New Items In the Clay Online Store

The Official Clay Aiken fanclub has added 2 new items to the Clay Online Store, with another item on the way soon:

12/04/07 : NEW CLAY AIKEN OFFICIAL ONLINE STORE ITEMS!
By Team Clay

The Clay Aiken Official Online Store is being stocked with new items for pre-order starting Tuesday, December 4, 2007.

Pre-order the new leatherette photo folio for $45.00 so you can carry your loved ones with you including Clay!

Feel like cozying up with a book next to the fire since winter is upon us? Coming soon to the store for pre-order is the "Snuggle up with Clay" fleece blanket for $48.00 so you can keep warm while reading. In case you doze off, don't lose your place! Order the exclusive online store leatherette bookmark for $15.00 with a spot to put your favorite photo.

Clay Asks Us To Buy "All Is Well"

Clay blogged today asking us to purchase a copy of "All Is Well" on Apple's iTunes store. With news that the Bubel Aiken Foundation can benefit off these purchases, your $4 could not be better spent... click here to find out how to buy AIW from iTunes with part of the profit going to the Bubel Aiken Foundation.

Clay Comments on YouTube

Some good and not so good stuff relating Clay have found its way over to YouTube, as the video sharing website has grown exponentially in popularity over the past 2 years.

Clay commented for the first time about YouTube at last night's meet and greet in Wilkes-Barres. The CB's PA4Clay posts:

A friend had a meet and greet last night and gave me permission to post this:

She asked clay how he feels about clack and he said he did not mind at all. BUT . . . he does not appreciate it when people post the stuff on you tube when he makes mistakes. He talked about the AIW from last year and was upset that it was all over the internet. He thought it was rude to post. Also, he said he felt it was very rude of people to post the Capital One Skating show on youtube since it had not even been aired yet and he didn't own the show.

So, take it for what it's worth. Respect him, or don't respect him. But I hope this curtails the youtube stuff since it comes directly from clay.

Bubel Aiken Foundation to Publish Christmas In The Heartland Tour Stories

The Bubel Aiken Foundation will publish a selection of fan stories submitted to the Christmas in the Heartland Christmas stories contest, recently held at the Official Fanclub. The OFC posted this information on its homepage:

12/05/07 : "Christmas in the Heartland" Tour Story Book!
By Team Clay

The Bubel/Aiken Foundation would like to compile a book from the stories submitted for the "Christmas in the Heartland" tour. Even if you were not chosen to read your story at a concert, your story may still be added to this wonderful collection of memories. All proceeds will go to TBAF and the book will be available for purchase on The Clay Aiken Official Online Store.

Do you want your story to be a part of this special compilation? Download and fill out this release form, attach a copy of your story with your initials and the date on each page and then return it via e-mail to: contactus@bubelaiken.org, via fax to: 919-882-2155, or via mail to:

The Bubel/Aiken Foundation
8601 Six Forks Rd. Suite 400
Raleigh, NC 27616

Tidbits 12/5

• South Bend Tribune has an article about the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities -

  The President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities was created in 1961 by former President John F. Kennedy. It was originally called the President's Panel on Mental Retardation.
  
  Twenty-one citizen members and 13 ex officio members appointed by the president comprise the committee. Among the citizen members currently on the committee is singer Clay Aiken of "American Idol'' fame.
  

• Napa Valley Register - musician records "Mary, Did You Know" -

  Also featured are the traditional French carol, “He is Born,” plus the contemporary “Mary Did You Know?” (which everyone from Reba McEntire to Clay Aiken has recorded) and a song associated with Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion, David Foster and Carole Bayer Sager’s “The Prayer,” which Michael sings in both English and Italian.

• TV Guide now has a page for Clay's 2004 Christmas special, A Clay Aiken Christmas -

  The singer is joined by Barry Manilow, gospel singer Yolanda Adams and “Will & Grace” star Megan Mullally. Songs include “Mary, Did You Know?” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (Aiken); a “Happy Holidays/White Christmas” medley (Manilow); “O Holy Night” Adams); and “I'll Be Home for Christmas” (Mullally). Also: Aiken is joined by Adams and Manilow for “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.”

