ivy

I was concerned about Clay's relationship with RCA but never followed the talk about it on the boards because it was all speculation. I do have a strong opinions about Roger's lack of skill as a publicist and how long it took to put out the CD led me to other conclusions, but that too is conjecture on my part and I don't spend much time thinking about it. So there were actually people claiming they had sources and making "IF YOU ONLY KNEW" comments! I was not living in some cave, but I guess I wasn't that interested to get into all that. The extremes at either end are not for me. I'm kind of a middle of the road, factual person I guess. I'll never feel the highs/alts of the fandom but won't be completely at the other end either.

Oh do I ever agree with this. He is a stranger to us. Sometimes I wonder about walking in someone else's shoes. Would I be vulnerable enough or stupid enough or want to be an insider enough, to get sucked into the mud. I hope not but I guess one never knows. {{{{Couchie}}}}

ldyjocelyn Thanks for letting us know about that the video clip of that commercial. It is so cute. It was interesting reading the various perspectives. What I liked the most was the honest discussion without all the accompanying nastiness I've seen elsewhere. I have to say that I was not sympathetic to the girl from the M&G because of how she wrote about it. Then she went to another board, CV, and made her first post to say the same thing. It all added up to something not being right about it all. And I heard separately that the lady writing the note thought the M&G incident was funny. I am like couchie. I hope when and if it is my time to leave, I just go away and skip the drama. One thing we all have to keep in perspective is that Clay is a stranger to all of us. I know that I have built up my expectations of what he might be like and it would be disappointed if he failed to meet those expectations. I guess it is a good thing that I don't want to meet him. OT - I was really looking forward to the Christmas shows this year even if some were repeats. Somehow, there aren't as many as I anticipated. I don't watch much on the old networks and was expecting more holiday movies on channels like Lifetime, Hallmark, Disney, Family Channel. I'm a little disappointed.

I wish I would have started my evening reading here and stopped here. I like the way this board does things. Thanks K'Andre & Couchie & others as I enjoyed your posts. Funny isn't it how the note taker really enjoyed the M&G and thought it was amusing when the note was taken away. It was another person at the M&G who wanted to have bunny ear pictures taken (I think) who was upset. I am not going to let the fandom angst get to me. I bought Harry Potter DVD for #13.99 at Circuit City and will take a break and watch it. Have a nice evening everyone.

I'm getting the same impression. One person even said he was scared/worried that people would call out his name and give him all the attention when the show is a "group effort". Sounds like the Clay Aiken whose career I'm following.

playbiller The other day I could not find my unwrapped copy of ATDW. I always buy an extra one. Anyway I remembered that you had some extra ones. Since then, I found my copy so I'm fine. Were you able to find takers for your extra copies? With ATDW stock so low, maybe you will be able to find owners for them one day.

Clayzorback I admit it. I'm jealous. At this rate, it will be January before I'm ready for Christmas. I heard that the ad is in more NY papers than the NYT. How great is that!

I didn't know you were quoting me until I started to delete the rest of your post to get to this quote. I can understand this. As much as I enjoy sarcasm, it depends on the delivery. A woman I work with uses it all the time. Her project is in trouble through no fault of hers and I am part of the team helping her save it. Sometimes I just want to say, cut the crap and give me a direct answer. The thing that doesn't translate is how Clay made his comments. Did he say them with a smile? The context of the moment is missing. Funny but there is one famous incident where he complimented someone's new hair cut as reported by someone else who was at the same M&G but she wanted more from the meeting, apparently because she went to a lot of shows and contributed a great deal of money to his charity so left offended that she did not get more attention. I remember reading her own words on the incident. Boy did I get a bad impression of her just from what she wrote. I no longer remember the board name of that person or any other details but here is an example of a guy remembering someone and even complimenting her then getting slammed for not meeting expectations. Wasn't that the M&G where a couple of others were drunk and there was one lone sane fan wondering what the heck was going on. No need to answer. At this point I'm thinking out loud and shaking my head and rambling a little. In reality Clay doesn't know us except perhaps as faces in a crowd. Clay seems to have a large family and his friends are long-time friends. Over the years I've heard that he appreciates and loves his fans but at a reasonable distance which is as it should be and that he does not like it at all when someone tries to get close to him through his long-time relationships. I for one don't blame him one bit. I guess this is one reason I don't understand the rumors about people claiming they are talking to Clay on the internet. It is not his style at all. I don't care to meet Clay or any celebrity but think that I am in the minority. It would probably be more fun if I felt differently about that as those who go to the M&Gs or other events are so excited and have great adventures. I admit that I enjoy reading the recaps and look forward to them. Sorry for rambling. I think I am postponing that Christmas shopping trip. I have no idea what to get for my loved ones this year and I am worried about that. I don't decorate the house any more but yesterday bought some beautiful Christmas material that I think will make lovely tablecloths. Maybe Clay's show is getting me in the Christmas spirit. Maybe I'll even do some Christmas baking.

Ansamcw I completely agree with your last post. I won't quote it since it is just a few posts earlier. I have no problem with people not liking the show or not liking it as much as I do. It is the variety that I enjoy so much and how Clay tries to make things different for the concerts. It is the voice that drew me though I always felt he had a sarcastic sense of humor and was happy to see that come out when he started to do his own concerts. For me the JNT05 was wonderful and I would have loved if it had become a TV special. I may wish for a couple of changes here and there, but don't we all for anything we or others do. No biggie. I'm still here and am not at all surprised about that. Something that did get to me were a few of the call outs from the audience for the JNT06 and for SRHP tours. Those got to be too much even though I enjoyed much of the banter. With the new CD, I'm hoping for a small band and more uptempo songs. However whatever we get, I expect I'll love it. One thing I do have to say is that Clay is an artist, an artist with vision and he has proved himself.

Never. lol.

I enjoy watching clack but I don't have the time to download much of it so I pick and choose. I probably watched more at the start. I'm as much of a fan as I ever was if not more. Real life has that little habit of interfering. lol. Seriously, my life has always been my family and my job takes a lot of time. Clay's appearances are entertaining and I enjoy his concerts. The clack provides good memories. It is not a right to have clack so I value what we have. I believe those who take clack should be respectful of Clay (or any entertainer) and consider how what we consider cute or fun might be viewed by others before posting it. Probably 99.9999%+ of what is posted is fine. There are a few exceptions. But that is for each person/board to decide. If we had real DVDs from the concerts, I would buy them. Since we don't, I watch the clack and love it. Oh and I have never saved any picture of Clay but I do download videos/audios of performances. The cellcerts generally drive me crazy because of the noise though I've heard a few good ones. And I don't care much for chat but I think that depends on who is in chat because as I said the other day, I'm probably more of a pollyanna when it comes to Clay & Co.

I'm happy about that too. The boards illustrate how different we are when it comes to things Clay. I'm more into the now and not into the speculation about the future. There is no way for me to predict anything about anyone's career. Much of it is luck. The only thing I can offer is that those with talent who are hard workers sometimes succeed. lol. I can't even predict anything about those I don't like as I'm always surprised at the success of some. One thing I don't understand is the instant negativity before people experience something for themselves or listen to more than one garbled concert from a cellphone. I made the mistake of reading the boards the first night of this show. Next time, I plan to find something else to do until the facts are known. Maybe I'll look at old videos. I was so busy with family and work last summer that I did not watch as much clack or put together a CD for myself. Now that things have eased up, I already have my CD for this show. For the new Christmas skating show, I plan to be on some fangirly board and only that board. My plan the next time there is major angst is to catch up on the SRHP tour. Thanks to everyone who sorted through the videos. I'm going to start with the list here and may stop there. Yesterday, I learned how to convert video to audio. In a couple of months, I'll happily catch up on the SHRP tour and finally make a CD for myself from that tour. The concert last night sounded the best. I can't wait to see the videos. I listened to the one audio song mimifan released. It was wonderful but we won't get the rest until closer to Christmans. I hear deborah's set is great too. I'll have to check that out soon. My preference is normally for more uptempo songs but I'm loving Clay's voice (as always) and this show is wonderful. WTOW is to die for. Did I happen to mention how much I love that song. Hee.

My favorite artilce of all times is the sound and lighting article that was written about Clay during the IT. It is not my field but I loved that article. I am enjoying the respect that is being shown to Clay. I finally listened to the radio interview from yesterday and it is wonderful. Someone said that the DJs ridiculed Clay in the past. Well they showed him respect during the interview. Did you all know that Clay is a "singer's singer"? Yes! I know nothing about the AI site as I rarely visited it even in its hey day. That article is very nice. Glasses Clay looks good. Yum. To answer Couch's question, the producers plan to write the soaps to keep them going.

I have always loved MDYK but it is better than ever. How is that possible and how does Clay's voice get better each night with a long run? I'm amazed. Are there any videos of Angela or Quiana? I haven't heard their songs yet. I'm going to try to put together a DVD for my sister. She is one of the NJU. I've never done that before. She was so funny at Thanksgiving. She knows I'm a fan and asks me about Clay. She doesn't follow Clay but likes him. She went into a rant about ripa and how she will never watch R&K again. I did not bring the subject up. She did. It was funny hearing her talk and finding out how peeved she still is about that incident. She does not have a computer or internet access and has never seen Clay in concert.

I am not going to argue about chexxxy's board but I saw a couple of comments about people worrying about others coming here only to spy. Huh! Funny, I've been here longer than the people making the comments. I won't comment again as this is not what this board is all about. But really, what is there to spy on? K'Andre, Ansamcw are you holding something back? java script:add_smilie("","smid_8") I'm trying for laughing smilies. Haven't done many of them. Let's see if this works. ETA: Still not working for me. Technology is fast passing me by!

Gibby - your videos are great. I am in love with WTOW. Thank you.

Clayzorback I am a long time member of this board as well as a member of that other board (shhhh). The following statement is not true: I'm aware of the thread you mentioned and I even posted in it about some inappropriate videos on You Tube which ridiculed Clay. Yes there are those who would like to counter some of the negativity at the OFCB with positive posts. I doubt it has to do with "anybody" commenting about things they don't like. People had an opinion and expressed it and what they wanted to do about ongoing negativity/hate. So what. Sorry, I did not know I was an infiltrator. I thought I was a regular fan who belonged to multiple boards and who enjoys reading the first hand reports here about events that others attended. Do I now need to provide a list of the boards to which I belong and have that list approved by others? Kick me out if you must. It will make me sad but such is life.

I don't really understand the comments about the venue. Jesse was on that stage and welcomed along with the rest of the performers. Seems like a major deal to me and a good thing.

My two favorites were Clay and Ruben but Clay won me in the end. There were some catty remarks about Ruben on the boards which I hated but no extended bashing. There were nasty comments and heavy bashing about Clay on various boards like TWOP and any board that allowed general music threads including FORT, Pulse and Promosquad. On my first board ever, FORT, they loved Ruben and hated Clay. I came late to the boards so never knew the reasons. It was frustrating. I posted a little but moved on after awhile. After all these years, I'm now getting "we miss you" emails from them. After several emails from them, I wrote to them a couple of days ago to tell them that I was made to feel unwelcome and pushed away so why would I return! Other contestants may have been bashed too but since I rarely looked into their threads would have missed it. Since I was not in the fan wars, I never knew who started what. A lot of the Clay responses were a defense but I could have missed what set things off in the first place. I hope we have reached a point where we can celebrate the talent of all of these artists. If Ruben puts out a CD that matches my taste in music, I will not hesitate to buy it. He has a great voice.

I agree. I think they had a quota and Quiana was cut. Instead they should have cut either Carmen or Kim Caldwell but I bet they thought they would make better TV. I completely disagree with that assessment and why I think Carmen and Kim were kept over someone like Quiana. Can you imagine what Quiana would have brought the the competition. I think it would have been even more exciting. I'm not saying that she would have won but I think she could have gone pretty far in the competition.

One of my favorites from the Christmas CD.

I tend to miss the first run of AI Rewind but pick it up on Saturday. I completely forgot about it today due to lots of RL stuff. I downloaded the skating performance but have not had time to watch it. But I did want to remind people that there may be another opportunity tomorrow. I'm not sure about this but think in my area they often run another hour on Sunday.

Whoa, if I believed some of what I read tonight I would think Clay's career is over. Somehow I don't think so. Guess I'll stay away from the angst. Call me a pollyanna if you will, but I can't go there.

I have never watched the audition shows. AI Rewind 2 isn't on in my area until tomorrow. Is it worth watching?

Add me as one who loved the JBT. I wanted to see a live show with the backdrops but it was not to be. My one show did not have the backdrops. I also loved the Christmas tour with the play. On DVD it looks great and would have made a wonderful Christmas show on TV. As much as I've enjoyed every concert, I'm ready for Clay to tour with a band again but we get what we get. I agree about the swamp guy. Never went there, never will and wish others would stay away.