ldyjocelyn

Here's what I don't get about the angst about the new album: let's say it is Barry Manilow Redux entirely on the album. AND -- it's something that Clay will put on a public face and say "it's wonderful" when he really hates the fact that he had to do this. Worst case scenario for many of the fans.

But in the end, only one thing matters -- sales. If the sales are there (and I really believe they will), he'll get a chance for ANOTHER album. He'll have learned a lesson in dealing with record companies, and then he'll try again with ANOTHER album. If the album ISN'T what I've speculated above...he'll still get ANOTHER album.

The feeling of doom and gloom I get is the fact that some want him to be the biggest rock star in the world RIGHT THIS SECOND. As much as it has been 3 years since MoAM, he's really still fairly new in the business. To create a career in the business, he's got to go through a learning process, and he'll get there. I know he will.

Another thing that I've read on a blog or two -- that Clay, being 27 years old, "doesn't have a very long window in order to record that rock album and get the kids his age." I call BS on that...and I also call it reverse age discrimination. That's putting Clay in a box as much as putting all Clay fans into the middle-aged housewife box. I don't see why Clay can't put out a rocking album when he's 35 or 40 years old. I suppose the fear is the AI/karaoke/crooner stigma if he does ballads now, but again, I just don't worry about that. Maybe I'm a pessimist in that regard, but he's always going to have that. Always. He could record the Rolling Stones and he'd still be called a crooner, IMO. YMMV.

skatejoy, I'm neither a Bublehead or a Claymate...but I'm a fan of both too. Sad I missed Buble on DWTS.

Gosh I feel like I do my best writing early in the morning after only 1 cup of coffee. Go me!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! He blogged...I'm soooooo happy.

Love songs. Not too crazy about them...heh. Seriously, I think this is a wonderful theme, and I will be incredibly happy with it.

I love him. Thanks Clay. You'll always be my valentine -- just don't tell the husband.

Happy Valentine's Day FCA!!!!!

I'm afraid that one night I'm going to have a nightmare that the entire Clay Nation is trying to collectively breastfeed him.

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

That would end my quest to remain sane, I just know it.  That particular quest has its own problems anyway.

Dear, you're sane if you're here hanging out with us.

I don't know whether to give more cosmopolitans to Kandre and bottlecap or cut them off. They're both way fun, though.

No board people please, only crazies post on message boards. Nope, must not be a fan. Perhaps if we go to Mongolia, before the polka album is released, we can find some women who don't know about Clay.

Aw man, you're no fun.

Hey, wait a minute...I post on fanboards. Are you implying that I'm crazy?

Seriously, I think this would be good to use fans...the catfights alone would make it wildly entertaining. Blinkie hearts being ripped off heads, rainbow pins being stomped on, angel wings being torn to shreds, "Where's Waldo?" books being burned...hee. And in the corner would be couchie and her buddy kandre, watching the entire proceedings. (Although I would watch out for kandre, she likes to stomp in her stillettos...)

Wonder what John d. would do to my mess of hair!!

As long as he doesn't put lotion on it, he'll do wonderfully. *g*

I was all ready to submit my application, with details of my "dream" date.  How about a three day krispy kreme and sprite fueled bender where Clay and I relentlessly torment Kelly about her Grammy dress nip slip, keep sending Nick out to the grocery store to track down exotic flavors of Hot Pockets ("Macaroni and kumquat, dude - I swear I've seen them at the Piggly Wiggly), post rumors at the Guarainacs website ("Justin will be appearing at Berneke's Supper Club in Kalamazoo on the 18th of February"), and get Clay's friend Jimmy to does his Jay Leno impression on Conan's voicemail ("Hey, this is Jay.  I've thought it over, and I've changed my mind.  Not only I am not retiring, I've convinced NBC to expanded The Tonight Show to two hours.  Sorry, buddy.  I guess you're out of luck.")

No?  Oh, well....

BWAH!!!!!!

Ansa -- thanks. There is NO WAY Clay is going to have things perfectly in his career, and I really do think that so many people want "Prince Clay" to have things just so. It's something the fans are going to have to learn.

I forgot in my earlier post...back to something from Friday/Saturday.

If Flavor Flav can have "Flavor of Love," I definitely think that Clay could have "Aiken for Love." One representative from each Clay Aiken fan board would be selected to live in the mansion with Clay (and yes, I'd include the ClayDawgs. *g*). One person a week would go through several tests -- the Faye test, the JFL test, the Nick test, the John D test, the "can you handle the media pressure test" and so on. By the end of 26 weeks (hey, there's a LOT of Clay boards out there, it'd take a WHILE), Clay's new best friend/partner/lover would be picked. I'd bet my money on the FCA board, whose representative, Couchie, would make Clay so ding-danged happy.

