keepingfaith

Welcome back to the land of the living! I use IE8 at work and Google Chrome at home and both solved that problem for me.

Can't say as I'm surprised. I figured that no matter whose name was credited, Clay was running that show. He wasn't producing because that was, I suppose, International Media -- but it was Clay's show, and he had Ben directing the musicians, and Ruben and Quiana singing, and he put it on in his hometown, so Clay was directing EVERYTHING! Which increases my anticipation beyond what I can tolerate without thinking about it pretty much obsessively. I'm still perplexed by the track list printed on the LP not matching the 10 songs Amazon lists. Anyway, at least Suspicious Minds is on both. I had mused a couple of weeks or so back that I sure hoped SM was on the CD because it could be a killer single, and now that we know it's a track on the LP, I hope that's the case. I hope SM is the song he showcases on TV appearances to promote the album. I think Decca would be doing a disservice if they didn't release a single to download and promote it well in advance of LP release. Radio is so dead now. Besides, I want at least ONE song soon to BUY online and drool over and play a zillion times before June 1st!!!

You've reminded me now that OMWH had two different hard CD cover photos -- the regular one and bonus edition at Walmart!

Okay, now that's all I see -- whopped upside the head! This thing may not be done until we get it in our hands ... the CD, that is.

What's up with the track list? What's on the cover doesn't match the list on Amazon? No listing for Kind of Hush, or It's Impossible, but including Who's Sorry Now? Also, isn't 10 songs a little light for an album these days? 1. Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You 2. Mack The Knife 3. What Kind Of Fool Am I 4. Misty 5. It's Only Make Believe 6. Crying 7. Moon River 8. Suspicious Minds 9. Who's Sorry Now 10. Unchained Melody I think there's more "editing" to do .... but I love the cover and hope it doesn't change too much, other than a correct listing of the songs!

Don't run away ...... Shane! Come back, Shane! Good lord, I'm old. I immediately pictured young Brandon DeWilde running after Alan Ladd! I'd much rather picture Clay saddling up and blazing a trail...Sheesh! Senility sucks! keepingfaith now playing the part of Brandon DeWilde Alan Ladd portrayed by 00lsee, one of the kindest, friendliest people on the planet

Don't run away ...... Shane! Come back, Shane!

I hope everyone is surviving the .... :Tour4: I've never purchased ticket insurance, but it's offered by Ticketmaster: http://www.ticketmaster.com/insurance Not too sure about all of their "covered reasons" ... I've had good luck purchasing tickets from other fans who had to cancel, or had too many tickets, etc., so if you have a decent seat it's usually not hard to sell it around the boards. And ..... deyabird! One of the best things about FCA is that there's none of this stuff going on!

The AI Wednesday Night Clues: I think Hint 3 pretty much rules out Clay Aiken!

Hope you feel better soon. I'm home today too, nursing some nasty bruises from a fall in my garage. I'm just not as graceful as I never was before. Truly. Not only will I not commit suicide if it's not Clay, I can rationalize how it would be better for him to be on in May ... or how it could be best for Clay to boycott the whole damned show! I can be happy under any and all circumstances, actually, which makes life infinitely pleasant. But I can see AI pushing the Cluben tour since Ruben is still managed by 19 .... isn't he?

It isn't Clay fans that are feeling strung along. Actually, Clay fans seem to be a non-factor at IdolsNow. It was "A"rchuleta and "A"dam fans who were swarming last night, certain that it's their guy. Especially the Archuleta fans because he sang "Imagine" in his season and this is Lennon-McCartney week. It was Archie's fans grousing that they better not be getting jerked around! Anyway, one of the last clues last night was an "A" as the first or second letter in either the first or last name. That eliminated just about everybody BUT Clay since it says "either" and the others have the "A" in both first and last names. The next tweet was, "It could be both. MAYBE." Which could be a cover the ass tweet since it had been made clear earlier that Fox has embargoed the announcement. If it's Clay we'll all be happy, but I swear the Archie fans will be flailing about, because they seriously expect it to be their guy -- and hundreds of them started following IdolsNow yesterday. My hope is that it's Clay and more than musical guest, that he's the first Idol mentor. That would be most excellent. I think AI owes him some kind of FIRST!

High fives all around! I think it's visually intoxicating. CLAY is visually intoxicating.

I'm right there with ya, Clayzy

Add me to Biloxi.

That's kind of what I had in mind when I posted this last night at CH: The close-up made me breathless. What a handsome man he is! I don't see anything negative when I look at that face. In fact...those thoughtful-looking eyes have a glint of 'Just wait 'til I get you home'. And deceptively restful hands look like they'd make swift work taking off that snazzy peacock tie. The corner of his mouth lifts just slightly. 'Sure you wanna finish that pie, Honey?' What. ************************** And this morning, my thought is, 'Sure you wanna finish that toast, Honey?' Hey, he'd stay for breakfast, right? LOL I love you, 00lsee I'm thinking railway car, but if you look at the Examiner article, the pic doesn't really match either one. Had cindilu's high-res up on my computer this morning and my son was looking at it. I asked him if he thought that was a diner or a railcar. He said he thought it looked like a diner at the train station. Such a politician. Gotta say that I LOVE the peacock tie. And the white jacket. And the enigmatic face. I find it all daring and brilliant. I laughed at the <STEREO> designation, what a mini-time machine! There are people who don't like it, you say. Who the fuck cares?

