#5 (plus #6 & #7) - "Well....the weather outside is frightful...but the man is so delightful..."

[playbiller]

Well, no one can say there is not pay for play. It seemsthey are burning off ATD at night now. I was on all day, no plays. Now after midnight they are burning off all Clay plays. Guess this should make some people happy - RCA is indeed paying.

[luckiest1]

Well, no one can say there is not pay for play. It seemsthey are burning off ATD at night now. I was on all day, no plays. Now after midnight they are burning off all Clay plays. Guess this should make some people happy - RCA is indeed paying.

play, can you explain? I don't follow this stuff but I did notice that ATD is on the "taking off" list or whatever it is called. So it's getting all it's spins at night and not during the day?

I love all of Clay's duets, and I love Clay with Ruben. My favourites are probably JIL and Fool with Cherie. I guess maybe I just like overpowered vocals, as I've seen them called, because I loved the Clay/Kelly Open Arms duet during the IT, too. Of course, I'm probably alone in my Open Arms love from AI2 anyways.

It's kind of depressing to surf around the boards and still read people panning different songs from ATDW and saying why they find them "boring, crappy, dull" or "dreary". I have to tell you, those are not words that leap to mind for me. I play ATDW at work when I need a pick me up. From the first notes of RHW I am lifted up and feel better. I find it such an uplifting cd. I really treasure it and I hope Clay knows that many fans feel the way I do. I realize that people are getting impatient and antsy right now for news, but there's just so much to celebrate.....like those gorgeous West Point pictures from Karen Eh! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[bottlecap]

atinal, I so agree with your post last night about wanting Clay to add a male singer into the mix again to add some depth and richness to the backing vocals. I was kind of surprised he didn't have one for the ATDW promo appearances. I don't know - I wonder if it is a matter of not wanting to upset the existing chemistry between Clay and Quiana and Angela, the additional expense, or if Clay just doesn't want to deal with the hassle of another person's ego. The whole Jacob situation and how it looks like it went down (at least from the outside) must have been pretty painful and tough to deal with.

ETA: Clay is in a photo spread about the AI second place finishers on People.com. Gah, I can't get enough of those AMA pictures! That was a fabulous suit and an adorable smirk!

[bottlecap]

Via CV:

From Rosie's blog:

Michael writes:

Hey Rosie! I absolutely love you. Im addicted to ‘The View’ now. Who’s your favorite American Idol winner?? I think it’s a tie between Kelly and Carrie. What do you think?

her response:

love kellie

love clay

[ldyjocelyn]

*mumble mumble mumble*

Yes, I know...I'm not supposed to talk with food in my mouth....but I was soooooooooooo hungry! Thanks for the support guys, even if I just was whining....but now that I've got food in my tummy, I'm a happy camper.

Special hugs go to bottlecap for this lovely gem:

That smirk gets me....

I loved Fields of Gold and thought Jacob's harmony was just the right touch, I've always been a little sad that we don't have a version of that that is clean without "I love you Clays" in it.

Me too. When the announcement came out that what turned out to be ATDW was going to be covers heavy, this was the one song he did on tour that was on my short list. I thought Sting's version was simply divine, and Clay topped it, IMO. Swooniest love song evah!

I used to sing with a folk singing group, we practiced a lot, there were 4 of us, 2 guys 2 girls, we sang together so much that we each could find our part in a song pretty quickly. We called it "instant harmony" it was our way of patting ourselves on the back when we were trying out a new song. I think Clay with QA&J had gotten to the point of "instant harmony" at least most of the time.

My husband has that skill as well, he can pick out a harmony part to almost anything. He learned it by listening to a LOT of early Beatles, as well as the Beach Boys (who were simply masters at this). I think that the four amigos, in their many months of tour together, probably learned enough about each other and their singing styles that they DID pick up that skill. Good call atinal! (And I just rhymed, heh...)

I always thought of 2005 as Clay's year of personal journey and growth....his trips for UNICEF...his work with Jaymes on the CD...JBT and it all culminated with his most personal and creative endeavour for the year JNT05.

