keepingfaith

Okay, I'll bite. Where was Simon dissing Clay?

Clay was gorgeous on Nightline. The highlight for me was the story about Idol calling Elton John and convincing them to "let the boy sing" DLTSGDOM! That accounts for 2 of my favorite Clay performances on Idol ever, ever, ever --- Wildcard and AI5. LdyJ, I'm sharing WOTW with you. My other favorites are OMWH - the song, and the whole thing. I love the bonus songs. I'll never think of It's in Every One of Us as "The Muppet Song" because I never heard the Muppets sing it. John Denver sang it, and Freddie Mercury sang it, and they sang it for the Finale at LiveAid. But I never heard the Muppets sing it. IF, TPTB had come to me and said, "kf, you've heard the CD, which one should be choose for the single? If they had forced me to choose by threatening Guantanamo, I'd probably say Where I Draw the Line. But the one I enjoy listening to the most right now is Forget I Ever Knew You. I think that song is HOT!!! My sister has an Amazon copy of OMWH and when she heard FIEKY she had to go to Walmart and buy another copy. It has the same U2 texture that I get from WOTW, but FIEKY has a New Year's Day flavor. Then there's my constant earworm and fave phrase of the album: If it's all I do I'll get free 'cause You've taken everything, Everything I don't need. I FLOVE that!!! I'm crazy about it. Moving on, I came of age with the Moog Synthesizer. I love a good vocoder section, well placed, and it works beautifully in Falling. I think it's well done. Okay, I'm going to stop this futile exercise. I'm a double Libra with Gemini rising and there is no satisfactory way for me to pick personal favorites among 14 of my most loved songs ever. Anybody else getting off to that fresh paint smell of opening the new CDs? I may need to buy a few more just for the fumes. My opinion about Idol is that they don't want Clay Aiken stealing the show again. The last time he was on he completely overshadowed the rest of the Finale, and the naming of the new idol was an anti-climax. I'll never forget Hicks' interview on ET the next night when Mary Hart gushed, "So, Taylor, did you get to meet Clay?!" But that picture of Bodyguard Aaron on MySpace with the caption, "my homey about to piss off a lot of people" is still in my mind. If Idol was "moving on" then what's the deal with having Bo Bice, Kim Locke and Elliot Yamin on the show this year. Who's next, Justin Guarini to sing Unchained Melody? CLAYZORBACK!!! :F_05BL17blowkiss: I'm late, so go ahead and celebrate all week. Happy Birthweek!!! Party on!!

I'm pretty familiar with Neil Diamond. I saw him in concert in 1967 if that tells you anything! He was huge in his day and his concerts were legendary, but I just don't see it now. It's like Tony Bennett being No. 1 -- and Tony Bennett is a shadow of what he once was. This has to be a nostalgia / sympathy buy for people. His voice left town a long time ago -- unless Rubin has "enhanced" it. It's like Elton John -- nobody was bigger than Elton in the 70's and certainly not Neil Diamond, but Elton's last effort was nowhere near No. 1. There's another dynamic going on here, I'm just not sure what it is. Well, QVC has not yet shipped my order. And Amazon has only shipped two out of my four orders to my family. But I got Walmart today!!!

It may not be next year or the year after -- but it's coming and soon: There will be no record companies -- no distributors -- no moguls and gatekeepers. There will be artists creating and marketing their product directly from the internet and the artists will keep the money. It's already starting with things like the last Radiohead online release. Who knows how this will all be configured, but it's coming. Established artists will be able to press CDs and have download sites, while newbies and marginal artists will be strictly downloads. I don't know the ins and outs, but it will happen. The middle man is on his way to the showers. The decision makers will be the artist and his management team.

Here's the HDD article -- and I wonder about it sometimes. They are NEVER wrong -- or at least the final numbers seem to always match the first day projections. Yesterday I check HDD for Madonna's final numbers and there were no updates all day long. Nothing. Until the FINAL was posted in late afternoon and the numbers were exactly those projected - same with the #2 and #3 positions. I think the final numbers will match the projections NO MATTER WHAT. I don't get the whole thing about Neil Diamond. He hasn't had a hit in nearly 30 years. So why the big push for Neil Diamond? Because the great, iconic producer Rick Rubin is involved. Yes, he's been working on Neil Diamond and Metallica! (???????????) I have to say that Rubin is selling this record more than Neil Diamond -- and I thought Diamond sucked on Idol -- his voice went south a long time ago. But Rick Rubin must be bowed down to, don't you know? I agree that the "fear of competition" drumbeat I heard recently was all about Groban and DeGraw and 2nd week Madonna. What are the chances that Rick Rubin may be buying 100,000 copies of Neil's CD to maintain his reputation as a living legend producer! Just a thought ... because the Neil Diamond deal baffles me.

When it comes to EIDN, just call me Baby Mama. And I'm mulling over having a full-blown affair with the bridge of The Real Me. When it comes to Clay, my morals may be ... flexible. I'm willing to give Kipper the BJ of a lifetime for this. I think it will take me at least a couple of days to settle down enough to be able to discuss this album in PG-13 terms.

Being sober helps too! You can get a decent pair of Sony headphones for 50 bucks at Best Buy.

Ya'll weren't already gone? I've been gone for a good long while now.

I love that video on the roof. Our guy is a Broadway Superstar after a 4-month replacement run!!! And Hannah called him a natural comedian and a great actor. His Broadway buzz will live on, and I would be surprised if there's not a musical comedy being written especially for him right now. One day, one hour ......

I don't see a review of OMWH at the Washington Post. All I see is Madonna. Could this be a "review" from an online blogger at WP? They have a few of those stringers for the online editions and I think that's where the questions about Clay attending the "Commission" meetings came from and I don't think it was ever in the print editions. Which reminds me -- does anybody other than me remember someone asking Clay about that commission at a M&G last summer, and he said that it was a "joke" -- meaning IMO that it was a waste of time and just window-dressing instead of having any real impact or meaning. It wasn't a paid position, only an advisory one. If he felt his advice was going nowhere ... why waste his time? Clay never did any pivoting or hornblowing from that appointment, and the only time I remember him being asked about it publicly was on Kimmel, and he downplayed it with a joke. With too many people like "Hell of a job, Brownie" getting big government paychecks and doing absolutely nothing in catastrophic circumstances -- how dare anyone criticize Clay for foregoing meaningless, advisory committee meetings fronted by party regulars with no intention of doing a damn thing other than fostering illusions of engagement. I think Clay saw the political scam and wasn't interested.

00lsee, you stated it perfectly. I expected some sadness last Sunday night, but that show was beyond my dreams and the state of elation hasn't ebbed. Nothing but pure joy, and that joy can never be taken away. I could ask for nothing more. I don't think I could have handled more emotion. The cup runneth over -- and not just for KAndre and LOTL! *g* As far as the leaked download -- there are those who believe it is done intentionally these days. I remember in 2006 that we had the entire ATDW available as a Clear Channel Sneak Peak for ten days before the drop date, and while it wasn't downloadable and did have an annoying voiceover, still it was there for however many visit Clear Channel websites, and I'm sure the peer-to-peers had it available as soon as it was released, if not sooner. I haven't run into a link for the OMWH download, so it must involve some sleuthing, or knowing somebody who's forwarding the link. I can't imagine that it's widespread. Of course, maybe everyone has it already and I'm pulling up the rear again -- but, I want that CD with his gorgeous picture on it in my hands, and I want to hear the songs with kbps at CD levels. Downloads, even the iTunes downloads, don't compare to CD quality.

I'm loving the recaps. At this point it's all about the Clay love at Spamalot. And where I sit, I'm all about the Clay love and I want a whole new album of new Clay music and I want it in 52 hours or else. I'm seldom demanding, but this is different. I can't wait much longer. My expectations are through the roof and I normally don't do expectations - but this isn't normal circumstances and I'm not normal right now and I want this music in a couple of days or I'm going to go crazy. I'm totally jonesing for Clay Aiken's voice right now. Just knowing the CDs are in the mail, and maybe they could come Monday and then it would even be sooner than 51 hours and 51 minutes, good God! I need to be sedated.

