# 19: Clay Aiken: glorious voice, excellent comic actor, master of character and man in tights!

[ialreadyam]

Keep safe all of you in California, :big hug:

This would be me if I lived there.

[jmh123]

Glad y'all are OK. I've only experienced one earthquake of any magnitude in my life, in Japan, and it wasn't very strong at all. (But there'd been a huge earthquake right where I lived just a couple of years before and my apt. was on the bottom floor of a 15 story or so building, so all that lent gravitas to this little bump.) Most uncanny feeling ever. The earth below your feet is supposed to be solid, peeps. No, I take that back, I experienced two. I also experienced one that was like a boom, a big burst, and no back-and-forthing. Not very strong either. Earthquakes are scary.

[Couch Tomato]

That one was a bit scary...the house shook for at a good little bit. wow.

[keepingfaith]

{{{{California sisters}}}} Keep it steady, now! Simmah down.

Glad you're back, ldyjocelyn. You've been missed. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I'm still eating the honeycrisps too. And merrieeee, as my home girl I have to ask if you enjoyed the outstanding weather today as much as I did. Absolutely exhilarating! I'll bet you were about to explode to watch the Solitaire videos -- and what satisfaction!!! But, darlin', I can tell a big difference between the honeycrisp and gala apples. Texture, texture, texture. The perfect sweet just this side of tart. The galas are a bit mooshy for me. Someone told me today that the honeycrisp I was eating looked like the apple in the Garden of Eden. Huh? Is that picture out there? I've been talking honeycrisp all over town. That, and Bluebell Banana Pudding ice cream. This Bluebell business should be against the law. As long as the stores are selling it, resistance is futile.

Wandacleo ... I have a great feeling about the next album, too.

Claygasm, everything you said above .... YES, YES, YES.

My visual interpretation of the mental block that is the RCA/ promotion/ comparison/ conspiracy ....... :15: Throw some water on it already!!!

My audio interpretation would be a skipping vinyl record that repeated in perpetuity, "they're out to get Clay ... they're out to get Clay ... they're out to get Clay." As Jimmy Durante would say ..."STOP the music!"

November calendar if anybody would like it.

I love it. I absolutely love it. Thank you cindilu for providing your incredibly beautiful Clay calendar service.

I'm so damned tired I'm ready to cry.

ETA: This post sucks...so I'm gonna post something that doesn't...but something I'd like to...

Well, it's good to see you have a little energy left tonight! :14:

[Gibby]

Well, I sent off my little story to Clay. Nothing funny or sad or heartbreaking, just a memory. I felt compelled to send it to the Red Bank concert since it takes place in Middletown, where we used to live, just across the crick from Red Bank.

Good luck! I think it would be cool if several FCA people were chosen to read their memories.

I have been told on more than one occasion that I force my opinions on people...kind of suprised me...I do have strong opinions on things and tact is not always my friend, but I don't think I have ever come across as "its my way or the highway"; I hope if I ever do, you all will tell me.

There always seems to be two responses to anything that happens in Clayland, the emotional one with hair pulling and breast-beating and the logical one...being a Virgo, I always go for the common sense approach...beats the heck out of conspiracy theories and painting Clay as the perpetual victim. Annoys me to no end when some fans treat Clay like he is still that 10 year-old boy on the playground being picked on by the bullies.

Kim

I've posted on the same boards with you for quite some time, Aikim, and I've never thought that you've forced your opinion on people! And I'm a Pisces, but I absolutely agree with you about using the logical, common sense approach. I don't need to add angst to my life, and Clay certainly doesn't need anymore, either, so what's the point of getting all upset about stuff that we can't change, anyway?

eta: Perched at the top of the page like this means I can swoop down and bite at will...

BWAH! I love your avi, bottle! Reminds me of the pictures I took after Gibby Jr. was in Dracula. I took a picture of Dracula pretending to bite Gibby Jrs' neck, then had them switch places. The second picture is really funny! The pictures will be a wonderful memory for the kids in the coming years.

:icon_smile_lastweek: :dumb_people: :chair:

Muski, I'm sorry it's so stressful for you now. You deserve a vacation after this conference is over! :thbighug-1:

Our fires are almost out... we're racing the clock since more winds are predicted this weekend. Cross your fingers for no new fires... we've had enough!

I've got my fingers and toes crossed!

Did you miss me? Ok DH went out of town again and I finally go to watch the Sedaka thing in full glory with good speakers! Well watch is not the right thing to say more like cannot get my eyes off of it! The guy is gorgeous, phenominal, fabulous, stunning, talented and any other superlative you can think of!!!

But I am tellling you now...those cheekbones are mine!!!!!!!! OMG they're back and they are to die for. I am in lust with those cheekbones.

Clay's performance is amazing! So glad you got to finally hear it with good speakers.

evil RCA talk

Everybody now...

This is the song that never ends.

It goes on and on my friends.

Someone started singing it not knowing what it was,

and they'll continue singing it forever just because,

REPEAT!

eta...you can thank me for the earworm later. Hee.

NO, NO, NO!!!! I do not want to hear that song over and over and over and over in my head. *runs off to play Solitaire to purge that awful, never ending earworm song*

Hey gang! Hubby and I are back home, and it's been a long few days. My MIL is still holding her own, but it really is just a matter of time -- which means that we could be dropping everything again in 12 hours, 2 days, a week, or two weeks. We really don't know. Both my husband and I though are incredibly glad we went when we did this past weekend. We could tell that she recognized us, and that's all we really needed. Well, we also needed to say some things, something you never want to say to anyone....but you just gotta do. So anyway, we're still on pins and needles at this point. Thank you all for being so supportive.

I'm glad Gibby Jr did well with her play, and belated birthday greetings to cindilu2! Thank you CG for the Solitaire montage too -- what a great way to relive those moments. I may have to load that to my iPod.

I'm sorry about your mother-in-law. I hope that she doesn't have to suffer much, and that her passing will be peaceful. And thanks for mentioning Gibby Jrs performance!

I've been playing my fingers off this week on the piano! I just came from a concert at my daughter's high school, where I played for four choirs. The two beginning choirs are okay, but the two advanced choirs are excellent. The director chooses really difficult music for the advanced choirs, and they do an amazing job with the literature. Of course, the piano parts are difficult, too! It's a thrilling experience to be on stage with excellent, expressive choirs. There's an amazing wall of sound that surrounds you and transports you elsewhere. That's how I often feel when I listen to Clay!

Tomorrow I'm helping a student record for a college audition. He's playing a tuba concerto, so the piano part is substantial. Then, I'll be playing for six choirs at a choir contest at a college on Thursday and Friday. I'll be sooooo ready for a little vacation in Vegas!

[laughn]

I know. I know - if RCA had supported Clay yada, yada, yada.

SO SICK OF THIS CRAP!

Then like a fool I ventured out and two days later some are still bitching about this Friedman guy and his little crappy paragraph about Clay at the Neil Sedaka thing.

:fssign: :Beating_A_Dead_Horse_by_livius:

So many good things are happening the Clay world. Why do people give a crap about some dude who writes for Fox news?

I was surprised to see the Friedman stuff still circling the drain out there myself...If I'm going to worry it's going to be about something really worth worrying about...to all the CA people getting bounced around out there tonight...(((hugs)))

Stay safe.

ldyj, good to see you back home and I'm glad you had a chance to talk to your MiL. That's worth a lot.

[bottlecap]

TO

"AAAARRRRGGGHHH. NO APPLES. ZOMBIE CLAY NEED EAT BRAINS."

[laughn]

"AAAARRRRGGGHHH. NO APPLES. ZOMBIE CLAY NEED EAT BRAINS."

bwahhhh!

[aikim]

Good Morning Everyone,

1 Day until Clay is on AYSTAFG!

7 Days until Clay Tapes The Skating Special!

26 Days until The Christmas Tour Starts!

52 Days until Christmas in Merrillville!

55 Days until The Skating Special Airs!

68 Days until The BAF Golf Outing!

79 Days until Clay is on Broadway!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[merryclay]

Tomorrow is Clay day. YAY us.

That earthquake must of been so scary. I'm glad it wasn't any worse.

Someone upthread mentioned about not caring about promotion. I understand why she might say that, but looking at Carrie's wonderful sales, it's just another example of that's what makes the album go around and around. *g*

The reason Clay has 600,000 plus after Idol was because his face had been everwhere. In the entertainment field, IMO, you have to have exposure. People have to know what's up.

[luckiest1]

November calendar if anybody would like it.

Widescreen

My 22 inch widescreen work computer monitor thanks you very much.

SO SICK OF THIS CRAP!

Then like a fool I ventured out and two days later some are still bitching about this Friedman guy and his little crappy paragraph about Clay at the Neil Sedaka thing.

:fssign: :Beating_A_Dead_Horse_by_livius:

So many good things are happening the Clay world. Why do people give a crap about some dude who writes for Fox news?

Why do they care how many albums Carrie sells? Or anyone else??

Clay is Clay and I for one think that is a pretty great thing. So why can't they just enjoy and not care what others think or do?

Got me!

I guess if that's what float their boats, good for them. I just hate it when they spread their misery and paranoia.

Every time I venture out of here I am reminded as to why I love it here so much.

{{{California people}}} I've never experienced an earthquake. My mom is vacationing in California right now. Scary stuff.

[playbiller]

Oh look!

We must be In Asheville!

Ah, there's the rub though, Merryclay. Just because someone says Clay didn't get any promotion, doesn't mean it is true. I proved several times that Clay got more promotion than anyone else off AI who had not just gotten off that year's show. The problem seemed to be that he did not get as much as all the other people put together. Some got more print, some got more radio, Clay got more TV than anyone. I am done proving anything.

[keepingfaith]

I really get the shakes at talk of promotion, etc. Ahhhh, for the old days when 50 albums would be released every week and we had honest to goodness record stores (like Evolution Records and Cactus Records in Houston) where I'd browse around listening to the new releases on headphones or over the store speakers. I remember hearing Jackson Browne for the first time at Cactus when For Everyman came out, which caused me to buy everything Jackson Browne put out for the next twenty years. Then I bought the Eagles because of the Jackson Browne/Take It Easy connection. From Desperado-The Eagles I went to Desperado-Linda Ronstadt. I first bought James Taylor after hearing his album at a friends house, and he had bought the album after discovering JT from an early 1970 appearance on the Dick Cavett show. It was all about the sound. I bought albums without having a clue what the bands or singers looked like. I always liked the music that represented whatever changes I was going through in my life and gave me a sense of solidarity with the singer/songwriter.

You can lead a horse to water .... and you can promote the hell out of a singer and an album ... but people will buy music based on personal reasons. Even the girls that buy Hannah Montana now. Exposure is only a fraction of what will cause someone to throw down the cold hard cash. The biggest part of the equation is emotion. And that is why I worry not about Clay Aiken.

I had the best night of Clay dreams last night. Nothing personal. I woke up about 3am and I was dreaming about Clay being on stage with a long tunic and long hair and singing For Once In My Life. I thought, oh this is a Spamalot influenced dream. Then I woke up at 5am and I was dreaming about Clay on stage again and he was singing If Ever I Would Leave You. I immediately got the connection -- Spamalot/Camelot. I drifted back to sleep for another half hour and when I woke up this morning Clay was singing What Kind of Fool Am I? Then I realized I was having a Clay and Goulet fusion dream, since Robert Goulet's death was in the news. But Clay sang so beautifully. Now I really do want to hear him sing What Kind of Food Am I? some day.

[merryclay]

Good morning, Playbiller. I really wasn't saying Clay didn't get any promotion, I was responding to the poster that said she didn't care about promotion, that she just wants to hear him sing. We have to care a bit about promotion or we might not get to hear him song, at least not on an album. Of course, that's just the view from my window.

Happy Halloween.

[bottlecap]

Oh look!

We must be In Asheville!

[cindilu2]

Good morning, Playbiller. I really wasn't saying Clay didn't get any promotion, I was responding to the poster that said she didn't care about promotion, that she just wants to hear him sing. We have to care a bit about promotion or we might not get to hear him song, at least not on an album. Of course, that's just the view from my window.

Happy Halloween.

And there's the rub. 'We' really don't have to care about promotion, since there is absolutely nothing we can about it. That's Clay's baby (I personally think Team Clay is redundant - he is Team Clay). I do realize that discussing/dissecting that aspect of his career is part of the fun for some folks, and more power to you. It's the hand wringing and gloom and doom and in a lot of cases, utter contempt that gets to me after a while.

That said, I've also learned that it is really pretty easy to avoid what you don't care for. I am happy to say I still don't know who 'Friedman' is or what he said. I've never laid eyes on Scumbag's blog or Page666 or any of the other drivel. Yes, the sky is a rather wonderful shade of rose in my world. What's it to ya???

[keepingfaith]

Good morning, Playbiller. I really wasn't saying Clay didn't get any promotion, I was responding to the poster that said she didn't care about promotion, that she just wants to hear him sing. We have to care a bit about promotion or we might not get to hear him song, at least not on an album. Of course, that's just the view from my window.

Happy Halloween.

I understand your point, but I don't think we have to worry about promotion one iota. That's not our business, and I don't think it's my place. It's Clay's business and RCA's business and SAM's business -- there's nothing we can do and focusing on it, nay, obsessing over it, is a waste of beautiful valuable time in our relatively short lifespans.

Something I read in a article, maybe the WSJ?, about the promotion of Kelly Clarkson's last album struck a chord in me. It was a quote by Clive regarding meetings he has with the board of directors of RMG and playing parts of the labels' upcoming releases at the meeting. The board voted on the amount of money to spend on promotion for each of them. These people sit around and determine how much they think each album should sell and then determine how much money to put into the "exposure." (I like that word better than promotion which is another way of saying BS to me, because having had some background working with marketers, I adhere to the Bill Hicks marketing philosophy -- a little extreme perhaps, but in my experience well justified.)

[merryclay]

I have to care about things. That's what makes me tick. We all wouldn't be here if we didn't care. True, we can't do anything about it, but I'm just so excited about those next things coming and I have to care. I don't, necessarily, disagree with the view from your windows, but we all approach things a bit differently. It would be boring if everyone thought alike. I respect everyone's opinion.

Caring and rooting for the very best things for Clay is different than looking for a "fallguy".

[playbiller]

Here is something sad - Bo's fans celebrated his departure from RCA - he is now on an independent label and they celebrated the fact he could now make the music he wanted, looks like his album is self produced and it is released - has anyone seen or heard anything about it unless you search for it. No TV, zippo, none. Virtually no print (I think there was one review of the album somewhere). He did have a release day party on-line for his fans, to which he was rumored to be a little tipsy. The best that can be said is that he has an exclusive deal with Walmart (which takes care of the distirbution problem), but I don't think a tie in with Walmart is a good thing anymore after following several artists associated with them, besides Clay. Now I hear Bo wants to sell his Nashville house and move back to Alabama - I expect it is a financial decision. Big labels have more power than independents. It is like working in an office though, you do have bosses and you have to work within their parameters.

Now I was an independent contractor for the majority of my career, but that was after I built a reputation and accumulated the knowledge to be able to do that. In my now unemployed status, I do appreciate the early retirement pay I took from the job I held only 5 years. Not fantastic and probably started too early at too much of a discount, but it does take the edge off of no income. But even more, I appreciate the money I accumulated in my Keogh and Sep.

I enjoy discussing all kinds of things, the problem I have with the publicity discussion in certain places is that it claims things that cannot be proved , or are not realistic (Believe it or not, Clay is not the center of the universe, not even my universe), it ignores the many good things and dwells on the smallest of slights and frequently an aside comment/opinion rapidly becomes fact and all sorts of things hang off that fact. I guess the key words of Clay got less just sets me off. You can't make TV shows take him if they don't want to do it. I.e. Ripacrit.

Off to be grouchy. must return sink, beautiful sink, that is too big for my counter and must buy crappy normal sink.

[luckiest1]

And there's the rub. 'We' really don't have to care about promotion, since there is absolutely nothing we can about it. That's Clay's baby (I personally think Team Clay is redundant - he is Team Clay). I do realize that discussing/dissecting that aspect of his career is part of the fun for some folks, and more power to you. It's the hand wringing and gloom and doom and in a lot of cases, utter contempt that gets to me after a while.

Yep, I totally agree. I just don't care about stuff that is none of my business. Clay's a big boy and will work out the deals that he feels are in his best interest. I'll buy CDs and attend concerts and support him in any other way I can think of, but I won't spend my life worrying about whether he's with the right label or whether he's being marketed correctly. In fact, I don't much care who the next producer is, either. Sacrilege, I know.

[bottlecap]

My office building is next to the city’s childrens science museum, so often I hear the noise of school buses and happy kids as they pass below my window on the way to their day full of fun. Just now, the sounds of a particularly joyful and exuberant group actually made me get up from my desk and look down to check out what was going on – I think they were particularly wound up because of it being Halloween.

I miss that sense of wonder and anticipation that the Clay Nation used to have in spades. Now, it seems like the Nation spends more time looking for slights or analyzing what could have been done differently instead of just enjoying what we have and what’s to come.

Sometimes I just want to fill up on candy corn and spin around until I’m dizzy and out of breathe, and then I wanna spend the rest of the day talking to my friends about the really cute boy in the lunch line, ya know?

[keepingfaith]

You've either got it or you don't. If you've got it, excessive promotion isn't necessary. If you don't have it, then all the promotion in the world won't help. The drug companies promote the hell out of their pills on TV now. Have I ever gone to a doctor and said I want to take this or that pill? Never. However, I think they may have influenced some men with the "erection lasting four hours" deal.

[jmh123]

TO

"AAAARRRRGGGHHH. NO APPLES. ZOMBIE CLAY NEED EAT BRAINS."

Oh look!

We must be In Asheville!

BWAH!! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

[KAndre]

Eh, I care a little - I can go back to caring a little because no one's beating me repeatedly over the head with how terrible Clay's promotion was. I would like to see him everywhere 'cause I find him to be cute and I personally like his music. I have seen J Lo everywhere (especially that little dancey commercial she's got) - and she still only sold 53K in her first week. And absolutely nothing to me. But I also have never been a real "album"/artist person - I have learned just because I like a song from somebody, the rest of their stuff doesn't particularly speak to me. Clay is my exception. I do like 98% of his stuff - hell, if I hear him sing it live, that percentage jumps to 99.8% (still hate the mouse song and his solo version of Open Arms, and cannot be forced to listen to Here, There and Everywhere ever again. Though I think his is better that the Beatles' version. thinks for a second, Hey! KF! I still like 16 of the 27 tracks on that Beatles "1" thingie!)

Some discussion of promotion can be fun - because I think he looked so freakin' good in that Wal-Mart thingie, though really...not live singing looking. I don't wanna say lip syncing, though I don't see how he could avoid it. And little unexpected hits of Clay are fun, especially somebody finds it and posts it and everybody runs over to look.

I'm think I'm just one of those who find some promotional discussion interesting without worrying about it. But then again, I don't worry about a lot - except for spawn of the devil dentists.

I've always wondered about those "erections for four hours" dealios. Don't the guys realize that their erstwhile partner might say to themselves, "Hey! This should have been over 3 and half hours ago! This is NOT better living through chemistry! I've got things to see and people to stop doing!" I wouldn't even do Clay for four hours...straight. I'd want 10 minute breaks every hours. I think OSHA has rules...

[atinal]

As I read through many posts here and elsewhere, I can tell there are fans who are much more into music trivia and background than I've ever been. I find it interesting to some extent. For example I've been reading Keepingfaith's post lately thinking wow that girl has some eclectic tastes in music and I've been impressed at her knowledge of many of the artists she's talked about. There are many others on this board with much more depth and understanding of music than I have. My only baromoter is I like what I like and I buy what I like.

In the past, with other artists I've liked, I've never known or cared about their promotion, somehow I found out about their albums and I bought them. I never gave a rat's patootie who their producer was, if I liked them I still bought their music.

I agree with Play in that coming off of Idol Clay had a whirlwind of publicity, he was everywhere, he was from what I would call the most defining season of AI. I'll bet if you asked most watchers of AI, which was the best season, they would answer the Ruben and Clay season. He had the suppport of many fans that thought he had been wronged and wanted to prove a point. I think Clay's sales problem is less that of label support than it is of fan support. Some fans have moved on, and some fans are still trying to prove points.