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

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!!

Clay Blogs - thoughts on NYC, Brazil, UNICEF... tour to hit CA, MO?

Clay blogged today to give us an update on what's been going on in his life the past month or so. Although we can't copy the blog onto CDD, here's a quick synopsis:

• Clay talked about how much fun Kimmel & Mike & Juliet was. He says he had a slight cold when he appeared on Mike & Juliet, but it's all cleared up now.
• BRAZIL! Clay took a trip down there recently and found an excellent new drink called the "Guarana"
• Clay says he's looking forward to the BAF gala to be held on March 31 in Raleigh. He also mentioned that he will be taking his UNICEF trip with his former social studies teacher to an undisclosed location sometime in the summer. Details are not being disclosed for security reasons.
• Clay says he met President Bush's daughter (didn't specify which one!) and former First Lady Barbara Bush at his committee meeting at the White House last month.
• Team Clay is putting details of the summer tour together as we speak. Clay says they will try to hit as many areas not covered during the last several tours as much as possible. Clay gave us the hint: surfboard and stetson... sounds like California and Missouri is in for a treat this summer!
  
• And of course, Clay wouldn't miss the opportunity to tease us when he said he has some really "exciting" projects in the works.