CNN Interviews Clay In Soundcheck Video

CNN has put together a great video, complete with interview with Clay and information about On My Way Here, how he deals with the tabloids, and why he likes living in Raleigh. They interviewed Clay when he was making the AOL Sessions videos in May.

Under the video on their website is this title:

Soundcheck: Clay Aiken Former American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken talks about his new album and why he's so guarded about his private life.

Denise Quann of CNN states:

Clay Aiken will talk about anything, anything but his personal life, and don't try to read meaning into the lyrics of his new album On My Way Here."

Clay says in the interview that the songs are not just about what he has experienced in the last 5 years but about what anyone would experience. The video also shows a 2003 interview where Clay says that the tabloids make assumptions based on the fact that he is a "mama's boy" and that he doesn't sleep around. "Personal business is off limits" because it doesn't really matter what he says, the tabloids will believe what they want. And to Denise's credit, she never pushes him for any personal information.

Bravo CNN for a great interview and video of Clay!

And here are a few screencaps from that video:

Tidbits 6/7

• David Archuleta signs record deal -
  
  • Washington Post -

    Archuleta, 17, lost to "Idol" competitor David Cook by 12 million viewer votes on the show's season finale in May, yet still earned enough fans to impress 19 Recordings/Jive Records, where Archuleta signed a contract earlier this week. He joins Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daughtry and Clay Aiken, other "Idol" also-rans who leveraged their appearances on the show into film, recording and Broadway opportunities.

  • eFluxMedia -

    The 17-year-old now joins the list of singers who became famous after participating in “American Idol” such as Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson and Clay Aiken. In a statement, he expressed his enthusiasm concerning the release of his major-label debut and his admiration for the other American Idol alumni.

  • Artist Direct -

    David Archuleta has signed a deal with 19 Recordings/Jive Records, following in the steps of such fellow "American Idol" runner-ups as Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson and Clay Aiken. The 17-year-old singer plans on releasing his debut before the end of the year.

  • ez-Tracks -

    With the signing, Archuleta joins a talented group of Idol also-rans who went on to stardom, including Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson and Clay Aiken. American Idol averaged 27 million viewers a week this season.

  • Reality TV Magazine - "The 17 year old is following in the footsteps of other successful finalists, including Jennifer Hudson and Clay Aiken."
  • Showbiz Spy -

    The 17-year-old's contract with 19 Recordings/Jive Records mirrors the paths of former 'Idol' stars Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson and Clay Aiken, who all lost in past seasons but have successfully launched careers in the film, music and theatre arenas.
    

Article From KTVZ News In Oregon Tells of The Bubel Aiken Foundation's $10,000 Grant To Park and Recreation District

Not long ago, The Bubel Aiken Foundation announced the giving of $500,000 in grants to over 30 programs as part of their Let's All Play program. KTVZ.com, Oregon's "online news leader" has posted an article saying that "Bend Metro Park and Recreation District was one of the recipients of $10,000 toward enhancing its inclusive programs."

In addition, the article says:

Using this grant money, Bend Metro Park and Recreation District will be able to:

• Expand inclusion staff
• Receive a program model and Foundation training from Bubel/Aiken
• Continue to work toward achieving the goal of Let's ALL Play, which is to assist child and youth organizations in moving toward full inclusion.

If you would like to read more about the Let's All Play program and the programs that received the grants, go to the Bubel Aiken Foundation.

Tidbits 6/5

• American Idol runner-up David Archuleta inks record deal:
  
  • Internet DJ -

    Archuleta could potentially join other "Idol" losers who have gone on to reap huge success from their time on the show. Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson and Clay Aiken lost in their season, however they have all gone on to solid music/entertainment careers.
    

  • Reuters -

    With a record deal in hand, 17-year-old crooner Archuleta joins past "Idol" also-rans such as Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson and Clay Aiken who have leveraged their stardom on hit television show "Idol" into record, film and Broadway fame.

