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A huge Clay poster is hanging outside Miller Auditorium in Kalamazoo, MI for Clay's November 30 concert at the venue. What a great birthday present for Clay, whose birthday just happens to be November 30.
Thanks to the CB's ClayIzzaQT for the photos.'
Complete Christmas tour coverage
Clay is #17 today on People Magazine's Top 25 Celebrity Hot List today! His appearances on "5th Grader", "Holiday Celebrations on Ice" and upcoming role in "Spamalot" contributed to this ranking.
I mean, seriously, where else could one find so much fun and entertainment? There are message Boards, concerts, TV appearances, speeches, charities, news groups, interviews, MySpace pages, montages, YouTube videos, Clack, the list is endless. One of my favorite saying is this: You can't get better entertainment for the price of the internet!
A new picture is at People.com of Sasha Cohen giving a skating lesson to Clay. The caption reads as follows:
SLIP 'N SLIDEI get the feeling that there is a little more "clowning Clay" in this picture than "struggling Clay"! Of course, Clay clowns so infrequently, who can be sure? (yeah right!!) Looks like they're having a great time, though, doesn't it!!
Struggling to keep his feet underneath him, Clay Aiken gets a lesson on ice from Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen on Tuesday. The two were on hand for a taping of the Capitol One Holiday Celebration on Ice.
Clay recorded a song called "Forget I Even Knew You" by LA/Toronto based songwriter Greg Critchley, according to his MySpace page biography. We don't have the lyrics yet, but it sure is exciting to see the new album taking shape.
Greg Critchley - songwriter
from his MySpace Bio:
QUOTE
Cuts so far in 2007 include Clay Aiken ("Forget I Ever Knew You"), Brett Ryan, ("She's Beautiful" CAPITOL USA), Stradio ("Stay" UNIVERSAL), One Life To Live ("A Night To Remember")
from his MySpace blog date 8/7/07:
QUOTE
I took "FORGET I EVER KNEW YOU" down because it is now officially on hold with Clay Aiken, who just finished recording it. This is amazing news for me, and it's also positive feedback on my journey, since it was written entirely alone.
from MySpace blog of Brent Paschke...
QUOTE
Forget I Ever Knew You
Current mood: rejuvenated
Category: Music
This is a song Greg Critchley wrote. I met Greg when I first moved to L.A. in May of '06. I've now played on several of his demos and we're now also starting to co-write some songs together.
Greg is not only an incredibly talented musician but I also consider Greg to be one of my best friends here in L.A. He's a very insightful guy and has been a great friend and inspiration for me not only as a musician but also as a single guy in the biggest and most competitive music capital in the world.
Greg usually co-writes but he's recently written a few songs on his own. He called me to play guitar on this one in October. I told Greg that I thought it was one of the best songs he'd ever written. Greg and I recently went through the same situation in our life and this was Greg's reflection on his situation. I feel his lyrics in this song are incredible and they ring very true to how I'm feeling in my life at this point also.
I wanted to put this one up because I was very touched by this song and it's lyrics and I feel it came through in my performance.
People Magazine has posted a picture of Sasha Cohen giving Clay some skating tips. This was probably taken in Las Vegas before Tuesday's "Holiday Celebrations on Ice" taping.
Quiana Parler will be staring on a Broadway adaptation of "Dreamgirls" in 2008, as she revealed on her MySpace page.So where's the rivalry with sex? OK, actually sexual terms are omitted from the Lycos 50. I was just getting your attention! Then again, Clay Aiken (position 11) and Paris Hilton (position 12) are considered sexy (by some), right? So Facebook could gain on them.
Long Island Business News - reference to a 2003 Wachovia Bank event Clay attended - By contrast, Wachovia entered the New York market in 2003 by holding a press conference to celebrate the opening of two Manhattan branches. On hand for the big moment were Mayor Mike Bloomberg and American Idol star Clay Aiken.
“Clay Aiken?” Loomis asked.
The company, part of British entertainment wizard Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment, has the marketing power to get Idol alumni like Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken on the radio. But if an artist doesn't have a clear artistic vision, his or her identity can get lost in the Idol machinery.
Well, with all the excitement of Clay's performance at The Holiday Celebration on Ice, Clay's appearance on Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader seems like an eternity ago. However, I couldn't help but think of him as I watched Tony Hawk on the show tonight. Tony earned $175,000 for his charity, The Tony Hawk Foundation. Not bad at all. And Clay was shown in a picture alongside Kellie Pickler, who will be on next week's show. It said something along the lines of "which idol will be better." I can't remember the exact words. Of course, we all know who will be better!! Clay couldn't have been smarter, funnier, and more entertaining. He did us all proud, and I'm still watching that show over and over again!
