jmh123

Welcome lyndophin! We sat together in Cary this year and I fetched you one of those frozen strawberry-lemonade thingies.

ETA: eeeeeeee, ldyjocelyn speaks my native tongue. YAY!

I did not smut!!

I think YSRN and JMH have pretty much brought the shame to the top of the page position. heh. Hmmm. Two People. Working in tangent. Would this be some sort of evil conspiracy?

Heh heh heh.

I love a good ropy hand vein on a guy...

Yeah, that comes right after intelligent, funny, and loving children and dogs on my list.

Comes way before kids and dogs on mine.

ETA: I won't BWAH too loud YSRN, lest it happen to me again next.

Hey, Mandler!! I remember you from WMS days. Welcome to FCA!!!

I hung out with a group of Clay fans. When the '06 mess happened some made the choice to believe, and became ex-fans. Fine with me! But, they spewed hateful, nasty things about Clay and wouldn't let the rest of us enjoy being fans. They became verbally abusive regarding Clay. It hurt big time! Why they just didn't move on and find someone else to celebrate and enjoy was beyond me.

That is why I am here, because people love Clay, have fun, and celebrate being fans of Clay Aiken.

That must have been painful for you, and your ex-fan, ex-friends suck!!

I've never seen the Hall of Shame. I've never been to the cyberstalker's site. But I have known posters who appear sweet as pie go to another board and say despicable things and laugh about him. I've seen some of those posts retrievable on a google search. I've also encountered fans who believe the tabloids and still say they are just the best fans ever. The Clay message board world is our world. We make it up. Amid the complaints about the mommies, the insiders, the attention seekers, I don't let this group pass.

The mommies, the insiders, the attention seekers, they're pretty much at any board you go to--these other folks must be in places I stay away from cause I've never seen any of these things. My solution for the underbelly of the fandom--just don't go there. But based on what you've said, the handful of people you describe shouldn't get a pass either, I agree.

Welcome jumpingjacks! Sounds to me like you have a great life.

I find Clay's personal preferences, whether sexual or of anything else, interesting, but basically irrelevant to me. Since I don't know him, he can be anything I want in my fantasies. What I find rude and intolerable is people pushing their agendas through someone who is basically minding his own business.

Word! Short, sweet, and to the point!

As I have said before:

When Clay starts singing through his pecker, I'll worry about what else he does with it.

Shorter, sweeter, and totally bwahworthy. And I'd kind of like to see that.

Y'all are forgetting the one, the only, the original: the Clyan.

A dear Clayfriend said something to me awhile ago that has taken me some time to process. I think I was too involved in looking for sexy tractors at the time. It relates somewhat to the previous discussion of fan angst and over-interpretation of Clay's blogs and what he says on stage.

What she said was that Clay was a storyteller. Not in the sense of being a liar, but in the meaning of being a "raconteur."

I'm sure you all know people who can describe the most trivial incident and make it hilarious or tragic or completely insane. If I were to tell about it, it would seem totally mundane and uninteresting. Clay is like that. (not mundane and uninteresting - the other part!)

He chooses his facts and details, not with the purpose of clarification but with the idea of making the best story, which details (whether real or fabricated) make the story funnier or have more punch. Stories told from the stage seem to be especially prone to this. If you listen to the "AI in Atlanta" bits from all the concerts, he is continually changing the details. The essence stays the same, but the details change and even contradict each other. For example, in most of the banter he says that he prepared Always & Forever, in one he says that he chose it off a list the producers handed to him. (Sorry JMH, I don't remember which it was, but if you insist, I'll source it for you.)

I'm not sure if any huge conclusion can be drawn from this, but I thought it was an interesting insight and one that certainly resonated with me.

Any comments?

I agree with this--could even have been me what said it. This is the trouble, IMO, with trying to get "fact" out of anything he says in situations where there's a possibility that he's "raconteuring". It isn't the details that matter; it's whether it's turning out to be a good story he's telling. Particularly true of on-stage banter, IMO. For example, it amuses me that some take the "classics" banter very seriously as a statement about his musical intentions.

Whoops! Sorry. I went back and searched for the convo. Very interesting.

Carry on and I'll go back to lurking.

Hey, like couchie said, no good discussion is ever over. I just did a search too, and I don't think we covered the topic by any means!!

This is the part where I get serious. And I hesitate writing it, but it is the truth for me and it looks like things were getting pretty serious writing-wise over the weekend. I will unequivocally say I do not accept fans who say he is gay, but still "love" him. Who have no grasp of the harm they do and have done. In my opinion, it's the tabloid rumors that became accepted as truth that have hurt Clay's career the most. And many of the fans fed that. And they hurt him personally. I saw his hands shake on GMA discussing it. I. don't. ever. want. to. see. that. again.

If that's what someone believes and I don't understand why anyone would think they know better than what Clay has stated about himself, STFU about it. Just STFU about it. Go join the CIA or Congress or some place where superomniscience is appreciated.

Rant over. More pics and fun, please.

I assume because you say "STFU about it" you are speaking of the fans who have made a production of saying this on widely read message boards or gossip sites, or who have deliberately spread rumors--these being a very few individuals--as opposed to the larger number of fans who entertained the thought on occasion. I don't believe that larger number of fans has done any harm to him whatsoever. I thought he was gay during AI2, just assumed, never discussed it with anyone, and it didn't affect my fandom, nor do I believe my thinking that affected him. The tabloid rumors had nothing to do with fans, IMO, (with the possible exception of one individual who may have deliberately started rumors) but with some internet gossip site operators with a desire for more hits/more revenue in tandem with JP, Stern, Lucas, and the tabloids themselves, also motivated by $$$$. Those fans who brought and continue to bring attention to those individuals by going to their sites, by arguing with them, by bringing word of what they said around to all the boards--they're the ones who ought to STFU, IMO, because they give them just what they want--$$$ and attention.

Blame the gossip-mongers, blame Perez, blame the tabloids, blame JP, blame Lucas, blame Stern, blame Conan, blame Kathy Griffin, blame Leno, blame MAD-TV, blame Simon, blame AI, blame stereotyping, blame a culture that gets away with taking out its homophobia on Clay because it's no longer PC to taunt gay people, but please don't blame every fan who ever thought Clay was gay, and don't blame the handful of people who get a charge out of upsetting people on the OFC with their innuendo (the reaction does far more harm than the innuendo, IMO), or the half-a-dozen people who get a charge out of upsetting the fans stupid enough to go to obscure little sites and read what is said there, or some teeny-tiny message board where free speech is accepted. I've seen the Hall of Shame, and everybody and her sister was on that list. It was ridiculous. If your list is as large as that, then I vehemently disagree with you.

I always thought it was the specific nature of the rumors, which were sordid, nasty, and demeaning, and the crassness of the comedian's mocking that bugged Clay, rather than the idea that some people might think he's gay, but that's just me.

Happy birthday, merrieeee. Hope you're enjoying your day! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Welcome leeana. Hope you'll post now and then.

I feel that the ones who constantly post criticisms usually do it to bait others since they usually do it and then sit back and watch the hysteria ensue. Pitiful.

Yup - it's obvious they enjoy the reaction, so why don't people learn to just ignore it?

]For every fan who sees lost oppportunities in a phantom album, there's probably a record exec who sees lost opportunities in forgoing a Mother's Day '06 album release.

Um, yeah. Especially when there's a big TV appearance scheduled around then too, on a show that gets huge ratings and whose the viewership is prediposed to know and like you. I fully support the decision to wait and do a better job than some toss-off, but I also see the exec's POV.

I need to see these again. I flove the way he looks in these!!

A most interesting article/Rick Rubin interview posted by walkiki in the Industry News thread at the CH:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/magazine...amp;oref=slogin

It's looooonnnnnggggg and I haven't read the whole thing yet, but I love Rick Rubin and he's always a good read. I suppose there is a thread somewhere around here that this should go in, eh? I'll go look in a bit, but I wanted to get this post done eventually.

I highly recommend this article for anyone who wants a better-rounded look at the industry that the one the Clay Nation's pundits have given us.

I made pie! It's gooood! I didn't quite have the patience to remove the seeds from 2 quarts of grapes though, so I halved it and put apples in with the grapes. And I used whole wheat flour instead and made a lattice top... It turned out pretty good!

See?

WOW, that's purdy!!

Great discussion today. Everything I might've said has been said and I ditched the dozen or so quotes I'd collected. Certain posters used to bug the hell out of me, but I've learned to scroll, scroll, scroll. I still get annoyed by self-professed authorities making pronouncements about Clay's career based on sheer conjecture, but I'm just as annoyed at the people who take what these so-called experts say so seriously and never seem to learn to be discerning about sources. I'm much better about the need to argue with folks or boost people's spirits. It can still get to me when I go to certain boards that have a negative slant all the time, or days on certain boards when the bitching and moaning rules. Having a place like this helps a whole lot, as optimism rules at FCA.

I noticed that there definitely is not a hive mind here today, as the opinions on this topic vary widely. I like that. Honestly, I'd prefer everyone agree with me about everything, but I'm realistic.

You were approached with that story. I was approached with that story. Certainly seems like somebody was serious about getting some RCA bashing into the fan buzz. Awwww, it must have been so disappointing when it fizzled.

Now, see, this is a conspiracy story I can get behind - who wanted that story out there so much? Was it just a fan famewhoring some gossip she heard or was it someone who wanted this spread?

Now that is a good question playbiller, keepingfaith. It seems that every person at the concert was filled in on this bit of gossip, and, from CG's story, it appears that at least one person took it upon herself to make sure everyone she saw had heard her particular version whether they wanted to or not. To me that is a sickness, and bad for fan morale. What was the motivation?

to YSRN, Shady, CinPA, Sun and all the other Claywhores I see here.

In a former life, I was Granan.

EEEE!! It's granan lilyshine, my partner in crime for the gala, the NY3fer, and numerous other events along the way--like those great spots at the window for GMA when ATDW first came out. So glad you're here!!

Welcome clayrev. Come over to main and post--we won't bite! Don't worry about the sn and home board--it's only visible to you.

Welcome janiepain. Congratulations on converting two new fans!! You might find yourself posting here--give it a whirl--but even if you don't, glad to have your around.

My old buddy songinmysoul doesn't post much either, but I hope she'll put in a word now and then.

THirty years from now when I'm pumping my fist to BFM in the home, heh, I hope to have a mind alert enough to be able to account for his career every step of the damn way.

This mental image made me spit mah sweet tea all over mah monitor! Couchie, we need to look into this. There must be someway to start now establishing a old folks home for Claymates specifically. We could have glow sticks in the cafeteria, do shirt tugs (or chenille bathrobe tugs) and have Clay's sweet voice piped through the PA system to lullabye us to sleep every night, prompty at 8:00. Maybe he'd even make a guest appearance and dance with us in our wheelchairs.

And wide-screen televisions in the community room to watch clack together all day. The Clayfan retirement home is my fantasy for my "golden years."

I really have a hard time worrying about one Clay Aiken. So far, he has had that one in a million career and seems to be doing pretty damn well. Could he do better? Who can't? I was looking at this website listing 25 momental flops, and you know what they list at 25? U2 and the album after "The Joshua Tree" - from 10 million to 1.5 million. Remember Chingy? He was Clay's competion during MOAM - Chingy went from 2.6 million to 600,000 - sound familiar? Green Day's CD between Dookie & American Idiot? Not so good saleswise. As far as I'm concerned, Clay is successsfully running with the big dogs.

Great find, KAndre! When I see legends like Sting, Clapton, and Elton John selling just OK, it, like this link, puts Clay's sales in perspective. So does the press release put out by the Evil Ones (snark) that stated

It is Clay's third consecutive debut inside the top five. Measure of a Man entered at No. 1 and Merry Christmas With Love bowed at No. 4.

Clay is the 4th artist ever to have his first 3 albums debut Top 5 and scan over 200,000 in the first week.

because I think they see the significance of this. (I'd still love to know who the other three are.) Lots of people sell well. A whole lot fewer continue to sell well album after album after album. I think Clay will have another multi-million seller, without a doubt.

Clay Aiken is a remarkable, talented man who has a lot to offer the world. I think that's something we can all agree on! :medium-smiley-070:

You forgot to add that for some reason he can really really just make me smile :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Yup.

Apologies, texwriter, for jumping on your post. I went away and did some other things and came back calmer to find a great discussion, so I hope you are pleased for having prompted that. Others have explained now that some of us (me for sure) tend to be a wee bit sensitive about that word con****acy.

Clay Aiken has the best story ever. Once you fall for the voice, or the smile, or the pants, then any attempt to resist the story of his life is completely futile. Then you have to love him. And then you start traveling.

Love it!!

I just have a feeling he won't be following any expected path.

I agree and nicely said, CG.

Just know this - All opinons are welcomed and respected - as long as they are presented with respect. We aren't all lemmings here. Even though I think a lot of us came here to escape the constant conspiracy theories and lies and RCA/Clive hate etc., we don't all agree on everything about that subject - or any subject except one. We love Clay, And we're girls who just want to have fun, fun, fun loving Clay!<posted by a not-a-mod>

Word to that!!

I do agree that, for better or worse, Clay has not been a passive participant in his career. While he may not have had total control of every aspect, especially early on, I think that he bears some responsibility for where he is now-which IMHO-is NOT a bad place. He may not be all over the radio, selling out arenas, but he's still touring, still getting TV bookings, and perhaps most importantly, he's still sane and apparently happy. If he had focused on his music more than his philanthropic endeavors, if he had sung songs that got radio play but that he didn't enjoy singing, if he had made decisions solely to make himself rich and popular, he might have been on the top of the charts, but he might also be sitting in rehab somewhere.

Clay may not be a superstar, but I think he's in a decent position with a lot of potential to go further.

Well said!

I never expected Clive Davis to have Clay's best interests at heart. It's not his role at all. Of course, you'd like to think it's not all business and there is some mentoring and nurturing, but c'mon... it's just business. He just wants to make money off the guy. Use him and spit him out. Like Bill Gates wants to do with his finest engineers. It's just how life works. I have no illusions about that. It's why artists hire managers and lawyers and personal publicists. And hang out with mentors outside of their contractual relationships. RCA wants what they want. If Clay doesn't do what he's "hired" to do, he breaks his contractual agreement and they get to seek remuneration. That's the only "force" they have. Well, except the music "mofia"... lol... but they probably won't have to bring out the big guns - heeee. I highly doubt Clay's walking around RCA being a big dick. Having a big dick doesn't count.

I remember saying as much during the great conspiracy debates. When people were saying that Clive must have something personal against Clay cos no label would treat a muti-platinum artist that way its not good business. I said that the label is not run by Clay fans. They will only have a Clay's best interest at heart when it coincides with their goal of a healthy bottom line. If an artist artistic goals are deemed not commercial enough..they will play hardball. They want quick money out of Clay...the quickest way to do that is go for a cover album. I think the one thing the label read wrong is Clay's fanbase.

Yup, to both of you. I've never said Clive Davis was a nice guy--he's not. But I do think he thought the cover album was a good idea. Even the first press release which many disliked so much made one thing clear, and in Clay's words, "...it was Clive's brainchild that we take classic love songs of the last 30 years and pair them with four new songs. He is a man who not only knows music, but really has his finger on the pulse of what listeners want to hear." I'm sure Clay is quoting Clive here, and I'm sure Clive insisted that he knew this album was "what listeners wanted to hear." And, since Clay told some meet-and-greeters that he was given the chance to do another covers album, Clive/RCA must have been satisfied with the cost/profit ratio of the album's sales.

I've said this before, and I do think Clive was probably right that the mythical album that Clay and Jaymes presented wasn't a potential multimillion seller. While not perfect, I think Clive's instincts are good. As Clayzor already said today, and as I've said before, Clive chose the MOAM songs, and, though the production was less than it could have been, those are great songs.

What they misread IMO is our diversity. Also I suspect they were afraid we may not follow Clay if he does veer away too much from his current sound. Now I know I won't mind Clay experimenting cos I usually love alt rock anyway...Clay is my anomaly so I will follow him whatever direction he takes.

I agree with this. I think we are diverse enough, and American tastes are diverse enough, that he could experiment more than they and perhaps even Clay realize. Not every experiment would sell equally well, however, and not every fan would be happy with whatever experiment he might try. That doesn't mean he shouldn't experiment, because no matter what kind of album he makes, not every fan is going to like it. If it were easy to create a multi-million selling album, there'd be more of them out there!

And on a slightly different topic:

Ansa, the tabloidification (I know, not a word) of the so-called legit media is the most disturbing thing I've witnessed in this fandom and I have a freakin' journalism degree. I've always been a skeptic about what I read but good lord, to know that Newsweek and Time and the Wall Street Journal are almost as worthless as the Enquirer and The Star in some cases makes me ill. I really can't get over the fact that internet blogs are quoted as real sources or that nobody has a fact checker. Unfortunately news agencies these days don't have the resources to check facts - all they can do it buy what's available. And we've seen some of those stories about Clay that were poorly written to start with end up being bastardized even further. If it bleeds it leads has always been a creedo. The more titillating the better these days - almost like the days of the penny press. CNN's fascination with Anna Nicole and Paris Hilton was sickening.

It's ridiculous and maddening, isn't it?

WORD to your whole post, Scarlett!!

Good morning! My sister and "our" guests have left for the day. I'm a single woman again! Weeee!!

More on the Japanese fan site. Awhile back they did the cutest "ABCs of Clay Aiken" on the blog. The alphabet words are all in English, and each is represented by a photo. Good stuff. Here are the links:

All I get are question marks.... wah! I need fonts or something... any ideas?

I dunno. You should be able to see the English words, I would think. If you use IE, you could try View > Encoding > and change that setting. Mine is set to Western European (ISO). Another possibility: under Internet Options > General there is a "languages" option. Mine is set only to English, but you can add other languages too. I remember in the old days I used to have to add Chinese and Japanese to my system special-like with my OS disk, but not anymore. None of this should affect the ability to see the English words in that blog though.

I might have to cheat on you sometimes with Canucky tho...

I sometimes wonder if I want Superstardom for Clay because he deserves it or because I would then feel validated when many of my snootier friends would have to agree with me that he's awesome. I think, actually, that the second reason has a lot to do with it.

I've wondered about this as well. Those who are teased or tormented by friends and family may have a harder time of it than those of us who aren't (much), and may be looking for some vindication???

Every one of us deals with life's ups and downs. What's been good for me so far is observing (and admiring) how Clay maneuvers his. How he presents himself. How he deals. His attitude about life and all it encompasses. If he was walking around being a bitter, brooding artist type complaining about how unfair it all was and gnashing about... I would definitely not enjoy him as much. It's part of his "allure" for me. I do idolize him a little because those are traits I personally find admirable in a human being. He's a good egg, that guy.

Agreed. Kind of weird having a role model mmmm years younger, but whatevah! He's pretty amazing.

Great post Clayzorback!!!!

Hello my pretty, my sweet, songinmysoul!! So glad you are here. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Thank you my dear CG and her twin YSRN for the rants, which are far superior to the one I wrote and ditched. I hatessss whining about poor, poor Clay who been done wrong. Not that he ain't ever been, but sheeesh, you couldn't find a hair or a smidgen of skin left on the carcass of that dead horse it's been beat so damn much. Perfectly good fans are being driven away by the incessant poor-Claying. I can only imagine what it's doing to the non-fans. It ain't making him look good to anybody and it ain't good PR that's for damned sure!! Like couchie said,

He's still here and having a career millions can only dream of.

On a lighter note, for the toe lovers, 12 seconds of bliss: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_9kqDB8cvg&NR=1

ETA: Sorry about that texwriter, we posted simultaneously. I hear you, and I appreciate what you are saying, but very good arguments have already been stated today as to why the so-called mandated ATDW, which I love, should not carry the weight for any fizzling of rocketships, so I ain't going there again. I'll just say that I still proudly wear my drought of '05 tee shirt.

Interesting thoughts, playbiller! It does seem that the "entertainment" side of the industry--that is, the magazines, the entertainment shows, the commentary shows, and so forth, are more positive towards women. Maybe because it's still a male-dominated industry??

I read somewhere and believe, unfortunately, that the majority of men are afraid to let it be known that, in the male category, they like anything other than "macho" rock singers. For the obvious, unfortunately, reason.

That's why I think Clay's humor is going to serve him very well. It makes it ok for men to like him. Stupid, but...

I totally agree. When it comes to humor, sometimes he appeals to guys more than women *gasp*. And hooray for that!

The Japanese site of "ABC's" needs to update X with this picture, methinks....

BWAH!!!

Eventually, the rest of the world will see what we see, and most of its citizens will embrace him. It's just going to take a little longer than we hoped.

I used to think like this too texwriter, I really did. But, in another contemplative moment (which I seem to have quite frequently anymore, in regards to Clay and my fandom, anyway), I realized that at least some of the world may NEVER understand what we as fans see in Clay. Let's put it this way: I do not think I will ever see what is so attractive about Tom Cruise. I felt like this before his meltdowns, BTW. But yet, there are people simply DEVOTED to him. I feel that way about a great deal other celebrities as well. Now, I do realize that many people, once they see Clay in a performance after only hearing his name bandied about, will come around and go "whoa." But I do think there are people out there who will go "eh." Thing is -- that's OK. If we all liked the same things in this world, the place would be boring as hell. But yet, there have been many times within this fandom where I've gotten the "EVERYONE MUST LOVE CLAY AIKEN" vibe. I'm at the point now in my life where that's another thing I can't worry about. I just move on and find someone who does appreciate him.

But I do totally agree with the "it's gonna take longer than we hoped" statement. Patience isn't a real strong virtue of this fandom, IMO -- practically non-existent, actually. I think Clay's career hit blast-off point in 2003 -- lots of jet fuel blasting him into space. But now, his orbit has settled down into cruising speed, with some accelerations and deaccelerations throughout the journey. The ride will go as fast as he deems it, to me anyway. I just don't know if Clay's got a lead foot or not. Unlike me yesterday. *g*

:F_05BL17blowkiss: and WORD to JennaZ!

Smart stuff, my friend, smart stuff.

And more smart stuff:

I absolutely love this quote. He was on a rocket to the stars and he was shot down. Whether it was a conspiracy or just a series of incridibly stupid decisions on the part of the industry, we'll never know

Well I don't believe there's a conspiracy against Clay. Oh I think there are mean sordid, nasty, people behind the tabloid stuff and that's an obstacle Clay is being forced to face unfairly but don't think there is a plotted effort from the industry to bring Clay down. Who is the industry anyway? .I'll go with decisions, not even incredibly stupid decisions at every turn. Staying on top in any part of the entertainment business is not an easy task. Hot today, who tomorrow.

Do not forget that Clay is part of TEAM CLAY. Decisions were made that then precluded other things happening. For instance, let's take this whole international exposure thing. I've heard that Simon Cowell owned the rights so he forbit it. Or I heard Simon Cowell owned the rights so Clay didn't want to give him any money so he cut his own throat. Neither of those make sense to me. The easiest explanation for me to believe and it may not be right but it makes the most sense to me was this from Ansa.

