Amazon Presents Clay's "List of Music You Should Hear"

Amazon.com is sponsoring a page where Clay lists "music you should hear". Some of the tracks Clay mentioned by name include:

• "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman from the album, This Moment - “I've been a fan of his as long as I can remember. It's great that he's getting airplay on mainstream radio with this song.”
• "Fall" by Kimberly Locke from the album, Based On A True Story - “We did American Idol together and I think she is just awesome all around.”
• "Everything" by Michael Buble from the album, Call Me Irresponsible – “A wonderful singer, just a classic.”
• "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles from the album, Little Voice - “That's one of those great catchy songs that you just seem to hear everywhere and can't get out of your head.”
• "Because of You" by Reba McEntire & Kelly Clarkson from the album, Reba Duets – “What's not to like? Two powerhouses together on a great song."

The page also has a short bio about Clay:

When Clay began the search for songs to record for Aiken’s first album of original material since his 2003 chart-topping debut, Measure Of A Man, he fell in love with a song written by OneRepublic frontman Ryan “Alias” Tedder called “On My Way Here.” The message of the lyrics — how the lessons we learn while growing up shape us into who we become as adults — struck such a deep chord with Aiken that it wound up inspiring the theme (and title) of his new collection, On My Way Here

Tidbits 4/25

• There are now even more photos of Clay singing with Steven Curtis Chapman in Greensboro earlier this year up on 1ElevenImages @ SmugMug. On Friday, 3 photos were posted onto that same website.
• Sendspace - Jimmy Kimmel mentioned Clay on his show Tuesday night. The clip of this is up at Sendspace for download. The Kimmel bit was concerning Russell Simmons wanting to ban lyrics in hiphop music. Jimmy said, "If those restrictions go through, this is a serious thing, I don't see how Clay Aiken is going to be able to record another album." Ya gotta love Jimmy's snarky humor!
• News today that Rosie O'Donnell has opted not to renew her contract to be on The View:
• Playfuls.com - "Rosie also accused Kelly Ripa of homophobia because Ripa had the gall to object to American Idol fame fader Clay Aiken putting his hand over her mouth on live TV. She created another controversy by claiming 'radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam.'"
• MSNBC -

  After the last year on "The View" it's a wonder O'Donnell is standing at all, what with her feuds (Clay Aiken, Miss USA, Donald Trump, etc.), the backlash against her tasteless jokes (imitating Chinese by saying, "ching-chong, ching-chong"), plus whatever did or did not happen between her and Barbara Walters, cohost Elisabeth Hasselbeck and anyone else she's supposedly fighting with on a regular basis.

• AZ Republic -

  Rosie's going after fellow daytime star Kelly Ripa -- accusing Ripa of making homophobic comments after the Regis & Kelly Live host made a joke about where Clay Aiken's hand had been, even though Aiken has never publicly discussed his sexuality -- seemed curious at best.

• Washington Post -

  "Live With Regis & Kelly's" Kelly Ripa's annoyance at guest host Clay Aiken's attempt to silence her by placing his hand over her mouth. Ripa said: "I just don't know where that hand's been, honey." Ripa vehemently denied that the comment was homophobic.

• Chicago Tribune - "she accused talk-show host Kelly Ripa of homophobia when Ripa objected to Clay Aiken putting his hand over her mouth."
• TIME Magazine blog
• The Hollywood Gossip
  
• Top 40 Charts - PR about a new CD by Lisa Palleschi ... co-writer of one of the songs, Jeff Franzel also wrote "I Survived You" for Clay.
• MTV - AI - uh...

  They're calling this two-night extravaganza "Idol Gives Back." (And let's face it. After "From Justin to Kelly" and Clay Aiken, "Idol" owes us BIG time.)

• Hartford Courant - why American Idol voting is "broken" -

  Considering past results - Reuben Studdard's victory margin over Clay Aiken was reportedly less than 1 percent in spite of tens of millions of votes tallied - along with currently observable busy signals, results to date could have been dictated by phone capacity constraints rather than true fan appeal.

• Detroit Free Press - busy line up this summer at Freedom Hills Amphitheater including Clay concert.
• Philadelphia Tribune - another mention of the tour... i think they have a typo on the date. Should read July, not June.
• Asheville Citizen Times - one more tour mention.
  
