PermaSwooned

I'm behind AGAIN, but for a very good reason (besides being at work). I was helping my son get ready for his trip and took him to the airport this morning. He is flying to Japan to FINALLY bring his wife "home" here to SoCal for good. It only took a mere 14 months from the day they got married to finally getting her visa and being able to come here as his spouse!!! I can't figure out how any ACTUAL terrorists are able to get into the country when it takes 14 months for a 4'10" Japanese masseuse to get a visa through her American husband. Anyhoo, they will be back for good on the 27th. He was SO excited this morning. YAY!!! I can't believe I missed out on references to Little Shop of Horrors. LOVE that show. I was lucky enough to see Ellen Greene do it live at the Geffen in West LA years ago. God, she was awesome. I have had this dream for quite some time now that has only recently been modified. I would give just about anything to hear Clay and Hannah sing "Suddenly Seymour". OMG, they could tear the roof off on that song. Clay has no problem looking nerdy when he tries (Ride Wit Me from AI anyone?) and Hannah is blonde, with a big voice, looks great in a low cut black dress, and has big boobs. It was meant to be. See what I mean? Suddenly Seymour Ooooh....Grace of God!! I really like this song and always smile when it comes up in rotation. This is a song that I thinks really benefits from playing it in the car with the volume turned WAY up. There is a lot going on in the song that isn't immediately apparent at regular volume. I've been fascinated to hear people say that they hear country influences in Where I Draw the Line (I don't), but don't mention the same thing about Grace of God. I'm listening to the steel guitar in the introduction and thinking that would fit in perfectly on a zillion country songs. But they only use it in that one spot. THEN, they must have had a microphone this.close to the neck of the steel-string guitar player's fretboard, because you can hear the little "zing" noises as he slides his fingers to change chords. I LOVE hearing that. It just screams "real instruments being played here". You don't hear that in pop albums much any more. There's also a lot of other cool stuff going on with different percussion effects. The percussion people in an orchestra always seem like they are having a really good time with sand blocks and tapping on wooden blocks and stuff and I like all the different things they utilize in this song. The only thing that sticks out to me about this song is that he ends the last note so quickly. I expect it to be held out longer. Not a biggie. "I know, I know" is my favorite part too. I actually like the fact that they didn't make this song really ponderous, and that Clay does not sing it in an overly dramatic way. To me, it sort of promotes an attitude of gratitude and the importance of putting the problems of our own lives in perspective. It seems it is trying to point out that it is possible to notice what is going on around us and maybe make reflecting on what we might be able to do a normal part of life. Clay has said from Day One when he completed his AI finalist questionnaire that he thought the influence that came with celebrity was the most important thing, and that more than anything he wanted to make a difference. I think he considers ways to do that on a very consistent basis, and he has been instrumental in raising my own awareness of opportunities to do the same. It's VERY singable. It makes a good sing-along song. Good earworm potential. 00lsee thanks so much for the link to "Another Day In Paradise". I had never seen the video before and thought it was really very effective. It WAS very reminiscent of the video posted recently for GOG. It would be a great song for humanitarian relief of whatever cause. UNICEF, are you listening? For any who didn't see it, this is the YouTube version that does not reference any political candidates: I can't believe how happy I am that we've been having this discussion. The other night I was talking to my 26 year old son and started telling him about this discussion. We started talking about music, favorite artists, new things we'd heard and liked. I gave my old fogey rant about what was selling today. I asked him if he was familiar with "The Lollypop Song". He started singing "Lollypop, lollypop, oh lolly, lolly..." from the immortal 60s song by the Chordettes. I love him. He's never heard of Lil Wayne. He hates rap & hip hop. If he listens to the radio at all, he listens to KROQ, the venerable rock station. He likes Reel Big Fish, Foo Fighters and The Killers. He likes actual instruments to be used with actual singing and playing. He says it's because HE knows how to play actual instruments. Maybe there's still hope. I am so thankful that we spent so much time as a family listenting to all kinds of music....at home...in the car...live theater....outdoor concerts. The kids were exposed to so much, and it has made such a difference. My DS has a 1 to 1.5 hour drive each way to work each day. Occasionally he listens to the radio, but for the most part he listens to his Zen. He told me that he likes to sing along to stay alert and the song that he sings to most frequently? Our whole family saw this show here in L.A. and we were all just blown away. In fact, we saw it twice. We have two versions of the cast recordings. That song is so incredibly powerful that we would all sing our guts out with gestures and everything and trying to hold out that last looooooooong note. What a performance. Impressive enough that my 26 year old Linkin Park lovin' son is still singing along with it in the car. I love that. Scarlett there is no way I could live with only 6 songs. I'd start swimming for the mainland rather than stay on that island. I do have a question for anyone who has time to give me a response. Has anyone found that they talk more to their kids (or other friends or family members) about music in general than they did pre-Clay? I sure do, and I'm really greatful to Clay for helping me make that connection with them again. :F_05BL17blowkiss: to all. Wow. This is REALLY long. Many thanks to those who kept reading.

Happy Birthday Couchie!!! I was the first Clay fan couchie ever met, so y'all can be grateful that I didn't scare her away! I'm a day behind, so I'll just WORD Gibby regarding FIEKY. Love the intervals. Love the bridge. Love the way he holds out the glory note while the band rampages all over the scale before catching up with him and resolves the dissonance. Love that so many posters here used the word dissonance in their posts. Y'all rock!! Someone probably answered the bridge question already, but I spent time on it so I'm posting anyway!! What is a bridge in music? Basically it's a transition section. It is musically different from the main theme. It may involve changing to a different key. It adds a bit of drama to the song. It's most frequently used before the last section of a song. In music theory/appreciation classes you learn to identify the sections of how a song or classical song is built. In "On My Way Here" the pattern goes like this: Section A: The verses section. The part about the kitchen floor through the part about moving every year. Section B: The chorus: On My Way Here, where I am now, etc. Section A is repeated with another verse Section B is repeated with another chorus of "On my way here..." Section C: The bridge. This is where he changes the key and is the section that starts with "No guarantees" and goes through "I guess that is why" Section B...the chorus is repeated again with a small instrumental section then Clay singing On My Way Here to the end of the song. So the musical structure is: ABABCB for that song, with C being the bridge. I loved that the Wikipedia entry for a musical bridge includes a reference to Spamalot: My contribution to the Dylan discussion: Bob was born in the same town as my mother, Hibbing Minnesota, and went to Hibbing HS, just like she did. Otherwise.....GREAT songwriter. Cannot listen to the man sing....except for "Lay Lady Lay". Love that song. Last but not least (I hear you all sighing in relief), the raspberry Clay has used more than once for his HS music teacher cracks me up. I always wanted to make a montage, if I could figure out how, to Buddy Jewell's song "I Wanna Thank Everyone". For those not in the know, he was the first winner of "Nashville Star" but had been a session musician for years while trying to make it. That song made me think so much of Clay. I can't get to any music sites from work, but here are the lyrics. The first line and the last lines are spoken, supposedly in a conversation with a record company exec: Simon, anyone??? OK. Nose back to the grindstone.

Yum!!! Pokey chest hair banner!! Can't wait to go to work where my screen resolution is BIGGER!!! When I was a kid I had perfect pitch according to the man who taught orchestra in our school system. That was how I ended up playing the violin instead of the flute. Yuck. It kind of faded over time, but I still have good relative pitch. I can always harmonize with others easily. People often ask how come Clay keeps ending up singing the harmony when he does duets. Well, because he can "hear" it easily, and many solo singers cannot. Just another of his many talents. I LOVED this statement when Merv made it, because it was exactly what I had been browbeating anyone who would listen about Clay. I have a favorite montage on my Archos of a montage made by one of the deluded ones (HF) that starts with that video clip of Merv. There isn't any YouTube of it, but it's at Clack Unlimited. It's to Barry Manilow's "One Voice" and has some really yummy old pics and clips: http://www.clackunlimited.com/clack/Montag...lcon/One_Voice/ Off to work.

I am LOVING this discussion tonight!! It's like an oasis in the desert, IYKWIM. Imagine!! We're discussing Clay's MUSIC!!! What a concept!! I do enjoy talking about all things Clay, but there has been so much drama, starting with the lower sales, since this album was released that I haven't seen a lot of discussion about the actual songs. Unless, of course, it's about what the first single should have been. Many thanks to all participating in the discussion. Gibby thanks so much for all the info. I don't happen to have any piano keyboards lying around at the office so all I could say was "big range of notes" and "unique intervals", so thanks for all the detail on the song. It was fascinating to me. I LOVE Clay's phrasing!! I love his unique "accent" when he sings. I love how he will put unique emphasis in unexpected places. Even though he will occasionally break a word as stated earlier, he doesn't do it that often, fortunately. Anyone else made crazy by "O night di-(breath)-vine" on MCWL? Argh!!! BUT, he is far more likely to extend a phrase past the point where you expect him to take a breath. Many times a singer will take a breath at the end of a phrase, but Clay will often continue on to the next phrase and actually complete the whole thought. It brings a lot more meaning to the song and the lyric when he does that, I think, but it is kind of unique. So why does he do that? Well, partially, I think it's because he hears unique possibilities in the music. Partially, I think he likes playing with the music. And partially, I think it's because he can. Not everyone can take those kinds of liberties. One of the reasons Clay can is because he has no real discernible breaks between registers. He can sing smoothly between his lower register, chest voice and head voice without breaking a sweat. Back in the day when I was singing at weddings every weekend for YEARS, I would have to sing whatever the bride handed to me. It didn't really matter if it was pitched well for me. I had a pretty definitive break on the B above middle C, and I would either have to take a breath or get creative to bypass it in certain songs to hide that. Clay doesn't need to do that. Another reason is that the man has freakishly amazing lung power. He can sing forever without taking a breath. I think he has gills. Everlasting Love, anyone? Or the big note in Solitaire? Not only does he hold the note forever, he then sings the next phrase without taking a breath!!!! He's just not human. Now don't laugh, but when I first heard Clay on AI, he reminded me of Barbra Streisand. Seriously!!! And the reason was, because she used unique phrasing, had a clear voice with no register breaks. carried phrases through to complete the song's intent, and could hold notes forever. Back in the day when variety shows were all over TV, there was a summer replacement show for Dean Martin that starred a guy called Keefe Brasselle...who was never heard of before or since. He had a young female singer on one week that looked nothing like the pop stars of the day. She was not pretty, had a big nose, and was wearing sort of a shapeless black dress. Then she sang a song I didn't know..."A Sleeping Bee". OMG!! I listened to that clear, honeyed, gorgeous voice caress that song. She extended the phrases like honey dripping from a comb. No breaks....really long phrases that told the story more clearly....notes held forever. WOW!!! What I wouldn't have given to be able to sing like that. Most of you youngsters were not around in her early days, but she was unbelievable in her pre-diva days, She turned songs on their heads, a la Clay on "Here You Come Again". Take a little trip through Rhapsody and listen to what she does to some of those songs. Special favorites: 1. Just In Time. This is a peppy little syncopated number from the musical comedy "Bells Are Ringing". She strips all the syncopation out of it and sings it in counterpoint to Gounod's Ave Maria played on the harpsichord with strings. Just stunning. And she holds the last note for 14-15 seconds. 2. Since I Fell For You. The classic version I grew up with was by Lenny Welch. Barbra changes up a few things and definitely extends the phrases....and then....right before the last verse....she suddenly jumps a full octave, and without taking a breath before or after the jump sings the whole buildup and beginning of the next phrase. Amazing. 3. A million others, but I also love her phrasing on Evergreen, from the movie "A Star Is Born". The song is so much more lush because of her long phrases and the rich smoothness of her tone in this. Check it out. You'll see what I mean. Again, thanks so much for all the thoughts on Falling and OMWH. He really is special, y'all.

Look at this!!! It's only 7:15 here and I'm actually going to leave the office and go home!! Go Me!!! I just didn't want anyone to think I was getting huffy and storming off!! I love that there are so many different "Clay"s on this CD. I absolutely love "Something About Us", and that couldn't be more different from "Falling". I just love that he can surprise me with all of the different things he can do with his voice. Damn, he's good. I do love a good "shout" song, though. This is what my daughter and I used to call the kind of song that you are absolutely COMPELLED to sing at the top of your lungs while driving in a car. I SO wanted "Perfect Day" to be a single, because I thought it had GREAT potential as a "shout" song. I certainly belted it out in the car often enough, but I should have heard it blasting from all the convertibles driving by in the summer of 2004. A missed opportunity for sure. Just in case you are curious, my daughter and I have selected what we believe to be the Ultimate "Shout" song. Linda Ronstadt's "When Will I Be Loved". I DARE you not to shout that out while beating time on the steering wheel with one hand. "I've been cheated........Been mistreated.....When will I be loved....." Time to drive home. I feel a song coming on!!! IIRC, Clay said in an interview that he had always hated his red hair, but that the color was so strong it kept bleeding through the brown every time he tried to change it. I think "perm hair" may well be the natural color, though. That's SERIOUSLY permed hair. If he was dyeing it at the same time, it probably would have broken off at the roots!!!

Oooooh cotton, I call shotgun on the next road trip!!! I will happily sit next to you boppin' and beltin' away!! How are you on "Kiss From A Rose"? Another song with killer intervals. Note to all future AI contestants: NEVER try to sing this song live when people are going to be voting afterwards. A definite crash and burn song. See, this is what makes this CD so brilliant to me. It is eclectic enough that as Clay predicted, someone may not love EVERYTHING on it, but they will definitely love SOMETHING on it. I pretty much love everything on it and never skip anything, but if Falling is my favorite, then WOTW is probably at the bottom of my list. Still, I'm glad it's at the top of other peoples' lists, because that means a much wider audience are finding songs to enjoy on this album.

I keep missing out on commenting on the songs, but I really don't want to miss out on talking about "Falling". I love the entire album, but I've finally decided that this one is my favoritest (is too a word!) favorite. It was the snippet that captured my attention in the strongest way...the one I wanted to hear the most...and I guess it's still my favorite. Plus.."restless....I lie awake" with that little growl in it?? OMG, I am a puddle of goo. One of the sexiest lines he has EVAH sung and he'd better sing it as the encore of a concert, because I guarantee we'll all be dead after he finishes singing it live. I think all of you should listen again just so you can innoculate yourself against the deadliness of Clay singing this LIVE!! It's so interesting the different reactions to songs. They really are so personal. ldyj, I love you, but I'm going to strongly disagree with you on one point. I absolutely do not believe that any Joe Blow could sing this song. In fact, IMHO Clay may be one of the FEW people who can sing the song. The intervals in the verses are really difficult...not natural or intuitive at all, and I think quite a few of them would be very difficult to hit squarely by most singers who don't have a great range and exquisite sense of pitch...at least not without LOTS of ProTool help. The range on this song is really wide. He has to skip back and forth between his yummy lower register, to his chest voice to his higher power notes, and back again....sometimes right in the same phrase with the same breath. That's freakishly difficult, y'all. I love the way the song goes from the lower minor key (yes, you were right) of the verses to the powerful major key of the chorus. I really like the bridge...I think the electronica sound for that was overkill...I don't think it was necessary and found it jarring at first, but I've gotten used to it now and sort of listen for it. I kind of wonder if some people have a problem with it because compared with most of the other songs on the album, it IS difficult to sing along with. I can picture a lot of people blasting it in their cars as they drive along, sort of mumbling/humming their way through the verses and then belting out the chorus, which not only is really powerful, but also much easier technically to sing. So, what I'm saying here is that I LOVE THIS SONG!!! LOVE!!!! BRAVO CLAY!!!

Hey!!! I'm playing "smiling Clay" too!!! Man, he was having WAY too much fun at Pala. And we all did too. What a great night to remember. And one for you, ldyjocelyn It's really interesting about the new teeth when I look at pictures. When he is smiling really big...with a bit of gum showing...they look great, and completely natural. When I've taken pictures where we just see a smaller view...just edges of the top teeth while singing...you can tell they look really different. The alignment is just TOO perfect. Kind of the opposite of what I would expect. Just another word about the bio. I was thrilled to see ANYTHING new at the OFC. He recently put out a new album? Who knew???

I love the new bio at the OFC. I wonder if they had to tie Clay down to be able to put up something so complimentary. There's nothing "Aw shucks" or self-deprecating in that bio. AT ALL. I love it. Do you think enlarging it and putting it up over my desk at work would be too much? I'll ponder that for awhile. LOVE smiley Clay!! Here's an oldie but a goodie: I'll have to consult my files!! Oh wait...I was going to go home. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.

Ha!! You're right!! Good thing he wasn't planning on doing any texting on stage during the concert!! One of my favorite things about digital photgraphy is that one can bring certain parts of a picture out of the shadows, as it were, in order to answer important questions such as yours, muski. Of course, certain details can be lost, such as fur, just to give an example. As to your probing undies question....I'm not exactly sure. Those jeans appear to be hanging pretty darn close to the end of the "trail", IYKWIM, and I think that you do. Either said questionable undies are sliding WITH the jeans, or they're just not there. You decide: I'm not sure what has gotten into me. I'm here at the office submitting Serious Adverse Event reports from around the world to our Human Subjects Safety committee. Believe me, these generally do not promote friskiness. I guess I needed diversion.

I think it may have been muski who pointed out that the only thing holding these jeans up had to be the handy protuberance that Clay sports on the front of his anatomy. Nothing else would have kept these babies from relocating around his ankles: Quiana and Angela were starting to get concerned enough to beg Clay to wear a belt during the Tampa concert. He said he didn't like belts. Quiana hinted that we all might be seeing the true measure of a man pretty soon if he didn't, or something to that effect. Interestingly enough, by the next night in West Palm Beach he had suddenly found an extremely long t-shirt (obviously not Sean's), and the peep show was at an end. Darn it!!! playbiller, I'm glad the damage wasn't any worse for you!!

Ah yes!! The meeting of destiny between couchie and myself at the AI Sacramento pre-party was nearly derailed when she asked me "Are you PROK?" I thought maybe that was a person's name (I have a con.nec.tion with Clay who thought Monty Python was a person). I had always pronounced it to myself as Pro-Cee. All of these people online sitting at home in front of their computers just assumed everyone else was pronouncing the acronym the same way. When we actually started meeting each other at concerts and pre-parties, we discovered this was not so. In fact, we had a survey/poll about it to find out which pronunciation was favored by other CHers. I'm pretty sure PROK won, which was sure a surprise to me!! Ah, the pokey chest hairs. One of my favorite Clay attributes. My Dad had a completely bald chest. Maybe that's why I generally like a tasteful display of chest hair. No Electra complex for me!!! I had one boyfriend that had the perfect chest hair distribution, but alas, I came to discover he had no other lasting redeeming qualities. Buh-bye. I think the reason I am so fascinated with CLAY's chest hair is the same reason I'm so fascinated with the stubble. He frequently looks SO young...especially in the early years, and yet here is this evidence that he has tons of testosterone surging through that lanky body. It just does wicked things to me. I am so lucky that at the CD signing in NY the table he was sitting at was elevated. I already thought that he was the most gorgeous I had EVER seen him that day. If I had come face to face with those lovely pokey chest hairs at eye level when he shook my hand...well, let's just say the embarrassing display I would have made would have put me on Jerome's "list" forever!! In other news, today I was asked about the whole BabyDaddy situation for only the second time. The first time was the day after the news first broke. I ran into some friends, a male gay couple (together for over 25 years!) at a restaurant. I hadn't seen them for awhile, and they asked me if I was still a Clay fan. They asked me if I'd heard the story. I said yes, but that there were conflicting comments in the tabloids and that neither party had made any statement, so who knew? They didn't have any follow-up to that. Today I had a patient come in for a study visit. She asked me how my vacation was, since I had been in NY last time she was here. I told her my daughter and I had a great time, yada, yada. She asked, didn't I see Clay Aiken while I was there? And I said, yes, it was his closing weekend in Spamalot...he was great...etc. So she asked me what I thought about the Clay & Jaymes stories. I gave her the same party line. The only thing that really gave her pause was was Jaymes' age. She thought a woman had to be a bit crazed to get pregnant at that age. Her take was the really close, best friends, Clay donating to help her achieve her dream scenario. She finished by saying she thought it was great. She thought it was obvious that he really cared about children and thought he'd make a great Dad. OK. I can deal with that!!

Iseeme, did you not SEE that picture? Do you actually NEED anything more appetizing? Personally, he always appears quite delectable to me. I'm not sure we'll be able to get him to play along with our party games, though. I think he's saying "I see where you're looking!! There is no way I'm "thrusting my rivet" into your hokey pokey circle!!"

Crap! I can't see YouTube at the office. Maybe that means I should go home. For some reason, I'm getting the urge for a margarita. I heard there were PICTURES being posted here!! I am FINALLY getting back to processing pictures. Clay kept me running around the country and then that was that whole hospital/sick ordeal. I was at the Greek Theatre on Friday. Lovely, lovely memories of a hot August night. So I processed one more whole picture. Go me!! I think Clay was showing us his opinion of the media here. After all, the "reviewer" for the OC Register was in the audience: I subscribe to the notion that you just can't have too much Clay Aiken: And finally, this glasses pic is for ldyj and all others that were fortunate enough to witness the LI JNaCT: Damn! So close. I just previewed. Timing is everything. Oh well, I'll leave the pictures up for those who ARE still celebrating. Yup. Definitely time to go home!!

FromClaygary, thanks for bringing over my post about pregnancy at age 50. I had been amazed at the many posters who just couldn't seem to understand why the fans had not been apprised of the situation, complete with details, in advance, nor why anyone was not stepping forward to fill us in now. Maybe because it took me nearly 4 years to conceive (with some medical assistance), or maybe it's because I started bleeding at 24 weeks and remember the terror I went through at that time, or maybe it's because a friend who was pregnant at the same time I was lost her baby at nearly 8 months, or maybe it's because 2 co-workers over 40 both lost their pregnancies THIS year at 3 months and nearly 7 months respectively, but whatever the cause, I NEVER take the outcome of any pregnancy for granted. I can MORE than understand why no statement of any kind to anyone may not occur until after that much-wanted baby arrives safe and sound!! I had a very strong reaction to the news that Vin Diesel just became a Dad and was able to make the announcement himself. All as it should be. Does anyone remember that back in early 2006 there were RAMPANT rumors that Vin Diesel was gay? Lots of snickering that all the "Fast & Furious" uber-action roles and use of black leather was just a cover. This story was EVERYWHERE. He did, actually get mad about the rumors, and stated that he was NOT gay, and just preferred to keep his private life private. What a concept. He said that he tended to date in Europe where he could be less noticed. He said he didn't want to date a celebrity in Hollywood and be subject to that kind of scrutiny. So now he announces the birth of his baby. And it's reported. No sniggering. No snickering. No speculation about conception methods. He has a new baby. Congratulations to all. That's it. But then, he's not Clay Aiken. I wish I could be a transplanted Houstonian this weekend for the grand eHP get-together. liney23 and I did have another fantabulous time this week having dinner together and gushing over all things Clay. But we didn't have Cheez Doodles.

Does a bear relieve himself in the forest preserve? I certainly do! I'm moving a bunch of pictures around today, so am revisiting lots of older ones. Here's one for those who miss the longer brown hair, and there are blond roots for those who prefer the blond: Ah, couchie I will never forget that first meeting before the AI Sacramento show. In fact, I just passed by a pic from that party in my travels. You and I are standing next to each other with big smiles on our faces. That will remain one of my favorite shows forever, I think. When Clay and Ruben were bantering with each other and panties and bustiers and stuffed animals were pelting the stage, Ruben noted that they were throwing shoes at them. Clay walked over and picked up a rubber sandal and held it out to the audience, saying" Now HERE is an example of a family-friendly thong!!". I think that was the point of no return for me. How could I resist a wit that quick combined with such a killer voice? Resistance was futile, and I've never looked back.

Well, to borrow from the reporter's notebook, sometimes it isn't even so much "what" or "how" something is said as "when". Quite a few people are feeling a little sensitive at the moment. Even though many posters might gently (or not so gently) joke or complain about Clay here at "home" on a regular basis, they might not be feeling as comfortable doing that at this particular point in time. He's being ridiculed and pilloried all over the media and the internet, including by some at his own fan club site. That's upsetting quite a few people more than any quasi-news, I think, and may have some in a bit more protective mode than normal. Heidi Ho I loved your post. I am a fan of Clay Aiken because I love his voice, I love his heart, I think he's a fascinating person (from what I know) and he's more entertaining in concert than any other solo artist I've ever seen. I cannot understand why I am supposed to care about the intimate details of his personal life. I don't really want to know the nitty gritty about ANY celebrities life, nor that of any of my co-workers or acquaintances for that matter. WAY too much TMI. I cannot understand why I am supposed to care or take a stand, for God's sake, on what Clay Aiken does in the boudoir or who he's doing it with. WHY does this seem to be so important to so many people in his case more than almost anyone else I can think of? I'm never going to get that. I worked for years as a flight attendant (yes I did, so you can stop that snickering) and many more years in the medical field. The number of gay persons in those fields is much higher than average. It was just one more aspect of who they were...nothing that caused any kind of big reaction from co-workers than whether they had blond or brown hair. Maybe that's why I have such a hard time understanding this obsession to "know" by every Tom, Dick (double-meaning intended) and Perez out there. I like reading and posting here because I HAVE met so many of the posters. I can "see" them talking to me when they post, and I enjoy that. It probably does give me a framework for their remarks, and maybe that affects the way I read what they are saying. It's hard to know. I can probably say just about anything here and get away with it, since I rarely get any reaction at all to my posts, unless I include a picture. So..... I turned the page on my calendar today and will get to see this face for the next month. I look at that face and I see someone who loves performing. He's said that many times. I don't see that changing unless it seems to him that he will not be allowed to have ANY personal life....that he has to perform for "us" non-stop or ELSE. I have no idea what his next concert will be like, but I feel fairly confident that there WILL be one. Wherever it is, whenever it is, I'm planning to be there.

Wow!! So many well-written posts on the topic du jour. I'm going to have to go back and re-read tomorrow, since I am so tired I can barely see straight!! I see the question was raised....why Jaymes? Someone pointed out Clay's dedication to her on the ATDW liner notes without quoting it, as far as I can see. Honeybee at CV put it up earlier today: This was from the liner notes to ATDW...don't even know why I posted this, but it makes me feel kinda schmoopy. Not sure what kind of love it is, but it looks to me like Clay loves Jaymes very much It appears that Clay felt Jaymes stood by him and cared about him as not just a colleague but at the very least a dear friend during one of the roughest periods of his life. I think I can easily see "Why Jaymes?" :F_05BL17blowkiss: to all.

I'm loving these line reports. It brings back SO many memories from the West Coast. It's a really unique experience, and even though the conditions can be kind of grueling, it honestly is a lot of fun. All of you who are there will be talking about it forever!! I opted out. I wasn't prepared for something like this, and my flight leaves from JFK at 5:05. Changing my ticket would have WAY more than doubled my air fare for this trip. It's kinda killing me, though. OK. I don't like to try to edit on my laptop, because the color and the resolution never seem right, but this is the best I can do for the short term. Clay made the "Six" gesture more than once, so obviously we were all supposed to buy 6 copies on the 6th. Maybe. At any rate, it's a good idea. Go forth and buy!! I can't tell you how cool it was to see him up above the marquee. It was like the balcony scene in "Evita", or with apologies to all Catholics, the Pope out on the balcony at the Vatican greeting His followers. Many thanks to my daughter for this precious moment in time. OK. Gotta go get ready. I have a PARTAY to attend. Hope to see lots of you there!!!

Oh thank goodness y'all are back. I KNEW you'd be having some good discussion. I wrote up a very pithy post and then....couldn't post it!! I tried somewhere else, but it's just not the same. So here it is: I've been attempting to be all Zen-like about Access Hollywood, VH1, People, etc., etc., but it's not working all that well, so I figure I'll just rant once and then let it go. Hopefully. Scroll at will. OK. I'm pretty peeved...I have to admit it. I think that Clay worked really hard to make this a quality album. I think that he and Jaymes searched long and hard to find Kipper, and I think they struck gold. I think the album is very eclectic, and that though the arrangements are varied, they are all really excellent to my ears. I still think that this is the closest to LIVE Clay that has ever been captured in the studio, and I think that about pretty much every song. The album presents a fabulous opportunity to appreciate the many facets of Clay Aiken and how beautifully he's evolved. I think that he hoped (and I certainly hoped) that using a producer of Kipper's stature to produce a cohesive CD and having songwriters like David Foster and Ryan Tedder involved would lend some credibility to the project. Any reasonable person might think that. But nooooooooooooooooooooooo!! After all, it's Clay Aiken that they're reviewing. Don't mention the incredible vocals. Don't mention how he can change up his interpretations to fit the song. Don't talk about how carefully the songs have been selected lyrically to fit the theme of lessons learned as we grow-up and mature. Nope, nope, nope. Just throw in some references to American Idol!! Do they really think he was TRYING to copy Daughtry??? Jeee-suz!!! What maroons!! I was particularly taken with how they eliminated all possible boxes for Clay. Schmaltzy ballads just don't work in today's music scene, but God forbid he try to sing anything else!! Clay is a very smart man. He said that he tried out a few songs, and he enjoyed singing them, but didn't think he could pull them off. He used an example of a Maroon-5 type song that was probably better left to Maroon 5. He knew. Many of us thought he was overly cautious, but he knew. Years ago I was watching Prime Time or one of those shows when they were on almost every night. They were introducing a new musical artist from Canada. He was really young, but wanted to bring back smoooooth older music. They sort of figuratively patted him on the head and said "isn't that cute". I didn't hear any more about him for quite some time, but eventually he started to catch on and has certainly become quite successful. He's never been a Top40 artist, although he's been in the right age range for most of his career, and yet he's played on AC radio, his albums sell well and he sells out on his concert tours. Y'all know who it is...Michael Buble. It just killed me to watch him sell out 3 shows at the Greek in nothing flat when Clay couldn't do it even once on a Saturday night in August. So what makes MB so bullet-proof? I don't think he sings as well as Clay, he's not as interesting as a performer, I don't think he's as naturally funny, and I don't think he's any "cooler" than Clay in his musical stylings. But no one cares where his feet are on an airplane or that he takes his bodyguard to an industry party. No one complains that he's a Sinatra wannabe or even a Harry Connick wannabe. He just keeps trucking right along, doing his thing and raking in the money. Maybe it's because he never DID try to break into Top40 radio. They never have known what to do with Clay. I love rockin' Clay in concert, and I think Fallin' may be my favorite cut on the album, but honestly I think he'd be in a different place now if they had concentrated on AC radio in the first place. JMHO. Oh well. I'm heading to NY tomorrow to see our amazing BF in Spamalot as he takes his final bows. I am so, so grateful that Clay and all of us have had Spamalot to celebrate this year. They celebrated when he arrived there, they promoted him as a big star, he was given a warm welcome, was treated with respect and affection by his castmates, got good reviews and played for delighted audiences every night. I loved that Hannah & Clay, who both had their Broadway debut on the same night, were given such a great ovation at BC on Monday. That was special. I'll tell you, I live in California, and trekking off to NY is a big deal, but I'd gladly do it again multiple times to see him treated that well again. I'm supposed to be packing, but I'm remembering back to when we got the People/EW reviews for ATDW. The big comparison on reviews then was that the incredible talented *g* Paris Hilton got stellar reviews and zillions of stars for her debut album. The reviewer freely admitted that there was so much ProTooling and production that she may not even have been in the studio, but it was "catchy". Lord save us. There are none so deaf as those who will not hear. I really need to get back to packing. Right after I increase my order at Walmart.com.

I THINK this is new, but I'm hopelessly behind everywhere, so I'm not sure. I know there was a 11 most successful idols slide show somewhere before, but I really think this is a new one. 12 most successful idols ever. Clay's the 4th slide, in his Sedaka Tribute outfit. Looks verra, verra nice!!! The text is really quite complimentary to him, and has a nice blurb about his new album. http://cm.my.yahoo.com/ Take a look!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! liney23 my Kimmel ticket request converted and confirmed today too!!!

Oooooooooo this is almost me. I'm a bit more particular. One of the things that totally captured me the first time I ever saw Clay (Wild Card) was the was he said "close" in the phrase "close the door, and let me...." It's sort of "kuh-lose", and yes, there was tongue curling or furling or SOMETHING going on!!! I ran it back on the handy Tivo rewind feature and watched that many, many times. Remember Zaprudering??? I think I uttered my very first "GAH" or maybe "GUH" watching and listening to him sing that word. Yup! "CL" words. Still just knocks me out to this day. Hope there are many of them on the new CD.

OMG!! What a fabulous treat to wake up to!!!! With ATDW, I only heard the snippet for WY in advance, but this time I drew the line at not listening to anyone else's versions. Thanks so much to all who have provided the snippets. I love them all. Truly something for everyone, but they all tell different facets of the same story. I am forever indebted to Kipper and also to Jaymes and Clay for their search to find him. It has a wonderful integrated sound. This is the thing I love the most about the snippets: If I close my eyes, I am in a third-row center seat in a concert hall/arena somewhere, and Clay Aiken is right in front of me, singing just to MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! And a few thousand of my closest friends. That's Clay's voice!!!! His real voice!!! The one I've been privileged to hear in person so many times. Although the instruments and and production are different and beautifully blended in all of the snippets, first and foremost, front and center, is Clay's voice. For the first time ever in a recording (to my ear) THAT's Clay Aiken!!!! Clean, clear, pure, gorgeous tones singing from his heart. I'm so grateful for this album I'm teary. Thank you Kipper!!! Thank you James!!! Thank you Clay for hanging in there and doing whatever needed to be done to make this album a reality. I'll even thank RCA for letting it happen. I'M HAPPY!!!!!!

Evidently, JHud's album was being developed with a lot of big-voiced "Dreamgirls" type songs. The comment was that they were trying to turn her into Aretha Franklin. They decided that wasn't going to sell. They started over with one reference to a great Timbaland track. Yuck. Personally, I would have loved to hear a more old school type album from her. I would have bought it. Here's a short blurb about the album scrapping with a quote from the ubiquitous Mr. Ryan Tedder: http://hiphop.popcrunch.com/jennifer-hudso...r-hudson-album/ I HATES so many of the new female "hits". I first saw Mariah Carey way back in the day when she was on "Midnight at the Apollo" or whatever that show was called late on Saturday nights. She just blew me away singing "Visions of Love". What a voice! What a range!! I own that album and still like most of it. So who was that person on AI this week singing "Bye bye" all soft and breathy and repetitive and stuff? Sheesh. Hillary Duff could have sung that song just as well. What a waste!!

This is absolutely true. I have no idea if this transition will help Clay at all, I was just commenting that I really thought that Clive's era had come to an inevitable end and my reasons for thinking this. Someone on CV posted a link to the following article by Bob Lefsetz but it didn't work. ellenpoppy at CH just posted this working link to his article on "Clive's Demise". Interesting stuff. http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/