PermaSwooned

Whew!! Thank you ldyjocelyn & claytonic. I was afraid people were afraid to tell me they were no good. I have ideas for a page on water and one on education, but there are lots of other possibilities...food, shelter, malaria prevention, maternal health...lots of stuff. I wanted to use the "If I had the money" theme since many people seem to feel that they do not have enough resources to make a significant contribution. I wanted to get the idea across that it only takes a very little amount of money to do a great deal of good. I also wanted to give a bit of a contrast between things we tend to take for granted in the Western world that are survival issues in far off lands. If anyone has ideas but no way to format them, or want a page with a similar look, just let me know. I'll be happy to work with you. All factoids, pictures, ideas, etc. are welcome.

Dang!!! Where is everybody? Am I THAT far off the mark? Well, with absolutely no encouragement whatsoever, I made another "page" on my theme. This one's on immunizations. Working in the medical field, this one is dear to my heart. I guess I'll go do something else until I get some feedback.

LALate has been really good to Clay. I was afraid it was part of the 2-week wunderpromotion, so I'm thrilled to see they are still at it. I put up a "page" or "slide" or whatever for possible use in the "Project". Mosey over to the Clay Parties thread and take a look if you are so inclined.

sheiladownunder those are great ideas. We're sort of on the same wave length, I think. OK...here's an idea for a "page" or "slide" for our online book or presentation or whatever. It does have a Clay pic in it, because it's one of the best out there of sleeping refugee children. I don't mention him by name, but I don't think it hurts to show him in his ambassador role where others can discover him. Besides, this IS a Clay fan board, after all. If the picture is reduced, be sure to click on it to see the full size. I would need help to do the links to the buttons...I have no clue how to do that. This is not Somalia specific, but the UNICEF link could be to the Somalia donation page. Coin Star only has a link to US Fund for UNICEF, which is the right place, it isn't more specific than that. But I wanted to show how easy it could be. You put a baggie in your purse and throw all your spare change in it for a week, then you dump it in the Coin Star machine when you go to the market. Easy is good. I have ideas for pages on immunizations, water and education still to come. What do you all think?

I am really exhausted. I'm going to head for home, but I'll see if I can come up with an idea for a "page" or whatever. I found some cute sleeping kid pics to start with, so will post any works in progress here. Night all!! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I think the picture I posted was from West Point...with the lyrics to LAA, maybe? I got kicked off IE, so am trying again. I wonder if we could do a compare and contrast type thing to illustrate the needs that can be met.... We could use lots of stock photos without a problem, I would think. Something along the lines of something illustrating cute kids sleeping in their bunk beds or whatever compared to the night commuter kids. Pics of kids in a nice school room vs. kids at an Afghani outdoor classroom, with how little money it takes to buy school supplies or a school in a box. Busy medical center with caring docs and nurses vs. how ever many doctors it was for the citizens of Somalia. Some kind of cool watery picture vs poor water conditions with info on the TAP project and how little it costs to give one child clean water. The kind of thing that shows that one person can make a difference with very little money. We could put Coin Star info, in which spare change can be donated to the US Fund for UNICEF. Any value to this? I could try to work something up as an example.

I did??

That's OK. There are plenty of us that are doing the backstroke across a giant pool of shmoopiness already. You can jump in any time. Why thank you for asking so that I have an excuse to post this picture which I LURVE!! :F_05BL17blowkiss: My avi is from a picture I took at the West Palm Beach concert last summer. Clay wore pale clothes and the lighting was kinda bright, so this looked better to me in B&W. He really is a beautiful person, isn't he?? Inside and out.

I finished up with my meeting, finished up with the monitor du jour and will break for lunch in a minute or two. I fiddled with the baby pic a little bit. I see that a dear friend at CV already did a color correction, but mine is a bit different. I was trying to get Clay and the baby to stand out a bit more. Can you ever have too many pictures of Clay Aiken?? I'm wondering if there will be a special Clay Aiken appeal this time. I hope they aren't too nervous to try it. I think I can find the means to donate twice. These kids need help now, but I'm sure they can use some later if the opportunity for a photo album/field notes opportunity comes up.

rohdy I have tears in my eyes from your post. You had the most amazing idea, and one that was so appropriate for Clay to recognize his birthday in a way that would really make a difference. I was so happy to add my books to that stack at that concert. The people connected with the orgaization were absolutely overwhelmed with the response. It's an honor to have taken part. Those tears came on top of the tears from Clay's Field Notes. It's wonderful to see that he got to share some joy and laughter with the children there. I'm can understand why he feels that all the tabloid nonsense is "just not worth mah taahm!!) :F_05BL17blowkiss: Love you Clay. He's in a tent. Not good lighting. I tried correcting one of the pictures, but don't have time for the other. Maybe later if no one else beats me to it. At that moment, he was really happy, wasn't he? It becomes him.