• Dallas Morning News on AI6 contestants choosing to perform previous Idols' songs -

  The kids had to pick a meaningful tune all by their lonesome. Which may explain why La-Kisha Jones went with Fantasia's Idol single, "I Believe." (Carrie Underwood last week, Fantasia this week – what's next, a little Clay Aiken number?)

• Lewiston Tribune - AI6 contestant Jordin Sparks delivered a showstopping performance on last night's Idol -

  I remember a few incredible performances from the years of watching “American Idol” — Fantasia’s “Summertime” and Clay Aiken’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” — but I was awestruck tonight watching Jordin sing.
  

• Nothing here yet.
  

New Clack From Greensboro Surprise Appearance

We're getting some new Clack from Clay's surprise Clay concert appearance with Steven Curtis Chapman last month in Greensboro.

ClackUnlimited.com has some new videos for you to check out. These photos were also posted on the Clayboard today:

Tidbits 3/8

• The week Clay appeared on Kimmel gave the show its highest ratings ever, according to ABC:

  During the middle of the February Sweep (week of 2/12/07), “Jimmy Kimmel Live” produced the late-night talk show’s largest weekly audience ever (2.04 million) – “JKL” debuted on the week of 1/27/03. In that same week, “Jimmy Kimmel” marked its strongest Adult 18-34 performance in over 2 years – best since week of 11/22/04.
  

• Actress Archives - "American Idol has been a ratings juggernaut for Fox, constantly performing as the top-rated TV series in America. The show's popularity has meant that even losers become winners, as has been showcased several times. Clay Aiken couldn't take home the title of American Idol is Season Two, but has gone on to become a household name, selling millions of albums."
• Easton Courier - In an article entitled "Youth Help Fill Library's Shelves", there is a neat Clay mention,

  "Looking at three shelves filled with a variety of music styles, Daniel said, "The kids picked out all of those titles. I am clueless when it comes to (their) music. They know much more about it than I do." The variety available includes several in the Video Now song collection series, Clay Aiken and N'Sync.

  Well, what do you know...the young people ARE listening to Clay Aiken!!
• Christian Music Source - In "Newsong's Winter Jam Roars into March Passing 225,000 Concert Goers", the article says, "Six shows have exceeded 10,000 in attendance, including a 14,500 sell-out in Greenville, South Carolina and a Winter Jam record-breaking 16,500 in Greensboro, North Carolina where fans were treated to a surprise guest appearance by American Idol icon Clay Aiken." This is, of course, the Steven Curtis Chapman show.
• Baltimore Sun quotes Letterman who quipped about Clay on his "Top Ten" list last week... "Team gets psyched before the game by listening to Clay Aiken."
• Reality Blurred - next battle for Rosie O'Donnell - American Idol?
• Cleveland Scene - Daughtry's CD review ...

  Going into Fuller's lab with an all-star cast of musical-makeover artists (from Rob Thomas to Slash), the aim was to create a neo-Creed, post-grunge record -- basically a foil for the label's pop dorks: Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken.
  

• Webweaver - Claymates keep Clay on top at Technorati.
• Taking A Moment - The unmistakable Jemock is back with a new blog ...

  Last Wednesday, I was minding my own business and wondering about whether there was going to be a Clay Aiken 07 Summer Tour of Hawtness (Both metereologically and physiologically relevant contexts) and was throwing out some crap that somebody actually boxed up and moved clear across the country so that I could throw it away in a new state, and instead of taking down the baby gate that we have to keep our Jack Russell Terrorist from causing the cat to get a nervous condition, I decided I would just step over it. The gate, not the nervous wreck cat. So I lugged the Hefty bag down the hall, thinking about sweaty Clay, and coordinated the slinging of the Hefty bag with the agile and gazelle-like movement of me hurdling the baby gate. The next thing I know, I'm hurtling through space like that runaway Bart Simpson Macy's Thanksgiving Day float, except not as gracefully but almost as big, with my right arm outstretched like Superman's. Then I hit the front door like a buzzard on a windshield and crumpled up on the brick foyer floor with my arm stuck behind my head. Picture the last time Ronny Cox is seen in Deliverance and you'll have a pretty good representation of the scenario in my foyer, except without the river and with a lot more cussing.

• Clayigraphy - Claymates are smarter than a 5th grader... we know where Chautauqua is... the first stop (as it stand now) of Clay's 2007 Summer Tour.
• Carolina On My Mind - Clay Aiken going back on the road with new tour.
  

More Goodies From Last Week's Chapman Concert Appearance

We have some more goodies to share with you from last week's surprise Clay appearance at Steven Curtis Chapman's Greensboro, NC concert.

• A Greensboro radio station mentioned the appearance on air and posted the photo you see above to their website. Here's more information from the CB's claybug71:

  I'm listening to the local Christian station here and they have mentioned the Winter Jam several times and talked about Clay's appearance with SCC. They just said he appeared on stage and sang TGA with him. The guy did say that there would be photos on their website later today. I'll keep checking. Also, another local station (the one that doesn't ever say anything great about Clay) talked about it. My friend told me about that. She said they just mentioned it and a girl called in that was there. She said she was so excited when he came out that she fell off her chair. LOL!! Hate I missed hearing that. Anyway, I'll let you know when I see any pictures.

• Also, if you haven't seen the video of Clay performing yet, it's now available on YouTube:

Clay Shares The Stage With Steven Curtis Chapman

According to Cats4Clay at Clayversity, and posted at The Clayboard, Clay showed up at a Steven Curtis Chapman concert on Thursday night and then joined him on the stage to sing "The Great Adventure".

Here is Cats4Clays post:

Please forgive me if this has already been posted, but I have a Clay sighting!!!!! My son is at a Christian concert in Greensboro (at least I think it's Greensboro), and Steven Curtis-Chapman is one of the artists performing. Well, my son just called me from the concert to say that Clay came out on stage and sang "The Great Adventure" with Steven. My son said to tell all the CV people that Clay looked and sounded great -- and that he was wearing a blazer and jeans. My son said that he had left me a message on the answering machine at home with as much of the song as he could get. I'm going to listen now. Oh my gosh!!!!!!!

Here's another post from cats4clay...

I just listened to the message. You can make out that it's Clay, but it's very fuzzy. What I could make out were all of the screams for our boyfriend!!!!! My son said the audience was going crazy!!!!! eeeeeeeee!!!!!

Just one more tiny little piece of information from my son. He just called and said that the concert just ended, and at the end they said, "Let's hear it one more time for Clay Aiken," and he said the crowd went crazy again. I really love hearing that!!!

For those of you who aren't aware, "The Great Adventure" is a song that Clay sang on his demo CD that he made before he was on American Idol and is one of his favorite songs. For him to sing it with Steven Curtis Chapman must have been wonderful!

It is our understanding that over 16,500 people were at the concert and heard Clay sing. More than likely, most of those were teenagers. What a great opportunity for that many people to hear him sing. One blogger had this to say about Clay:

Well, Chapman rocked the crowd, as he's apt to do. And about 2/3rds of the way through his set he did something that had been joked about once or twice already by the performers, but I don't think anybody took them seriously. But, it happened: Clay Aiken walked onstage and started singing! Yes, the Clay Aiken! How they kept that one under wraps - and in Greensboro of all places - I've no idea. Anyway the crowd was already having a great time but bringing Aiken out just intensified the electricity of the place. Rounding out the night was Jeremy Camp, which was the first time I'd ever heard him perform (I've probably heard all the others at least twice before) but I liked him a lot.

To download a video of Clay singing with Steven, go to this link at Sendspace or to Megaupload. To hear Clay sing his version of "The Great Adventure, go to Clack Unlimited.

---
clayis' update 2/18: We have a first hand account from The Knight Shift:

Well, Chapman rocked the crowd, as he's apt to do. And about 2/3rds of the way through his set he did something that had been joked about once or twice already by the performers, but I don't think anybody took them seriously. But, it happened: Clay Aiken walked onstage and started singing! Yes, the Clay Aiken! How they kept that one under wraps - and in Greensboro of all places - I've no idea. Anyway the crowd was already having a great time but bringing Aiken out just intensified the electricity of the place. Rounding out the night was Jeremy Camp, which was the first time I'd ever heard him perform (I've probably heard all the others at least twice before) but I liked him a lot.