2006...is still another year of lessons and growth, but this time with the public...he learned to deal with the tabloids, with the media, with the fans. I bet in that year, in a less public manner he has learned to deal with his label.

Extremely good points. I especially agree with you on the "most personal and creative endeavour" for 2005 being the JNT2005. When we had the ATDW listening party here a few months ago, couchie (I believe) said something offhanded -- I think it was "if Clay hadn't tried his hand at being creative with the JNT2005, who knows if he had ever tried to get creative with LAA." (Totally paraphrased...) Anyway, the comment really resonated with me. Now, he may have tried songwriting in the past, and I'd bet that David Foster is good at pushing, really pushing, people to find their talents, and therefore, the JNT2005 might be a moot point with the songwriting process. But I do think that him writing the JNT2005, no matter how it was reviewed by anyone, did bolster his confidence a bit.

Has anyone mentioned the Clabing duet yet? That was pretty cool, if a bit creepy when you think about it....

Whimper....

another one...

I'm dead

Good Lord! His hair was simply divine that night, wasn't it? The layers, that stray strand, the feathering...yep, I'm useless for the day.

I think the "stump the band" portion of the show, really showed the flexibility of all of them, band and all.

No kidding. I seem to remember Clay saying something onstage that Daniel Pearson, the bass guy (cutie patootie, IMO) was the guy who knew ALL these songs that were thrown at them. I got the feeling that he had a rich musical history in his background, and was able to transfer a bunch of that to all in the band. What a great bunch of professionals.

Something else that impressed me on the JBT was Clay's ability to move in and out of the different genre. And I agree with you, I don't think there are many out there Idol or not who could pull it off as seemlessly as he did. Actually, that was something I think he did on Idol better than anyone else, at least of the ones I've seen.

Amen.

For me, 3 hours of Clay is never a bad thing.

I think there's smut there. Calling muski....

I bet I'll read someone's answer to this question and hit myself in the head 'coss it's so obvious....but what does "ANSUN" mean?

Glad you asked, because I was scratching my head too....not one of the more familiar Aiken Acronyms.

It's kind of depressing to surf around the boards and still read people panning different songs from ATDW and saying why they find them "boring, crappy, dull" or "dreary". I have to tell you, those are not words that leap to mind for me. I play ATDW at work when I need a pick me up. From the first notes of RHW I am lifted up and feel better. I find it such an uplifting cd. I really treasure it and I hope Clay knows that many fans feel the way I do. I realize that people are getting impatient and antsy right now for news, but there's just so much to celebrate.....like those gorgeous West Point pictures from Karen Eh! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

You know, I think I should have been able to predict the disatisfaction with ATDW. Not because of the song choices, or anything like that....but because of the nature of clack. In the past year or so, a new piece of clack would come along; there would be EEEEEEEEing and AWWWWWWing and drooling...but it seemed the time frame for this fangirlyness would be shorter and shorter. Where something would cause 10 pages of this 3 years ago, something would barely cause a page today. I suppose it fits the pattern that ATDW was a new piece of clack that gets "discarded" simply because the newness wears off.

BTW, I'm with luckiest1, I'm not tired of it yet. At all. While I don't listen to it every waking moment, and mix it up with other CDs in my collection or (gasp!) the radio, when I put ATDW in, I smile. It makes me happy.

ETA: Clay is in a photo spread about the AI second place finishers on People.com. Gah, I can't get enough of those AMA pictures! That was a fabulous suit and an adorable smirk!

He always seems to look really, really good for the AMAs. I've liked all his looks for that show, even if they threw me at first. By the end of the night, I was in love. Last year's though -- immediate love. I love Steeve D.'s description, "very English gentleman."

Love that man.

[playbiller]

FOr the stations reportingto media base, most of the plays are during the night. Althoughthere is some during the morning rush, ther is not one during the day, afternoon or early evening.

I will reset it now and watch again to see if not one appears. Overnight there were a dozen plays of ATD, several WY and a few TITN. Only Invisible seems to get day play. I believe this is a sign of pay for play. So, the check was cashed.

I think I will start rating these songs overnight. I really was hoping to start getting to bed earlier, but I an a creature of the night.

While it would be nice t o hear other singers in Clay's back up, I wonder how much he needs them for the new songs. I know that back ups would have helped the CHristmas tour in allowing him to slide on some notes, it seems to take a while for people to gel and I can see where he is reluctant to add to the mix and possibly mess things up a bit.

ETA - as I posted that, up popped Invisible.

ETA - wrong - today, ATD did pop up in little rock. Off to rate it.

Edited January 19, 2007 by playbiller

[KAndre]

I'm another of those who simply love powerful, glory note fests - if they are done right. I'm usually not that fond of understated performances (which to me come across as dull) - unless they are done right. So I guess my main criteria is "done right".

I do like a lot of Clay's duets (I really love the "Without You" off KLo's CD - always have). Loved SSD with Jacob. Loved Fool (Me, I can't hear the off key part I guess). Duet with Heather? Loved it. Disliked 9 out of 10 of Clay and Kelly's "Open Arms". Loved, loved, loved JIL. Oh, the TV version of What The World Needs Now was just gorgeous.

So it looks like RCA is spending even more money on Clay? Ooooh, but you know that doesn't count since they didn't bother to hire killer ninja monkeys to hold guns to program directors heads' to force them to play Clay on talk radio!

[bottlecap]

Hey, luckiest1 - I think I skimmed past a post of your's about what "Best of" compilations you and goldarngirl were planning to do for the Christmas 2006 concerts. Could you post it again, if you guys are that far in the planning process? Thanks! I need to start organizing my hard drive and whatnot - I have way too much Christmas clack....

[jmh123]

I was looking at Mediabase after playbiller's post, and while two stations have more overnight spins than any other time, they are also playing ATD at other times. He's getting a decent amount of spins in other time periods across the board. Out of 49 total spins for these stations, 16 are overnight, 6 are in the am, 12 are midday, 6 are pm, and 9 are evening.

Format starters and leaders:

KKCW - Portland - 23 spins: 5 overnight, 5 am, 5 midday, 3 pm and 5 evening

KUDL - Kansas City - 8 spins: 6 overnight, 1 midday, 1 pm

WTCB - Columbia, SC - 7 spins: 3 overnight, 1 am, 1 midday, 1 pm and 1 evening

WFMK - Lansing - 4 spins: 2 overnight, 2 evening

KUMU - Honolulu - 3 spins: 1 am, 1 midday, 1 pm

WLHT - Grand Rapids: 2 spins: 2 midday

WHLG - Ft. Pierce - 2 spins: 2 midday

Clay is #3 on the Taking Off chart with 30 new spins and #12 on the Jump chart with +50 move and 12 stations playing. This is not bad at all, IMO.

[luckiest1]

Hey, luckiest1 - I think I skimmed past a post of your's about what "Best of" compilations you and goldarngirl were planning to do for the Christmas 2006 concerts. Could you post it again, if you guys are that far in the planning process? Thanks! I need to start organizing my hard drive and whatnot - I have way too much Christmas clack....

Well, right now we are still finishing up the Indy JBT, but I've already started doing some reviews on the Merrillville clack, so that will probably be our first JNaT, followed by Charlotte and Williamsport, I think. THanks for asking!

jmh123, thanks for the info. I'm impressed!

[playbiller]

Weel, there is something funny about Yes.com. I kne there were more spins, they just do not show up during the day. maybe that site only works at night now. Or maybe it works with different stations.

I am obviously not a radio station maven. all I can say is that the daytime spins showed uo pn the 15th and are not showing up now. Obviously that is not the site to look at.

Dropped by a Ruben site today and saw that someone already wrote a letter to L. K. asking why Ruben was not on the show and why did you show CLay, he didn't even win. I guess they forgot it was called a statistical tie - actually pretty much everyone has forgotten that.

SO, is it time yet to start dreaming of the pod spin if the song takes off and the album starts selling again?

Edited January 19, 2007 by playbiller

[bottlecap]

playbiller, CV has been discussing yes.com a bunch yesterday and today, and it seems to have become frustratingly obtuse - probably from one of those "site redesigns" that is supposed to make it better and only results in making stuff harder to find.

Thanks for the answer on the series, luckiest1. I think I'm going to try to watch through all the Christmas Clack I've downloaded, and then I'm going to dump everything but maybe the West Point Clack. That show was so stellar, even with the vertigo, that I want it easily accessible on my hard drive. Your "Best of" Series are great for downloading and burning - I think I have all the JBTs that you guys have done so far.

<= Old Skool smilie

[Claygasm]

I have a question. If a station plays a song - even one not on their playlist - does it have to be reported? The reason I ask is someone I know requested ATD at a local Philly station. This is not even an AC station. She got an email response back from the DJ saying he would put it on the list. The next day sometime after 5pm, a friend of hers heard it and said the DJ dedicated it to her. This was backed up by someone else who heard her name. My friend herself did not hear it.

Its the station I usually listen to in my car. They play a lot of stuff from the past and the present - tons of Kelly - but never, ever Clay. I wouldn't think they would even have ATD as they are not an AC station. So, I looked it up at yes.com. I found the station and checked the station log for yesterday and nothing. Nothing today either. This station is also not mentioned as having played ATD at mediabase.

Is that possible?? Can a song be played and not be reported to anyone? If so, I wonder who might be playing Clay that we don't know about?

ETA: I Just checked that station's website. IT has a place where you can see what they played in the last 24-hours. No ATD, yet 2 independent people told her they heard it.

Edited January 19, 2007 by Claygasm

[bottlecap]

Clay just blogged to congratulate the wallpaper contest winner and runner-up. I think I saw Betty897X's name down at the bottom of the page earlier to day, so if you stop by again: "EEEEEEE! Clay typed your name!"

It seems like it would be hard to deconstruct this simple blog, but I have faith in the poddies....

[ldyjocelyn]

EEEEEEEEEE! for the blog!

EEEEEEEEEEE for Betty897X and bunch of these:

:F_05BL17blowkiss: :F_05BL17blowkiss: :F_05BL17blowkiss:

plus a few of these:

[bottlecap]

CLAY ON KIMMEL ON 2/14/07 - WEST COASTIES - GET YOUR TICKETS!!!!!!

[ldyjocelyn]

CLAY ON KIMMEL ON 2/14/07 - WEST COASTIES - GET YOUR TICKETS!!!!!!

It's becoming a tradition, isn't it?

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Can anyone get a hold of couchie or muski? I tried calling their cells (not padded, haha), but neither picked up....

[bottlecap]

Didn't muskifest get promised tickets since they didn't get into the studio last time even though they had bracelets? I hope the people that got bumped in September will get first dibs this time around.

[KAndre]

Didn't muski just become my new bestest friend?

[JennaZ]

Dropped by a Ruben site today and saw that someone already wrote a letter to L. K. asking why Ruben was not on the show and why did you show CLay, he didn't even win. I guess they forgot it was called a statistical tie - actually pretty much everyone has forgotten that.

Everytime a Clay fan pouts about what Clay did not get in terms of promotion, it's worth noting all the things he DID get. I really think that Clay actually got quite a bit of national, mainstream promotion, including many appearances that others would have loved to have, including Larry King.

And by now, quite frankly, whether Clay won or lost AI is completely irrelevant, something some Ruben fans must have a hard time swallowing.

CLAY ON KIMMEL ON 2/14/07 - WEST COASTIES - GET YOUR TICKETS!!!!!!

Yippee! Kimmel must really like the guy. You know, between this appearance and The View, it really does begin to look like there is going to be a secondary promotional push for this CD, perhaps in support of ATD.

Although I live in LA, I'm probably not going to try for tickets to this one. Valentines Day is the day my husband proposed to me, so it's always been kind of special for us. As much as I love Clay, I can't give up that day. However, I hope others decide to go. I must say, that last Kimmel show was one of my favorite Clay experiences, especially because of the concert. And there's nothing like being in an audience chock full of Clay fans.

[Divayenta]

Dang I wished I lived in CA for the Kimmel show. Wouldn't it be fun if he walked out arm in arm with Tyra? I know I"m delusional, but i'd just love to see the jaws dropping. And what a lovely couple they'd make. One can dream (or write , like missy muski!)

I was getting my glasses redone today and the gal looked surprised when I told her my age. From me , out pops, "Oh , well, that Clay Aiken keeps you young!" to which I got a verrrry knowing nod and smile. Heee! He's so contagious.

Couch, I agree that Clay and Jacob's voices were the perfect blend. I'm sad that Jacob left because he made Clay sound even better. I guess he was too much trouble. I don't know what happened.

I would love to hear Clay sing with Barbra or Celine. I know a lot of folks don't go for Celine, but I have always loved her voice. When she sang "Beauty and the Beast " with Peabo Bryson I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I love that Clay mentioned Peabo as one of his favorite singers. ONe of the greatest all time voices ever.

I enjoy ATDW , especially the extras- IYDKMBN- (so soulful) and LAL just has me in tears. It's so painfully real. If Clay were to do another cover I would swoon for "How Can I Be Sure" by the Rascals. Patti Austin did a great version of it. It is one of the most challenging and beautiful pop songs ever to sing.

On the View today, Kellie Pickler had me in tears. I believe that is who Rosie was referring to as "Kellie" . She sang a song she wrote about her mom who abandoned her. She lost her way mid song, briefly , because she was choking up. So were the View girls and so was I. I wish Clay knew her. She strikes me as a genuine and lovely person.

Okay, I'll shut up with my disconnected ramblings tonight. Hugging you all.

[muskifest]

Valentine's Day, eh?

I just requested two tickets (the max) for that show.

Hi, gang....in Albuquerque on business. Supposed to go on to New Orleans tomorrow to attend a professional conference. But Kenny called me just as I was getting on the plane in Oakland to say that my father in law died early this morning. He'd just come home from a long hospital stay, one of many in the last years, and the hospice people thought he'd live a few more months...but he was on morphine drip and oxygen and he just stopped breathing.

I guess he just waited to get home.

In any case, this is one of those situations where there is almost as much relief as there is sorrow, you know? His quality of life has been so bad these last few years and getting worse all the time. Kenny is leaving tomorrow for Delaware---no definite plans for funeral, etc. yet. He got the girls taken care of with friends through Monday...he got a round trip to return Tuesday but he won't know his actual return date until he gets with his brothers back East and they make all the arrangements. Originally, I was supposed to fly back Wednesday.

The whole family won't be going to the funeral. ONly Kenny---he said I didn't need to go, either, and it just doesn't make sense for the kids to go and basically miss a week of school. So....I need to see if I can get any of the conference fee back if I were to cancel and then there's the flight changes, etc.

This might sound awful but I really want to go to this conference...been planning on it for a year now. But I guess it's creepy for me to do that...

crap.

[playbiller]

I did not mean that all Ruben fans were writing in about that, just one, but it made me sad. However, I know there were many fans complaining that Ruben was getting more than Clay and holding that as proof that RCA hated CLay, when in fact he received quite a bit less. As far as TV. Most performers received less attention than Clay.

I also have no idea what the problem is with people covering Ruben in the news, he has a story to tell and he certainly is more interesting (at least in this years interviews, he was quite playful with everyone, including Martha) than Taylor and Fantasia were last night. But then I never could figure out why his picture was the one that was to the side and almost never shown during the AI4 auditions, where pictures of Kelly and Fantasia were front and center. It could have been bad placement, but maybe not.

Yay for Kimmel - Couchie has to bring a present for Clay though, my goodness, she has met him so often, people are talking!

Edited January 20, 2007 by playbiller

[Couch Tomato]

Clay is #3 on the Taking Off chart with 30 new spins and #12 on the Jump chart with +50 move and 12 stations playing. This is not bad at all, IMO.

Thanks for the report. So to those that travel around, are there any boards that are actually organizing requesting or is the appetite for doing that gone.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Clay on Kimmel? If I can get a ticket I'll probably go. But this working during the day stuff may thwart me because I requested mine really late. Muski, better get on the stick and get your makeup ticket...maybe you can get some extras for "special friends." heee.

[bottlecap]

Ah, hugs to you and your family, ((((muski)))).