay Aiken is from North Carolina.
K-Mart is having an American Idol tribute, with Measure Of A Man going onsale for $11.99. It's a great deal, so it's a great time to boost MOAM's sales. The disk is featured on the store's circular:
The CB's ncsupack88 posted this story about a cheque she gave to the BAF in Dec. 2003. It looks like the BAF had a such a huge amount of cheques to process that this one got left behind and was no longer depositable and therefore had to be mailed back to her, accompanied with this letter.
From ncsupack88:
They returned a check I wrote 12-22-03 and dropped off at the "An Evening with Clay" event with the Carolina Hurricanes. For those that don't know, I was fortunate to attend this event and be in one of the suites that Clay was to visit. I decided to bite the bullet and buy one of the tickets that were sold straight up for $375 on Ebay. This was like the first major fundraiser for TBAF. I also participated in the "Look What Love Has Done" trivia contest that was to award 10 tickets to the top 10. I've never really won anything so this was a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately I was in the suite that had all the hoopla and that's beside the point but I had written Clay a letter and wrote a check to BAF with the hopes that he or somebody pertinent would get it. When Clay was taken out of the suite, I had forgotten to get the letter to someone in charge. Fortunately, when he came back to the conference room across the hall, I had enough sense to get my letter and I dropped it in one of the gift bags that was placed on the conference table.
I guess the moral to this story is that YES, eventually TBAF does get to all the gifts, checks, etc. that are left at venues BUT it might be too late to cash the checks. I've never chosen this method again and I'm sure many of you haven't either. It still amazes me that over two years later, I'm hearing about this. I figured the check was gone and never to be seen again! :laugh
BTW, who is this Debbie Cain??? Good to know they have a treasurer. Hey Clay, I have bookkeeping and treasurer skills so if she falls through, LOOK ME UP!!! :laugh
Guess I need to send a replacement and thank them for sending the check back and to also let them know that although my evening that night didn't turn out the way I thought it would, my patience was eventually rewarded with a M&G in Cary! :7up Life is GOOD!
