ivy

My husband is an avid reader. I found the Kite Runner in his stack of books to read. I will check it out and may real it. He reads a lot of non-fiction while I tend to read more fiction mostly science fiction these days.

Pondering recent media comments about Clay - looks changing and looking bigger. Could part of it have something to do with him not standing next to the big guy (tall) Ruben? No that was just a wild theory that probably doesn't make sense;. *grin* Do you think we'll ever get a Ruben/Clay CD? I love their harmonies.

Have fun everyone. Tried for my first smilie but it didn't work. You'll have to imagine one. Hee.

About KCE - sorry if it came across as something more than I meant - only meant at one point they were voting on any poll on the internet not to bolster Kelly but to put down all other idols. They strategized and bragged about it at KCE. On Promosquad in the past you could enter comments about artists. They claimed they put in comments about hating AI artists and marked every one else low "except for Kelly". When I rate artists on Promosquad, I try to give what I think are sincere comments and frankly rate many of the AIers well. Anyway that is what got me started at Promosquad. I want to keep this a fun thread so should not have mentioned this in the first place.

I try to rate songs on Promosquad every other day but it is hard because I don't find many of them that unique or interesting. I did hear that Santana song but didn't like the song itself. It seemed like they tried to make it "sound" more like what is popular on the radio today. However, it seemed different from many of the other songs on there. Everything but the song itself seemed first rate. You could tell this wasn't a bunch of kids pulled of the street. The experience and quality came through despite the song. It gave me pause becuase there was such a difference - I could hear the experience. I wish I could express this better. If I stick with flametracker long enough Clay's name is always there as well as the other idols. Someone said when it stops giving you names, you need to stop it and start again and more names will appear. I tried this and it works. After KCE was caught stacking the deck against all the other idols several months ago, I try to contribute by giving an honest opinion on them all so the data is not as skewed. Maybe I'm kidding myself but I hope it makes a difference.

playbiller - I was enjoying the AI2 clips posted at the tube site and also hoping for more from JBT. I hope you can get back on after your time out. heh.

Can I still be a member? I don't have any pictures of Clay. No magazines either. But I do download every montage and as many vids (depending on space problems) as I can download.

I won't be watching Ryan but wish those the best who do watch the NYE show. The only part I watched in the past was when the ball fell in Time's Square. Last year the show got a boost in ratings with Ryan. But I can no longer watch Ryan on TV. Given what bottlecap just said looks like it may be an early night for me as well.

Hi everyone. I know what you mean playbiller. My son's young dog died this summer unexpectedly and it still gets to me. I'm loving the crowd reaction tonight.

Clay brought me back to music and MOAM is the first CD where I've liked most of the songs. I had stopped buying CDs because I found that there was usually only one or two songs that I liked so buying the CD wasn't worth the money. And on those occasions where I like the first CD, I typically dislike the second CD by the same person or group. I also love MCWL but enjoy the second half better than the first half of the CD. For that CD, I wish there had been a couple more songs from his show on the CD such as the opening song and Good News. I adore Clay's voice on the opening song from the show but even the recommended version for the ultimate CD isn't completely clear. From the CD, the more I played WAYDNYE, the more I liked it. There are other wonderful songs on the CD and I love how he sings some of the lines in certain songs on that CD.

I still don't know how I figured out that Clay had a sarcastic side to him and a good sense of humor. I wasn't on the boards during much of AI2. And I don't think I even knew about Jaded until after AI. But somewhere along the way, I decided he was a real entertainer and wow has he proved it. So, does anyone still believe Clay was napping the first part of the year? Looks to me like he was studying, planning and hopefully writing songs. I would love to know how much of the flow of JBT was planned by him. We now know he submitted a list of songs to Michael Orland. From that brief reply to someone at CLB, it appears Michael may have cut an hour from the show. Can't wait to see what else Clay has to offer and I'm willing to continue to throw money at him by attending concerts and buying his CDS so he can continue to create more shows for US.

My tickets from two other Clay fans have arrived for the Cleveland concert. I'm really excited about the concert and lucky to be able to purchase decent tickets for 4 of us even at cost. Thank goodness other fans purchase extra tickets so they can get closer to the stage. Otherwise, there would have been no tickets for me at this late date. They are on the 8th and 14th rows of the floor. I'm a little worried as I don't care for floor seats but from the pictures the graduated seating is more towards the back and I didn't want to be so far away from the stage just to be in that section. We'll have to drive to another city to see the show. I'm going because of the clack. Clack is also what got me to IT. Since you never know what the future holds, I decided that this was one show I wanted to experience live. I hope they'll be able to use the full set at this location because that is what I want to see. But if they can't, I won't be disappointed. My hard drives are full. I'm still downloading but can't do much more until I save off some files. The reviews baffle me some. What other singer could tackle a show of this length and all the different styles of singing? I've seen some of the greats and frankly found their shows boring not seeing that much variation in singing style from song to song. Some of the individual songs were fantastic but in spite of the noise I typically got sleepy and kept looking at my watch which was difficult to see until the light hit it just right. Shows how little attention I paid to the stage trying to see the dials on my watch in a dimly lighted venue. For example, I was with a group of Whitney fans when I saw her perform in Dallas. Her voice was great but she just stood there. They were disappointed. Her opening act stole the show. Now that I think about it, I had a similar reaction to Kelly. Appreciated the voice but not the performance style. My husband would differ in opinion but I didn't like the Rolling Stones in concert. Frank Zappa was actually kind of fun though odd. However after seeing Quiana and Angela in concert, I believe they could hold my attention. When they sang with Kelly, I was actually disappointed that they did not get to finish their song. I'm appreciating Jacob much more as an individual artist. I always thought he did a wonderful job as a backup singer but as a soloist over time his voice seemed to get tired and he joked around too much during the songs. As much as I want to see Clay perform live, I'm also looking forward to seeing Jacob, Angela and Quiana as well as the entire band.

I haven't given much thought as to why I like Clay but it is definitely because he is different and I love his voice. For me, when I hear a song Clay has covered sung by someone else, the other version always sounds inferior. I love to watch his performances on stage and watch them repeatedly. My husband took me to many concerts over the years but now that I think back, no one else really caught my attention. Part of the attraction is the joy and entertainment he brings to his performances. It is just plain fun to be a fan.

I've been wondering about the timing of the BAF story by WRAL coinciding with Clay's story in TV Guide and his tour. There is something so deliberate about all of this. Following Clay's career has been an eye opening experience. I had a low opinion of the media before but my opinion of most of them has sunk very low. I don't trust what I read and would stop taking the newspaper if it weren't for my husband reading it each morning. Lionel Ritchie once commented that he hoped Clay wouldn't give up show business because of what Clay has had to deal with. I guess Lionel knew what he was talking about.

Hi, I'm ivy on the boards. I first noticed Clay when he auditioned and loved his voice. But I also liked Josh and Ruben. It wasn't until the end of AI2 that I thought about checking out the message boards. I'm happy it turned out that way because I got to see the push for Ruben on the entertainment showbiz type shows for myself. Before that I thought they were OK. The night they showed Vincent and implied everything Clay did that night was not as good as Ruben was probably the day I turned the corner. My fandom came on me so gradually that I'm not sure when I decided that I wanted Clay to win. Maybe I resisted because I've never been a fan of anyone before. On finale night, I voted all 3 hours for Clay and did not get through once. I'm one who thought we would not hear from him again and by that time I was hooked. It was devastating when he lost and I have not watched the last part of the tape from that night. Most if not all songs Clay sings turn out to be better than the originals. Today I heard the R&B song he sang with Angela and they did so great on that song in comparison. The quality of the songs from fan clips is amazing. Imagine what the songs would sound like if they were real recordings. The sentiment today that singers have to write their own songs to be artists drives me crazy. I think good singers should hook up with good writers. Clack House has been my home board but I'm not sure it suits my mood these days and I'm looking for something different perhaps less introspective. Before becoming a member of CH, I posted on other boards but never considered them home base. I used to be an avid reader and enjoyed watching TV. But don't do much of either anymore. I have a software background and am a project manager. And I love the Harry Potter series.