Thanks cindilu, that's PERFECT! Must say that the only twinge of disappointment this morning is realizing that In My Life isn't on the track list. Guess I'll have to wait for the PBS DVD! I'm thinking that Eso Beso, You Don't Have to Say You Love Me, In My Life and Buttercup will be sharp and enticing hooks to pay the big bucks for the PBS offering. And then there are the bonuses for the online download sites -- and I'd be willing to bet that iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody will have different bonus tracks that you get only through full album download. On the Amazon site, in the second block I clicked "Visit Clay Aiken's Amazon Store" and they have all the covers thrown up on the page for quick comparison. And most of his music is available for MP3 download. If that's always been there, then I've missed it. But it's all looking hot to me. My love for Tried & True is growing stronger by the day. And Clay's hair is spot on to the late 50's and very early 60's. I wonder if they found some Brylcreem or Vitalis (cause you wouldn't want Clay using the "greasy kid stuff" would ya?)!

The whole style of the cover is great retro art and looks to me like something Warhol could have done in the 60's. Clay has the dreamiest look on his face. And how authentic is the track list on the cover (that includes Suspicious Minds)! Okay I stared at it about a minute at its zoomiest, and I wish I could get a vinyl. I love it.

OMG Biloxi! I was praying for Beau Rivage!

Taken from MSNBC site this morning: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36126063/ The sales to date are in tiers: Clarkson and Underwood, Clay and Daughtry, Fantasia and Ruben, followed by Archuleta, Cook, Sparks and Pickler. Season 5 has neither a winner nor a runner-up in the Top 10. Note: Ruben may call it "The Timeless Tour with Ruben and Clay" -- but Ticketmaster and the Silver Legacy called it ... "Clay Aiken." This will probably be a source of banter material for the tour.

At least we now know that this is more than a three week tour and other areas will be getting shows. I thought Ruben was fine last night, and although I thought the song he sang wasn't all that, at least he can sing. Watching Usher and Diddy wasn't so enjoyable. I like Usher, but he needs to quit the Michael Jackson copycat thing. He's not Michael and he suffers from the comparison he's forcing when it's so obvious and he falls so short. Diddy? He's still attempting a music career? I thought he'd finally faced reality. Strobe lights, posing dance-models, auto-tune and desperate ego do not a career make. Maybe both would have fared better if Ruben hadn't gone first, exhibiting real vocal skills and setting the bar. Anyway, Rube looked great, and healthy, and happy. Seacrest brought up the tour with Clay. And Ruben said July to September, Timeless Tour, etc. and Seacrest said, "The Claymates will be happy," which I thought was rather a strange thing to say to Ruben, who quickly included his own fans among the happy. I don't have strong feelings one way or another about the AI people, but Ryan Seacrest's interview skills are raggedy, and the shadowboxing with Simon is tiresome and lacks comic flair or real drama, whatever it's supposed to be. Anyway, the real comedy is that AI purports to be about singing, yet they have these recording "superstars" come on and demonstrate that they can't carry a tune in a bucket. So what's it all about, Alfie?

There was a Clay mention at the beginning of the show. Ryan came out and asked the audience to shout out for the one they love the most. After the shouts he said, I heard "Clay Aiken" and "Simon" - now that's bizarre. Then he said something like, Ohhhh SIMON yelled Simon, that makes sense. I'm really looking forward to hearing Ruben next week. I didn't watch the last half of the show and missed that part, so YAY! A "Clay" and a "Ruben" mention in the same night on Idol? In the history of that show, those are the only two finalists who really loved each other and both were hugely lovable to the public. That after seven years they are so close is an amazing story.

I'm getting this upsurge of anticipation lately. If the album drops on June 1, can't we expect to hear a single from it very soon? I go over and over the song list in my mind, and have changed my mind several times about what could be a winning single -- at first I thought MTK, and I do heart that song, but right now Suspicious Minds has my attention. Since I wasn't at the taping, I have no idea how he sang it in Raleigh ... if it was similar in style and tempo to JBT or another arrangement altogether, but that's a song that I believe could get a radio hearing with the right arrangement. Actually, whatever song is released in advance of the album should be a winner at iTunes! Cool ride LJ!

Didn't Clay play the Verona casino during the Lord of the Manor Tour? Joyful Noise Not-a-Tour? Big Banter Tour? .. that Tour in 2006 when he wore tight pants and long hair and sang Christmas songs and used words like ... crotch?

YAY for a wonderful review! luckiest1, I'm assuming that one of those certain words is "schmaltz" and I've long been a self-described lover of schmaltz, and require a certain amount of it mixed in with my r&b, rock, Americana and funk. Many of my favorites have been labeled schmaltz: The Moody Blues, James Taylor, and Tchaikovsky, for three off the top of my head. I love them all. Of course, some may intend it as a put-down, as in ...

Wasn't it Mark Twain who said, 'the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco?' I can relate. I went to a new school in the 4th grade and the girl who befriended me on my first day became my best friend for life. We were inseparable. Her birthday was January 8th, and every year she reminded me that she shared a birthday with Elvis Presley. Beth died suddenly with meningitis a month into our senior year in high school. The annual news reports of the anniversary of "Elvis's birthday" always stop me in my tracks.