jmh123

I don't even want to be Clay's best friend. I just feel family and friends are not enlisted for the public life, but are civilians in this war zone of criticism.

ITA. Well maybe not the Clay's best friend part.

I'm with you on the genes, Couchie. My brother, sister, and I could not be more different in every way. I'm not saying that nurture isn't a major factor, but I think nature has powerful influences we may not even be aware of.

I use noise-cancelling headphones with my iPod. I've never used the ear buds at all. It's interesting that there is such a contrast in the sound, that what sounds great on one sounds lousy on the other.

Thanks everybody. I am really happy that you're liking them, and I appreciate the suggestions! I edited these into the first post, but I'll post them here too.

Aa

Cc

Oh! Great job, Cindilu! I'm really liking Aa & Cc.

These are my favs as well. They are gorgeous. Just one picky thing: Could the "SIR" be more centered with the "ROBIN" or maybe the S in SIR even with the N in Robin? It seems lopsided to me. Probably just a matter of taste so feel free to ignore me. I'm so in awe of your talent!!

Also, I think Duke University and Research Triangle Park denizens would be QUITE surprised to find out how "backwoods" they are. Plus you can spend millions on a home in the RDU area - just because you spend a million for a 1000 sq ft shack in Los Angeles does not make LA better, it just makes LA overpriced. LA has its poor slums, too.

I remember when Research Triangle Park first opened. IBM was the first big corporation, and the first "Yankees" appeared in my school. I was in 6th grade. Looking back, it must've been quite a culture shock for them. At the time, I was just fascinated by the foreigners.

I was raised in Philly, and went on to live in Bloomington Il, Durham, NC (actually Bahama, but pop. 163), and Tampa, Fl.

I hate to burst your flapping bubble, but you'll have to do some more research to fully debunk the flap flap. He wore two suits. The first half suit may have been the flap flap suit, cause you're right, the suit with the silver tie was unclipped. Have to go back and check out the suit with the burgandy to see what's up with its flap... LOL

BW...

I'm one of the ones that doesn't care for Faye, but I'm not going to run her down here on a public board. And I'll admit she must have done a whole lot right for Clay to love her so much and to have turned out to be such a quality human being.

I agree with this totally. Clay is a fine man and while most of that was his choice, Faye loved him "good enough" to give him the strength to do that.

I was going to bring the second suit up, but AIW was sung in the burgundy suit, so if cha cha trusty can cap the flap flapping at the end of that number we'll have the suit flap flap resolved once and for all.

I don't want to be Faye's new best friend. Clay aside, I don't think we'd get along particularly as people--which says nothing at all about her as a person, just that we're different types--but I also think she raised a fine man, and ITA with the making mistakes thing. Every parent does, and we never did get her version, only Clay's. (As Couchie said better while I was writing.)

Thanks for the good thoughts and hugs. My MIL passed away this morning.

{{{merrieeee and family}}}

Did consider myself for many years to be "superior" to those dumb city folks that couldn't even tell the difference between skunk and porcupine tracks, and where to pick the best asparagus. And city folks walk funny. I probably still walk like a country girl.

Good attitude!! BWAH!

Well I can surely relate to the misconceptions of southern, rural or country bumpkin people. A lot of people think people from Arkansas are just stupid hillbillies with no teeth and who have sex with their relatives, after consuming mass quantities of moonshine. They obviously haven't seen some of mine. No way I would go near some of them. Just kidding

Arkansas gets an extra dose of disrespect, that's for sure.

Back where my daddy grew up (in NC), there were about 16 people in his school (K-12), and people really did marry their relatives (cousins) (there wasn't anyone who wasn't a relative to marry); and if your wife or husband died young, you married their brother or sister.

jmh, I didn't know you were from Raleigh. Do you still live there?

Nope, but my mother does, and I go there a lot.

Coincidentally to the topic, I just read this review in the NY Times of Roy Blount's Long Time Leaving. Interesting perspective on being a southerner up north, as I was for a long time.

About this urban rural thing, and I'm not disputing anyone's experience or observations, and I don't know Clay, so I really don't know what his experience was. Like most folks, I'm going to see the world through my own filters. I grew up in Raleigh, within the city limits, in a neighborhood of little 50's boxes, but the road in front of the house I grew up in wasn't paved for as long as I lived there. Across the street was a vacant field; it still is, according to google maps. Our house was different from most of the homes of the relatives we went to visit in more rural areas, and I grew up thinking that indoor bathrooms were invented in the 50's and my family just happened to be the first to get one. As a teenager I worked in a summer camp out where Clay grew up, a decade before he was born; we rode for about a half-hour on a camp bus with all the kids, and at the time it was wooded land all the way. That would later become "north Raleigh" and the area is quite developed now, and I don't know where Clay's family stood in that process. Raleigh has grown tremendously in a few decades, as has the whole region. It has always been the state capitol, and there have always been wealthy and sophisticated people there, but I wasn't raised among them. For me, it's easy to see how someone could grow up in Raleigh and still feel deep down like a country bumpkin, and that hasn't changed for me despite lots of education and world travel. Sophistication is something I will just never have or be. I really have no idea if Clay is like me or not, and how much of his schtick is how he really feels and how much is an act. I know he's not stupid, anymore than I am, and I know he's far more qualified to run his career than the sophisticated folks who noticed that his jacket flap wasn't clipped, and who are so quick to point out all his other various fashion no-nos, and I'm sure they cringe at and mock people like me too, who just don't understand the "right" things to do, which was what I was agreeing to in ldyjocelyn's post.

A little OT, but not really. From CNN, The monster that ate entertainment. I wonder if the public appetite is really all that great for endless gossip, or are the measures the networks are using to determine what people want flawed?

I'm loving your running commentary, KAndre. Good insight about the layers!! The Aiken/Candeloro Sleigh Ride was one of my favorite numbers in that show.

I really loved how he has been setting boundaries to the fans as well through the blogs and the m&g....I think this is what pisses off some fans and I love it when he does that. as someone else said...Clay is not our friend!!! He is also not our puppet or our employee or our pet project....

<snip>

Well I think this is why a lot of people believed this back channel inside info...they like the image of perpetual victim Clay. They like to think that he needs his savvy smart fans to run his life and career... but it ain't true folks...the guy is a strong 29 year old MAN that knows what he wants, how to get it and the means to surround himself with people that are truly qualified to help him reach his goals. The man has been in this business since 2003 and has experiences we can only dream about. The guy is way out of any fans league and the thought that these fans have any expertise to tell him how to take care of his voice, run his business or "market" himself is just laughable.

Ansa writes so purdy.

I don't know if I really wish "superstardom" for him anyway... I think there are quite a few reasons superstardom would suck quite frankly...

Me too, and I think he made a conscious decision not only to not seek superstardom, but also to discourage it. He moved back to Raleigh, he avoided the paparazzi, he stayed away from the red carpets and the club scene, he refused to be "cool" or sing "cool" songs. As much as he seems able to command media attention, I'm sure if he'd pulled a Paris or a Brittney, he could've been on the entertainment shows and in the magazines constantly, but it wouldn't have been an image he wanted to project. Instead, he's worked tirelessly for UNICEF, and it's a lot more of a struggle to get media attention for his cause, but it's work he can be proud of. I Clay Aiken.

Speaking of this page is missing something.

From artquest at CH:

I thought of Clay when I read this quote from Teddy Roosevelt. I don't think he's quite there yet, but I see him on this path.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again ... who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly."

While I do think part of his "victim" status within some of the fandom is because of how he came to us ("gotta vote!!!!"), I also sometimes wonder if it's also because of him being from a rural area -- as if smart people can't come from rural country areas. Well, first of all, I was raised on a farm, and Raleigh is definitely BIG CITY to me. But more than that, I always feel when people think some things of him because of his raisin', I wonder if they'd think that about ME, since I'm a rural country girl too. Just a thought.