• Contra Costa Times on Chicken Soup for the American Idol Lover's Soul:

  "Chicken Soup for the (Insert Topic) Soul" has exhausted every reasonable topic. How else do you explain the latest bouillon riff, "Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul"? It includes stories from Carrie Underwood and Clay Aiken, and the foreword was written by ... wait for it ... Paula Abdul.

• Christmas tour mentions:
• Florida Sun Sentinel - "Clay Aiken — 8 p.m. Aug. 18 at Kravis Dreyfoos, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach. $20-$100. 561-832-7469, 800-572-8471 or Ticketmaster."
• TownTopics.com - "8 p.m.: Christmas classics performed by Clay Aiken; State Theatre, New Brunswick."
  
• Metro Times Detroit - Kimberley Locke ... "singer Kimberly Locke, who was an American Idol finalist and runner-up to Clay Aiken and Ruben Stoddard in the series' second season competition. "
  

• Nothing here today
  

Buy "All Is Well" from iTunes via GoodShop to Raise Money for TBAF

Here's another one of the multitude of ways you can make a positive contribution to the Bubel Aiken Foundation.

RCA released Clay's 2006 Christmas EP, "All Is Well", to Apple's iTunes store today. If you purchase the EP through the iTunes link at GoodSearch's GoodShop, GoodSearch and Apple will donate 3.75% to the Bubel Aiken Foundation.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Go to GoodSearch's GoodShop.
2. At the top of the page, where it says WHO DO YOU GOODSEARCH FOR?, type in "Bubel Aiken Foundation" and click Verify.
   
3. The page will update itself to confirm your support for the BAF.
4. Scroll down and click the icon.
5. The iTunes store will launch. If you do not have iTunes, you can download it for free at Apple.com. All purchases made on this iTunes session will qualify for the 3.75% donation to the Bubel Aiken Foundation. Happy shopping!
   

Broadway's Playbill Magazine Migh Sell Clay "Spamalot" Edition Online

Playbill Magazine, the leading magazine for theatergoers, puts out a special issue for every new Broadway play. Editors are currently working on a new version for "Spamalot", which will open with Clay in January.

Usually, these special "opening night" editions of Playbill are only available at the actual show in New York, but we hear the editors are considering making Clay's "Spamalot" edition available for purchase online beginning - at the earliest - January 18.

Playbill sent the following email to the CB's Skybar:

Hello Skybar, we normally only sell the Opening Night Playbills for the various shows. However, I've had two calls today and three emails from fans
looking for Clay Aiken in Spamalot merchandise, which doesn't exist yet.
But I'm certain the producers will at least put out a new poster featuring
Clay in January. At any rate, there is obviously a market for Spamalot
Playbills with Clay in the credits, and I will talk with my publisher about
offering them for sale to the public through PlaybillStore.com tomorrow. If
we do sell them, which I am pretty sure we will, they will go on sale
January 18th. I will let you know if we decide to sell them. Thanks for
your email, and have a great holiday season.

P.S. If you happen to be a member of any Clay fan messageboard, feel free
to post this email. image

Bruce Stapleton
Director of Merchandising
Playbill, Inc.

Mohegan Sun's Interactive Web Promo for Clay's Concert

Mohegen Sun in Uncasville, CT has posted a cool video promo for Clay's December 9 concert at the huge casino/entertainment complex. Check it out at Mohegan Sun Insider!

American Idol Asks:Who Has The Best Falsetto?

Vote for Clay's falsetto at AmericanIdol.com! He's currently in 2nd place to American Idol 5 contestant Ace Young.

Tidbits 12/4

• AOL Sports: Fanhouse - Carrie Underwood at L.A. Kings hockey game - not exactly sure why they think Clay "butchered" his song, "I Will Carry You" on ice.
  

  Oh, we believe it. If the Hurricanes can have Clay Aiken butcher songs on the ice, Ms. Underwood surely can attempt to woo Robert Nilsson away from the sea donkeys back home.
  
  "I will carrrrry youuuuu."