Whatever happened to the idea that we aren't Clay's collective mother, and that we don't need to fight his battles (assuming there even is one) for him?   

Ah, but...IMO...the training started with AI2. The fans had to vote, VOTE, VOTE to keep him in the show. Then, when he didn't get the title, we had to buy, BUY, BUY to prove that people wanted him around. I have a theory that these fighting skills never truly went away, they just lay dormant for a while.

But then, the tabloid thing happened...but there was nothing to really do about it. At the same time though, the hurt/anger was there, festering inside several. When the "info" about the CD came out -- a ha! Something to rally against! The evil Clive Davis.

*shrug*

I don't feel it either. I'm not his mother. He's a man. If a mistake is made, either on Clay's end or because RCA messes it up, he'll deal. Honestly, he will. He'll pick himself up, dust himself off, and start all over again. He won't leave.

I suppose that suggesting that Clay appear on "What Not to Wear," with guest stylist John Dahlstrom, is a bit too easy?

I've got it! He needs to be a guest judge on "Iron Chef America!" The secret ingredient will be chocolate...no wait...um...mushrooms...um no....um....Cinnamon Toast Crunch! Yeah! That's it. I'd love to see what Bobby Flay can make with that!

Oh, and Clay would have to sing a song from his new album every time a new dish was served him. Singing for his supper, as it were.

Hey gang!

RL has been getting in the way for me lately -- I'd procrastinated on a work project long enough, and it had to be finished THIS WEEK. It's mostly done, now...so I have time to EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I am NOT worried about this album. At all. My opinion of Clay and covers is this: I tend to think of Clay as a bit of a perfectionist. If he has new songs presented to him that are not up to his standards, he'll look at covers. Many artists use covers, and many have made them "their own" and had hits from them. (Right off the top of my head, I've been hearing Alanis Morrisette's cover of Seal's "Crazy" a lot lately). Also, I think some people don't realize that several songs a person grew up with were covers. I know I was surprised to hear "Some Kind of Wonderful" by Grand Funk Railroad in the 70's, only to discover that it was originally recorded in the 50's.

I look forward to this new album, and want to celebrate it. Someone -- anyone -- please join me in the "It's all good" car!

I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that he blogged twice in one night...but I still love it.

The second blog made me much more excited than the first one. "Open your mind" -- so many possibilities with this one challenge (I see it as such). He's prepping the fans for whatever may come...rock, ballads, opera, jazz, country, CCM, rap, and yes, even Mongolian polka.

I'm ready. Bring it dude.

I'm one of those people who has a real hard time watching Clay's early stuff...overwrought is a great term for his singing during many of the performances. Sure, I can see the Clay we know today in those performances, but the heavy duty melissma just makes me turn off right quick. (I'm very glad he's learned somewhat to tone that down...although he still does it a bit much for my taste every once in a while.) So, therefore, I watched the Charlotte audition once, and never again.

Don't shoot me, but I also thought he looked TERRIBLE in that audition too. I NEVER saw the cute there.

Ansa, I think you are probably right in the fact that he only did Charlotte because of Diane. Do we really know, though, if he went to Atlanta totally because of his own desires? I was thinking Diane had something to do with that too.

Are we discussing ALL the audition episodes? Because I only have the episode with Clay, Kim, Ruben, Vanessa, and Corey.

Let's see, I watched this episode about a week and a half ago...what can I come up with?

1) First of all, I didn't see "Take" the first time either. So don't feel bad Ansa. Having said that...I watched Clayton in this episode, and could see the Clay we know today there. Kinda buried, I suppose, but he's there. Actually, now that I think about it...maybe Clayton is buried in the Clay we see today. The lip bite, things like that, those are still there to this day. I like that.

2) I know Randy today talks out of both sides of his mouth. However, I can never forget that he's the one that said "yes."

3) There's a guy who sings "Always and Forever" not 10 minutes later in the episode. I bet he felt terrible after watching Clay's performance. (And the guy even made it to Hollywood!)

4) I loved Vanessa. Quirky is good, in my book.

5) Ruben's voice was smooth. Watching again, though, with the history of the show behind it now...he really didn't change all that much, did he?

6) Corey Clark was smarmy. Even then. Icky.

7) KLo knocked it out of the park.

That's all I can come up with now. Maybe more later.

I too would LOVE to contribute to a review of the AI2 season. I truly enjoyed at least one performance by almost every person on that show...and the medleys were so much fun. I also loved those cheesy Ford commercials -- I mean, c'mon. The "Ride Wit Me" commercial was classic.

Count me in...just let me know where and when.

I love Clay Aiken -- so very much.