  • PW Torch - "Over the past several years, we have seen losing "American Idol" contests come back to make an impact on popular culture. Clay Aiken became a successful recording artist. Chris Daughtry is a rock star. Kimberley Locke even had a successful Christmas album."
  • TV Squad on American Idol's very restrictive recording contract -

    American Idol has a notorious contract. Clay Aiken was able to get out of his, but only with the help of a tough attorney. And remember Mario Vazquez? He was Top 12, but then quit the show reportedly because of the contract that, among other things, wouldn't let him sign any deals until at least three months after the winner was crowned.
    

• SW Iowa News - article about "the Greenest Show on Earth" -

  Show director Amy Tinkham, who has worked with Madonna, Jamie Lee Curtis, Aerosmith and Earth, Wind and Fire and staged music tours and videos for Dixie Chicks, Clay Aiken, Backstreet Boys and Maria Carey, has created an extravaganza for the entire family.

• Miami Herald - QVC shopping channel broadening out - "Bob Mackie, creator of feathered headdresses and bejeweled Barbie gowns, has been selling a low-priced collection exclusively on QVC, the televised home shopping network that also boasts Hulk Hogan and Clay Aiken among its vendors, since 1992."

• Anew and Afresh - Clay garners Broadway honours

Clay Hits #1 on Lycos50

Clay has hit #1 this week on the Lycos50. Keep on searching to keep him up there. Clay has been on the list for an incredible 443 weeks. WOWWW!

Tidbits 6/3

• NJ.com - Community Theatre - Year in Review -

  December 13: Well, Clay Aiken takes the stage tonight. It snowed a little bit today, and people are yelling at us for having the gall to not cancel the concert even though there is only 2 inches of powder on the ground. No wonder Canadians quietly mock us.

• Washington Post - Taylor Hicks takes a lead from Clay Aiken and heads to Broadway - ""Idol" Taylor Hicks follows Clay Aiken to Broadway"
• China Post - Clay Aiken performs for President Bush & the First Lady -

  Actor Hal Holbrook, country music singer Trisha Yearwood, former American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken and other stars performed songs and spoken word pieces from the musical "The Civil War" at the National Theater, which hosted the event because the beneficiary theater is under renovation.

• Washingtonian -

  The show itself was a concert preview of the musical The Civil War, which will be onstage at the reopened Ford’s next season. Hal Holbrook played Abraham Lincoln, Avery Brooks was Frederick Douglass, and Maya Angelou read the words of a slave woman declaring her humanity. Larry Gatlin, Trisha Yearwood, and Clay Aiken sang. But the showstoppers were gospel singers BeBe Wyans, Cheryl Freeman, and Patrick Lundy & the Ministers of Music.

• Noted.Blogs.com - blog about Andy Abad, a former member of Clay's band -

  The rest of the music was co-written with Andy Abad over a three-year period, when he and I were home from the road. During this time, Andy was touring with Clay Aiken and Marc Anthony;
  

• POP Magazine - Clay's OMWH is #3 at this South Korean entertainment website...
• ... and Clay is also in a Spanish blog called Vos Elegis Musica.
• Yahoo! Music - will David Archuleta become the next Clay Aiken?

  But I still care, of course. It's my job to care! So while I wait and see if David Archuleta will become the next Clay Aiken or will end up doing what most American Idol rejects pursue as a plan-B career these days (hosting TV shows ABOUT American Idol), I've dug up some videos by some former Idols who're trying to not be idle.
  

• Carolina On My Mind - Clay performs at gala for President Bush -

  Clay Aiken Performs at Ford Gala
  
  While grandson Kai and I played and tuned into his favorite shows on the Noggin Network, singer Clay Aiken was among several entertainers who performed at the Ford's Theatre Gala in Washington, DC, Sunday.