Me too, me too, merrieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I'm so happy for Clay right now. The Spamalot run has been unbelievable, but I'm ready for it to be over and get on with OMWH and Clay all over my TV. EEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I think the 4 month run was perfect for Clay's debut on Broadway. He got his feet wet, was able to stretch and surprise himself, and now he has garnered credibility and respect -- and what's more he was a popular success. I'll bet the cast will be sorry to see him go. I had a daydream moment of Clay returning one day to play King Arthur. He could kill on All Alone. I wrote earlier about my encounter with the Spamalot fan who works at the neighborhood Starbucks. When he heard me tell the cashier I was on my way to NY to see Spamalot he walked over to tell me what a big Spamalot fan he is -- and that he saw it last year on Broadway, and has the soundtrack in his car. He told me that "Clay Aiken is in Spamalot now" and I gave him the old "do tell? you mean the American Idol guy?" response. When I saw him again this week I went over to tell him how much I loved Spamalot, and he asked me "How was Clay Aiken?" I of course told him that Clay was hilarious and fantastic in the part of Robin and that the entire cast was incredibly funny and talented. I didn't want to make my comments completely Claycentric, but HIS response was ... "I read where he was really good in it and I wish I could have seem him." Another guy behind the counter asked him, "Who?" and he said, rather loudly, "Clay Aiken, he's in Spamalot on Broadway now." The dude, mid-twenties and a typical Starbucks barrista, must have said Clay Aiken ten times before I got out of there. Next week I'm asking him if he has the new Clay Aiken CD.

I guess promo just ain't what it used to be because with the gigantic Madonna promo that's been churning on for what seems like a couple of months, I would have guessed a much bigger debut for her than under 300,000. The economy is in the toilet, people are spending entertainment dollars on gasoline, and that's that. The downturn is industry-wide for concert ticket sales and CD sales. Fortunately for Clay, he does have a built-in fanbase and it won't hurt a bit to have this CD front and center at the stores for Mother's Day sales this month. It occurs to me that with such a mediocre return on investment for the "Divas" -- because Madonna, Mariah, and Leona Lewis were promoted to the level of ridiculous -- that Clay Aiken, being an artist who can deliver with little or no promo at all, would be among the hottest of commodies in the current atmosphere. FROM HDD: I'm so excited for everyone in NYC this weekend for Spamalot. This has been a win-win-win for Clay, and I'm sure Broadway hasn't seen the last of him. I think he's having a wonderful time in his life right now. It's been five years since Idol, and he's now at a place where doors are opening because he's Clay Aiken the recording star, and not because he was a reality TV star -- maybe one day it will stop being mentioned. But then I suppose Judy Garland had to talk about The Wizard of Oz for the rest of her life. I remember seeing her on a talk show in the 60's and after all her triumphs she was still having to answer questions about the Munchkins.

That abc interview with Clay is wonderful. I'm not going to say a word, but I read this in a review of Madonna's "Hard Candy" while over there ... http://blogs.abcnews.com/allan_raible/2008...w-madonnas.html That bolded part made me think of someone close to my heart.

I just saw this in a Google Alert: http://news.lalate.com/2008/05/02/celebrit...out-clay-aiken/ ETA: As far as concerns over the CD running out of steam after one or two weeks -- remember Music Pass in June! Who knows what he has up his sleeve. I've been of the impression that they are going for more long-term promotion on this instead of the wham-bam-thank-you-maam approach. EATA: Hey, I'm an Executive Producer! And I guess I have been for 18 or so posts -- not that I'm slow, but I am the non-observant type, apparently.

Music from The American Songbook that Clay talked about last summer? I Like Big Butts?

I'm going to weigh in with my opinion of reviews and then bow out of it -- at least for a while. In the new era, the new music paradigm, music critics are totally irrelevant whether they love it, hate it, or feel it's a mixed bag, because the music buying public is on the internet -- and if I'm interested in somebody's album I'll listen to samples at iTunes, Real, Amazon, etc. -- or listen to the whole album on Rhapsody. I don't have to take the word of anybody anymore. No one else does either. Music critics have expired. Their "sell by" date was the 20th Century.

"Well now" may not be marriage material, jmh. I have a feeling that even polygamy couldn't keep "well now" under control. A seductive gigolo if I ever heard one!!!

No problem! I think I'll have a moment myself.

Heidi! I hope you're feeling well, and I look forward to sharing many more good times with you!! I couldn't agree more with your last sentence. I'm not susceptible to being brought down by anything said by anyone -- and especially people posing/posting as music critics -- because I keep listening to EIDN from the Walmart samples -- and hearing him say that "well now" -- somebody may need to scrape me off the ceiling. Oh, baby! And I love the way he says "phone" and "alone" and everything else he says. That's Clay? That's Clay Aiken? You bet your sweet bippy it is!

I went over to OFC to check out the new pictures -- and there will be a new t-shirt for sale in the store tomorrow.

I really hated the VH1 comment about how Clay wouldn't threaten Ryan Tedder since it took him 7 months to write the lyrics to LAA. I do remember Clay saying he put off doing anything with LAA for seven months, but when he did sit down to write the lyrics he did it in a blazing 15 minutes in his LA hotel room. I didn't dream that, did I? Clay was never once critiqued as pitchy on AI. What this proves once again is .... same old drumroll .... you just can't rely on the media, print or electronic, for the truth about music, government, sports, or a traffic accident. They're lazy and they have agendas. You have to dig and verify, and even then so many of the jake-leg journalists just truth-stamp each other, so good luck to us in getting past the bullshit, and reiterations of jaundiced information. These days I'm finding more veracity in a few of the blogs than in the ridiculous spewings of mainstream media. It's beyond pitiful. We're on our own. ETA: And another thing. I don't get why it's always Clay who can't sing Timberlake, or Clay who can't sing Daughtry. JT and Daughtry couldn't sing a credible version of The Prayer if their life depended on it.

I don't know so much about the original tours, but were Omaha and OKC on one of the sponsored tours? AI and Independent? Since then Clay's been doing his own thing. And at least I've convinced myself that he's such a cautious man, and he takes nothing for granted, that his first goal was to secure a solid foundation financially. I think he wanted to tour for his dedicated fans and make some money that he didn't have to divvy up to the corporates. He did. Here's how I missed those early tours: AI -- I was not interested in seeing the AI Tour, although I planned to go when I believed Clay would win. When he didn't, I just wasn't interested in going to see The Ruben Show. Who knew? Yeah, I know, almost all of you! Here's to you smart people! Independent Tour -- I think I would have heard about it if Houston had been on the tour list, but it wasn't. Kelly came alone to sing at The Rodeo. NAT -- Never heard of it. Not a word, not a peep or a whistle. This had to be strictly internet fans only and word of mouth. It passed me by. I'm assuming Clay didn't have a sponsor, because if he did they didn't do their job here. If he didn't, then I think he did exactly what he planned to do. The JNTs: Never came here. JBT: Didn't come here either. Never heard of it until I got online in 2006 and watched some incredible clack! DCAT: Six times -- The First Six for me. FINALLY. And even if I hadn't been an online fan by then, I probably would have heard about this one, because the fans jamming the phones at Jones Hall in Houston made the news -- with a full-body picture of Clay on the first page of Section B of The Chronicle. The story: Jones Hall had never experienced anything like the ticket demand for Clay Aiken. And what a concert that turned out to be. Man overheard leaving to show: "Why haven't I heard of him before." Wow, that was a great concert. Maybe he'll want to come back to Houston because we showed the love that night. And Clay got publicity he didn't have to pay for because of the incredible fans, because of The Houston Symphony, and then a feature article in the Weekend section on the day before the show. (Which we read online in the middle of the night in Dallas, howling at the "I've got the old ladies covered" comment!) I really think he's ready to go now. It takes Live Nation et al. to secure the major venues and fill them. It takes the corporate investment. What I still question in my mind is whether he even wants that. Maybe he doesn't want the Big Corporate entanglement. He may be content to tour for the devotees, with a looser show for "The Family" -- and then again he may be forced into going for a broader appeal. I have no way of knowing, but I do know that people change constantly, and grow and experiment and learn. What Clay once wanted or didn't want and how things are now could be entirely different at any given time. That's the way it goes. I hate stadium concerts. I've never seen one that was worth it because the sound suffers irreparably in those huge venues. It becomes unreal to me and the connection between artist and audience is seldom if ever present. Even the top of the line, most acclaimed performers of our time sound better at smaller or mid-size venues. "Arena" is as big as I go, and I've experienced some good and bad ones, depending on the investment in the sound system. I could be up my own ass on this one, but I kind of think that Clay Aiken, Independent Concert Artist, has to be invited. But Live Nation Presents Clay Aiken owns the venues, or big chunks of them, and is now controlling ticketing, and can almost singlehandedly fill a hall and generate a big gate. So, whatever happens big or small, Clay will continue to tour and be successful at it. Give me a chance to go, I'll be there. Sometimes I think Clay Aiken is like Michigan J. Frog. We get to hear him like this, but the general public, aside from the Broadway crowd, will not. *sigh* I hope more people will hear the magic we hear with this new CD. OMG he's sublime. The lower registers kills me. I know there are those who didn't like Somewhere Out There on AI, but when he dipped deep down in that song I knew it was all over. The singing contest was over. Nobody could touch him. And nobody did, or has. Hey guys, rose-colored glasses are BIG this year! Pick up a pair next time you're out!