Title thread suggestion: Where We Belong

couchie, I like the idea of the AI2 review, but not exactly sure what you are wanting. Are you just talking summaries of the episodes? Reviews and commentaries from members of FCA? Since I'm going through the episodes and marking chapter points on them to burn my DVD's, I'm willing to at least be a part of it.

Watched Clay's portion of the Motown episode last night. "Girl you start the flame..." Gah. I remember watching that episode, and saying to myself, "What was THAT?"

I loved the Oprah hair so much I have it on my Shutterfly calendar.

Which Oprah hair are you talking about? The TITN (which I thought was kinda cute, in a dorky sort of way), or the IWCY (which was cool, if a bit dark IMO)?

Hmmmm...I'm thinking we need to start talking about the socks next. Or the shoes. Or the shirts. Or something.

I've been rewatching the AI2 series...man, what a kid he was there. The hurl faces he was making on Wilcard results night were priceless. At the end...I think the only person on that couch who didn't know he was America's choice was Clay Aiken himself. Hee.

Can I EEEEEEE! a little bit about actually hearing INVISIBLE on the radio this morning?  I work in a cubical dealy, so I don't have the volume on my radio turned up very loud.  The opening chords of Invisible came through loud and clear though, so I turned that sucker up and silently squeed to myself.  It made me realize how anxious I am to start hearing Back For More or another new kick-ass single on the radio the radio the radio.  And soon, please!

Hey...I forgot about something. I was shopping at my local mall last night for some baby gifts. I walked into Famous Barr, a nice department store....and I walked in on the middle of "Without You" being played over the store speakers! That put a smile on my face for the rest of the night.

I'm an "old fogey" (ha ha) who still loves listening to the radio, so I too am anxiously awaiting hearing Clay on my radio soon. The thrill of it gets me every time. I love it!

ldyjocelyn and couchie, I can do the calendar for $30. a year with a ten year contract. Penalty for early cancellation. That would definitely keep the OFC going for ten more years.

BWAH!

Right now my hair looks so bad I would be glad to have John fix it up, but I hate a lot of product. I'll bet Clay is just happy to have someone fix his hair so it stays out of his eyes.

*looks in mirror*

*decides to never pick on Clay's hairstyle again*

Tell me about it.  I've been working on my Shutterfly calendar for three damn days... finally I just decided to go look at other poeple's and steal their photos.  Thanks ldyjocelyn!   So my only question is it says the photos isn't high resolution enough should I pick another.  I have 6 that I'm using that is giving me a big old warning sign.  But I want them whine whine whine.

You're welcome. I've read that the pictures that give you the warning will be fine. I never had it happen to me, because I used computer wallpapers that were a great size in my calendars.

So Fear, you better patent your talking calendar idea...sounds like this is what most Clay fans want - and can you do it for $30? Snerk.

Heh. I think that would be the perfect idea to get the fan club naysayers to renew their memberships.

Regarding the hair, which is always the eternal question to a Clay Aiken fan -- I have a theory that he had the hair short during the JBT for one reason only...he was performing in the summer, outdoors, and it would be cooler temperature wise. In the winter, he wants that extra length to keep his head warm. You know, the guy who wears how many undershirts? I like the short look a lot...but I also like it longer but natural. Eh...it's just hair. I even kinda liked the mohawk. *blows raspberry at couchie*

Most of my house has NOTHING of Clay around -- I think my husband would kill me. *g* But my office at home -- heh. The showpiece is the RCA publicity photo with Clay in those nice jeans, the white shirt, skinny black tie and black jacket -- blown up to poster size (thanks to Shutterfly) and framed. It is gorgeous. My bulletin board in my room also has all my name tags from various Clayfan parties, one of my Shutterfly calendars (the other is in my office at work -- and they are two different calendars, easy way to use more pictures, get that couchie?), and several assorted pictures that I've mostly gotten as prizes at gatherings.

Now, where my Clay stash is stored is a different matter. I'm in the midst of cleaning said office, and my husband and I are going to invest in archival boxes for most of it. Then, it will be put in my closet in that room...which is outfitted with lots of shelves. I just have to get organized -- my resolution for the year. Heh.

So, I'm probaby the opposite of Ansa...for I have multiples of almost everything! I tend to buy at least two of stuff -- one to "use" and one to "keep for archival purposes" (ie, sell on Ebay in 15 years. *g*)

I'm pleased that I've got stuff from Singapore -- a poster and a couple of MOAMs. I also lucked into finding a 6 pack of the AI Season 2 Coca Cola bottles...at my LOCAL FREAKIN' WALMART! And this was after I had bought two mail order at inflated prices!

I also feel like I'm a member of the "weird magazine of the month" club sometimes...what with all the different issues that I've bought copies from online. "Hits Magazine", etc.

Does anyone here have an autograph? I'm pleased to say...I do now. musicmama of the CH is a total sweetheart -- for she sent me a signed MCWL from her M&G! I love her so very much....

The past few days I have been listening to my complete Clay playlist. I start with Clay in HS doing Kansas City and end with JNT...although I havent uploaded the last shows songs. It is great to listen to his development. One thing I noticed is how smooth his voice was in AI...but it didn;t have as much character and passion as it does now.

I've been doing something very similar. I've finally gotten software easy enough for me to learn how to make my own DVD's, so I'm getting around to burning Clay's AI episodes. And of course, I have to watch them again to get the chapter points in the correct spots. Anyway, I worked on the Group 2 performance episode last night, and just kept thinking that the kid I was watching had now turned into this unbelievable man. There's the physical transformation, sure...but more to it than that. The maturation just pours out of him now...in those AI episodes IMO, he seems so young, eager...and maybe a bit scared. Today, watching him...he's so confident and assured. When I sit down to think of this, I'm simply floored.

I am so amazed at his performance during the last show of JNT2005. His voice was a bit ragged...but he gave it his all showing passion and courage in his performance. I think the last half of that show will be my current Favorite. I thought Raleigh was but he even topped himself with this. And ending with WADNYE...was just a fantastic way to end the tour. What great instincts he has!

I too thought nothing could top the Raleigh show. The joy in his voice (coming over the cellcert) was palpable. But...this last show came through, and Entertainer! Clay! came out to play. WADNYE was a stroke of genius. Stroke of something, anyway...

Anyone up for some smut? *g*

I will miss him...I hope he does take a good rest cos I think the coming year could be the biggest one yet..I cannot WAIT!!!!

I feel that Clay could use a few weeks to recharge after this tour...and frankly, I think at least some of us fans could use this too. I know I need it -- time to get some priorities again. I love Clay with my whole heart, and love that he's given me a really fun hobby, some new computer skills (never thought I would be able to burn DVD's ever), and some great friends. But...he's not my be-all and end-all. Gotta keep remembering that...and my husband keeps reminding me of that too. *g*

Having said that...I think 2006 will be huge for Clay...he will redefine his own pop-star once again. And I'll be around, back for more.

Since I found out the pics were sent to the ususual suspects (People, EW, etc) I haven't given up hope either or both will be published.  I wonder if they sent a copy to the pub house that owns TV Guide?  They sure do seem to like them some Clay Aiken.  I got a kick out of the boombox photo.  Quirky.  I like Quirky! Clay!

I'm crossing my fingers on this too. I think one of these pictures will end up somewhere...my guess is People. They've loved him a lot lately too.

I LOVE the TV Guide photoshoot! That last picture that was printed a few weeks ago made me LOL...and turned me on at the same time. What gives?

But then I pretty much like quirky period.  Once someone gets to know me, it becomes readily apparent why. 

I KNEW there was a reason I liked you so much!

Happy birthday txflwrgrl!

Well golly -- where is everybody? Are y'all still dead from the concert last Friday night?

I'm so sorry I missed all the excitement live...it sounds like it would have been wonderful to spend time with you all, EEEEEE-ing over WAYDNYE. Did that not kill or what? I love that Clay left the fans, all the fans, with a special gift that evening.

The love in the theater was palpable that night. Everyone on that stage was in a good mood...or a bittersweet mood. Probably both. Anyway, I watched the clack of the introductions last night when I got home, and was hooting and hollering along with the crowd. Scared my husband, who was in the basement. Ooops.

bottlecap, continue on with your penguin love. I think I like giraffes now...

Happy belated birthday to buzzie. You are a wonderful photographer -- thank you for sharing your talents with us.

I seem to have read somewhere...like maybe the introduce yourself thread...that strummer6 has been seen. Come out, come out, wherever you are! And the same with all you other lurkers -- come party!

Clay, thank you for a wonderful year last year, and I am looking forward to many more good years to come. You are a treasure to me. That, and a wonderful source of laughter and fun. Thanks.

EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! strummer is in the house! Glad to see you here -- welcome!

Welcome to all who may dwell here...come visit the main thread. You'll be glad you did. *g*

I am really missing him already...

And on that note...I must go. I miss him too. Fortunately, there is clack.

Welcome clayforever -- come join us on the main board!

OMG...I am crying here...this is the second to the last GN!!!! I am going to miss this song...this show!!!

I know...this is my last one for the year. I miss this song already.

I found out the other day that my husband likes the song GN -- he doesn't like CC music much at all, so this a major development. *g*

Sorry bottlecap about missing the end.