• Anew and Afresh - Clay honoured for his role in Spamalot -

  Every year, coinciding with the Tony Awards, which honor the theater, Broadway.Com hosts the Audience Awards, giving the theater-going public a chance to cast their votes for their favorite plays, musicals, and the performers who bring those to life. This year Clay Aiken was nominated for the Favorite Replacement (Male) Award, for the actor taking over a role from another actor, and he won! He'll receive his award at a reception June 3, along with his co-star Hannah Waddington who also picked up an award for her role as Lady of the Lake in SPAMalot and the entire cast who was named Favorite Long-Running Broadway Show.

• Clay - The Man - Clay Always Amazes

Tidbits 6/2

• Canadian Jewish News - Neil Sedaka classic performed by Clay Aiken -

  Most of us from a certain generation know the words to Neil Sedaka’s Calendar Girl, Breaking Up Is Hard to Do and Oh, Carol by heart.
  
  How many know, however, that the 69-year-old singer, composer and producer has not only written songs recorded by Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Elvis Presley, jazz singer Dinah Washington, American Idol Clay Aiken and the Captain and Tennille, but also that he studied piano at the Julliard School?

• Voice of America - David Cook makes a big splash with debut single -

  2008 American Idol winner David Cook has signed with 19 Recordings/RCA Records and is now working on his debut album. The collection is due out later this year. Cook's first single, "Time Of My Life," sold more than 236,000 digital tracks in four days. That makes it the best-selling American Idol debut since the 2003 release of Clay Aiken's first single, "This Is The Night" (sold 393,000 copies). David Cook will join the nine other Top 10 finalists on this summer's "American Idol" tour. The outing will begin on July 1 in Glendale, Arizona.

• FOX 28 - Clay performs for President Bush -

  WASHINGTON (AP) -- A star-studded affair for Washington's Ford's Theatre was held last night with an audience that included President Bush and the first lady.
  
  Actor Hal Holbrook, country music singer Trisha Yearwood, former American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken and others performed songs and spoken word pieces from the musical "The Civil War."

• Las Vegas Review Journal - does Idol need a showcase in Vegas?

  But it doesn't take much to imagine a permanent showcase for "Idol" duplicating Walmsley's TV stage design, and a revolving showcase of four or five members of the talent show's growing stable of alumni.
  
  One week might feature Clay Aiken or Kelly Clarkson as headliner. More weeks would give you Reuben Studdard or Taylor Hicks. But, as with any show parked on the Strip, there would be strength in numbers and consistency in year-round marketing.

• Nothing here yet
  

Clay Performs For President Bush at Ford's Theatre Gala

Clay was among stars such as Trisha Yearwood and Hal Holbrook who performed for President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush on Sunday night. The performance was at a Gala for Ford's Theatre.

Spoken words and songs from the musical "The Civil War" were performed. Clay sang the song "Sarah" from the musical. According to the Associated Press article, President Bush stated the following:

"Laura and I have been coming here now for eight years to the Ford Theatre gala and this is by far the best," Bush said after the performances. "It's such an uplifting performance and a reminder of what a great president Abraham Lincoln was."

The complete article can be read at seattlepi.com or at Google.

The show will apparently be televised at a later date. CDD will let you know when this informed is made available.

What an honor for Clay to be asked to sing for the President and his wife. Congratulations, Clay, on this honor!!

Beautiful Essay By CorieLuvzClay - "There's Something About Us"

There's no doubt that Clay's newest CD, On My Way Here, is much loved by the fans, as some others who are not fans. But especially, of course, the fans. Clay has chosen songs for this CD that speak right from his heart. Some, he has said, are more personal than others. But all speak of a journey where pain, growing, maturity, and love have taken place. This CD, in my estimation, is nothing less than amazing and incredibly inspiring, not to mention just lots of fun to listen to!!

In the past, CorieLuvzClay has written some beautiful and inspiring essays about Clay, and we have published them in Clay's Daily Double. Once again, she has outdone herself with some beautiful words about the CD. I trust her essay will encourage and inspire you as it did me.