For those of you who do not have Clay's questions and answers from his show written down, here they are for you. I'm so proud that out of all these questions, Clay only used one cheat, and he didn't really need that one after all...he had already given the correct answer and just wanted to be sure. Way to go Clay!!
1. 1st Grade Animal Science Which of the following animals is NOT native to the African Savanna: a. Giraffe b. Lion c. Brown Bear Answer c. Brown
2. 2nd Grade English True or False? The word true is an antonym of the word false. Answer True
3. 1st Grade Spelling How many times does the letter "r" appear in the word: "error"? (Verbally given - not shown) Answer 3
4. 2nd Grade Social Studies The oriole is the official bird of which U.S. state? Answer Maryland
5. 3rd Grade Nature Fuji and Gala are both varieties of what fruit?
Answer apples
6. 4th Grade World Geography What city is the capital of Italy? a. Rome b. Milan c. Naples Answer a. Rome
7. 4th Grade World History Puerto Rico was a colony of what country
immediately before the U.S. gained possession of it in 1898? Answer Spain
8. 3rd Grade Math If Nathan has eight pies and he cuts each pie into eighths, how many pieces of pie does he have? Answer 8 x 8 = 64
9. 5th Grade Grade Literature What 19th Century British author wrote the novel "A Christmas Carol"? Answer Charles Dickens
10. 5th Grade U.S. History Published in the 1780's, the Federalist papers were written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and what man who would later become a U.S. president? Answer James Madison
We had a wonderful time in Las Vegas. We walked all over the place, saw some crazy sights, ate some wonderful food, and spent time with lots of Clay fans. I was so excited about seeing the skating show - had never seen one before - and listening to and watching Clay sing Christmas songs was just fabulous.When he came out the place cheered and cheered. I heard a guy behind me somewhere say, "Sounds like the Claymates are here." And we were! I didn't know what Clay was going to sing so when I heard the first strains of DSIAFCD I just sighed. I LOVE that song! His voice was fairly raspy during it and I was really worried that the dry air and cold in the arena would affect his voice all night. It made me a little nervous for him. He went off stage after that song and I was hoping that he would have something to drink or a teaspoon of honey or something to soothe his throat. When he came out next they played the opening of All Is Well and I saw to my husband, "OMG, he's going to do AIW!!" We both think that is one of Clay's best songs and were in Waukegan last year when he missed the note and in Merrillville when he triumphantly hit it. Todd Eldridge was skating to it and I hardly saw any of his performance. I was sitting in the stands with my stomach starting to get upset - so anxious about Clay being able to sing it well. I saw the tape of it when I got home and saw Clay crossing his fingers for luck before he sang it. I didn't see that in person. My seat was more toward the center of the arena, not right next to the stage. All I could concentrate on was his voice while Todd was skating with my head kinda down just a-hoping and a-praying that all WOULD be well.
Well, he sang the snot out of that song! When he hit that note at the end the whole place stood up and cheered! It was electrifying!! You could see Clay's happiness at the end of the song and he graciously pointed to Todd and Todd graciously pointed to Clay. That's another thing about the skating show which made me so happy - the interaction between Clay and the skaters. They always gave Clay his due after a song and Clay always supported them. There were hugs, handshakes, and nods between them all.
Another thing that pleased me so much was at the end when Sasha finished doing her retakes. She warmly thanked the crowd for coming, said it was one of their best, said Clay loved his fans, and that she had a wonderful time with Clay. She said he was a sweet man and this show would always be a wonderful memory for her. Aaaaaaaaaaaawww! She was one of several skaters who had to come back after the show was over and redo a section of their performance. There were a few falls and mistakes and the skaters were asked to redo their routines for about 20 seconds before and 20 seconds after their falls. The other redos were done to music other than Clay's, but Sasha's mistakes were during Clay songs - so she had to do them over with no music behind her.The announcer jokingly said something like, "We need Clay" and everyone cheered because, of course, we all need Clay! He didn't come back out though and she skated to silence - and did it wonderfully!! She is so graceful. The one jarring note of the show was the first routine that was done to a taped recording of someone else singing. After hearing Clay do the first several songs, I really didn't like it when someone else's voice was in the background. It just didn't seem right!!
Clay looked great and seemed to be in a very good mood. I will really have to watch the videos to see his expressions up close because I TRIED to be a good audience member and actually watch the skating! But it was hard!!When Sasha brought Clay the skates at the end of the show to put on, everyone cheered. And when he came out with a girl on each arm it was so cute. He skated around the rink so I got a chance to see him up close and he looked so happy. I can't wait to see this show on TV. I have no idea how often they'll focus on Clay or whether he'll redo DSIAFCD for the broadcast. Also want to see how seamlessly they put the skating edits into the program.
As usual, when I'm at a Clay event I feel rather out of body. It's so hard for me to believe I'm actually seeing Clay in person and I lose total track of time. It went by so fast!! We arrived on Sunday and it seemed like business as usual at the casino, but on Tuesday (the day of the show) there were suddenly Clay t-shirts and pins all over the place. And whenever a Clay fan saw a Clay t-shirt they felt comfortable saying hi to that person and starting a conversation. You know how that goes! Just lots of fun meeting and talking to Clay fans from all over the place!!
These precision bass grooves come from veteran bass player Daniel Pearson, who has performed and/or recorded with a long list of pros including Jennifer Lopez, Macy Gray, Jessica Simpson, Taylor Dayne, Coolio, Sheila E., Nick Lachey, Bernard Fowler, Kenny Latimore, and Clay Aiken to name a few.
Last week, Clay Aiken and Regis Philbin appeared on Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader. This week, the celebrity appearances continue. Professional skateboarding legend Tony Hawk will try to move to the head of the class.
After reading the book I find myself in awe of the catalog of musicians Phil has worked with. From Harry Belafonte to Elton John. Tony Bennett to Luciano Pavarotti. Rod Stewart to (kinda hate to say it) Clay Aiken and so many others its mind boggling.
There Was A Man - Christmas starting early this year ... Clay Aiken style:I admit that over time, I've become a lot more Scrooge-like when it comes to the Christmas holiday season. It's so much stress, and it starts earlier every year. I'm sick of seeing Christmas decorations and items for sale in stores in August. It just makes it feel like the whole thing never goes away. I really don't want to think about the shopping for gifts that no one really needs, the baking, the decorating and the 1001 things that go into planning that one day of the year especially when my Thanksgiving turkey is still alive. *g* The only thing that seems to get me in the spirit is listening to some Christmas music from Clay Aiken AKA Mr.Christmas. If there was ever a voice to make me forget the bills that will be arriving in January, it's Clay singing "Chestnuts roasting over an open fire" or "Down on your knees". When did Christmas music get so sexy? *g* I'm just a sucker for a "Christmas Waltz" or two. Too bad my hubby doesn't dance. On November 6th, I finally got a bit of the spirit when Clay taped the NBC skating special "Holiday Celebration on Ice" which will be shown on Christmas Day. He sang eight stunning songs which wasn't really enough, but for a fan 'enough' is not in the vocabulary.
The singer/songwriter/concert pianist was honored recently at New York's Lincoln Center with a celebration of his half-century as an entertainer. Among the performers paying tribute were Natalie Cole, Connie Francis, Clay Aiken, Dion, Captain & Tennille, Paul Shaffer and David Foster.
These are the things I learned. Share clack. Don’t postwhore. Discuss the post, not the poster. Don’t double-dip from the vault. Don't take credit for Clay pictures that aren't yours. Say you are sorry and edit accordingly. Wash your hands after reading the tabloids. Clear your cookies. Clay’s voice is good for you. Remember the ticketmaster refresh rule. Live a balanced life—step away from the computer for a while. Learn about geography and James Madison, sing along on the rare occasion that you hear Clay’s songs on the radio, photoshop some and blog and write Christmas stories and skits and dance with Clay onstage and always, always hunt for better tickets.
1. Clay - Christmas Waltz - entire castFan video from last night's figure skating show/concert is up at ClackUnlimited. "All Is Well" is also up at YouTube:
2. Clay - DSIAFCD - Shea Lynn Bourne
3. Canned music - Jingle Bells
4. Canned Music---skated by Caryn Kadavy
5. Canned Music---skated by Steven Cousins
6. Canned Music---skated by Yuka Sato
7. Canned Music - Blue Christmas
8. Clay - All Is Well - Todd Eldridge
9. Clay - The Christmas Song - Sasha Cohen
10. Clay - Sleigh Bells - Phillipe Candoloro
Intermission
11. Clay - Merry Christmas With Love - Jenny Meno & Todd Sands
12. Canned Music
13. Canned Music - Rock Around the Christmas Tree - Surya Bonali
14. Canned Music - Carol of the Bells
15. Canned Music - O Holy Night instrumental - piano
16. Canned Music - I'm Coming Home for Christmas
17. Canned Music - skated by Phillipe Candalero
18. Canned Music - Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - Shea Lynn Bourne
19. Canned Music - ???
20. Clay - Winter Wonderland - Sasha Cohen
21. Clay - What Are You Doing New Year's Eve - entire cast