With regards to expanding to the Asian market...the problem is it takes a lot of investment both in time and money to do this successfully. I see two types of artist in general that focus on the foreign market...One...those that can;t seem to penetrate the North America...they end up trying to find the audience in Asia or Europe. Then there are those that make it big in North America and is simply expanding their market internationally. These are the artist that can get the concerts, or prime TV and radio spots and great media coverage. I think after MOAM it was possible to do this but the problem is...when did Clay have the time? In 2004 he was so busy in North America...and 2005...he needed the break and he needed to focus his energy on UNICEF and to just re-charge is creativity with JBT and JNT05. IMO ATDW was the perfect vehicle for introduction to Asia...if he wants to be known as a cover artist like Micheal Buble. But that does not seem to be the image or direction he wants so I do think its best that he didn't push ATDW into the Asian market.

He was hot in 2003 and 2004 and perhaps he should have gone international during that period instead of touring for almost all of 2004 writing a book and putting out a Xmas album? Those were choices Team Clay made. Whose decision was that? Was it Clives? Probably the Xmas album. Was it the industry? No. Establishing himself in the United States seemed to take priority. And remember when he went to London after Idol the only people who recognized him were fans from South Africa. In most places he would not have been able to piggy back off the idol success. But because 2004 was an incredible year as a fan for me. I guess, reluctantly, in hindsight, I would have given up say NAT to share him with the rest of the world because he surely couldn't be in two places at the same time.

<snip>

Isn't Idol rewind coming up soon for season 2. I don't know what sort of ratings this show gets but surely it can't hurt to have him on TV on a weekly basis. He will be extremely busy the rest of the year on touring and recording. He's still here and having a career millions can only dream of.

I wouldn't give up NAT for international superstardom for Clay--I wouldn't. For selfish reasons. Besides, it was his first solo tour, and, I think (not sure), his most successful in terms of the number of dates and the revenue earned, and it cemented his reputation as a successful touring artist.

Other decisions by Team Clay that have delayed the rocketship:

BAF, UNICEF, moving back to NC

Wouldn't give those up either.

I think when Clay and his people sat down and worked out a long-term plan it was just that, a long-term plan. They wanted to go for a career of many years, as opposed to a white-hot career trajectory that would burn out in a few years. I also think he chose diversity, as opposed to a single-minded pursuit of pop superstardom. I think he chose success that satisfies over "fame" per se. Not all of these are decisions that some of his fans would've made for him, but nonetheless, these were his decisions to make.

The focus on Christmas is another one of those decisions. I wouldn't have picked it, but I've come to love it, and it has given him things he might not otherwise have had: Three additional successful tours, an album that sells every year, radio play, a television special and another one to come, an opportunity to sing Christian music "under cover" so to speak. Now, if he'd devoted that energy to his pop career, he might've gone farther as a pop music singer by now, but, again, this decision gives him an anchor to base a long-term career on. It's equally possible that without the Christmas anchor, his career would be nowhere already.

This little part of "we" isn't even particularly disappointed that he isn't a bigger star than he is. Does that make me a bad fan?

This post is so long no one will notice I'm on top. Hee. YAY

That's why I just don't feel like getting swept up in angst over what his future may hold. Don't get me wrong. I'd love to see him have a long, successful career. However, I don't want to waste my energies worrying about things which, realistically, I have very little control over. I know there are some who live in a state of constant anxiety over his life. I feel sorry for them. Life is too short, IMHO, to let such feelings dilute the joy Clay brings every day.

Wordy McWord to you and ldyj!!

Interesting thoughts, playbiller! It does seem that the "entertainment" side of the industry--that is, the magazines, the entertainment shows, the commentary shows, and so forth, are more positive towards women. Maybe because it's still a male-dominated industry??

More on the Japanese fan site. Awhile back they did the cutest "ABCs of Clay Aiken" on the blog. The alphabet words are all in English, and each is represented by a photo. Good stuff. Here are the links:

A - G

H - N

O - U

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Going around the boards I happen to stumble on this the first Japanese Clay site created by one of the girls that attended his concerts this summer.

Periodically someone rediscovers that site, which has actually been around quite awhile now. The blog is cool too. New Clay Aiken blog Of course it does help if you know a little Japanese, but you can figure some stuff out without knowing any. Purdy pictures, for instance.