Oooooo!!! Ooooooo!!! (tm Horshack)!! I happen to be up to date on all things boob related. I am working on a digital scrapbook project, since my pictures are hopelessly disorganized. Because I am not a linear person, I started with my Wango Tango pictures, because all of those pictures have been re-edited since my editing skill improved. That was in May 2004, so I thought I should work on other 2004 stuff. I'm using a lot of amazing wallpapers to help me with my timeline. I know everyone has been lost in YouTube lately, but if you want to see an amazing documentation of Clay's journey, I cannot recommend highly enough the collages that fountaindawg has put together for the Clay Aiken Kids website. There is a ton of stuff here that otherwise would have been completely lost. I have premium photo accounts at photobucket and smugmug, so it never really occurred to me that people with regular accounts run out of room and have to remove stuff. I am kicking myself unmercifully that I didn't save some of the incredible screencaps and other pictures when they were posted, because they are long gone now. Here's her header page for 2004: Here's the link for their main photo page: http://picasaweb.google.com/clayaikenkids If you start wandering around in there, you will be lost for days. Trust me. As it happens, I'm working on February 2004 as we speak, so I know all this boob stuff. February 1, 2004: Janet Jackson & Justin Timberlake do the half-time show at the Super Bowl with the famous wardrobe malfunction The week that follows: Promos for SNL appear with Megan Mullaly tearing off part of Clay's shirt revealing the clipple. February 7, 2004: Clay is actually ON SNL. ***sigh*** February 8, 2004: Clay is interviewed on Dateline regarding the SuperBowl JJ/JT fiasco. My God those were innocent, family friendly times. February 16, 2004: Clay was on Ryan Seacrest's OAWRS show with Kelly C. to promote the IT. He was wearing the yummy jeans, white shirt and skinny tie. Mezghan was the makeup person for Ryan's show. The Boobgate pic was taken that day backstage with him in the yummy TV outfit. Mezghan posted some innocuous backstage photos on her website. A tech-savvy fan started fiddling with the photo extensions from the web links. The pictures on the website were let's say, pics 001 & 002. By changing the extension to 003, voila there was Clay with two handfuls of boobs and a big grin. Lordy, you think IIT/INT/IIU/whatever is controversial? One week after his pious Dateline interview, you could hear the pedestals crashing all over Clay Nation. Was this the start of the death of TTC as a huge website? I didn't post there, but that rings a bell. SO.....Janet Jackson was first. But only by 2 weeks. I'm so glad I could clarify this for y'all. My work here is done, so I can now....um...work. ETA: Oops. Thanks chach. I fixed the date.

I'm really glad that Clay was chosen as a featured ambassador on the CNN special. That's a real tribute to the dedication he has shown to that cause and the money he has been able to raise for them, IMHO. I could have used much more Clay and many fewer commercials, though. I am always shmoopie over the Clay with assorted babies clips, because he seems to be so focused on each one and SO enjoying the experience. He really got me in the one from the first McDonald's World Children's Day even when he was focusing an adoring look at that little baby he was holding with her surgical drains draped over his arm. Not many people are willing to hold a child that ill in my experience, sometimes not even when they are the parents. That really got me. I love OMWH. I'm thrilled he got to make the album that he wanted and I'm proud to gift it and play it for others because I think it's wonderful music and represents Clay well. I'm still hoping more people will get a chance to see/hear/experience him performing this music, because he really shines when he gets the opportunity to do that. I don't think Clay is ready to retire from the biz, so I'm ready for whatever is next. Thanks for the comments on my Houston pictures. I edited one more. Go me!! That's 9 out of mumbledyhundred. I found myself quite taken with kissy Clay. I'm all puckered up, Clay!!! Head on over in my direction!!

suereu just posted a montage on Somalia on YouTube in preparation for the CNN special. Couldn't they make this part of the show? It takes less than 5 minutes!! It is not claycentric, but does include the photo of Clay from Somalia towards the end. Damn. She does excellent work.

I don't speak Klingon OR Chinese. I'm thinking I might need to learn some conversational Japanese. My DIL FINALLY arrived from Japan a week ago a mere 14 months after they got married, but her English has not improved much in the interim. Other than hello, good-bye, how are you, and thank you, I know the word for delicious. That's about it. That's not taking us too far. I hesitate to learn more, though. She doesn't need to speak English when my son's around because he's fluent in Japanese, and I think that's part of the problem. She plans to take ESL classes, but first she needs transportation, which in our area means a car. First she needs to get her permanent driver's license. She passed the written test on Friday, since she was given a test in Japanese. She still needs to take the driving test, though. She's also allowed to ask for a Japanese examiner. This is one reason she would like to stay in this area!! I'm SO far behind. Life's been a whirlwind the last week!! Loved the picture quiz. I can't separate the hair from the actual picture, though, so that influences my choices. I pick F, G, K & L. Especially L. Have I mentioned 9 or 10 times that Clay was unbelievably gorgeous at the NY CD signing? I have? Well, it's still true. GAH!!! I have my Tivo set for Clay time today. We get the show 3 times...5, 8 & 11. You just can't have too much Clay Aiken!! It was indeed one year ago today that many of us saw Clay in Houston. It was wonderful to see and hear him, of course, and to see him onstage with Angela and Quiana again was such a treat. I think he really missed them on the 2006 NaCT. The Jumbotron photographer was in love with Clay. Some of the best shots EVAH!!! Plus, there was the added bonus of being with so many Clay friends. Clay is smiling at me from the magnetic picture frame I won at the CH pre-party hosted by our very own eHP as I type this. Good times. I loved my seat at that show. I was a couple of rows from the front dead center. There was no aisle in front of the first row and no center aisle, so they could not get to me or my camera. Heh. Unlike Tulsa where they nabbed me in the first 5 seconds. Sigh. It is a sign that I had a bad year and poor health last year that out of the hundreds of pics I took in Houston I have edited.....8. Including one today. That's just so wrong. I'll try to do better. I do have a few from Clay's exchange with Scarlett about how she was trying to shoot video from so far down in the seat she was practically underneath it. I'm not sure he fully appreciated the view he was giving us while talking to her, but Scarlett, all of us are very grateful. I've never posted this one, and for sure it's not going to be to everyone's taste. I loved the intense look on his face, but his eyes were so shadowed I couldn't bring them out in color. I love the stubble, and look at those eyelashes!!! I think some of bottlecap's Clay fans may have been untying at this very moment: RIVET!!! For all profile lovers: Sometimes Clay is just the sex, YKWIM?? I think seeing pictures like this is when Clay decided he needed a spray tan. The lighting in Houston was really harsh and he was verra, verra pale. And this, of course, is when he was inviting me to run away with him...I was just in too much of a fog to realize it. Darn!!! Geez! He was yummy in Houston. I need to edit more pics!!! Topic: venue size In 2005 a group of us went to see Josh Gracin at the Crazy Horse in Orange County. I'm not sure how many it holds...300 maybe??? Anyhoo, we were so close to the stage, which was lower than we usually see with Clay. He came out into the audience. It was great. We spent considerable time dreaming and drooling over Clay appearing in intimate venues like that. Many other artists do it. I can't imagine that Clay couldn't as well, and I would SO be there. irishbookgal at CV suggested the possibility that he might do a couple of limited engagements in a couple of locations so that people concentrated on just a couple of venues. That would cut travel costs for HIM considerably, and would actually help some of us travelers as well. He knows it worked for Spamalot. Remember him saying at one point that they might change-up the touring idea and just stay in one spot and let the fans come to him?? It was before ATDW I think. Anyone remember that? Whatever works. I'm dying to hear him sing these songs live and will go to some lengths for that privelege.

Here's the pretty picture:

Yep, the "Run to Jesus" part was during the intro to the 90's section of the show with the dances. Remember how Clay talked about the clothes? Quiana was wearing some electric fushia colored outfit and he asked her where she would have worn that. She said: "Church"!! Clay just cracked up and somehow they worked their way to the "Run to Jesus" part. This is from memory because I CAN'T GET TO YOUTUBE OR DOWNLOAD CLACK at the office!!! GRRRRRR. Obviously, I should get a new job!!

