#20: Clay is just so frickin' cute! Cute, cute, cute!

[merrieeee]

I have sat here all evening watching Clack...(oh and i made a new banner in honourof the occasion) I have had a grin on my face all night long.

The guy is not only CUTEhe is freaking AMAZING

I say could not love him any more than I do but then I watch something like last night and my heart takes another leap. I think I need an intervention! I'm kidding of course...I never want this feeling to go away! It constantly amazes me that after all this time that I still cannot get enough of Clay Aiken.

One of my favourite bits is right before AIW when he crosses his fingers. I know last night I was sitting here holding my breath...wishing him to hit that note and when he did I jumped up and started clapping, like a mad fool*g*

[duckyvee]

I'm reveling in Clack, too. And I seem to be stuck on TCS. There are so many wonderful syllables to claim, I keep going back to listen for them. That 'some' around 1:11 on Spotlover's video is a keeper for sure. One more listen..... there are some great 'fly's', as well. I just love certain Clay syllables. What a treat!

[liney23]

merrieeee... I didn't even see the crossed fingers until the clack, but what I did notice as my binoculars were solely trained on Clay's face is that I thought he had some difficulty staying into the song due to the skating/clapping for the jumps. He kept his eyes closed a lot, but kept remembering that it was television and so would open them, would get distracted by the skating, etc. That was my opinion during the number and clack backs it up for me. That is an intense song to sing and more power to him for managing it so well with the skating. The sound on that song was unbelievably fantastic and I sure hope it translates on tv as well. It frickin' FILLED the arena!

[Claygasm]

Muski - good luck with the conference. I bet it will all go well.

I just watched some of the clack (its not all downloaded yet). I loved the crossed fingers during AIW. Didn't love some of the facial contortions, but that is just Clay. Wish he didn't do it. He has done it since AI. Not a singer so I have no clue if there is a way he could learn to sing without doing it, but he has such a gorgeous face, it annoys me when he contorts it to sing.

Thankfully, the singing is so freakin AMAZING that I can overlook it.

It will be interesting to see how they do the editing. I suspect will see not nearly as much of Clay as we want.

Then again, is there ever enough Clay???

LOVED the suit. The bangs at times looked a bit odd, but overall he looked good. Did anyone else think his cheeks looked a tad puffy? Maybe it was the lighting.

Wanted to slap that lucky beyotch Shae Lynn for groping our boyfriend though.....

HANDS OFF BITCH!!!! :thdom2:

Too tired to watch more clack. I am just exhausted and I need to get to bed.

I think I am getting old........

[Gibby]

Oh, and keepingfaith?

This choir reject just has to ask .... what is a vocal cavity?

I'm not sure what it is, but I'm pretty danged sure Clay can fill it.

I'm pretty danged sure you're right, Muski! The vocal cavity would be the area in the mouth and the back of the throat that needs to be open for the sound to resonate. If it's not open far enough, the tone quality will be nasally, thin and unpleasant. To open the vocal cavity, the mouth needs to be open pretty far, and the soft palate needs to be raised. It sounds easy, but is difficult when you're singing different vowels, and when you're concentrating on the notes, the rhythm and on breathing correctly. It takes training and concentration to keep the vocal cavity open, and to properly support the breath with the diaphragm at the same time. Singing well is harder than it looks! And Clay does it so well.

Good luck at the conference, Muski. Sounds like there won't be any time for us to get togther this time. Darn it!

BTW, I posted a pic in the 'Members Only' forum, in the 'What Happens in Vegas' thread.

[Scarlett]

Yikes! Should have posted about this earlier but completely forgot/was distracted. The StripesSockSirens fall sale has started. This is the blog with pictures & background notes from the knitters with a link to the main sale site. A lot of the initial items are gone (*can't believe I missed geekette's Unicef scarf. I really wanted to get that one*) but more items will be added over the next few days. Knitters from the US, Canada and UK donated these items and all the proceeds go to TBAF. Please drop by sometime this week or next (right now, many items have just been bought so we only have about 10 things up) and maybe you'll find something to bring or wear to the winter shows. Thanks in advance for your support!!! :6: :EmoticonRingAround:

ETA:

AnAmeraikenInTX, Thanks for the great pics!!!

[zena]

AIW--well, I just cannot imagine anyone NOT standing and cheering because it was just that amazing!! His voice is just like honey and spice. Unbelievalble.

(zena is remembering she was NOT there)

I think it makes it actually more thrilling for me when he not only hits the note but when he does is so beautifully and masterfully. So I do think if I was in that audience that I would follow the organic reaction of the audience of standing on my feet and cheering.