• Citizens Voice - Christmas tour ... "Clay Aiken’s Christmas in the Heartland will be presented tonight at 7 at the F.M. Kirby Center, Public Square, Wilkes-Barre. Tickets start at $40. For information, call 826-1100. "
• Staunton News Leader - cleaning up my iPod -

  It's an incredible amount of very bad music, not only because there's a lot of bad music being written and recorded today but because most of it was free — the reason that I downloaded it in the first place. Something for nothing, or nothing for nothing. In all the gratis stuff cluttering up my music player, there's only one sing worth keeping, and it isn't "Clay Aiken Sings the Ice-T Songbook."

• Anew and Afresh - "All Is Well" now available on iTunes
  

Waukegan, Kalamazoo Christmas Concert Programs

The CB's LUVClay26 posted concert program scans for two of Clay's recent Christmas concerts.

First is the tour program by the Genesee Theater in Waukegan, IL:


And here's the concert booklet prepared by Miller Auditorium in Kalamazoo, MI:

Clay Hits The Capital

CLAY AIKEN'S CHRISTMAS IN THE HEARTLAND TOUR 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C. RECAPS UP!

Christmas tour blog | Washington D.C. recaps

Photos

• Clayboard Photo & Video thread - Washington D.C.
  

Videos

• ClackUnlimited

Tidbits 12/3

Don't forget, All Is Well will hit iTunes tomorrow at midnight. This Christmas EP, released last year as a Wal-Mart exclusive, can be purchased for around $4 on iTunes for your iPod.

• South Coast Today via L.A. Times - "Winter Wonderland" is the "sound of the season" -

  New isn't always better, as proven by "Wonderland," which has been recorded by scores of artists, among them Johnny Mathis, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Dolly Parton, the Carpenters, the Judds, Glenn Miller, Eurythmics, Clay Aiken, Jewel, Aimee Mann, Wynton Marsalis, Perry Como, Cyndi Lauper, Air Supply, Stryper, the Cocteau Twins as well as Alvin & the Chipmunks.

• Christmas tour mentions:
• Scranton Times-Tribune - "Idol Worship: Clay Aiken’s Christmas in the Heartland, 7 p.m., F.M. Kirby Center, "

• Nothing here yet
  

Poughkeepsie Reporter Sean McMann's Story To Appear December 7; Looking For Fans Going to Poughkeepsie Show To Talk To

Poughkeepsie Journal reporter Sean McMann is the new best friend to Clay fans. First, he writes a great, positive blog about Clay with lots of good information; second, he lets Clay fans write in questions for Clay; and third, he reads Clay's Daily Double!! What more can we ask for?? Well, we didn't ask for it, but Sean has some more good news for us.

Before I tell you the news, I want to apologize to Sean for mispelling his name in one of last week's articles. How could I do that after he's been so supportive to Clay and his fans! Its been corrected and it won't happen again.

Now for the news. Sean is looking for some fans to talk to for his story, which will be out on December 7. Sean told CDD this:

My story will appear in the Journal on Friday, Dec. 7, the day before Clay comes here to Poughkeepsie. Anyone heading to the Poughkeepsie show can e-mail me at JournalSean@aol.com, as I'm looking for fans to speak with for the Dec. 7 story.

So if you are going to the Poughkeepsie concert, be sure to email Sean at JournalSean@aol.com so you can talk to him about Clay, the concert, whatever he wants to talk about!!

And also check out Sean's blog, Sean's Space again. I love his blog from December 1. Here's a bit of it:

I've got to give a big thanks to all the Clay Aiken fans who have responded to "Sean's Space" since Wednesday night, shattering the single-day record for hits to the blog!...Having posted Clay's answers to your questions right at midnight Thursday night, I waited to see who'd come back to read the post. The response was amazing! Between midnight 12 a.m. Friday morning and 11:59 p.m., you devoted Claymates jammed "Sean's Space," breaking my previous one-day total for visitors to the blog by 225 percent!"

Yep, that sounds pretty typical for Clay fans! You might want to check out Sean's Space throughout the week. In a blog last week, he said:

C'mon back here to "Sean's Space" throughout the week for more on Clay's upcoming show here in Poughkeepsie on Dec. 8.

Thanks Sean. We're looking forward to reading what you have to say about Clay and his upcoming concert.

Talented Korean Claymates' Clay Drawings

Bloomingclay posted these impressive works of art from 2 Korean Claymates.

This one is from a 16 year old girl, loveyouclay:

... and the next 3 are by a 17 year old girl, tomi:

Claymates Epitomize "The Season of Giving"

The Clay nation has many reasons to be proud this week. And we're not only talking about the marvelous tour Clay has just kicked off to rave reviews from the press.

To celebrate Clay's 29th birthday, various groups in the Clay nation have been raising money and books as their birthday present for Clay.

• As we told you last week, a group of Clay fans in Kalamazoo, MI collected books that were donated to local schools and libraries. Over 1200 (wow!) books were donated by generous Clay fans on top of almost $700 in gift cards. Carolina On My Mind has posted a nice summary of the project:

  Proposed in early November by Michigan resident Rohdy, the inspired idea was quickly adopted by other CA fans, who selected books from suggested lists and either took them to the Kalamazoo concert, shipped them via UPS, or mailed gift cards to be redeemed at book stores locally and online.
  
  Sponsored by Kalamazoo Communities in Schools, the Bagels and Books project was designed to promote literacy and adult interaction with children. B&B events bring parents and community volunteers into the public schools to read one-on-one with students.
  
  Prior to the downbeat, KSChristian4Clay reported to the Clayversity cellstream: The table is piled high with stacks of books reaching up to people's faces. There are boxes and boxes of books, and fans are still bringing in more!
  
  Toni2marie shared: My sister and I arrived at the venue around 6:15, and we placed our books on the table and signed the birthday card. At that time there were only about 50 books on the table. It was incredible to see the table fill up with books over the next two hours.
  
  Saturday the books and gift cards were delivered to the KCIS offices in Clay's honor. Way to go, Clay Nation!

• The Clayboard raised close to $12,000 for the Bubel Aiken Foundation's Let's ALL Play summer camp program. This money will be enough for the TBAF to support one camp, helping them achieve their 2008 goal of supporting 100 camps across the nation. Well done, Clayboarders!

Tidbits 12/2

Clay is included in a Spamalot E-Card you can send from Spamlot's website... cute!

• BroadwaySpace.com - In the forum section, a thread was started with this question, "I heard Clay Aiken was joining the cast of Spamalot! What's your reaction in hearing this news?" Go to this site and click "Share". There is a 12-page thread about Clay being in Spamalot. Everything I've read seems positive.
• Asbury Park Press - Chris Daughtry article -

  The legendary Davis, the head of RCA Records, has had huge success in signing other "Idol" winners, including Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken and Fantasia Burrino. Several months after that defining moment on "Idol" in May 2006, both Daughtry and Davis have come out smelling like the proverbial rose. Daughtry's self-titled first CD was released in November 2006 and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart; by mid-December 2006, it was certified platinum for 1 million in sales.

• Christmas tour mentions:
• HULIQ.com -

  Pop superstars Clay Aiken and Kathy Mattea perform with Orchestra; Severinsen frontman Tony Scodwell joins Orchestra for Holiday Pops! concerts; Boston Brass makes Orchestra Hall debut.

• Carolina On My Mind - Michigan Clay fans donate 1200 books to local libraries, schools as a birthday present for Clay
• ClayKat - Clay nation opens their wallets and hearts in this season of giving -

  It's an endless circle of giving in the Clay nation: Clay has given - and continues to give - so much to us, his fans. He gives to the community (through, among other things, the Bubel-Aiken Foundation) and to the world (through UNICEF and of course, his voice). He makes us want to be better people, so we give to our communities, to him, to each other - among other things, through initiatives such as the two described above. What can be better than that? In my opinion, life does not get any better than in moments such as those, in love and solidarity and tribute given in such beautiful ways.
  
  What a tremendous way to start off the Christmas season!
  

• Anew and Afresh - wishing Clay a happy birthday
• All That Is Clay Aiken - Clay sings "Welcome To Our World", below: