For Your Viewing Pleasure - My Pictures From Ashville

I never have given a summary of my trip to Ashville. By now you have all probably heard everything that happened there. So I just thought I'd share a few pictures that I took with you of the Biltmore Estates and of the concert.

The Biltmore Estates is absolutely gorgeous. We stayed in the Inn and the rooms were unbelievable. They grow their own flowers there, and in the lobby there are big sunflowers and other flowers from their gardens.




The estate itself is unbelievable. There are 250 rooms in it. All the furniture is the original furniture. Even the books in the library are original books. We took a tour of the house but were not allowed to take pictures, but here are some pictures of the outside.




Many of you have read about the long, long line of fans who waited for Clay to come shake hands with them after the show. Below is the field where the fans were lined up all the way around it. The field was huge. The picture doesn't do it justice. I didn't stay for this, but I hear it was a sight to behold!



Many of the clay fans got a package deal with the Biltmore which included staying at the Biltmore Inn, 2 tickets to Clay's concert in some of the better seats, tickets to tour the estate, and breakfast and dinner. There were so many people who bought the package that they decided to do a special barbeque meal for us at the River Bend Barn. It was lots of fun to be with only Clay fans and meet people I had never met before.




And then of course there is the concert. The wonderful concert! It was probably 30 degrees cooler at Ashville than it had been in Cary. The scenery was beautiful and it was a perfect night. From what I heard, the staff of the Biltmore was quite impressed with his performance and had never seen anything like his fans before. We're hoping he will be invited back.

Tidbits 8/13

• Florida is bracing for a quadruple dose of Clay Aiken, as the 2007 Summer tour enters its home stretch. The Sun Sentinel republished a Houston Chronicle interview from last month in advance of Clay mania in Florida -

  Bringing dorky back
  Singer Clay Aiken of American Idol fame will perform with orchestra at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach. Tickets are $10 to $100. Call 561-832-7469 or visit www.kravis.org
  

• Nice find from the CB's ClaysMyMidlifeCrisis - a photo of Clay with venue security during his Christmas tour stop in Wilke Barres last year. It just dawned on me how long his hair was back then ... (click the photo on the right to enlarge).
  
• Short blip about Clay and California Claymates in USA Today, says the CB's claymate11. The "Clay Aiken fanclub" being referred to in the article is a group of fans who held their Pala pre-concert meet up at Tori Spelling's inn before Clay's concert at the Pala Casino Starlight on August 3 (see the invitation on the right):

  • 

  On page 2D of today's issue of USA Today there is an article on Tori Spelling's new reality TV show. In the article is this quote "What will be shown this season is Spelling becoming ordained and performing a @#%$ wedding , the arrival of the Clay Aiken Fan Club (but no appearance by Aiken)" Her show is on Oxygen and is called Tori and Dean: In Love. She plays the hostess of a B & B. Did anyone else catch this mention? What fan club is going to be featured?
  

• CBS Showbuzz - you don't have to win Idol to find success -

  Constantine Maroulis finished sixth place on Season 4 of "American Idol." To some, that might not be the greatest showing, but former Idols are proving again and again that you don't have to win to be a star.
  
  Chris Daughtry from Season 5 is enjoying immense success with his band, Jennifer Hudson from Season 3 won and Oscar for her role in "Dreamgirls" and Season 2's Clay Aiken is a household name.

• "Idol: The Musical" is calling it quits. The show has officially closed in New York -
• Playbill News -

  The Aug. 12 opening night of Idol: The Musical Ð based on the fan worship of former "American Idol" contestant Clay Aiken Ð was also the show's closing night.
  
  The new musical, which began previews July 5, has closed. A press statement issued Aug. 13 reads, "Todd Ellis, the producer of Idol: The Musical, has chosen to close the show due to a lack of advance ticket sales, a lack of positive feedback from audience members and critics, and a lack of sustainable financial resources."

• Broadway World - "Idol: The Musical, which began previews on July 7th and opened August 12th at the 45th Street Theatre, has announced that it has closed due to poor ticket sales."
• NJ.com -

  Based on a concept by producer Todd Ellis, who premiered the show earlier at the Syracuse Civic Theatre he runs in upstate New York, "Idol: The Musical" regards a group of high school misfits who worship Clay Aiken, the singer of "American Idol" fame.

• Backstage.com -

  Idol: The Musical aspires to be The Full Monty for the Gen Y crowd — a look at a group of small-town misfits, who see in American Idol winner Clay Aiken a hero and role model.
  

• There Was A Man - Clay plays to 3000 strong crowd in Asheville
  

24 Concert Shots from the Asheville Citizen Times

photo credit: Jason Sandford/Asheville Citizen Times

The Asheville Citizen Times has 24 photos from Clay's concert yesterday at Biltmore estates. The photos include photos of Clay as well as photos of fans and the sold out crowd.

The gallery is linked off their homepage. Click here to access the gallery directly.

A Sold Out Evening with Clay Aiken in Asheville

Photos

• Clayboard photo thread- Asheville
• heaven2's photos @ SmugMug
  

Clack

• ClackUnlimited.com