(zena wants ansamcw to understand that she understands that beautiful masterful notes absolutely need cheering; it's just a question of 'when'. You know, like it's speshshul or something to wait. hee.

And since I was there last night, I can tell you that it would have been pretty darn hard to be there last night and not cheer at the glory note. We were encouraged to make lots of noise for the sake of the TV show, and we cheered every time the skaters made their jumps or did a particularly good combination. So, why wouldn't we cheer for Clay when he did particularly well? It fit the mood of the night. If it were a concert of classical music, it wouldn't have been appropriate to cheer at the glory note. But last night it felt right.

Gibby, you know, I do believe you've broken through my foggy back and forth thoughts on this topic. Your words, "it felt right" reminded me of the times when I've been listening to a particular performance that spontaneously prompts the audience to act, or not too.

Sometimes the response is everything we can give. Sometimes it can be an awed silence; a speechless recognition which can also feel right at the moment, and completely appropriate to the artist's interpretation of the song. Clay's reverent and triumphant presentation of both the music and the words of All is Well is, to me, awe inspiring.

And though I will admit that silence is rather rare for me, :yapyapyapf: my "well done" to Clay's All is Well is a deep surge of feeling that has or needs no audible voice. And I truly believe the artist/performer feels and appreciates this type of recognition as well.

keepingfaith, I want to add my vote of gratefulness that your son will not have to go overseas into the muck of war.

This post has been sitting here now for over two hours while I've been on the phone, and I'm sorely tempted to just hit delete.

However, it's not often I don't mess up the quotes, and I do want to thank you all for the good wishes for my particular tenor tomorrow night. I'll be crossing my fingers, and holding my breath too, and probably clapping and cheering at completely inappropriate moments. :chair:

DS #1 has already threatened to smack me if I try to take video.

Rest assured I'll do whatever feeeeeels right!

[AnAmeraikenInTX]

I've been trying to get good results from my photos from last night for the past couple of hours. I got some nice shots... but I don't know what my optimum camera settings should have been in this low light situation. I didn't mess with the EV settings and maybe I should have. So, everything is underexposed and grainy - reminds me of the old days with film photography and skating shows and the constant fight with underexposure! (I battled the top of a man's head on the row in front of me and to the right so maybe that cut off some of my light source. Don't know, just know this isn't the result for which I hoped.)

Therefore, I decided to just choose some of the shots I like the best (nice composition and tells a story) and that look the best (from a technical standpoint) and tag them. Couldn't even find any photo editing settings tonight to make them not look grainy so decided to just go with the pics in their original form. I'll probably play more later with some artsy filters, but couldn't find the right ones tonight either.

For now, here are some basic photos, most even uncropped! Hopefully for the CITH, with better lighting, I'll get better exposed photos and, therefore, more of a result like our fantastic photographers get!

To kind of go along with some of tonight's discussions, thought you might enjoy...

After Shae Lynn's first hug with Clay:

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218859145-L-LB

All Is Well - leading up to and including the glory note:

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218859362-L-LB

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218859532-L-LB

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218859709-L-LB

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218859891-L-LB

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218859695-L-LB

Finishing out this set of 10 for this post, just a few more I like:

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218860280-L-LB

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218859902-L-LB

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218860260-L-LB

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218860647-L-LB

There are 25 photos in this smugmug gallery right now, I'll add more as I can. Please feel free to visit: AAIT's Holiday On Ice - Clay pics!

NOTE -- I have no idea why these aren't showing up as pictures in the thread. Thought I was doing the same thing I did a few weeks ago in posting. Please just click the link - that takes you to the photo. My apologies.

Clay was absolutely marvelous and I thought he sang those songs last night better than ever before, almost without exception. Have no idea what the skaters were doing while he sang - Clay had my undivided attention!!!

It's way past bedtime now - with the daylight savings time change and time zone changes, this kid is dragging. But Clack takes priority - and I'm loving those d/l's from last night!!!

Good night, FCA! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Wonderful news, keepingfaith! I'm very happy for you.

[Ansamcw]

question...I was dl spots CW and TCS...but they are all incomplete..is it just me or is this really not the complete songs. I have in incoplete with all the versions and even the mp3.

so are those really partial videos?

[Couch Tomato]

OMG I just hit a wall. Must stop everything and go to bed.

Due to the fact that uh...let's see.. we need more time we're going to hold off the Clay chat for a week or so. Very sorry but as you can see, time has just gotten away from us and we haven't even gotten the topics set or given everybody fair warning.

And this has been driving me crazy. But it's functional if not perfect.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PIN ORDER FORM

if you want to order and pay by check just pm me.

[cha cha trusty]

OMG I just hit a wall. Must stop everything and go to bed.

Due to the fact that uh...let's see.. we need more time we're going to hold off the Clay chat for a week or so. Very sorry but as you can see, time has just gotten away from us and we haven't even gotten the topics set or given everybody fair warning.

And this has been driving me crazy. But it's functional if not perfect.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PIN ORDER FORM

if you want to order and pay by check just pm me.

What is the deadline here, couchie??? I am still packing for SF!! Will I be seeing you????????? We'll have the car all day Sunday, btw!

[atinal]

question...I was dl spots CW and TCS...but they are all incomplete..is it just me or is this really not the complete songs. I have in incoplete with all the versions and even the mp3.

so are those really partial videos?

Ansa, I thought it was just me. I even tried re-downloading them thinking the complete file didn't load. The Clack alerts didn't say they were partials, only that on TCS I think she had to do edit in some audio because she lost about 3 seconds, at least that's the way I understood her note. The video is gorgeous so I hope there is more to it.

I have really enjoyed these performances so much. I like the change ups he's made to the songs. I've never been a big jazz fan but I love the jazzy touches he's given to TCS and WAYDNYE. It's the first Clack in a while that I have watched over and over. My face almost hurts from smiling so much.

[jmh123]

After Shae Lynn's first hug with Clay:

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218859145-L-LB

All Is Well - leading up to and including the glory note:

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218859362-L-LB

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218859532-L-LB

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218859709-L-LB

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218859891-L-LB

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218859695-L-LB

Finishing out this set of 10 for this post, just a few more I like:

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218860280-L-LB

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218859902-L-LB

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218860260-L-LB

http://anameraikenintx.smugmug.com/gallery...#218860647-L-LB

There are 25 photos in this smugmug gallery right now, I'll add more as I can. Please feel free to visit: AAIT's Holiday On Ice - Clay pics!

Your pictures are gorgeous. To make them show up, you need image tags, and you have to link to the jpg rather than the pop-up page, like so:

[cha cha trusty]

question...I was dl spots CW and TCS...but they are all incomplete..is it just me or is this really not the complete songs. I have in incoplete with all the versions and even the mp3.

so are those really partial videos?

Ansa, I thought it was just me. I even tried re-downloading them thinking the complete file didn't load. The Clack alerts didn't say they were partials, only that on TCS I think she had to do edit in some audio because she lost about 3 seconds, at least that's the way I understood her note. The video is gorgeous so I hope there is more to it.

I have really enjoyed these performances so much. I like the change ups he's made to the songs. I've never been a big jazz fan but I love the jazzy touches he's given to TCS and WAYDNYE. It's the first Clack in a while that I have watched over and over. My face almost hurts from smiling so much.

I haven't had any cut-offs so far - only have seen 2 vids as of yet tho. I am not sure if the difference could be the CH vs the CU vault. Maybe the CU's uploads got interupted. Just a guess! Is there an admin someone can alert?

I'm all packed!! Leaving for SF in the morning. Couchie, it would be great to get a PM from you before I leave!! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[Ansamcw]

I only got cut offs in those two file CW and TCS, the rest were complete. Since even the mp3's cut off, I guess they are partials. If anybody had a different experience please pm me. Thanks.

[aikim]

Good Morning Everyone,

18 Days until The Christmas Tour Starts!

44 Days until Christmas in Merrillville!

47 Days until The Skating Show airs!

60 Days until The BAF Golf Outing!

71 Days until Clay is on Broadway!

Everyone have a great day!!

Kim

[luckiest1]

Wheeee! So much clack, so little time. We left Las Vegas at 11:30 am PST and got home at 12:15 am EST. Weird! I will be so jet lagged today but I must head to work. But not before watching a bit of clack! I am so happy that there seems to be a complete record of his performances, because I doubt we'll see him too much in the TV coverage, except for at the beginning and ending of each song. And I'm seeing some comments of concern over the vocals? That is strange to me, because I thought he did so well. The high falsetto notes at the end of DSIAFCD were spectacular, the best I've ever heard him sing them. And AIW was perfection. I also have to admit that while I never yelled out "I love you Clay", I did a lot of woo hoo-ing for both the skaters and for Clay. It was just that kind of night, and as someone upthread said, it was definitely encouraged. They want the live audience reaction for the taping. I thought it was very cool that Tracey thanked us all at the end for being so enthusiastic (can't remember what words she used but it was along those lines) and said we were one of the best audiences ever. I really think that Clay made a great impression on the skating world, and so did his fans.

Hee, so off to work I go, and then I can hopefully catch up on the boards.

[cindilu2]

Whee!! the pin order page is up. Come onnnnnnnnnnn 'C' You know you want one

Thanks Couchie, I know you must be wiped after your adventure. You da woman!

Quick note: if you are ordering both pins (and really, why wouldn't you? ) Click on the CITH one first, then when the paypal page opens up, click on 'continue shopping' and it will go back to the FCA page, then click on the DCITH, and when you get back to the paypal page, both will be there and you can enter the quantities. It says this quite clearly on the order page, and yet I STILL managed to mess it up, so thought I'd share for other challenged folks like myself.

(ETA: in my defense, ldyj, it doesn't mention using the 'continue shopping' button in the instructions ;-)

[ldyjocelyn]

I ordered two of each pin, and had no problems with the ordering process. But then, I'm a "read instructions first" kind of person. I love both designs!

I've been enjoying the clack from the skating show so much. For some reason, SR really hit me last night -- it's always been a fun song, but I was suddenly struck watching the clack how tough that song has to be to sing. Lots of syllables, and yet Clay manages to enunciate so clearly with it. Also, the low notes resonated with me as well.

OK, yeah....I'm supposed to be working. Heh. I'm still lagged from the past two weeks, let alone the clack.

[KAndre]

I personally think this is excessively cute...

The Claymate News

hosted by about as typical a "claymate" as you can get. Heh.

[Couch Tomato]

BWAH..well doesn't she just fit the profile. heee.

How do you folks find this stuff...do you do a new search on Yahoo everyday. Is that something I should be doing? hmmmm LOL

Thanks for the photos...he looked really good. I can't wait to see clack.

[cindilu2]

I personally think this is excessively cute...

The Claymate News

hosted by about as typical a "claymate" as you can get. Heh.

Oh bwahahah! That is awesome.

"Surprisingly, the ice did not melt." You got that right, honey!

[Couch Tomato]

I personally think this is excessively cute...

The Claymate News

hosted by about as typical a "claymate" as you can get. Heh.

Oh bwahahah! That is awesome.

"Surprisingly, the ice did not melt." You got that right, honey!

thread title..although it might be a little stale by the time for our next thread.

If you got an email 3 times from FCA ...OOPS..and LdyJ did it! heee

[ldyjocelyn]

If you got an email 3 times from FCA ...OOPS..and LdyJ did it! heee

Oh sure....make ME the fall guy!

ANSA DID IT!!!!

*runs away very very fast*

couchie, I've learned that doing a search once a day for "Clay Aiken" on YouTube provides some interesting results. But other than that, I don't know HOW people find the stuff they do that relates to Clay -- and I'm a freakin' librarian who should know all that kind of stuff!

Anyway, that clip was v.v. cute.

[luckiest1]

That was a youtube....pouts. I clicked on it all excited, but I can't watch youtube at work. Did I mention that it sucks that I am at work today? And that it is freaking cold here????? Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

So a lady I work with, who usually kind of rolls her eyes at my fandom, just came over to my desk. She asked if she could see my desktop wallpaper. Got up real close to the screen, and then said "I knew it was him!" and started gushing about 5th Grader. How intelligent and funny he was, and just how impressed she was with him. She had no idea he used to be a teacher. She couldn't believe how wonderful he was with the kids, and how much money he won for his foundation. Heh, I was grinning from ear to ear just listening to her. He wins them over, one by one.

That reminds me that my NJU story from our first day in Vegas (the lady from Alberta we met in the IHOP)....she was also gushing about 5th Grader.

I loved the skating show for so many reasons, but one thing that I thought was soooo cool was that the skaters mainly chose to skate to Clay songs...i.e. songs that are not the run of the mill Christmas songs, but are more associated with Clay, like DSIAFCD and WAYDNYE and AIW and CW. How awesome that millions of people will hear those on Christmas Day? And the show is going to be re-broadcast for a few days after that as well.

I am still on a Clay & Las Vegas high. I don't think I'll come down for a while.

P.S. I saw someone ask "where was Victor?" in relation to Shae-Lynn Bourne. I don't know if it's already been answered, but Victor has retired from skating. Last I heard he was happily married to a Finnish ice dancer, and had a son. I think he is also coaching. Bourne&Kraatz were my favourite ice dancers of all time. I haven't really enjoyed too much of Shae-Lynn's solo stuff, but I really did enjoy her choreography to DSIAFCD. Especially the part where she got all up on Clay.