Spoiler Threads

[Couch Tomato]

ETA...Was wondering, did they bring up that he is a teacher himself? Don't know why that popped into my head except that I'm heading out to school right now to meet my new students.

Yes they did bring up the fact that he was a teacher himself. ANd it turns out his old fifth grade teacher is teaching now at the school he taught at.

They really talked about TBAF a lot THey mentioned the goal for the 100 camps...so Clay was looking at every right answer in terms of how many camps. Lord I hope they leave that all in so that people can have a tangible feel for his charity and how important every dollar was. Each camp is 10K so when he got to 300K it was like 30 camps or 2 1/2 camps. I hope they leave that all in...I really do.

Thanks yall. From where I was sitting I didn't see monitors. All I saw was Clay..I watched him the entire time. Maybe that's why others are concentrating on hair. But you know that I'm straight up :25: half the time anyway. And my favorite part of Clay besides stage clay is funny clay and I just found him so funny that I had a huge ass smile on my face.

Oh..they showed another picture of him when he was a kid and he had on this big hat...and CLay was saying he was running for student body president so they thought the hate woudl be reminiscent of George Washington (or insert some other president there..Lincoln? don't quite remember) Foxworthy made a joke about the hat which I Can't remember, sorry and then Clay himself brought up that he had a mullet...

oh and don't forget...the taping of the Christmas skating show...which Couchie will attend...YAY.

second row on the grindage Clay stage side.

ETA: my first angel emoticon looked like a freakin' devil. YSRN are you playing with me. heh

Also for student body president -- HE CAME IN SECOND... LOL.. good timing he has.

[Couch Tomato]

:F_05BL17blowkiss: OMG thank you couchie for the recap. I am so happy you got to experience that. I knew he would do well. Smart to stop, if you are not 100% sure of the answer. His take for the day was nothing to sneeze at. Most people don't get that far on the show. Hee He is funny because there is a Naples, Florida. It is on the Gulf side. Sounds like the relationship with Jeff was good and we will have lots of snarky, funny, smart, Clay. How could we ask for more?

Too bad Kellie didn't do as well as I tried to give her credit for. Hee I guess I just feel bad when some fans want others to fail just so they don't make Clay look bad. I am still glad she won money for her charity. Did she have hard or easy questions?

Glad you met and made some new friends.

Clayzor like I said earlier I didn't know Pickler and honestly when it started I didn't give a rat's ass how much she won. And I thought she was cute. I was eeeeeing for her. I was screaming for her. And she could tell story on a dime. And I was practing writing C L A Y L U V S K E L L I E and little hearts all over the place. But after fifteen minutes I wanted to scream. I still walk away liking her a great deal. I wish her much luck and success ..just stay away from my boyfriend. heh. Also despite it being for charity after 20 minutes there was no way in hell I wanted her to bumble her way to more money. heee.

[jamar1700]

Oooo thanks for the fantastico recap couchie :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I'm really glad you got to go and that you had a wonderful time and then could let us all live vicariously. I wish I could have stayed awake just a bit longer last night and caught it live but your recap was something to bounce out of bed for on my morning off. Hee.

Your right I do get the playoff atmosphere! *nods* That extra crackle of electric excitement in the air.

And Clay mentioned the Baltimore Orioles? The one team the Twins have swept this season? w00t! & Hot Damn! You know what that means! Clay and I?

We have a con. nec. shun.

Edited August 29, 2007 by jamar1700

[Couch Tomato]

And Clay mentioned the Baltimore Orioles? The one team the Twins have swept this season? w00t! & Hot Damn! You know what that means! Clay and I?

We have a con. nec. shun.

Bwah..and let me put it this way..Clay deducing that Baltimore Orioles thus Maryland was the answer was a far better deduction than Franklin Peirce being a president because like Pickler he had a P e i r and c in his name too. NO JOKE.

Or that Piccolo was a percussion instrument cuz they both start with P. Thank the lord for the kiddies help on that one. Not only did she not know what a piccolo was...she didn't know what a woodwind or percussion was...and I won't go into her almost picking woodwind because she had just told a fart story.

But again she can be edited to make great tv!

[washgirl]

Permaswooned recap. The bolded portion brought a tear to my eye AGAIN.

I get a great deal of joy from being a fan of Clay Aiken. I enjoy myself each and every time I see him, and feel so fortunate to have been able to see him live in so many different venues. I'm always proud to say that I'm his fan.

But some days, I'm beyond proud. This was one of those days.

I'm very much afraid that one of these days I will have to give up these TV tapings. I have a condition that makes me extremely heat intolerant. I could never contemplate a venue like Cary or Atlanta. I was lulled into a false sense of security by the promise of 4 indoor concerts in Florida, but didn't allow for the security gestapo at Orlando holding us up for so long outside. The lovely zakaroni saved me a probable trip to the ER by getting said security to let me in before I had a stroke right in front of them, but it wasn't pretty.

It's August, and they were predicting up to 95 in L.A. today. It probably wasn't wise for me to try it. But it's Clay. So there I was at 7:30 this morning with ncgurrl with my chair, snacks and water, misting fans, regular fans, bags of ice, frozen washcloths....all the things I routinely take to concerts. It was still touch and go. I sort of turn an eggplant shade, and people came up every 5 seconds to ask me if I was OK. And honestly, I really wasn't. But I hung in there, and once inside the air conditioned studio, all was well.

We had quite a few CHers in attendance, and we were scattered all over the place. ncgurrl, clavia and I were in the 2nd row in the bleachers behind the contestant with SmartyPantsSuz & poshpenny in the row behind us. The jumbotron was to our left. So we could watch Clay's attractively packaged posterior as he leaned over the podium. He turned frequently to talk to the kid contestants or Jeff, so we could see him well from the side, and we could watch his face as he looked at the questions on the jumbotron. It wasn't my very favorite hair day, but I thought it looked OK from our angle. Maybe it looked differently from the balcony where spot was sitting.

One of my favorite things? He still stands on the outside of his feet when he's thinking or behind a podium.

When the questions got harder, we got more "Houston Jaw" movement. It really must be a stress thing.

I thought he was just great on the show. We see a more panoramic view of the proceedings, so I can't be sure how it will translate on the small screen at home, but he appeared generally relaxed, great with the kids, natural and funny and good natured with Jeff. The kids all seemed to like him and were vying for his attention during and after the show. He appeared intelligent, witty, snarky...all good stuff.

The question about identifying the state for which the oriole served as the state bird was kind of cute. He talked about the Baltimore Orioles, and how he wasn't sure he should base his answer on a sports team. Jeff said they'd had plenty of people base their answers on much stranger things. poshpenny and I laughed about it later. It was such a GUY moment.

He made several jokes about 2nd place.

He made the kids feel like they were in it together. He did not miss any questions. He already had the Spain answer correct. I think he decided to use the "peek" since I think that was the $25,000 question, and he wanted to be SURE the foundation got that money.

I'm pretty darn sure I didn't learn about the Federalist papers in the 5th grade. Clay said he didn't think he did either, and wasn't sure he learned it in the 11th grade! He apologized to his teacher while he was thinking and asked her if he should know the answer. She said that SHE didn't know the answer to that question! I think that was a cool moment for the audience to see.

He reasoned it out in a way that really showed he basically knew his stuff. They gave the year of publication, so he said it couldn't be Washington or Adams, since they had already been President by that date, and the question was the name of the third author who would later BECOME President. He said he didn't think it was Jefferson, but that he thought it could be either Madison or Monroe. He leaned very heavily towards Madison, and said that would probably be his choice....which he later affirmed after he took the $300,000. And he was right.

He had painted a great picture of the BAF and their mission of inclusion. He talked about the goal of 100 camps in 2008, which was an easy concept for Jeff to talk about. When Clay answered one question, he asked how many camps that answer had been worth, and Jeff told him "17 and a half!".

Clay pointed out that the boy who was his partner had just started the 5th grade and might not have learned this info yet, and as others said, that he was a little freaked out by the Mark Twain answer for the BRITISH author of A Chrismas Carol (as was I!). He also said that if he went for the "Copy" or "Save" options, the fate of the money for the BAF would require him to relinquish control, and he wasn't sure he could do that. He had the answer, but he wasn't sure, and ultimately his thoughts were for the kids first. Personally, I don't think he could have come across better if he had "gone for it" and won the money. JMHO.

I thought he had a very good rapport with Jeff Foxworthy. See what you think when you watch the show. There were quite a few moments of patting Clay on the back or his hand on his shoulder. Chatting between takes. It just seemed comfortable.

I always have a big smile on my face when I see Clay in person, but I had an unexpected rush of emotion at the end of the show. The whole show was very lighthearted, but at the end, Jeff got very serious, and from my fairly close view, appeared very sincere when he said that even though he admired Clay for what he did onstage, he admired him for what he did offstage even more. Then he made the remark about Clay being a top quality human being. Then he looked him in the eye and told him "You are a man of character". And we all applauded madly as tears ran down my face.

Heaven knows what he might say in the future, but it was wonderful to hear him describe Clay that way on National television. Priceless, in fact, at least to me.

You will likely never be exposed to the torture that was the 70 minute session with Kellie Pickler. I noted that I had had a root canal that seemed shorter and was less painful. You will not see all that because they will edit that session to the bone. Many have wondered if her persona was an act. No. That was answered definitevely today.

ellenpoppy, lala52, CaliforniaClayFan, artquest, poshpenny, polyvinyl, spotlightlover, ncgurrl and I had a great Italian meal with lots of laughter and gushing over Clay after the show. The K.P. session lasted so long that we were spared sitting through the Regis show. They had assembled a whole new audience by then.

spotlightlover has suggested that I investigate the possibility of purchasing a hermetically sealed thermostatically controlled spacesuit from NASA for these inevitable lines out in the sun. I may have to look into that, because the next time Clay is nearby taping a TV show, it's hard to imagine that I won't be doing my best to be there.

Did I mention how proud I am? Off to up my pledge amount to BAF.

[ialreadyam]

I love all your comments Couchie. You are really good at expressing your joy. Does the quoted comment sound accurate to you? I sure hope it doesn't end up on the editing floor.

Jeff Foxworthy seemed amused with him and said great things about him. Said something at the end to the effect of "I admire what you do onstage, but I admire you even more for what you do offstage." He also said something about Clay being a "top quality human being."

[Couch Tomato]

yes VERY accurate. Believe me...I'm sure people will get fine details much better than me. My brain wasn't functioning much yesterday, only my heart. Feel free ya'll to bring over all great detailed recaps.

[Maddy]

Couchie, thanks for your terrific recap! You were schmoopie and your recollections made me schmoopie too. :F_05BL17blowkiss: When we watch the show in November I'll have to wave my CA church fan!

That show will be so much fun to watch!

Clay fans do make the best audience! I'm glad you got to be there!

Someone said when they put up Clay's junior high school photos he was yelling "Take it down!"

Sure wish we could see a mullet photo! Thanks for that little nugget of info...something we'd never heard before.

[jamar1700]

Ooo...look what I found...

from the CB

QUOTE

I just got home from the taping. We went to see the Regis taping too and then went out to dinner so we got home REALLY late. Regis won $175,000. So, Clay did the BEST out of all of them!! I was so happy about that! As everyone has said, Clay was charming, witty, funny, snarky, intelligent and downright hot! Some of the faces that he made while answering the questions were so CUTE!!!!!!! I don't think there will be any clack because they made us check our cameras and phones at the door, so I doubt anyone got any pictures. And we didn't see him arrive or leave, probably came and went at a special artist entrance. Anyhow, I had SO MUCH FUN today and Clay was just AMAZING as usual!! I am so proud of him I could burst!!!!!!!!

-Shannon

(ClayFan2003)

[Couch Tomato]

YAY!

[ialreadyam]

I see Permaswoon posted Jeff's accolade in her recap too. One at a time - he wins the critics over.

[Couch Tomato]

and because of the screams we couldn't hear much of the convo between Jeff and Clay so I'll get to see some new things too.

[muskifest]

Fear...interesting about the $$$ things, thanks...I wondered about Clay giving money to BAF, any restrictions, etc.

Couchie.....I ditto all the for your recaps. I can hear you 'hee-ing' all the way! :F_05BL17blowkiss: I can't wait to see this show...and I'm SOOOOO glad you got to be there. And except for a marathon staff meeting, I could've slipped away from work for the day and nobody'd missed me....heh.

I'm just so DAMNED schmoopie about Clay right now. He's just....he's so....

He's such a....grown up MAN and a silly goofball and HAWT fantasy fodder all in one!

and

[beenthinking]

Couchie, I am happy you got a chance to be there and enjoy yourself.

I love all of the recaps, each person's perspective is fun to read.

[playbiller]

Talk about getting all the details before the show, I am interested in Kellie's charity. It seems like there are so many she could pick. What is odd is that she doesn't come to mind with a charity like so many other idols.

These two have their own charities

Ruben - his scholarship fund and music program for Birmingham schools

Anthony - cancer

And others that are strongly associated with charities

Elliot - Diabetes

Ace - some children's charity, cancer

Kim L - Aids

George Huff - the 700 club

I am sure there are others, but they were picking for entertainment purposes and ratings.

I am sad they didn't make the rules a little looser so that the charities had a little more chance of earning money, but the idea is to get you to like the game, so I guess they had to continue the rules. Now if they would double the money the celebrities earned, that would have been a nice touch.

I am glad the trip was so worth it to you, Couchie, and the otehrs. Some fans travel so far for so little Clay so often, this time seems really worth it, probably more than Kimmel. There is so much more to Clay than hair, it is nice to hear a perspective in that balance.

I admit to not wanting Kellie to do as well as Clay just because of her image and fan pride, or Regis because of the ripacrit - <- I ama bad, bad person. I was also not stressing about this. I would have liked it if he won the million because it would have met the goal for this year for the BAF, although the gala did REALLY well and started them on thier way nicely. I was shocked this summer with people in meet and greets telling him to study as if he was stupid. I don't really believe he has muchtrouble in math, just doesn't always pay attention to details when quoting numbers. Maybe he doesn't know much about imaginary numbers, but it does sound like it would make a great children's book. I never get nervous before a tour or a show - CLay is Clay, and a very smart man. I find smart men sexier than zipper down men.

[merryclay]

CouchTomato-- I really enjoyed the recap. I'm so glad you got to go. I love your love for Clay and your positive attitude. Oops, bad me; did I say that nasty positive word? Anyway, I love Clay Aiken and I'm proud as punch.

[wandacleo]

I find smart men sexier than zipper down men.

Unless the zipper down happens to belong to Clay

Couchie, thank you so much!!! I love all the details. Yesterday was a wonderful day in the world of Clay.

Edited August 29, 2007 by wandacleo

[Divayenta]

Yay, couchie, that you got to go and have fun. Thanks for the reportage!

I'm "kvelling" with so much pride for Clay that I could "plotz"! I'm also a little verklempt! What a guy! Jerry Lewis and Merv Griffin had him pegged from the start. Now its David Foster and Mark Burnett- yup, the great ones recognize one of their own!

[treenuts]

Then he made the remark about Clay being a top quality human being. Then he looked him in the eye and told him "You are a man of character". And we all applauded madly as tears ran down my face.

And with that, my flood gates opened!

Pass the kleenex, please.

I find smart men sexier than zipper down men.

Well thank god, in Clay's case, we don't have to choose!

Thanx to all for bringing such wonderful moments to us from the day!! Many of us DO in deed live vicariously through you. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[Clayzorback]

:F_05BL17blowkiss: OMG thank you couchie for the recap. I am so happy you got to experience that. I knew he would do well. Smart to stop, if you are not 100% sure of the answer. His take for the day was nothing to sneeze at. Most people don't get that far on the show. Hee He is funny because there is a Naples, Florida. It is on the Gulf side. Sounds like the relationship with Jeff was good and we will have lots of snarky, funny, smart, Clay. How could we ask for more?

Too bad Kellie didn't do as well as I tried to give her credit for. Hee I guess I just feel bad when some fans want others to fail just so they don't make Clay look bad. I am still glad she won money for her charity. Did she have hard or easy questions?

Glad you met and made some new friends.

Clayzor like I said earlier I didn't know Pickler and honestly when it started I didn't give a rat's ass how much she won. And I thought she was cute. I was eeeeeing for her. I was screaming for her. And she could tell story on a dime. And I was practing writing C L A Y L U V S K E L L I E and little hearts all over the place. But after fifteen minutes I wanted to scream. I still walk away liking her a great deal. I wish her much luck and success ..just stay away from my boyfriend. heh. Also despite it being for charity after 20 minutes there was no way in hell I wanted her to bumble her way to more money. heee.

ldyjocelyn, lightmyfire and I had made a comment that we thought Kelly was smarter than people gave her credit for. So my response, above, was addressing that. Apparently she isn't. I wasn't questioning your recap. {{{hugs}}} If you say she is stupid and grates on your nerves I believe you. *g* Speaking for myself, the reason I said I thought she was smarter than people might think, was because I had been reading on several boards that people was hoping she wouldn't do well, and indicating that she is stupid. It's my nature to stick up for the under dog. Hee I was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt. You know couchie how some in the fandom can be. I'm talking in generalities here and not about anybody from this board, or in particular. There is a mentality that nobody can be better than Clay at anything. Nobody but Clay is allowed to win anything. Us fans are real good at spamming. *g* I realize this is normal, somewhat, for fans. Hell I want him to win the most too, but I am not going to be devastated if he doesn't. I don't really have a special love for Kellie Pickler. I think she is a cutie pie and wish her well.

And Clay mentioned the Baltimore Orioles? The one team the Twins have swept this season? w00t! & Hot Damn! You know what that means! Clay and I?

We have a con. nec. shun.

Bwah..and let me put it this way..Clay deducing that Baltimore Orioles thus Maryland was the answer was a far better deduction than Franklin Peirce being a president because like Pickler he had a P e i r and c in his name too. NO JOKE.

Or that Piccolo was a percussion instrument cuz they both start with P. Thank the lord for the kiddies help on that one. Not only did she not know what a piccolo was...she didn't know what a woodwind or percussion was...and I won't go into her almost picking woodwind because she had just told a fart story.

But again she can be edited to make great tv!

I can see what you meant by being ready to pull your hair out.

playbiller I find smart men sexy too. I like sexy confident men.

[Couch Tomato]

Hey Clayzor..haven't read anywhere else lately so didn't know people were hoping she wouldn't do well. She's such a cutie pie. And I was definitely rooting for her to make some noise. And hell, I'm even curious to hear her sing now. Oh and her dress and shoes were kick ass.

[muskifest]

The whole show was very lighthearted, but at the end, Jeff got very serious, and from my fairly close view, appeared very sincere when he said that even though he admired Clay for what he did onstage, he admired him for what he did offstage even more. Then he made the remark about Clay being a top quality human being. Then he looked him in the eye and told him "You are a man of character". And we all applauded madly as tears ran down my face.

God, I hope this makes it to the edited, on-air version of Clay's appearance on this show.

I'm with Diva on all the verklempt and other Yiddish stuff (although I know of absolutely NO personal familial connection to that particular group...heh) I honestly wanted to tell every single person I ran into yesterday how well he did and how smart and INTELLIGENT and grown up he is and how cool and charismatic he is and how personable and gracious and generous he is and....

I was even willing NOT to tell them that in order to give myself more credibility as the bearer of such glad tidings....

sigh....we really DO have the very bestest boyfriend evah!

[playbiller]

Do you think thatFoxworthy got to read up a little on the guests and thus learned about Clay the person, ratherthan Clay the cartoon?

I think the only person who refused to see him as aa persion after meeting him was probably Ripa and I wonder how much Mario being there may have influenced her?

[Couch Tomato]

OK bwah..Just read the first 10 pages of this thread..and I'm so sorry for the Couchie vigil. Yes I was home and was halfway through the report when I got 2 phone calls.

Jmh - :F_05BL17blowkiss:

hmmm showing that mod material metal heee

There's just no way we can keep what happened with Clay secret. Thanks for trying. Hopefully nobody is intersted heh.

I'm sure Foxworthy had read up on Clay. He knew he'd been to Africa recently.

[Totlak]

Thanks for a great recap Couchie. I too hope they leave all the good Clay parts in, the compliments from Jeff, and that they don't edit it to make Clay's jokes and banter look stupid or like a show off. I'll love him regardless and heaven knows others will think what they want of him, just as he says.