liney23 I'm stealing your Welcome sign. Too cool!! to all newbies!!! Lots of names I recognize!! It's great to see you taking part in discussions in a new arena. I look forward to your thoughts on all the topics du jour. Pictures are always good, too. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who provided "funniest moment" links yesterday. I couldn't watch them from the office but had such a great time catching up last night. I hadn't watched the "Little Humper Boy" clack in FOREVER!! OMG that was SO funny that night. He totally took himself by surprise. They hadn't done the show in about a month at that point and it was so funny to see that he had sort of lost the rhythm of the show. Priceless. I hadn't seen clack of the exchange between Bridget and Clay from that angle before. With him sitting on the edge of the stage, not only was she touching his knee, she was practically laying across his lap!!! No wonder she was barely coherent!! Any more clips?? Bring them on!!! Tuesday is a wasteland on TV so my evening is free. Of course in the meantime, I CAN look at pretty pictures. Just sayin'. Clay would SO rule in a variety show format. There were SO MANY back in the day. Aren't we due for one about now??? :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Clay's quick wit and sense of humor are one of my very favorite things about him. I do love a concert where I laugh like crazy. No one seems to be sticking to one favorite funny moment so y'all can't make me do it either. 1. I already used this example for favorite moments on stage, but I'm going to use it again. When Clay and Ruben were doing the "Girl Is Mine" banter in Sacramento at the AI tour stop, the stage was pelted with all manner of stuff including stuffed animals and panties. A bustier with dangling garters just looks funny when Clay is looking at it!! He noted that this was not a family friendly item!! Ruben then pointed out that the audience was throwing shoes at them. Clay walked right over and held up a rubber flip flop saying: "Now THIS is an example of a family-friendly thong!!!!" OMG, the whole audience just cracked up!!! He is SO QUICK!! I think he captured my heart forever that night. I know couchie was there. Anyone else? 2. His June 2004 appearance on Kimmel. Basically the whole thing. He was just hilarious!! I loved him describing how he couldn't keep track of anything any more and how he'd left his keys in Ireland. A whole team of people tried to retrieve them and get them to him, but he said they were probably on their way to Dubai. How many people have even heard of Dubai, for Heaven's sake??? I also liked the descriptions of the food....animals we don't have here who were still walking around on the plate, and the old man hitting him with his cane. Just a great, great night. 3. The first 2006 NaCT show in Waukegan. I think we thought he'd be so low key on that tour "guesting" with orchestras. Then he started telling stories about the number of people in airports that wanted a picture with him with his hand over their mouths. It was so funny!! Especially when someone up front looked really puzzled. Clay asked them if they didn't understand what he was referring to, and they said no, they didn't. He just looked at them and then asked them if they'd been living in a hole for the past 2 weeks. He just totally destroyed any angst over the whole miserable year of 2006 that night. 4. The entire Ft. Myers DCAT show. cotton, did you watch the Scruffy banter clips from that show yet? I'm dying to hear your opinion. He was just so funny ALL NIGHT. You can't beat him taking Scarlett's camera and videoing everyone, including Scarlett. And, my big favorite...when the clueless lighting guy wouldn't leave the spotlight on Quiana for her solo. He did everything buy hire a skywriter to get this moron to spotlight her instead of him to no avail. When he took her seat and pulled her on his lap and then distracted her with his wandering hand I thought the whole audience would lose it. Loved, loved, loved that show. I can't access YouTube at work, so I can't provide helpful links, darn it. Back to work for me!

I can't believe that no one notified me that we were sharing pet pictures!! Do I have to turn in my FCA card if I don't have any cats? I used to be very allergic to cats. It doesn't seem as bad now, although it may just be that I'm not around them that much. In my family, we are all dog people. I personally love slavish devotion in a pet. I can find plenty of PEOPLE who can take me or leave me in RL. At home I want creatures who are beside themselves with joy to see me. Here's our babies: This is Phoebe, along with her favorite squeaky toy. She will run to fetch this thing until she drops, and if you flag in tossing it for her she will tap you on the leg with it quite forcefully! This is Wagatha. I was working alone in the office one weekend making up some work and needed to get a new print cartridge. The shopping center where I went to get the cartridge was having dog adoptions that day. The rest is history. When we got her she didn't know how to eat or drink out of a bowl or how to climb stairs. I'm not sure how she survived on the streets long enough to get to us, but we're sure glad she did. She appears to be part Italian Greyhound and part terrier (maybe Jack Russell) and we think is quite possibly the greatest dog EVAH!!! Since they were both rescues, we call them The Doggie of Destiny and the Fido of Fate. RIP George Carlin My DS absolutely loves him. Last year I got tickets for my son to see him here at the Gibson Amphitheater as part of my ticket package for the Greek Theatre. He had such a great time and absolutely loved the show. DS is in Japan now & I imagine has not heard the news. I am so, so happy I got those tickets for him and that he was able to see him LIVE at least once. You just never know. I've been spending the majority of my time on this board of late. I have always HATED the gerbil wheel or endless "round table" discussions, which mainly seemed to me to be protracted attempts by people of strong opinions to try to annihilate each other until a mod finally stepped in. I am angst-phobic, so I have been very, very grateful that people here wanted to talk about Clay and his MUSIC and gorge themselves on YouTube. THANK YOU ALL!!!! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Lover All Alone It's interesting that there has actually been very little discussion on this song so far. Of course, there has been a lot of discussion of the song and Clay's performances of it for almost 2 years, so that may play a role. However, this is above all an intensely personal song, and I think it affects a number of people in an intensely personal way. And that's always difficult to talk about. I guess we knew ahead of time that David Foster wrote the music for this song, right? Not everyone was thrilled with that. Although some people thought that David Foster would know what to do with Clay, there were many others that wanted David far, far away from Clay. I think that many fans felt that David would give him big, huge bombastic songs a la Josh Groban or Celine Dion to suit Clay's big voice.....You Raise Me Up/My Heart Will Go On type songs. I was among the surprised that the music for Lover All Alone did not follow that path. At all. I don't think there is any way that this melody CAN be sung in a big huge voice. I think it's very, very interesting that when David has actually worked with Clay, we have seen more restrained performances. The Canadian Star Search Gala version of Unchained Melody is much more refined than the way he usually sang it in concert, as was his version of Solitaire at the Neil Sedaka tribute. And they were very, very effective. Again, there are intervals in this song that would defeat most other singers. The jumps in the "and....ON my own" line are killer, especially sung so softly. Clay developed a few little cheats in concert to get that note, and there were a few small bobbles at one concert or another, but they never detracted from the beauty of the song. But what makes the song so incredible are, of course, the lyrics and the way they fit the melody so perfectly. IMHO, of course. When ATDW was released, a bunch of my CH friends got together to celebrate it all together. We live all over the place, and there were 2 CD release parties in L.A. One was in Hollywood at the Hamburger Hamlet & Virgin Megastore, and the other was the next night in Burbank. One of our group graciously put us up at her house that Monday night, since we didn't finish getting our CDs until after 1 AM. We listened to the CD on the way back to the house. Some of us were unspoiled so we listened to all the favorites of those who were spoiled. When we got back to the house, the first thing we did was download the CD from Itunes so we could hear LAA. All of us just sat there in stunned silence. And then we listened again. And then again. There were tears running down several faces. When we could articulate again, we tried to express our thoughts...but it was hard then too. Whatever we might have been expecting, that wasn't it. After months of silence and dodging flung poo, this song was almost too much. I do think that at one point or another in life, most people have experienced disappointment in love. This song is so poignant, so wistful, so introspective, so intensely personal. It's an incredibly vulnerable song. I do think that many people can identify with it...cotton I loved your story about your niece..., but I don't care what Clay may have said about not reading too much into it....it sounds VERY personal to me. If he were to suddenly get the idea about writing about disappointment at not finding true love, it's hard for me to wrap my mind around the idea that he just dashed off these lyrics just to fit that theme. I think there's a reason why he faced the cellist and never looked at the audience while singing this song. It's an internal type song, not an audience type song, but I'm so glad he found a way to include it in those concerts. I hope he writes more songs in the future. I hope his life is rich and full and that he decides to share what he's feeling in that way. But if he never writes another, this song is still a masterpiece. To me. I frequently enlarge and frame some of my pictures to donate for fundraisers for the BAF. Below is the one of which I am the proudest. I took this picture at the West Point NaCT concert. He put on a great show that night, which was astonishing since he'd barely been able to stay upright the night before in Long Island. However, I caught one brief unguarded moment that just grabbed my heart. For me, the lyrics of Lover All Alone went perfectly with that introspective look. PLEASE CLICK TO ENLARGE SO YOU CAN SEE THE LYRICS Other thoughts: Loved the youtube of Faryl Smith. She has an incredible depth to her tone for someone who is twelve. I used to sing Ave Maria a LOT back in the day, so I was singing along with her. I was surprised that she didn't go for the big glory note near the end. I wonder why? I don't think anyone, including Blake Lewis, is surprised that he lost his contract. He has unique talents, for sure, but beat boxing to the degree that he does it is pretty passe, I think. I do think he'll be able to so something else with a more indie label that will suit his style better. Interesting news this week in that Taylor Hicks has a new contract with Vanguard for his next CD. Also, Suzie McNeil from RockStar INXS who sang with Clay on IWTKWLI on ATDW just got a new contract with Universal for her next CD. Makes me confident that Clay will be OK no matter what.

It's Lorenzo Jovanotti an Italian singer Wow!!! I am really impressed!!! I kind of liked his video, but would never have been able to find him on my own. Ah cotton I'm not always down in the very front. However, I keep upgrading my camera. ***waves to Gibby & Karen Eh who also have the amazing Panasonic FZ 18*** Let me tell you, you don't miss much with a zooooooooooom lens that size. The rest is all in the editing. I was close in Houston, though. Yes, Scarlett you were in the row in front of me, I think, although I was dead center there. The noise over the cello in LAA may have been me whimpering. I'll have to listen again. Ah Houston!! cotton you have forced me to examine my photos (it was a real hardship!) to try to identify the Incredible Hulk Clay from cate's montage. I'm pretty sure it was Fort Myers. I LOVED that concert. He was in such a funny (ha ha) mood that night and was just on fire. If you haven't downloaded and watched the Scruffy banter clack from that concert, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? A real bonus for all FCAers is to see Clay shooting clack with Scarlett's camera and try to intervene with anger management tools when solo whacks her. Priceless stuff. Anyhoo, Clay had divided up the audience to sing along with the TV medley. He was carrying on like a crazy man to get his section to beat Angela's and Quiana's. He COMMANDED US to sing the loudest. When we finished the song, he declared that his section won, naturally, and he struck the Incredible Hulk pose. I was focused a little too close up to get the whole thing, but you get the idea: I absolutely loved that concert. It was worth nearly dying of the heat in Florida just for that one show, even though I saw all 4. It is feeling a lot like Houston and Orlando today here in SoCal. Still a lot of electricity out in the hottest areas. We're still OK here, although it's over 90 degrees in my house in every room except the one I'm in. That's the only one with air conditioning so I've been multi-tasking here all day. People, people people....did I not forever end the debate on the best LAA clack when we were doing favorite concert clack? I'm sure I did. But, I'm more than happy to refresh everyone's memory. I was not there, although some of you were. It's vzubie's porn....er...exquisite video from Syracuse. She was so close...there is stubble, there is the vibrating throat, there are eyelashes, there is a little trickle of sweat on his forehead, then down from his sideburn, then down his neck behind his ear....all in desperate need of licking. Remember? This is the one!!! GAH!!!! I hope we can have a little longer to discuss Lover All Alone. We've lived with this song for longer than any of the others, but it's so, so special. I have some thoughts on the song but need a little bit longer to put them into words.

I'm still getting Aretha with that link, Perma. Oops!! It was the middle of the night and I wanted to go to bed and didn't check the link. Sorry about that. I fixed it, and here's the correct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4GhZ90BtxQ Does anyone recognize the first guy that sings with Pavarotti...the one with the cap and the beard? Anyone?? Ooooo....PICTURES!!! I'll be back with more, but here's one for "neck" lovers to tide you all over. ETA: I'm getting "not found" messages from Amazon and Target for those links. Anyone else able to see them?

Wow, it is a YouTube festival!!!! I am loving watching all these wonderful clips. cha cha trusty, thanks so much for grabbing them and putting them in one spot. It means I'll be able to review them at my leisure. LOVED the clips of Andrew Johnston!! What version of Pie Jesu is that? Gibby? I'm going to feel stupid when you tell me, aren't I? I never thought I'd see a classic boy soprano singing on a TV reality show. Of course, I still haven't seen it on American TV. I obviously need more channels if I'm missing out on all this cool stuff. On the final competition night, Andrew at 13 was the same height as the hosts. If they were planning to record him, I hope they hustled him into a studio right after the broadcast, because he's ripe to have his voice change ANY MINUTE!! YAY!!!! I finally was able to listen to IIEOU!!!!! I had to start all over with the actual email, and it FINALLY downloaded. LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!!!! It's funny.....the first demo I ever heard from Clay was "Blood Will Never Lose It's Power". I had inherited lots of gospel 78s from my grandmother. Her favorite was "Power In the Blood". Those Southern Baptists are certainly a bloodthirsty lot!! The Congregationalists I grew up with were kind of a dry bunch. I'm not sure the word "blood" appeared anywhere in the hymnal at all!! Anyhoo, I loved that demo from 17(?) year old Clay. He was trying to sing "older" with that full deep sound. I just fell in love with him singing his heart out on that song. To me, in IIEOU, Clay is singing straight from his heart. He just sounds different (and wonderful) when he lets joy fill him and sings with his whole heart that way. I understand completely why he would love that song. It really DOESN'T fit with the rest of the CD, but I'm so glad he found a way to share it with us. I just love him. Clay is just amazing with harmony. I too adore the "descant" at the end (where he is singing harmony ABOVE the melody line....musical term of the day). Back in the day, I was a lyric soprano, so in general, I sang the melody. However, I can't tell you how many times I ended up singing the harmony in a duet because my partner just couldn't do it. They would start out singing harmony and then gradually they'd drift into singing the melody with me. The accompaniment almost always played the melody line, so if we switched, they could stay with the melody and I could carry the harmony with no problem. Harmony is much harder than you think. A great example of Clay's abilities is the impromptu "Listen" duet from Sterling Heights. That was completely unrehearsed, but they did an AMAZING job on that song, and Clay sang the majority of the harmony in the song. Quiana's pretty good on singing harmony as well, but Clay is a master. He just knows where the harmony notes should be. Have I mentioned lately that he really is tremendously talented? Well, he is. One last word on Aretha's Nessun Dorma. I imagine she was singing from the teleprompter. Remember, she got no real preparation time and no rehearsal. I don't imagine she had sung much (if at all) in Italian before, so she was trying to sound out the Italian completely on the fly. I think that she sang a few notes early, but was able to improvise to "make it work" so that most of the audience would have been completely unaware of it. It's certainly not a version for purists, though, but I was careful to warn about that. One of my favorite comments on YouTube was someone who actually sang opera who was in awe of the performance. She said that the "crash and burn" potential of taking that on was gargantuan. The fact that she pulled it off in her own unique way was just awesome. The end of the clip shows Celine Dion sitting in the audience applauding wildly. In point of fact, Celine's singing style and range would have probably lent itself better to the song, and as a native French speaker she would probably have had no problem with the Italian. BUT, you didn't see HER up there on that stage putting it all on the line with no real preparation. Nope. You go, Aretha!! Here's a little example (last one, I promise) of how NOT to get up on stage and sing Nessun Dorma. This is from a Pavarotti and Friends TV concert in Italy. This was the finale. You KNOW these people were given the music in advance. They were HOLDING copies of the music, for Pete's sake. And yet they mumbled, sang "Ta da da da da da da" instead of trying to sing the actual words and sort of snickered and shoved each other like boys in the schoolyard. I don't recognize them all, but Bono, Meat Loaf, The Cranberries, ????? were up there all looking foolish. The only exception was Michael Bolton (still with long hair). He had obviously prepared. He obviously took it seriously. He actually did a very creditable job and knocked the final glory note out of the park. I was impressed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4GhZ90BtxQ BTW, there are some gorgeous videos of figure skating to Nessun Dorma....some with Shizuka Arakawa and some with Gordeyeva and Grinkov. Check them out. YouTube rules!!!!

I'm heading for home now, so don't y'all download all the available copies of Nessun Dorma before I can get there!!! I'm SO GLAD so many of you liked that clip of Aretha singing it. It's funny....in some of the comments on YouTube, people remark that it's awful what she did to that song. Well, she was not trying to launch a new career as an opera singer!! What I do think she showed is that you can take a great piece of music and turn it into a bravura performance through sheer raw emotion. Love that. I'm putting Gibby in my will for ripping it for me. :F_05BL17blowkiss: This is so fun!!! laljeterfan, I LOVE "Could It Be Magic". I used to sing along with Barry, emoting for all I was worth. My dream was to have someone sing that to me. I would have been a puddle. Oh wait. I was married at the time. Ooops!! I bought that first album, and I went to one of Barry's concert that was supporting it way back in the day. I think it was the song, though, because that's the end of my Barry collection. I loved that it was based on part of Chopin's Prelude in C Minor. Classical music rocks, y'all!! cotton I forgot to say that I HAVE read "Death in White Bear Lake". If I wasn't a foot taller and mumble.mumble pounds heavier, I would think we were twins. However, there will be no summer cottages in NC for moi. I believe some of you have seen me in warm temperatures. My internal thermometer is broken, big time. I would have to stay in the freezer with Clay's extra sperm to survive. I WILL, however be coming to the Gala in October!! I've done NC in October. I can do that!! I might mention that the Beach Cities of SoCal are quite lovely in summer. We're having a bit of a heat wave at the moment, but generally 76-78 degrees (F) is the norm. We don't have humidity or bugs either. Quite lovely. Come on out!!! Topic: Even Clay admits it's hot in NC in the summer.

{{{muski & family}}} I never had open rebellion from either of my kids. I kept waiting, but it didn't happen. However, my DS was what we called a "digital" kid. He lived in the moment. Future consequences did not exist for him. During the years in question, my ex and I had joint custody and it switched every 2 or 3 days around my hospital work schedule. Each of us had a fax machine and we faxed school notices and homework assignments to each other. It was quite possible that something could get "lost" between houses, and there could be a huge assignment pending that we didn't know about. I can't believe the number of times I had to ask him "What were you thinking????". Eventually the assignment was going to be due, or past due. Eventually there would be a terrible report card. Eventually there would be a parent-teacher conference. And then, all would be revealed!! The very idea would have terrified me, personally, but he just ignored impending doom. He was a frighteningly bright kid, but got bored easily. I'm really glad those days are past. muski, I'm hoping for the best for your family. Oh the fabulous orange shirt. Yum. I have not been able to open the frickin' download of IIEOU yet. I guess I'd better figure it out tonight. I LOVE gospel Clay. I love southern gospel under any circumstances anyway. My father really loved it, and all of the music at his memorial service were gospel hymns. My daughter signed Amazing Grace along with the singing. It was really special. Cotton, I wish you lived closer. You are me, in so many ways. Plus, I know from a picture you posted that our husbands could be brothers. Amazing. I have been having a lot of fun at YouTube of late. It's so inconvenient that it's blocked at work!! The nerve!! Thanks to those who mentioned Paul Potts. I had never hear of him, so I checked out some of his YouTube stuff from Britain's Got Talent this morning. I loved him. A nebbishy guy that got to see his dreams come true. What killed me was that Simon pontificated AT LENGTH about how he loved to see an ordinary guy with an ordinary job and extraordinary talent get a chance to show it to the world. He talked about how he was really rooting for the underdog in the competition. HELLO!!!! Why wasn't that sentiment expressed more often in 2003 across the pond, Simon??? What could fit that definition better than Clay Aiken? Sheesh!!! I was THA-RILLED while browsing around YouTube to find my favorite EVAH version of Nessun Dorma. I had looked for it everywhere so many times and never found it, and suddenly there it was!!! If you have never seen it, PLEASE take a look. I first saw this performance on a "25 years of the Grammys" show. It was from the Grammy broadcast in 1998. They were broadcasting LIVE, mind you. Luciano Pavarotti was supposed to sing Nessun Dorma with a full symphony orchestra. He showed up and rehearsed with the orchestra. Then his manager said that he was not feeling well and was going to rest. Fine. Rest up and then give a great performance. However, this was a miscommunication. What they meant was....he wasn't going to do the show. The producers didn't get that. As the show approached, they couldn't find him. The show started and they still couldn't find him. FORTY-FIVE MINUTES into the show, they finally got the message that he wasn't there and wasn't going to be there!!! OMG!!!! Full-blown panic!!! They have a full symphony orchestra assembling on the stage!!! It would leave a huge hole in the show to just skip it!! What to do????? Well, another performer stepped in. She'd already performed another song. Opera was a million miles from her normal genre. She couldn't rehearse with the orchestra. She had about 15 minutes or so to get ready. She was going to have to sing it in Luciano Pavarotti's key, because that's what the orchestration was written in. They told her that she could listen to the rehearsal tape, but she just said it was OK because she had sung along with his CD for years. Can you IMAGINE what kind of cojones it took to walk out on that stage in front of your music industry peers and a huge TV audience to sing a famous tenor's aria under those circumstances? This is not a beautiful operatic performance by any means, but if this doesn't put a lump in your throat, a tear in your eye and hit you right in the gut, you are made of stronger stuff than I. I give you....the AMAZING Aretha Franklin singing Nessun Dorma at the 1998 Grammys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ySU8y---tM This has been a "lost" performance until now. Don't miss it. And if anyone could rip it, I would be eternally grateful. :F_05BL17blowkiss: