Couch Tomato

Clay has on striped socks!! Jacob, Quiana, and Angela are also wearing white

This crowd seems to be really into the show. Thank you Eugene!

Yay for the sell out...I know people have been concerned... and the reports from the west coast didn't look good. Although I do happen to think THAT has more to do with the fact that it is early November I can barely hear the cellstream

I made the mistake of going over to the OFC... I wish they would just blow up that message board. There's just no way you're going to get 11,000 Clay Aiken fans to act civilized towards each other. I'm seriously wanting some first row balcony seats now instead of what I do have. Upgrading in reverse!!

Clay sounds great tonight. And the cellstream is so clear. I'll have to do something about people calling me right when I'm about to listen to Clay.

Wow, I didn't think he'd sing this again. This song means so much to me.

Oh yeah..didn't he mess this song up like 80% of the time last year... heee

FROM CLAYVERSITY: Intermission report from Elfe350: From her front row, center seat, Clay was practically in Elfe's lap! He was just right there! He's engaged throughout in whole show, kind of like he's the director; sometimes the cues people, he's walking around stage like he's the master of the show. Sometimes he'll point at a person, they'll freeze, then later he'll point at them again and they move again. Voice is GREAT! On one song he growls! Celebrate Me Home. Total big growl. Last song of first half. Will be a big fave! LauraQ video'd the first half. Elfe video'd some, took a few pictures. She can't tell if people are flashing or not since she's in the front. Someone near Elfe said no flashes were going off. Lots of security and arena people watching for flashes. There was an announcement by Clay at the beginning, it even talked about taping over the flash with electrical tape! It was full of acting, little vingettes; choir tacher is like older woman, alone, doesn't celebrate Christmas; the young boy takes to her. They go through scenes from her memory, when she was younger; sometimes Clay interacts in the vingette, hand someone a prop (handed them a cookie cutter). He's not a character but is involved, he oversees it all. Angela's song was Angelaish. Started out restrained, then got much louder. Hair - Elfe loves it; it is longer, spiked in top, spikes combed back slightly; reddish, lighter highlights, looks good. Not as dark as we've seen it sometimes. Fantastic. Long suit coat, black pants, black collar shirt, no tie. Looks like clothing from The Insider. Clay's the in charge; he's directing. Very theatrical. 3 sets, living room; kitchen, made cookies; wheeled table out w/ glasses, punch bowl - hurt video view. The band is behind a transparent curtain in back. William Joseph is playing piano - just didn't open. Jacob, sax on one song; can't see the other musicians. Not a crowd size to be ashamed of. Thinks probably 75% full. She's really enjoying the show. Clay is so engaged by it all. Glowing, beaming, totally into it. Someone near her spoke with someone from the venue who said it seats 2800, sold 2400.

If he said that..then BWAH Catching up at Clayversity: Audience is roaring at the vignette... Silver Bells...duet Children laughing.. People passing.. I am going to cry...he sounds so good!!!!!!! Silver Bells....it's Christmas time in the city...ring a ling...hear them sing...soon it will be Christmas Day...... so gentle...so much control... he is singing with someone...not sure who.... very quietly and gently...dayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.... piano music... Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire... Jack frost nipping at your nose.. Very very tender with just piano in the background Wow, you can really hear the poignancy in The Christmas Song. Just beautiful. Christmas Serenade (Lee Ann Womack) She smiles at him, he says, "Hello" They stand beneath the mistletoe Embarrassed by the awkward circumstance He asks her if she’d like a drink She says, "I better not I think Oh, what the heck, maybe just one glass" They talk about, oh, this and that He says, "I like the way you laugh And I’m so really glad you’re here" Then suddenly it’s much too warm She feels his hand against her arm The season loves the reason for romance It’ll get you if you give it half a chance The night goes on, the music plays A moonlight Christmas serenade A lovers’ song that’s meant for only two And they don’t even know it yet But this is one they’ll not forget The holiday where all their dreams came true Across the floor he spins her around Oh, could it be they’ve finally found A love worth waiting for Then in the tender yuletide bliss They share an unexpected kiss The season loves the reason for romance It’ll get you if you give it half a chance Then suddenly the night is gone It’s late into an early morn The season loves the reason for romance It’ll get you if you give it half a chance I'm assuming that's one of the songs he did that I didn't recognize.

Wow, people are laughing loudly. You go boy...I give him major props for putting himself out there like this. Silver Bells. Karen, can't wait for Atlanta...you'll be there too right?

From Clayversity CHANGING SETS....TABLE WITH PUNCHBOWL AND GLASSES, LITTLE TINY CHRISTMAS TREE........ACTORS LEAVING STAGE, DANCERS ON AGAIN CLAY SINGING AGAIN.....CAN'T MAKE IT OUT......GUY AND GIRL ARE HUGGING ON STAGE..... THE SONG IS CALLED CHRISTMAS SERENADE

Jingle Bells! WOW, this sounds great.... even under water. so jazzy!

Sleigh Bells --- wow that was a lot of "acting." Couldn't really hear any of it though.

From Clayversity Village scene with carolers, ice skaters and snow!!! Pretty He's singing Merry Xmas With Love Damn it's only been a month but I have missed that voice.

OH MY GOD>..LOVE HIM... he's talkinga bout the flash..a long ass speech..yay for Clay

Phone report from Elfe350: FROM CLAYVERSITY From their front row seats, they can touch the stage and a speaker! They have to crane their heads a bit, but it's wonderful! There were are lot of scalpers with fistfuls of tickets; not many takers. The front row was added today - all of row A - it was unknown how much space the orchestra would need until today. A staff person for the venue came out and said to listen up! He gave a speech about photography, saying it is allowed, though no flashes. Said he can help you turn off your flash - and proceeded to take out a a roll of black electrical tape from his pocket. Someone asked later if they do this often; he said they're only doing it because of artist. Nice venue. Elfe LOVES the tour book. It's too crowded to buy it yet, but she wants to - the pics are great - from the Aspen photo shoot - much, much better than what we've seen before - wonderful - loves it! This report was from someone Elfe talked to regarding the ornaments: They're white, round, big; that person didn't really like them and decided not to buy.

I'm stepping away from the pin packing to listen to the cellcert. I'm so excited adn can't wait to see Clay in a week.... a silk scarf huh... I doubt I'll be able to buy anything until my concerts in December...hopefully my wallet will refresh by then.

Wow, he blogs he blogs...and it's great. Skate and Buzzie... this must make you orga...um very happy!!

Bottlecap Lovin' your posts...sorry about the penguins. Now, I LOVED LOVED LOVED the interview this morning in the Oregonian. So he has completed his recording. Good, he's further along than I thought. And I look forward to his CD sometime this century. My first batch of pins are going to the post office today. They should all be in the mail by Thursday.

I'm strolling around the ship in my fan club tee shirt - winning the music trivia contest thanks to JBT, listening to radio interview after radio interview on my ipod oh and eating every two hours. Can't wait to get home. The Good News pins arrived yesterday I was told ... so will be shipping those puppies off starting Monday.

Ooooh, caught up! I swear, preparing for vacation is SUCH hard work...I'll really need a few days to recover. Anyway, I guess on Clay's Wikipedia (or however you spell it) page only two Clay sites will be listed, Clay Nation News and Finding Clay Aiken. So we thought we'd try to spruce up the place a bit. Actually it's something I've been wanting to do for a long time but it's too time consuming to do alone. So a few people from the CH have volunteered to help me work on the links area of FCA and I thought I'd see if anyone here was interested. If so, let me know. It will just involve some Clay net surfing and helping us compile info on the hundreds of Clay sites out there. PM me if you're interested. ETA: the FCA logo pins arrived today and they are really really cute - especially the silver ones. Unfortunately no GN pin yet. Thank god I'm having them delivered to my workplace because I wont' be around when they arrive presumably next week. So, the mailing out of the FCA pins will begin when I return on the 31st.

I bought my shadowbox FINALLY for my pins and it's just gorgeous. I was finally able to see everything I bought and remove my duplicates (yay more stuff to trade). And I have lots of room for all my new pins on order. I think I'll get a small one for my Xmas pins. Anyway, if you've been waiting to buy one, my Michael's had them on sale for 40% off this week.

I remember the first time I heard those 20 second snippets of the songs...my absolute favorite was No More Sad Song. And then we got the whole song and I was dissappointed to find out there really wasn't much more to it. I still love it though. My favorite and the song I loved from the first time i heard it was Perfect Day. I absolutely love MoaM version of that song and there's not one single LIVE performance that I like better. That is just plain old weird to me because Clay makes everything better live. I hated Measure of a Man the first time I heard it... but love it now. He's really learned to sing that song well. And I found that it comforts me when I'm in certain moods. I Will Carry You is probably the song I skip most after Touch which I don't really care for. I finally learned to appreciate it during NAT - during Independent he always seemed flat to me when going for those wailing high notes. I simply adore the Oprah accoustic version of this. All of the rest of the songs I really like. I don't know all the music terms. I just know what i like and I like this album. When I pull out some of my favorite albums of all times I can see that I really only love 3 or 4 songs on them. I have very few albums where I actually like more than 5 songs so Clay done good. I understand that the production could have been much better - I put that blame on the almighty man in charge. It was OMG OMG OMG OMG WHAT IS THAT MOVE video that was the no going back point for me. That's the video that made me buy tickets to the AI2 concert. I had no intention of going. Anyway, I was out at the midnight party 2 years ago -- handing out prizes for the haiku winners. What fun that was. And here I am two years later -- still loving the ride as much as ever. Bottlecap let's talk chickie. I've got some future ebay gold for you. If there are any Bay Area people here...we're having a multi boardal JNT party. You can register for it here. LuvTugs Loved your skit. he is adorkable..that's for sure. And in one week I'll be on a cruise going through major net withdrawals... trying to get my fix in my budgeted 40 minutes a day. shudder.

What does it mean to say a picture is flipped. Can I see both versions of the picture? Why would they bother doing that. Everybody who works with Clay are working to establish their own careers. They aren't HIS so I think we are very lucky to have had S'von as long as we have. I'll miss him though.

I bought all my merchandise at the venue but I do think they are just trying to dump merchandise. Since my bucket hat was confiscated by my mom I'm looking forward to buying that at a discount. And I never bought a t-shirt frankly because I couldn't decide which ugly shirt I liked best. So I won't spend 100 but hopefully they'll offer great discounts on the stuff I do want.