ldyjocelyn

Finding Clay's Christmas Package?

What?

OK, totally ironic that this was the top post on page 69, right? RIGHT?!?!?!?

muski, I hope your doggie is doing OK. Big hugs and a dog bone coming your way.

jmh, thank you for the lovely report about the show last night. It sounds to me that Ruben took a few lessons from the "Clay Aiken School of Storytelling to Make a Show Interesting and Fun." It also makes me happy that Clay was able to attend, with friends, and simply enjoy himself. Also, in a strange way, I'm glad he was able to pretty much announce his intentions to go to the show on his own fanclub.

As far as his "fun" announcement goes, I just hope it ties into his losing his arm hair for a few weeks!

CITH? I'm with keepingfaith in that I'm enough of a Star Wars fan to go "huh?" on that one, even though I know what it means. I'm probably good with "Finding Clay Aiken in the Heartland" or some variation. BTW, I love the pin design cindilu2, because I really love "red guy."

Ah yes, the poochy tummy debate. Honestly, I think the pooch comes and goes, depending on what he wears and also simply if he's moving or not. It's always more pronounced to me in pictures than it is in video. But I do agree that his joking last year about getting "old and fat" on stage could be something that is getting more and more real to him (totally supposition on my part). That metabolism has been catching up to me for the past 20 years or so, and it's bound to do the same for him.

Maybe we should invite Clay to the weight loss thread here at FCA? We could whip him into shape just fine!

:thdom2:

According to the OFC, the location is the Playhouse Square Theater. This post will be updated when more information becomes available.

Is anyone else getting a kick out of Clay saying "Promotional consideration provided by...." and "Closed captioning provided by...."? OK, just me then. Heh.

Cool! Can't wait for the clack. I just hope the audience shows Ruben the love!

Yeah, me too! I know it could be very difficult with Clay in the audience, but I hope Ruben gets some good crowd response.

On the other hand, how cute was Clay saying "Oh crap!"!!!!!

"Crap" was never in my vocabulary before Clay. Now I find myself saying it all the time. And it's usually with a southern inflection too!

And I still cannot wrap my mind around the fact that the guy at the Atlanta audition is really Clay!!!!!

I have the same problem, I really do. I honestly think I would have been prepared for the worst if that had been my first exposure to Clay, before he sang that is. And now....five years later...oh my God.

EEEEEEEEEE! There will be clack!!!! EEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Ew. I thought I had Keith out of my head. Ew. Now he's back in my head again. Ew.

Almost forgot -- as my husband and I were leaving Minneapolis this morning, we picked up the Sunday Star-Tribune. Big ad in the Arts section for the shows the Minneapolis Symphony are doing this Christmas. Clay's picture was the biggest! He also had a picture next to his name with the dates for the shows. I'm not sure if I'll be able to scan it or not, but it was really cool, and such a nice surprise. I really wish I could attend the Minneapolis shows, but scheduling simply will not allow it. Darn.

I'm home with my cats -- YAY! It's good to be home!

Happy birthday laughn!

I've been on the road so long today, I keep forgetting that their MIGHT be a chance of Cluben clack!

keepingfaith, The Moodies were a "late" discovery for me -- and their performances still floor me to this day. I'm not a HUGE groupie, but I would pay to see them again in a heartbeat!

zena, I'll be praying for you and your friend. Clayzor -- MUAH!!

The wedding was very interesting last night, and actually quite cool. It was held at a restored mansion...but that wasn't the cool part for me; the music was. Instead of the Bridal March for the processional, a jazz ensemble played "It Never Entered My Mind" by Rodgers and Hart. They also played for the dinner and for entertainment. Found out later the groom is also a jazz drummer, and he sat in on a few tunes! The other thing interesting for me was the color scheme for the wedding, shades of browns. It was quite different, and quite memorable.

Then, today, my husband and I made a pilgrimage to 35W in Minneapolis. Amazing, and quite sobering. The span of road that is simply gone is a LOT longer than I was expecting.

Meanwhile, on to Clay....I think he'll be there at the concert, in the audience. It just makes my heart sing that he's still in touch and friends with Ruben, and he'll be there to support him.

And this is one of the reasons I respect Clay, for refusing to pretend to be anything other than who he is, even when he might be able to become a huge superstar if only he'd allow them to "shape" his image the way I'm sure they want to.

I feel that Clay has chosen the attitude that people are either going to like him or not as he is and he's just going to be himself. How other people react to him is not his problem, but theirs. That is a wonderful attitude, IMO and makes him very genuine, which I believe people sense about him and brings a lot of that respect that is slowly but surely on the rise.

Totally agree with both you ladies. He's got a fantastic sense of self about him, and if I could follow half his example, my life would probably be easier too. I admire that in him, and hope he NEVER, EVER loses that about himself. It's such a special quality in him -- critics (and some fans) be damned.

I read that a cast memeber had confirmed that Clay had auditioned. I read around, but I THINK it was CB somewhere. It's fun to play with the idea, tho... especially the lunches with Trya part...

You're probably thinking of the post that YSRN brought over here earlier:

A blogger, "Jimmy", who is apparently James Ludwig, a current member of the Broadway company for Spamalot, posted this in his blog tonight:

Our Friends, Our Family

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

http://ourfriendsourfamily.blogspot.com/20...mmm-gooses.html

I'm on the Broadway and I do shows. A lot. This is what I do. Phone rings, warm up, put on makeup and a dress, sing, and say funny things. Audiences are waning some, and Clay Aiken was auditioning the other day.

That was actually the second mention; the first was some newspaper (and I'm not going to search for it) had a one line brief mention in their celebrity section.

I don't know what to think. I guess I'm still just going to leave my options open....but will still ask my husband if he wants to go to New York in the near future, just in case.

Heh, just asked him....he seems OK with it....YAY!

As for his blog....gotta love him. Yeah, I'd be at that fair if I could; I'd be curious to hear Ruben after all this time. Meanwhile, totally agree with everyone that says that Clay's a little shit, 'cause he is. We get entertainment from him, and sometimes the payback is interesting too! I guess we must "be like toys" to him too.

Gotta get ready for that wedding now...MUAH YSRN, and "hello" to Clayzor too!

I had to watch the promo clip 4 times before I could force myself to pay enough attention to the hair to even notice it. He's just too cute, and the hair hardly registers on my radar.

And I think that just emphasizes what I was hoping was my point -- to me, a picture is a totally different animal from when I see him on TV or live. In a picture, it's easy for me to emphasize the looks. But when he's talking or singing, I don't pay that much attention to what he's wearing, or his hair. The personality overtakes everything else for me. Now, sometimes, I do agree that a picture also shows his personality, such as:

He looks great in this AIR screencap (from GAD, via CV):

But now, THAT'S cute. *g*

I watched the AYSTAFG promo a few times, too. Totally adorable. What a huge personality! I can't wait for the show to air.

Me neither! But crap, I think I have a hair appointment that night...might have to postpone it a week! I wish we'd get the actual date confirmed -- isn't it November 1?

Morning all!

As for the "deep" subject of the moment -- just looking at the screencaps, his hair to me looks "unbalanced." The front's length doesn't match the back, for some reason.

But then, I watched the clip...more than a few times, I might add. And the hair doesn't seem to really matter all that much anymore. He looks adorable to me, and it's because it's his personality that comes through. I don't need for him to be hawt rock star every moment of every day *waves at zena*, but I love it when he shows his smarts, his humor, HIM. He's just a fascinating chameleon, and I could sit and watch him all day. Wish I could get paid for it too.

Off for most of the day. The wedding here is tonight -- I'm not used to a Friday evening wedding, so I think this will be very interesting.

Oh SQUUUEEEEE! How cute was that 2 seconds of Clay?

Hopefully with sweet dreams of smart guy Clay.

Hey gang! We're here in a room in Minnesota -- thankfully with wireless internet!

{{{{{{{luckiest1}}}}}}}} Hope everything is OK for you.

Reading Time magazine in the car today, I read an article about the Radiohead deal as well. I also read in the same article that Prince's stunt with putting the free CD with the newspaper in England was ridiculed until he sold out 21 shows in London. Anyway, the whole recording industry is changing, and I don't think ANYONE knows how this will all shake out.

And as for this....

Well, someone at the labels must have figured that out, cause I swear I read somewhere that they were trying to move toward getting a percentage of concert profits. I hope they don't get it! The artist gets so little of the cd sale price now, so the label should keep their greedy little hands out of the artists concert profits. Geesh!

Heard this little tidbit on the radio this morning:

Madonna to leave Warner, sign with Live Nation

So....the concert industries are getting their fingers in the recording industry. In other words, it's all going to get a lot more confusing in the coming months and years. The lines are blurring more and more every day.

Honestly, when I was reading the Radiohead article in the car this morning, I was actually a bit fearful for Clay. It's such a cutthroat businss, and since no one really knows how anything will shake out, I just think it's got to be a tough road to be a recording artist at the moment. I know I wouldn't want to do it -- I just hope Clay loves music (and his fans) enough to fight for a position.

Morning all! And then it's "goodbye all" for most of the day, followed by being in and out for the next few days. Hubby and I are going to Minnesota for his niece's wedding. It's a 7 1/2 hour car journey -- fortunately, new iPods help. *g*

EEEEEEEEEEEEEE for bottlecap and laughn and all Ohio people who get a concert!!!!!

I guess I've just never analyzed Clay's music down to the syllable -- I'm more of a "big picture" kind of gal. It's the entirety of the piece that gets me when he's singing. BUT -- when he's talking, totally different animal. There's lots of words I now say that I think of his inflections from previous concert banter. The best example I can think of for me right now is "owner" in the clip where he has Scarlett's camera -- "I'm gonna give you back to your ownah now." Cracks me up every single time.

Karen Eh?, thank you so much for your gorgeous pictures of Clay (Guh! Gah! All those non-distinct syllables!), as well as your adventures. It sounds amazing.

Everybody be good ya'll!

*waves heartily at zena even though we must have totally opposite schedules*

My husband is a big Dylan fan -- he's from Minnesota (where Dylan is from too), so I think it's required by law. Anyway, I've seen Dylan once...in combination with The Brian Setzer Orchestra. It was the most surreal concert I've ever attended. The first half of the show was Setzer's group, and the stadium had cleared out the back half of the floor seating so that people who wanted to jump, jive and wail could. Second half was Dylan; all the zoot suits left, all the stoners took over. But then, Dylan had Setzers group come out to add their sound to that Dylan song that I can never remember the name: "everyone must get stoned." It was a hoot.

A blogger, "Jimmy", who is apparently James Ludwig, a current member of the Broadway company for Spamalot, posted this in his blog tonight:

Our Friends, Our Family

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

http://ourfriendsourfamily.blogspot.com/20...mmm-gooses.html

I'm on the Broadway and I do shows. A lot. This is what I do. Phone rings, warm up, put on makeup and a dress, sing, and say funny things. Audiences are waning some, and Clay Aiken was auditioning the other day.

Hmm. Curiouser and curiouser.

Verrrrrrrrdy interesting [tm Arte Johnson]. I hope he did well -- and I hope it's something that he wants to do for a few weeks/months.

play, it's taken me a while to come to this, but I'm at the point where I don't need for people to explain why they like something or not. I think part of it has to do with me simply being older, but I think part of it is also just being in this fandom. Now, let me explain why here (heh). There are some days I can tell you exactly why I like or dislike something -- but then there are just as many days where I just can't. It's a feeling I have, and feelings, IMO, are incredibly hard to explain. I also sometimes wonder if those with very analytical brains need to know the whys and wherefores, versus others who just know. Anyway, I've simply learned in this fandom that if someone wants to gush, they're gonna gush; if they're gonna be a bit critical, they're going to do that as well. People honestly just show "love" in very different fashions. If I can't stand one of the ways to show this love toward Clay, I make a choice of ignoring those types of posts, and focus on other things this person has said that makes me go "all right!!!!!" Know what I mean?

YSRN -- :F_05BL17blowkiss: right back atcha! Totally agree with everything you said....

except for...

BTW, that isn't Springsteen. It was Manfred Mann, a Brit band.

Springsteen actually wrote the song -- information here. It's just that Manfred Mann who made it into a top 40 hit. Last year I picked up Springsteen's Live in Dublin album (FANTASTIC album, and I'm not even a huge Springsteen fan), and he's got a total rearrangement of the song on it. I didn't even recognize it.

I've been reading all day, following the conversation....or trying to at least.

As far as jmh's lyrics question goes, I would agree with Bookwhore:

I would like to be able to say, "No", but the truth is yes, I do. I don't do it intentionally, but sometimes a song might have a beautiful melody or a terrific beat and if the lyrics are truly dreadful I can still enjoy the song, even if those lyrics speak to an issue that I am against on a moral level. Like I said, I notice the lyrics of a song last, and they're not really first and foremost in my mind when I'm enjoying a song.

I think the key is the word "intentional." I've had the thought several times that if Clay decided to sing songs about Devil Worship, would I still follow him? I think my answer would be "yeah" because it's hard to deny the voice.

As for the other discussion today, I was going to write a whole long post...and then merrieee's signature caught my eye:

'Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.' -Dr. Seuss

And I decided that I really didn't need to say much more than that.

But - I don't know sh*t!

Can we make this signature automatically for every member here? PWEEZE?!?!?

Sometimes it's the lyrics in a song that grabs me, sometimes it's the melody. I'm probably pulled in by the melody and then check out the lyrics. I think the Beatles are a perfect example. My brother was really the big Beatle fan. I really love a lot of their stuff, but sometimes I can be riding a long in the car singing along with a Beatle song at the top of my lungs, and stop myself, and I'll wonder, what the heck is this song about. Now, if I asked my brother about it, he could probably tell me some significant meaning that is symbolized in the lyrics and then it all makes sense, but I'll bet there are a lot of us children of the 60s singing along with those songs with no idea what they were trying to say with the lyrics.

I think in many ways, at least with some of those 60s songs, the best way to understand them was if you asked

so that your world was like this:

Hmmmm....maybe that would make the lyrics to ATD more palatable to some people? *g*

Yummy, yummy banner. Thanks cindilu2!!!!

:F_05BL17blowkiss: luckiest1 -- because I simply LURVE the FCA media pages! I've been a downloading fool lately, and it has been such a great resource for me.

Lyrics? What are those? I'm in the "as long as there's a great melody he could be singing about big butts and OPP and I wouldn't care" camp.

Hmmmm. I may need to rephrase that.

The venue is the Erie Civic Center Complex. Venue site is here.

There is nothing on their website for Clay, and I've seen confusion on which one of these particular venues he is playing. I'll update this post as more information is gleaned.

Venue is the Community Arts Center. Venue website is here.

Clay Aiken Saturday, December 15

Times

7:30 pm

Ticket prices

75.00 55.00 45.00

CHRISTMAS IN THE HEARTLAND

Featuring the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra

Tickets on sale Tuesday September 25 at 10 am

Purchase tickets here.

Seating chart is here.

The venue is the State Theater Center for the Arts. Venue site is here.

CLAY AIKEN

CHRISTMAS in the HEARTLAND

with the Chelsea Symphony

Since the stunningly close second-place finish on the second season of American Idol, Clay Aiken has gone on to create an inexplicable chemistry between him and his audience that has sparked the kind of fanatic devotion that has propelled him into the pop stratosphere. For his second State Theatre appearance, Clay Aiken will perform a selection of treasured Christmas classics, accompanied by the Chelsea Symphony from New York, in what is sure to be another inspirational performance in the intimate State Theatre.

Sponsored by N. Pugliese, Inc.

Sponsored by Starters Riverport

Sponsored by WFMZ Channel 69

Showtimes: Wed Dec 12th 2007, 8:00 PM $100.00/$70.00/$65.00

Information on Clay's show (includes link to purchase tickets online)

Seating Chart

Venue is the Mohegan Sun Casino. Venue website is here.

They do not have Clay on their website yet.

Information on Purchasing Tickets

Ticketmaster purchasing for this venue.

I'll update this post as information becomes available.

Venue is the Mid-Hudson Civic Center. Venue website is here. (They are redesigning their website).

It looks as if they use Ticketmaster for selling tickets. Ticketmaster for this venue here.

No seating chart as of yet.

I'll post more in this thread as information becomes available.

Venue is the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts. Venue site is here.

After a sold out performance last year, Clay Aiken returns to the F.M. Kirby Center for a holiday concert filled with all your favorites.

Backed by a full orchestra, Clay delivers night music not to be missed. There is no opening act for this concert.

Event times: 4 Dec 2007 (Tue)

7:00 PM

Ticket Information:

Over 600 tickets have already been sold.

Tickets are $40, $55 and $65 and on sale now at the Kirby Center Box Office, Ticketmaster, Gallery of Sound, Boscov's or by clicking on the buy tickets link at the bottom of this page.

Ticketmaster ticket auction for pit seating starts Wednesday September 19th at 10 am go to www.ticketmaster.com

Additional Information: Sponsored by PNC Bank

Purchase tickets here via Ticketmaster

Websites Seating Chart

Venue is the Fox Theater. Venue site is here.

The venue uses it's own ticketing system. There are many ways to buy tickets, however.

Seating chart is here.

I'll add more information as the show gets confirmed on their website.

I keep forgetting!!!!

:7254: amazed in nj!!!!