There’s Something About Us

Hauntingly beautiful, a balmy, honey coated voice wrapped in velvet, lazily drizzles this sweet confection over our senses! He’s back, the one whose voice we came for, the man we stayed for. Clay Aiken, pours his heart out in a new CD filled with songs that make you cry, make you sigh, make you think and reminisce about what was, what is, and might have been and what yet still could be.

There is a feeling of old world romance that exudes from Something About Us. It emits a dreamy, lazy sentiment of love affairs and amour…at most it makes you want that kind of love, at least it woos you. A sweet, old fashioned sensation of passion and ambiance, a particular persuasion toward fanciful, Something About Us wraps you up in it’s arms and holds you in a gentle embrace that’s filled with a promise of tomorrow.

In another sense, Something About Us takes me in a second direction and speaks to me about the love affair between us, Clay and us…he is the Romeo to all of our Juliets in this ardent relationship we share. Stop the music, play the song and we’ll dance together all night long…Clay has slow danced with a few of us over the years and with a spotlight glowing to add to the palpable rapture of the evening. Time and time again, no matter what transpires in the interim, the moment we are all reunited again in concert, the love pours out from him to us and from us to him…our eyes twinkle at one another, our voices raised in merriment and in song. He sings to us and we sing right back to him…we simply love each other.

People smile when they walk by, there’s too much magic to deny…indeed, the world is looking at us, pondering what in the world we see in Clay Aiken, ruminating about what makes us tick, furthermore…brooding over what made us click…us and Clay…they can mull it over, speculate & contemplate and chew on it ‘til the end of time, but they’ll never get it…they just don’t have the right stuff within! Yet, we have snagged their interest, they smile and even laugh at the gatherings outside of studios where Clay is performing, or the countless concerts we attend…most recently we lovingly clobbered The Great White Way with our outpouring of love and support for Clay playing in Spamalot, but what set the Big Apple on it’s collective ear was the fact that the loving, passionate Clay fans, embraced an entire cast of strangers simply because Clay was now a part of them…they experienced what it’s like to be Clay Aiken, to be so loved, encircled and clasped within the arms of the ClayNation. There is always, always magic when “WE” are all together again, the air fairly crackles with it!! Oh yes…there’s too much magic to deny…there’s just something about us!

You can see it in our ways, and how we spend our nights and days, a crazy laugh a photograph…we have so many memories…the nights we’ve spent at concerts, or wrapped up in blankets, sleeping on the ground waiting for the next day to begin, perhaps with a concert in Bryant Park for Good Morning America or clamoring with excitement to see Clay co-host The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet…whatever it is, we have the knack to draw a crazy laugh out of him and we have the photographs and video to prove it! We'll reminisce of moments like this 'Cause there's something about us…Yes, there's something about us.

Clay Aiken’s new CD, “On My Way Here,” speaks to the growth and development of one’s life, for Clay it would be his journey over the course of the last five years, during his twenties. For us it might mean the very same thing or have various slants dependent upon our age and circumstances.

Nonetheless, it is about the roads we’ve all traveled to arrive at the spot we occupy in life today! The CD is beautiful and touching and froth with feelings of a wounded soul maturing and coming to terms with what has brought his life to the destination it is at now. It speaks of a lonely heart and nearly tortured spirit, looking for love, a truthful, meaningful love for so, so long and wondering if it’ll ever exist for him. I was broken, A million pieces left to hold…I was frozen My heart left out in the cold…The songs bring forth a sentiment of falling and rising up higher every time you do, of fulfilling dreams and going after what you most want, even if circumstances motivate you to begin a crusade down a road less traveled, but will get you exactly what you want, exactly what you need and exactly where you are destined to be. If no one is hurt during this passage, then the end will certainly justify the means! Maybe love requires walking through the fire…To set me free, so I could rise up from the ashes.

We never question why, How truth turns into lies…There but for the Grace of God go I…

This lyrically tailored CD brings to mind something I wrote in another essay a couple of years ago…I wrote…

“A quote from Socrates comes to mind; `An Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living”…the meaning is as varied and different as each individual on the planet. The most common interpretation is that people need to stop along their journey and examine their life, their educational level, take in where you’ve been; what you have accomplished, where you want to go and what your dreams and desires are for future success and achievements. Learning, expanding your mind, perhaps quenching the thirst for knowledge beyond what you feel capable of…assessing and taking stock of your life. Then, making the necessary changes, taking the risks needed to fulfill and enhance your journey, laying your paths with blocks on which to reach your fullest potential.′”

In every way possible Clay is doing that right now, this very minute! He has taken to heart his UNICEF missions and learned first hand what hunger and ignorance mean, he has seen the very definition of devastation laid out before him, he has witnessed with his own eyes, the horror and unbelievable circumstances of a solely child targeted war…a living nightmare that has, I am sure, plagued his dreams. I wonder how many times Clay has agonized over these visions now branded to his brain, leaving indelible marks upon his heart? Sometimes it’s hard to believe, In a truth that you can’t even see…But faith holds the hope for the world…And I know, I know…There’s got to be some rhyme or reason why, We turn away and we close our eyes…If I could find some way that we could justify all of this suffering…There but for the grace of God go I!

But…no matter what…Clay Aiken is a force to be reckoned with; he has risen up from the ashes of his younger life, new and redefined. Sparkling with excitement and happiness, overflowing with confidence and a gratifying new sense of self-worth! Looking back I can see…How the voice of reason Kept reminding me, I was never good enough somehow…Try and remind me now!

In a smooth and mellifluous voice, Clay draws you in and wraps you up in melancholy and hope for the title track of the CD…On my way here, Where I am now, I’ve learned to fly…I have to want to leave the ground. I’ve fallen hard, But I’ve been loved…And in the end it all works out, My faith has conquered fear…On my way here.

In my estimation, Clay is the quintessential man…admittedly human and not perfect, a gentleman in every sense of the word and a gentle man in every sense of the term. He is also the quintessential embodiment, of Spirit. His personality has fire and humor, topped off with backbone & bravery, and so much heart. Clay is a man filled with great warmth of feeling, intense devotion and a passion for all he loves and values! He is a man of character and integrity…a man who loves his fans and never forgets he is where he is today because of the love and devotion of these fans. Clay’s fans love him in return, and we never forget how he has filled and enhanced our lives. How he has brought beautiful music back to us, how he has, without knowing at first, caused us to reach out to one another, making new lifelong friends and opened a world of travel so we could gather, celebrate & relish the triumph of a young man who had us all at the word “TAKE” on that most paramount day in Atlanta ! He loves us because he has been loved by us. Yes, there's something about us…There's just something about us…Something About Us!

***Lyrical excerpts taken from “Something About Us”, “Ashes”, “Grace of God” & “On My Way Here”.

Written By: CorieLuvzClay
June 1, 2008

SOUNDFLAVOR-Very Interesting Site With Clay Songs and Videos

I came across a music site called "Soundflavor" at one of my son's work blog sites. He has a good article on there about it. I went to it, typed in Clay Aiken, and it brought up approximately 3 pages of entries for him, including songs from OMWH, ATDW, MOAM, Christmas songs, and even some earlier songs. Plus with most of the songs, you can click on "more videos" and it brings up YouTube videos!! WOWEE!! A treasure chest of songs and stuff!!

Here is what my son says about Soundflavor in his article:

"I just signed up for an account with the new (new to me….recently relaunched) music database Soundflavor. This site not only lets you search for specific songs or artists using genre, lyrics, subject, mood, decade, artist, or album (good for finding out who sings that song you’ve had in your head since last Thursday…but don’t have enough to go on to Google), it also makes new music recommendations based on the songs or artists you find.

Each artist page brings together videos, streamable songs, recent news, and similar artists collected from across the web. Disappointingly, I don’t think it includes discographies.

If you’re into sharing music, or being a good friend, you can built your own playlists or auto-generate recommended playlists to share."

Here's the link to Clay's first page of songs. They are in no particular order.

Clay Songs - Soundflavor

Hope you enjoy!!!