# 8 My titanium balled, taking his life into his big hands,

[bottlecap]

hey Bottle..when did TWoP get PMs..please don't tell me they have always been there heee.

I didn't know that they had 'em. Maybe they got added during one of those times when the forums and whatnot were down. I've only been hanging out in the general AI threads 'cause I'm bored at work right now,and I haven't posted in ages.

Since you brought up TWoP, did you read Jacob's recap from the Top 10 show? He's completely lost his shit over Blake Lewis and it's highly entertaining to watch him go out of his mind - he's written some wack stuff, even by past Jacob standards.

Our suite, in Barcelona, where we will eat truffles in bed. We will drink Diet Coke from glass bottles, and the floor is hot lava! But don't be afraid, Blake Lewis! For it is only imaginary. Look in the corner: a small basketball hoop. We won't read the newspapers or turn on the TV, because we will be too busy playing checkers by candlelight. In the park, we'll watch old men feeding the pigeons, and we in turn will feed the old men: club -- no, monte cristo sandwiches, for that is how tender this spot is. I will buy you a blue scarf, you will buy me a white calla lily. We will steal a helicopter, and throw microwave ovens down on the Taco Bell. We will run for the Italian Senate, and we will win despite our histories, for Italy is tender too: They call it "hospitaliano." I will play Guitar Hero for you, on the very hardest setting, and you can sing along. Our vocal entendres and jewel heists will be the toast of the art world. We will bring to the homeless the most delicate, flaky croissants and darkest, stankest espresso: everyone deserves a piece of our tender love. We will ramble across the fields of Europe, gathering nuts and berries; if times get hard, we can paint our faces and beatbox for our bread, in the piazza. Your taste in dogs will run to the small and yippy, but I won't mind: our rescued greyhound "Hudson" is always a perfect gentleman. Our ethnically diverse passel of children will be the envy of all movie stars. We will go to Iceland, where I will keep you warm, and when our robot masters finally ascend to their rightful place, you and I will activate our jetpacks, and retire to our secret base on the moon, which we built knowing that this moment would one day come. Love Always, My Blake.

[Couch Tomato]

OMG BWAH...now maybe he will finally get how some other fans feel about their idols. Oh good, I think the PMs are new...about time!!

Thanks for the sympathy walking KAndre :F_05BL17blowkiss: and other things!!

And Ansa, we'll try not to have a celebratory beer after each walk. hee.

[muskifest]

And Ansa, we'll try not to have a celebratory beer after each walk. hee.

Huh? I didn't say anything about denying myself a celebratory beer. Let's not get too crazy with this exercise shit, couchie.

:bier:

[Ansamcw]

Invisibel926's gala photos...

some samples...

[cha cha trusty]

Clay is so much fun!!

I don't think I can tivo any more programs on Wed nite tho, and

Jericho never really appealed to me. I agree that just mentioning it

in his blog may have some effect, the way a lot of fans follow his

every whim! (maybe if he wanted to make me his sex slave.....

well ALL RIGHT!!! ) It will be interesting to see if the show does a turn

around - or if a thread pops up at the OFC urging fans to watch it.

(or has it already??!!??!!?)

Couchie - I admit to not fully understanding your admin/rant *G*

but I fully agree with your right to put it out there!!

:laola0:

[atinal]

ChaCha, just wanted to let you know, I love the wallpaper you created from the auction Clay photos

And yes, ldyjocelyn, I think I have gone out of my flippin' mind. I burned a copy of "The Prayer" and listened all the way to your home town and back today. I think I was singing Quiana's part louder than she was, not as good, but louder. Never fear, however, I've viewed my share of the auction footage too.

[bottlecap]

Well, of course Clay isn't watching Idol this season - he's watching Jericho instead.

From People.com:

Clay Aiken: 'Idol Is a Drug'

By Constance Richards

Sure, American Idol is what made Clay Aiken a star, but this season the singer decided he just can't watch the show anymore. "I realized if I watched the first one, I'd probably not sleep until the next week and I watched the second one," he told PEOPLE recently at the Champions of Change gala held in his Raleigh, N.C., hometown to benefit his Bubel/Aiken Foundation for children with disabilities. "And I just like not having that chain in my life that I'm tied down to watching it every week." Though he's no longer setting his DVR on Tuesdays and Wednesdays anymore, we found out what's keeping the Idol star busy – from recording a new album to his charity work.

Have you been keeping up with this season's American Idol?

It's the first year I haven't watched it.

Not at all?

Not one time. And I've done it on purpose.

Why is that?

Just don't want to. Too much stress for me. I don't know, I just always get stressed out when I watch it.

Are you stressed out for the underdogs, or just the whole competition in general?

I feel like Idol is a drug of some kind. Like you think you can't live without it until you finally do, and then you realize, "You know what? Life is fine without this show. I'm gonna be okay" (laughs). Not that I've done drugs! 'Cause I realized if I watched the first one, I'd probably not sleep until the next week and I watched the second one. And I just like not having that chain in my life, that I'm tied down to watching it every week.

Do you have a new album in the works?

We are going to be going out on tour this summer. And we're actually looking into making another album pretty soon. This time we're going to do something more creative. And so I'm excited about that, 'cause I'm looking forward to having a little more free reign than I've had in the past. Each time I've done an album, I've had a little more creative control over what happens.

What would you recommend to Idol contestants about making the most of their fame?

I think that where I am today is a direct result of God's plan to put me in each place in my life. Find something that you are passionate about that gives back to your community. I think there's a misconception that really upsets me when people say, "If you're in the public eye you have an obligation to let me know when you're gettin' married, who you're gettin' married to and who you're dating." That's bull. But you do have an obligation to be a role model. From the beginning, I realize I got this only because God wanted me to be here. I think anybody who has any microphone to use who doesn't use it for the benefit of those around him is remiss.

[Ansamcw]

Couchie - I admit to not fully understanding your admin/rant *G*

but I fully agree with your right to put it out there!!

:laola0:

I don't know if I can make it any clearer...I hope I do.

Basically...we just want to clarify one thing. we would rather not have long discussions about specific fans and and or specific posts that were taken from other boards. If a fan is mentioned in passng like if people want to report a significant incident from another board then thats fine...But if we are to talk about specific posts...I rather we talk about the ideas behind the post, not the specifics of the post. For example...someone may read a post that reeks of hypocrisy that we often see around the fandom then go ahead rant about that but we don't need to mention where we actually saw it or who said it. If people are curious I guess they can pm the person who posted.

I guess a lot of us came from boards that have policies of no posting about the board on the board or just talk about other boards. At first we saw the wisdom of this because it prevents in fighting and bashing of fellow posters and stops people from telling each other what to post. However we also saw that this can be very unhealthy. It won;t take away hurt feelings or misunderstandings or prevent friction on the boards. It just makes people fume about it in private and create secret factions that ends up creating a lot of tension on the board itself without a way to resolve thing. That is why we have decided to just take that rule away and trust that the posters will refrain from basing each other and that people will know to agree to disagree and respect each others right to have their own opinion of things.

I hope this clarifies our position. Again...feel free to ask for clarification or just to discuss this board philosophy. I hope this does not make people wary of posting. Most of our discussions have been great. I guess that is why its so rare that the admins have to step in and wave our colored posts...but we felt we need to make this posistion clear as we have more and more posters from all over the fandom....

ok...I will post about Clay later...I am still in heaven from all the gorgeous photos...

:F_05BL17blowkiss: :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[ldyjocelyn]

Thanks bottlecap, for that People article. 2 things: wonder if the definition of "soon" will be his definition, or the fans? *g* And also, love this quote:

Each time I've done an album, I've had a little more creative control over what happens.

It just tells me, again, that he had more of a say about ATDW than many want to give him credit for.

I'd love to talk about this all day, but I'm running a summit at my workplace, and will be computerless for the entire day. Wah. Have a great day everyone.

[luckiest1]

Hey all

Sorry this took so long to write up, I've been doing it in parts each day and saving it until it was done! We are flying home this afternoon so I hope to catch up on the board and the conversation tonight. Enjoy! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I met so many people on Saturday. Our group consisted of me, my daughter crimsonice, her friend disneykid, NCDonna and kids, and mandmlady. We started out at the Gandolpho Deli where we ate and chatted with ebird and her friend Ann, as well as cindlilu2 and her friend Karen.

Then we headed over to cindilu2's hotel to change.....and hopped a taxi to the Cardinal Club. We were about a half hour early, and found jmh123 and her friend Nancy right away. Faye was walking back and forth across the street, and finally she got picked up in a black SUV that had us all wondering for a minute.......but no sign of Clay, who I assume was already upstairs doing his meet & greet with the lucky gold members. Finally it was time to register, and we all crowded into the lobby to wait in a poorly assembled line to make sure we were "on the list". Talk about stressful. I was never so happy as when Brianna, the dancer from the JNT05 gave me my ticket, which said "table 23" and "seat #222". Up we went, in the elevator, to the 28th floor, where we stood packed like sardines again for another 15 minutes.

We took a quick look at the silent auction items, but most of the big ticket stuff was missing (Wango Tango shirt & LAL lyrics). We found our dining room, which apparently was nowhere near the main room where Clay would be dining. At our table, to the best of my recollection, was geekette, careless whisper, invisible926, notrelated, CAP121, Huskerfalcon, ProqFreq, and us five. We were visited by Jaymes Foster selling raffle tickets, Diane Bubel who came by to introduce herself and say hi, and even Faye at one point, because she found a ticket on the ground and it belonged to someone at our table. The meal started with a salad and raspberry vinaigrette, then the main course was steak, salmon, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. Dessert was a carmel chocolate cheesecake. There was red and white wine served, and also champagne.

At one point we were visited by ficus who informed us that Clay was eating in her dining room and that many people were coming by to peek. CAP121 took off with her. crimsonice and disneykid decided they had to go visit our friend goldarngirl too, and when they came back they reported on his appearance (beard and hair) and also that CAP121 was crying tears of joy. Hee.

We went upstairs eventually to wait for the performances, and we stood around drinking Claytinis until they called our numbers. Our group was in the 7th and 8th row, from the centre aisle and over about 6 seats. Amazing seats! Clay entered very quietly and he came right down the centre aisle but he was already in his front row seat on the aisle before I noticed. Everyone went nuts but he picked up his "fan" (for auction bidding) and waved it over his shoulder at us in a "oh stop that" motion. I spent most of the speech portion of the night alternating between paying attention to the speakers and videos and watching the back of his head. He occasionally turned in profile to talk to his seatmates (Jamie, Quiana, etc) so I go to see his pretty face. Oh, did I mention he looked freaking fantastic? And hawt? And I normally hatessssssssss beards? Alrighty then.

So he sat and watched some speeches and he also watched the video of the kids that had the BYLM song playing through it. He got up and made his speech fairly early on. He was hilarious from the get go. He said he was just going to wing it. He talked a lot about how the foundation was started initially as a school project and it was a "fake" foundation. Then the panties started flying up to the stage, and "if that wasn't flattering enough" they also had cheques pinned to them. The first 3, or 5, or 7 pairs, he figured he'd find the addresses and send them back and explain that there wasn't really a foundation to donate to. But by the end of the tour, he said they had about $48,000 in "panty money" (the audience roared at this). So he called Diane and they decided to make it real. I thought it was a really cool speech - he definitely gave it a fan slant, because the room was mainly full of fans. He also made some comment about the video and how "that guy can really sing" that started everyone screaming and then he tried to get us all to stop. He is so cute.

During the presentations, he stood over on one side and then took the stage each time to give the award and to shake hands or hug the recipients. During his speech he had instructed some fans who were sitting over on the side to come down to the front row and sit where he had been sitting. He really had to insist before they did it!

The auctions were just amazing. I can't even begin to describe how "on" he was. I don't think it was planned at all for him to participate, because he said something like "my rear end was sore" when he started. I'm sure you've all seen the snippets of video already. Those are just a tiny indication of what he did. He was on a roll. He got crazier and crazier as the night went on. If it hadn't started so late, I think he would have started stripping and auctioning off his clothes! LOL He said something about his "britches" being next. His mom was teling him to take off his tie and auction it and my daughter said to me "do you think Grandma would pay it if I used my credit card?" People around me were bidding on things. cindilu2 bid on something fairly inexpensive, and the auctioneer tried to trick her by jumping up to $21,000. It was funny. Once you were in the running, Clay was making faces at you and egging you on, which of course was driving the prices higher and higher just for the individual attention it got you. cindilu2's friend was in a bidding war for something, but she let it go at the end, and the winner ran up on the stage to get her item from Clay and got a kiss! After that, all hell broke loose, people were bidding more for the kiss than for the item, I think. Clay was dancing and hugging himself and rubbing things on his face and through his mouth and kissing them and saying he slept with them, just to raise the bids. He SOOOOOO knows. It went on for a long time. He must have been exhausted before he finally sang. I was cellcerting NCDonna and mandmlady through the whole thing and every once in a while I'd say something into the phone because I'm sure all they could hear was the screaming going on!

I've been thinking about the auction almost constantly. There was a really funny part when he was auctioning off the signed LTS. He said "Learning to sing............hearing........(long pause).......the music........(another long pause).......in your life" (said very dramatically). Then he said something like "that was a dramatic pause". It was hilarious. I really hope we get more clack of this. Every little clip that gets put in the vault makes me over the moon excited, because I don't want to lose the memories.

I have to admit, the performance part was almost anti-climatic, just because the auction was so unbelievable! But someone (a woman, can't remember who she was, but not Lynda Loveland) did the introduction. It was funny, because he'd been on the stage doing the auction the whole time, and I don't think that was planned. So she did this great introduction for him anyways, and then he came back on the stage and sat on a high-backed stool. Quiana sat beside him, to his left. Jesse was on the piano to Clay's right. Clay said that he'd done this really fun tour a couple of years ago, one he'd really enjoyed, but Jesse hadn't been on it so hadn't had a chance to play any of those songs. Then he said it was 3 hours long every night, so maybe Jesse would be glad because he would have been too tired. But he said he was going to sing a couple of songs from that tour, and then launched into ICMYLM. He was making faces at the woman who was sitting in the first row aisle seat (the one Clay had been sitting in originally) so that was what all the laughter was about. It definitely was not as inspired a performance as some nights on the JBT, but really, the room was still so abuzz from the auction, it was hard to bring it down that quickly. I was trying to cellcert but the battery on my phone was dying, and the connection kept cutting off, so they kept calling back. Thank goodness I had thought to put it on vibrate!

I was really surprised when he said they were going to sing The Prayer. I thought it was totally gorgeous. Quiana's voice is just so rich and full. When Clay came in for his first part, I really got the impression he was holding back. He started letting loose more as the song progressed. I think he is always conscious about not overpowering his partner in a duet. I believe this audio is going to be one of my favourites for a long time. I can't wait to get it on my iPod when I get home! Then Quiana sang a song that I didn't recognize at all. After each song, when the audience went to stand and give an ovation, Clay got the look on his face and tried to make us all sit down. Hee. Then he went into Unchained Melody and I died. I have been obsessed with his David Foster version, and this was similar to that. Near the beginning, one of the semi-glory notes, we all started applauding, and he shushed us, and said "wait till the end". BWAH. After it was over we all went nuts and he said "see you in the summer" off mike, then leaned over and said it again into the mic. Then he was gone. *sigh*

We all made our way out to the elevators. I was hanging around waiting to find my group, and I saw so many people come out who were just walking around in a daze. None of us could really believe what we'd just witnessed. Jerome came by and was really friendly, asking us all if we'd had fun, etc. Kristy came out and rode down the elevator with my daughter, and she said she was really friendly. Not sure whether it was upstairs or down in the lobby, but Diane Bubel was there, shaking everyone's hand or hugging everyone, as they left. I thought it was really great the way she personally wanted to speak to each person. In the lobby there were goodie bags for everyone, with a BAF mug and some other small stuff, including a local newspaper and a copy of Exceptional Parent magazine.

We went outside and talked to people for a few minutes until our whole group assembled, then we walked back to the hotel to change. I am surprised we weren't hit by a car, because our heads were really in the clouds still and we weren't paying much attention to where we were going, LOL.

Edited April 3, 2007 by luckiest1

[Claygasm]

All that admin ink kind of scared me yesterday! I always think its because I did something wrong cause in the beginning if an admin said something it often had something to do with me..........

I'm too tired to go read Clay's blog, but I'll make a deal with him. I'll watch Jericho is he posts the rest of the tour schedule before it airs tonight!

Now I have to go back and read all the other posts. I did see something about muski and couchie thinking about walking while they were drinking beer, but maybe I got that wrong....

[Couch Tomato]

Yay for a new interview.

1. Clay and idol..oh lord. I'm sure the claws will come out from Simon and the rest. I understand where he's coming from - three nights a week in the beginning? But the reporters will be rushing to ask everybody associated with Idol about this. I hope not. Hopefully that Snaje person will keep the press occupied. Just don't want to hear the ungratefuls attached his name because the boy has been more a cheerleader to that show than anyone.

2. Yay for sooooooooooooooooooooooooon on a new album. LOL whatever that means. I'll try not to get my hopes up for too soon but maybe by spring 2008 it will happen. Lookis like Jaymes is around for a reason and I'm happy she's staying with him because I think he's found his "home." With her involved I also think we do get more David and I'm having just a good feeling about that collaboration. Maybe he's that songwriter that he needs that will take him to the next level. I do know that this time around I'm not listening to any insiders. Although I wasn't buying all the hype - hype I had been hearing since JBT - I probably hoped for it on some level. I hope Clay follows his heart. He can makes me love anything.. I also think the experience that ATDW and AIW afforded him - with the writing credit and the producing credit will serve him well on his new project.

3. eeeeeeeeeee for the tour. can't forget that one -- because that is the next immediate thing that I can't wait to enjoy. I have no doubt he'll test out some songs...well I hope he will.

What a great start to the morning.

4. It's lovley to know some thing don't change and will never change. Role Model all the way baby. That's who he is. I think it makes some people hate him for some reason but whatever -- that's the core of him I think.

He's such a man isn't he. I've always had complete faith that he'd be ok and everything I've seen since that great day at Kimmel has only backed that up.

Luckiest1 ..what a great report.

[Couch Tomato]

Now I have to go back and read all the other posts. I did see something about muski and couchie thinking about walking while they were drinking beer, but maybe I got that wrong....

slightly..heee

ETA: when I say the role model thing probably makes some people hate him, I'm referring to the haters. They think I wanna be a role model means you're saying your perfect - that you don't make mistakes, that you're holding yourself up as some sort of angel. And so every little perceived flaw is jumped on. And I think for the most part a lot of the campaigned against him was aimed straight at that role model side of Clay. Yet he refuses to acknowledge it and keep living his life. Good for him.

[playbiller]

Are you kidding me - when Clay says the role model thing it getsome fans bringing out the claws. With me right now - all I can say is if you are going to curse, it is close enough that you might as well say the whole phrase. I, personally rarely curse, it started with my marriage to a foul mouthed person and has dropped back each year since I have been single. But I guess if you are taught that half a curse is not a full one, you believe it. my real attitude is whatever. I have been harrassed enough both ways for my colorful language or the lack of it, depending on who I am with.

With idol - the man watched 3 full seasons, he picked the right year to stop. Whast can I say, he has been the most grateful, since other idols said they never watched it before and don't watch it now. Sheesh. But as far as Jericho goes, it is over dramatic to me - now if he said watch Jon Stewart - fine I am there, the surreal life - I already do (sick, sick, sick). Larry King - nnnn-nope only when I want to watch it.

[muskifest]

When I read interview answers like these from Clay I just smile and shake my head. He's just so...HIM. I honestly have a tough time truly understanding how some people got caught up in that whole gnat crap and began to give it credence. To me, Clay has always been who he is and as enigmatic as he is in many ways---his private life, his favorite color (hee), etc.---he's never wavered from his TRUTH.

And it CMSU when he's candid like this---I'm sure this candor about AI will be taken to the cleaners and back again by the idiots in the media; they'll milk just that part of the interview by asking AI people what they think of the fact that Clay himself said he didn't want to watch AI, etc. (ungrateful wretch that he is), while ignoring the information about his tour, his intentions for another CD that he will have more control over, etc. But that's the media. And the public hunger.

Personally, I think he must've read this tread title just before answering those questions.

The almost cussing? Meh. Actually, the fact that he says that and it gets printed probably makes him seem more 'human' to some people. Which, of course, is bull.

heh.

[playbiller]

Ooh, I forgot - thank you, Luckiest, for your tale - it was great fun to read.

Admin post - maybe you should make them once a week just to get us used to it - you can even say "all is well" to gquote someone we all know.

Ach, haveto get moving, have lots to do today, relatively speaking. Tomorrow is a major all day dentist day - going to have everything fixed at once! Actually, I went to get my bonding fixed and they mathematicallyproved to me I needed a single veneer in one spot - so CLay and I will have a con-nec0tion!

[atinal]

luckiest What a great recap, thanks for taking the time to put it together.

Couchie, I agree that it's mostly haters that go after Clay for the role model stuff, but over the years there have also been more than a few fans who have been very critical of Clay for making role model statements. Probably some of the ones that are still lobbying for "rock star" Clay, because you usually don't automatically associate rock star/role model. I like that he is who he is, and seems to be reclaiming his life.

[muskifest]

Aargh! luckiest! I neglected to give you a big :F_05BL17blowkiss: for the awesome recap. YOu made me hate you with the jealousy of a thousand suns! :angry22: hee....No, I'm so glad the people who got to go had such a treat...and that you took the time to share what you could with us.

[playbiller]

I think Orlando killed the board. Are there any survivors?

[muskifest]

Well, I'm not participating in the Florida bloodbaths...so I don't know. Guess my wish to attend the final concert of a tour has to wait for the next go 'round to get fulfilled. :em0400:

Ok. I'm over it.

[Claygasm]

Well, on the off chance Orlando is actually the last concert, 2 of my concert buddies and I decided to try for tickets. We figure we can sell them if it turns out not to be the last concert.

I would never have even considered it except there are $49 fares from here to there.....

First ones I pulled up were 4th row, left center, closer to the center center. I took them. After that all I pulled up were balcony seats! I did read on CV I think that someone actually got 1st row!

We're happy with these. Now all we need to do is find out for sure if this is the last concert! I really, really want to know before the West Palm Beach tickets go on sale. I don't want to end up with too many tickets I can't use!

I loved that People interview. I wonder if there will be anything in the print version. Oh how I would love a picture of him in People looking that sizzling hot!

So I guess since he mentioned working on a new album we should expect to hear only the hot original songs they are considering for that album on the tour? I mean, ATDW is dead. He didn't mention it in this interview so it must be. And since he hates it and didn't sing any songs from it at the Gala, surely he won't be singing any songs from it - except maybe the originals of course - on tour. Right?

luckiest1, thanks for your amazing recap. Jealous I definitely am! But it has been fun reading all the great things everyone had to say. Seems like a good time was had by all.

And Clay looked amazingly hot.

[Couch Tomato]

All that admin ink kind of scared me yesterday! I always think its because I did something wrong cause in the beginning if an admin said something it often had something to do with me..........

Ahhhh :F_05BL17blowkiss: Flashbacks? heee

LOL at your deal with Clay for watching Jericho.

Are you kidding me - when Clay says the role model thing it getsome fans bringing out the claws.

Oh I agree with you and Atinal...I'll always think it's the coolness factor. Clay is seen as uncool and even though everybody and their mama talk about similar things as Clay for some reason he isn't allowed to. Or the worst possible interpretation is put on his words. When Prince says he wants to put on a family show he is praised to the heavens. WHen it's Clay, it's some sort of weakness, or goody two shows, or small town. Odd.

When I read interview answers like these from Clay I just smile and shake my head. He's just so...HIM.

The almost cussing? Meh. Actually, the fact that he says that and it gets printed probably makes him seem more 'human' to some people. Which, of course, is bull.

heh.

I so agree Muski. It is HIM isn't it. And he never mids stirring it up just a little bit.

I know it seems like I curse all the time but I really don't. And I've found myself saying crap a lot when I do now. Heee. Wonder where I got that from.

Well I have heard he's only singing new songs on the tour. But that was a week before the Moon River stuff hits so who knows. LOL. I'll wait for opening night and be surprised. But here's the thing...Clay has really grown so much and learned a lot from his hands on particiption in ATDW and AIW that I don't want whatever was supposed to be the last album - that includes songs we know from two years ago. Surely those are stale by now. The world hasn't stood still. Since LAA was just an itunes download I would love that on the new album. But Clay never seemed like he felt comfortable in a recording studio...I hope that is no longer the case with all the recording he did last year.

[muskifest]

I'm a gutter mouth.

[Couch Tomato]

Somebody sent me this... very interesting..looks like a fan involvement didn't backfire all over Clay and actually got him some good press. I know that I sometimes get inquiries from media but frankly am too chicken to speak on Clay's behalf even as a fan. I'd say Eddie did good.

Oh shoots..gotta run back to work.

From the person who runs EddietheDawg.org:

Until something became public, it was inappropriate for me to discuss it on the boards, but here is a little side blip to add to the People Magazine coverage of the Gala and Clay.

About a week or so ago, the New York People office contacted me to get in touch with whoever was running the Gala facility setup. She had one of my press releases that talked about the Gala and the SixDegrees.org competition. She had been out to the EddieTheDawg.org Website and asked me a few questions, and then she told me they were covering the Gala and she wanted to know if there was going to be a red carpet area for press. That would have been fun, I think! She said they were wanting to have a one-on-one with Clay and cover the Gala. I was not certain at that time if the one-on-one was already arranged. I gave her the contact information for TBAF and let her know that Aron Hall was the place to start.

The next day an assigned correspondent, Constance Richards, called me. She had gotten my contact information from NY. She had visited awAikening.org and was particularly interested in a feature I had on the home page entitled "What's New With Clay Aiken UNICEF Ambassador" -- so we briefly talked about Clay's humanitarian interests and I told her I would send her the links from any official Websites such as TBAF and UNICEF and the contact information for these organizations so she can complete her legwork. Yes...as I suspected from the first contact in NY, this was to be coverage of humanitarian Clay and anything else he mentioned during the interview.

Constance then sent me an email which I passed onto Aron. I was particularly pleased that Constance was assigned to this story, because I sensed from the beginning she would write an interesting and perhaps revealing and personal piece. In her email she said the one-on-one was already setup, and that she was to write about the Gala, TBAF and "other charitable endeavors." She needed TBAF to "enable People Mag. to cover the event and shine light on Clay's involvement with these worthy causes." She had not realized that Clay was a UNICEF Ambassador, which struck her in that she commented, "We hear about Angelina Jolie, why not Clay?" To which I replied, "Well, you have that right!" She has written much more than is online in the above article, so I am hoping there will be more, perhaps in the print publication or as future articles. If I hear anything that I can mention, I will let you know.

I have a lot of media visiting EddieTheDawg.org because it supports several celebrities and many foundations. I worked with People Magazine a bit during the AI Season 5 Live Tour when they spent days with the Yamin family and covered our Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation events in Richmond and Los Angeles. But they were a different group than the people who usually cover Clay, and Constance has never covered Clay before, usually she covers NC and SC. The person usually covering this beat was out on assignment and it was apparently important to NY that the Gala was covered. The only other thing to add here is that she interviewed Clay upstairs\nI believe between dinner and the show. She did not come with a photographer. She was able to stay to watch all of the show -- how could she leave that early! -- and then she had only a few hours to meet her editorial deadline before driving home.

She and I talked while we were both enroute back home Sunday afternoon.She enjoyed the show, she loves what TBAF is all about, and I think her experience was wonderful. Isn't it always.

[jmh123]

Looks like Clay's "new publicist" [TM The Pod] isn't doing very well if PEOPLE has to contact someone who runs a fan website and issues press releases on her own volition in order to set up an interview. I do have to wonder why PEOPLE is incapable of contacting the BAF directly, but perhaps they did and got no response.

ETA: interesting, Couchie, that media have contacted you as well.

Edited April 3, 2007 by jmh123