I can definitely relate to this. Ever since I started reading the boards, it's made me think that there are probably people out there mocking me because of my clothing choices, fashion faux pas, my accent, and so forth, the same way they put Clay down. It isn't a good feeling. And these are people who like him.

From the CB, another Mexican article on Clay's visit, with new pics: http://www.cuarto-poder.com.mx/

Welcome, ashleysgram, Penny, Lotus, tinkerbell2, claylaughs (smitten), annabear, clay4shore, skybar22, and RIFAN. Glad to have you all here.

It seems to me like some fans are embarrassed by negative statements. They don't want some un-named others to see those comments. They don't want Clay to see the negative. They don't want to see those comments themselves. However, I think that if a person has something they are not happy with, or something they are worried about, if they could just make their statement without others complaining about the complaint, then the whole business would be done. Their point would be duly noted, and we move on. Once others jump in to argue why they thought the complaint was wrong or explain how their thoughts are different, to me it's like beating the child.

Personally, I am not embarrassed at ALL, I just hate wading through tons of them because that is not why I am in the fandom. I don't see "complaining about the complaint" here so much as I see "complaining because other posters stated differing opinions" - which is perceived by some as complaining or saying the negative is "wrong".

I do get embarassed by harshness, but I would also be embarassed and unhappy about that at my dinner table. I guess I am also embararrassed by nastiness towards Clay's mother and his friends because those people are not really what is supposed to be Fair Game for sniping. It seems, well, tacky and pointless.

And Ron The God of Irony is finding it impossible to find enough time to smite all the fame-ho bitches who call other people fame-ho bitches.

It's not the fact that someone makes a negative comment that bothers me, and it's certainly not embarrassment as described (although from the reactions on other boards I believe this is true for some). What does get to me is either:

1) a harshly phrased criticism in language I wouldn't use with my own friends or family--just totally rude language (and I think this is done deliberately to incite a reaction, or these are harpies who berate their own loved ones with similar venom, which is a scary thought and adds to my discomfort).

or 2) a pile-on, where on a particular day the tone is consistently negative, and post after post after post is filled with critical statements. When TwoP is more upbeat and complimentary about the skating show than a fan board, that's sad. I think the master narrative of some fan boards has gone far astray from the real Clay Aiken. He's a dorky silly cheesy guy, always has been, and IMO, you shouldn't fall in love with someone and then ask them to become a different person.

I just want to say "thanks" in advance for the CITH lists, because your audio lists' rock!

The SRHP/DCAT Tour recommendations were fantastic, and often you picked songs different from the other fan lists with many great ones missed by others-- Also, the fact that you give 3 or 4 choices with reasons-- allows for off beat tastes, like mine-- but the lists are always THE BEST of choices anywhere....

ThankYou ThankYou. I especially love when someone lists a song version that is a favorite just because it has some xtra special something

[emotion-delivery-changeup-unknown?factor] that cannot be fully explained.

They are always the best. The perfect sound/perfect words are great, but sometimes there are just so many choices......

Carry on, I anticipate with eagerness.. no pressure.. gracias.

Thank you so much! This makes me all schmoopie. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

This is hard, but I'm going to try to play by the rules:

1. What is your favorite Clay recorded song? MDYK (fingersnapping version)

2. What is your favorite Clay live performance? not really live, as in concert, but GMA MGUGL

3. What is your favorite Clay tour? It's always the most recent. I loved the JBT. It was entertaining and fun, but the CITH tour was an orchestral and vocal masterpiece. So, for now, the CITH tour.

ansa, the pre skating show dinner in Vegas had 300 people at it, included live and silent auctions, and had big screen videos. It was fantastic, and there are recaps aplenty (plus FCA pics) in other threads, off main.

I have been a figure skating fan for many more years than I've been a Clay fan. I've watched countless skating shows on TV, some with live performers, and I've attended countless skating shows live, some taped for TV. I've never seen a singer featured and promoted as heavily as Clay was for this NBC special. I was amazed and delighted! As for his hair, his jacket, his vocals......nitpicking, as far as I'm concerned. I was there. He was gorgeous and professional. His vocals may not have been perfect on all songs, but they were damned good as far as I was concerned. I have had the audio from the live taping on my iPod since the day I returned from Vegas. It's lovely. I am thrilled to death that he was featured for 2 hours on Christmas day on a major network special. Tons of NJU will have seen him and been impressed with him. I bet they learned a thing or two about him, too. It's all good in my book!

Cindilu, your video isn't showing up when I click on it--takes me to the Photobucket homepage for some reason.

I've been a member here for a long time but I don't post. I really needed a respite from some of the harsh criticism going on so I thought I'd drop in and I see so many familiar names and a few friends here. I don't know if I can catch up so I hope it is okay to just jump in and say hi. I'll be back to join you all soon.

You are very welcome here, skybar22. I really enjoy your posts at the CH.

Lost the quote, but ditto and welcome to you too, underthespell.

I totally agree that there are people who don't want to be happy. I think that some of them don't know how to be happy. Finding things to complain about is what they like to do. Unfortunately, I encounter people like this in the hospital. There are plenty of patients that are very appreciative and grateful, but others who will be unhappy no matter how much you bend over backwards to help them. At that point the problem isn't what you are/aren't doing for them, but that they don't want to be happy or satisfied. And since Clay has fans of every sort, he has fans like that, too.

This is so true. This is my mother.

Luckiest, djs111, I so agree about the attitude that gets conveyed sometime by criticism. My friend who was a vocal performance major in college was "corrected" yesterday by someone who, as far as I know, is no better educated and perhaps less in vocal technique. There's an air of superiority that bugs. I also agree that if people aren't happy with Clay Aiken for who he is, then just move on already. It's not like he was someone else on AI and changed--some people have been bitching about the same personality characteristics for 4 1/2 years now--get over it already! It reminds me of people who marry someone with the intention of molding them into the person they could be, instead of loving them for who they are, and then hate them for not changing.

Lot of bossy, bitchy, insecure, unhappy people in this fandom, and they all remind me of my mother in her heyday--I don't like it.

Fact is, Clay had a two hour special on Christmas Day on a major network. He sang beautifully. He was featured in a couple of interviews. He was cute, funny, and talked about his charities. Why fans can't celebrate these moments with more enthusiasm I don't know. It was entertaining and warm, perfect Christmas fare. 50,000 + people bought ACAC, MDYK video from that special was in the top 10 on AOL this Christmas week, lots of people like cheese. Clay is getting press for being in Mexico for UNICEF. There's so much to celebrate!!

it is more than just the vox and the humor and the gahness

I'm really feeling like a heathen about not seeing Clay more than once, movie or theater,....I hope my name isn't added to the bad fan list. :clay:

I don't think anyone is trying to convey that AT ALL. You asked why other people would go to more than one show, and some folks tried to explain to you why they would. That is all. Lord knows I certainly wasn't suggesting that there was anything wrong with your only wanting to see a show once. I don't see a thing in this world wrong with going to only one show, but I also don't see anything wrong with going to more than one.

A question for the people who don't understand repeats: if Clay had a major role in a movie, would you go to see it more than once?

Guess what I got for Christmas today! My son who lives in New Hampshire is in Texas spending the holiday with me and today he gave me the last present under the tree. He said it wasn't a real present, just a hint of one to come.

Under the red tissue I found a can of Spam and a Frommer's guidebook to New York City! Guess who's going to see Clay in Spamalot! My son and his partner are paying for tickets, airfare, hotel, etc for a weekend trip and will be meeting me there in NYC. Will get to do some sightseeing along with the most beautiful sight ever.......CLAY IN TIGHTS! hee

My first trip to NY and I get to see Clay too! Can't get much better than that!

Marilyn

AWWWWWW, what a lovely gift!! You all will have such a great time!!

:00003653: to Jamar. And ho, ho, ho to all. Stealing this from duckyvee cause it's cute: