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

[jamar1700]

I think a lot of fans forget that AI is not the Clay Aiken show...so its not designed to just prop him up. These judges are not fans. They are not part of his management team. They were there to be critical...to create drama and controversy.

Yep. Yep. I was watching it as the Reality show it was. I had watched two seasons of POPSTARS and the original Making the Band (O'TOWN!!!11!!!) and of course all of AI1. I was into it. E and I literally screamed when Tamyra was voted off. Wanted Kelly to win. But then rather ignored her after she had. Season 2 just kept building and building and building and it really wasn't until the very end that I realized it was so much more about Clay for me than the show.

Or what couchie said...

It was compelling. oooh what's he gonna sing. What? NOOOOOOOOO? Oh, that was good. Damn judges. Yeah Paula, you got it right. OMG he's gonna puke. Whew, he's safe. I don't love the season just because at the end of it I had Clay. I loved it every step of the freakin' way. Yeah there are some things that make me pissy about it but the joy I got each and every week stomps all over that pissiness. And five years later I'm not going to get pissy anew especially when I see how things turned out. I know the ending of that chapter. The book? we're not even halfway through it yet.

I do have to say that the only thing that really ever bothered me about the judges (then and now) is their lack of revelance in the music industry in this country today.

Circumstances and dynamics spun together into pure electricity --

Thread title?

---

Geez, I hope I got all those inbedded quotes right....hee.

[luckiest1]

Yeah there are some things that make me pissy about it but the joy I got each and every week stomps all over that pissiness. And five years later I'm not going to get pissy anew especially when I see how things turned out. I know the ending of that chapter. The book? we're not even halfway through it yet.

Hee, ITA. I can't see getting upset with getting new footage, even if the new footage shows us something that happened behind the scenes that we might not have known about and might not like. It's new footage! Of Clay on my TV! I think he looked adorable before the makeover. His eyes slay me, they are just so gorgeous. But I am sure that is because I am looking at him now as opposed to looking at him then, if that makes any sense. Because I don't remember thinking he was attractive until Solitaire night. Yep, everything hinges on Solitaire night for me.

I've enjoyed all the Christmas stories I've read so far, and I've wracked my brain to come up with something to submit. I think maybe subconsciously I don't want to win this contest! Although, as my daughter put it, isn't a hug (or anything) from Clay worth a little stage fright? Well, the answer is a resounding YES on that question, but I still can't think of anything.

I know, that is why I was so surprised when something popped into my head one day, after one of his many story blogs. I wrote it down as soon as I got home, so I wouldn't forget it, and hit the send key shortly afterwards, so I wouldn't chicken out. I probably have the worst stage fright in the world. I used to have nightmares before having to do even a group presentation in college (and I usually only had to say a few words). I went to college in my late 30s. I want to win because I want to get a hug from Clay. But I don't want to win because there's no way in hell I could go up on a stage and read my story in a way that anyone could understand. Especially with Clay freaking Aiken standing there beside me. I'd probably come out like a93jd89n30(YLd8@#^klk&0Mjh

Christmas has never been my favourite time of year......well, not since I stopped believing in Santa, anyways. Now it's a lot of hussle and bussle and getting things cleaned up before everyone arrives. And then cooking and washing dishes and in between that somewhere sitting down to watch people open presents. I usually end up running out on Christmas Eve day to buy presents. At least now-a-days I really only buy for my kids and my mom. I remember in the early days, I used to attend my husband's family's Christmas celebration and buy for every cousin, and there were many aunts, uncles and grandparents to buy for on both sides....that was crazy and expensive. It's much simpler now, although I do miss all the relatives that have passed on. This year should be fun because I am going to Merrillville on the 22nd, will come home the 23rd, have taken the 24th off so I can do all those last minute things, like buying presents, that I won't have gotten around to, and my Mom will come out that evening and stay over, and I've invited a friend for Christmas dinner as well. I've also discovered those cook-from-frozen turkeys that are pre-stuffed....anything that saves time is good in my book! ETA: And I almost forgot, we get to way CLAAAAAAAYYYYYY at 2 pm!

[KAndre]

Ok so now I can't work. I keep thinking about Clay and Idol. I guess for me, when I think of that show and season 2 I get happy. It was so triumphant for Clay. To watch that man grow in confidence every week - it was such good TV. It was a thrilling ride, heart pounding to be sure. I honestly wouldn't change a thing. It was FUN and it was something I looked forward to every week. It was compelling. oooh what's he gonna sing. What? NOOOOOOOOO? Oh, that was good. Damn judges. Yeah Paula, you got it right. OMG he's gonna puke. Whew, he's safe. I don't love the season just because at the end of it I had Clay. I loved it every step of the freakin' way. Yeah there are some things that make me pissy about it but the joy I got each and every week stomps all over that pissiness. And five years later I'm not going to get pissy anew especially when I see how things turned out. I know the ending of that chapter. The book? we're not even halfway through it yet.

That's it! That's it totally for me, because it WAS great TV! And I happened to get a great boyfriend out of it. And honestly, the first few months of waving our fists in the air, screaming dramatically about the injustice of it all just like good drama queen teenagers was fun too! And then being confirmed that WE WERE RIGHT and THEY WERE WRONG with the RS cover and the record breaking single and the record breaking album - oh man. That was a serious high. But eventually one has to stop being pseudo teenage drama queens (because lord knows they get tiresome), and just enjoy the ride.

I really like the stories y'all posted here. I admit, it never crossed my mind to submit any because all in all, I'm still not that social a person. I'll tell stories to my little group because by the time I'm to the point of telling stories, they know me well enough not to back away and call either the police or the men in the white coats or CPS. I am not an entertainer.

[christelklein]

Good morning everyone!!!

Just found the board again this morning (shhhhhh from work) .... joined just before my computer went kaput .... then i went to Vegas .... still haven't had the energy (or money) to get said computer fixed ... or get my older one up and running with at least the internet!!

Just wanted to drop in though!!!

For those who don't recognize my board name .... i'm from Thunder Bay in Ontario, Canaada. Older (almost retirement age!! Yikes!!! .... single and 99% loving it!! ... and i work in our university library) .... and i'm very very pleasantly plump!!!

[Ansamcw]

Good morning everyone!!!

Just found the board again this morning (shhhhhh from work) .... joined just before my computer went kaput .... then i went to Vegas .... still haven't had the energy (or money) to get said computer fixed ... or get my older one up and running with at least the internet!!

Just wanted to drop in though!!!

For those who don't recognize my board name .... i'm from Thunder Bay in Ontario, Canaada. Older (almost retirement age!! Yikes!!! .... single and 99% loving it!! ... and i work in our university library) .... and i'm very very pleasantly plump!!!

Hey christelklein...welcome...hope your computer woes are over soon and you can join the discussion.

[christelklein]

Hey christelklein...welcome...hope your computer woes are over soon and you can join the discussion.

Hi Ansamcw :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I see you down there ToldForThis, :F_05BL17blowkiss: aikim :F_05BL17blowkiss: merryclay :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[aikim]

Good Morning Everyone,

Welcome Christel, it is nice seeing you here!

11 Days until The Christmas Tour starts!

37 Days until Christmas in Merrillville!

40 Days until The Skating Show Airs!

51 Days until The BAF Golf Outing!

62 Days until Clay is on Broadway!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[merryclay]

A week from this coming Mon., the concerts start. Can you believe it's almost time? I wish Clay the best. I hope we all support him as best we can. He seems to want to make this work for all of us. My wish for Clay and all of Claynation is that this is the best Holiday season ever.

[ToldForThis]

Good Morning......

welcome to the board, Christel

[aikim]

Political correctness run amok!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071115/wl_as...hristmasoffbeat

[Cotton]

Hi, christelklein!

:nature-smiley-014:

[Gibby]

Political correctness run amok!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071115/wl_as...hristmasoffbeat

That's totally ridiculous!!

Welcome to the board, christelklein!

Wow, lots of great conversations happening over the last few days! I'm pouting 'cuz I only have time right now to read the thread, make a quick comment, and leave. I'm working several days in a row at the hospital, and have had rehearsals or performances every night this week. Fortunately the last performance for the week was last night. Maybe I can catch up and actually make a substantive comment tonight!

[KAndre]

I wouldn't say political correctness so much as absolute stupidity, me.

[aikim]

I wouldn't say political correctness so much as absolute stupidity, me.

Well, yeah that too!

Kim

[pkmiller]

There's more of Clay in the actual episode, although they are just brief glimpses. Part one of the episode is now available for download in all of the usual sites. Gerwhisp made a lovely gif of the brief glimpse at the end:

Just had to move this over...he is just so frickin CUTE! Have a question though. Did they put makeup on him this early? His eyelashes are so dark. I am mesmerized watching him blink, which in turn draws my eyes down to that perfect nose, and those "shell pink" lips....

[playbiller]

Another rainy day. Just remembered that my story will not only not be picked, but will not be read because.... I forgot to include my name. Duh

Oh well, have to go out in the rain and plant those plants or toss them! too late to not have them in the ground and the next few days will only be worse.

Since the finale did not upset me, I was prepared after watching ET the whole week before, I was beset by real life issues preying on my mind and exhausting me and I watched it first after midnight (zoning meeting) on tape and was falling asleep a lot. So I had to watch it again after I got home from work the next day, but I knew how it ended, so it was OK. When I had voted the night before, I could not get through and my sister could not get through. I know not everything was easy for anyone on the show, but without it, we would never have heard of Clay and he would have gone back to school. And that is that. So, someone didn't like him, big deal, obviously someone else did to get him selected. Now the show today with the chair of failure, would be miserable, you can see who is getting rejected and that is not pleasant.

It will be interesting to see who is the guy with the "best voice in the competition" and did not get selected. I hope they at least feature him for a while. It probably will be painful when he finds out why he wasn't picked. I really don't understand the sense of "beauty" of the judges, the guy probably looked just fine. It is a reality show, hence there is very little reality in it. And the votes ofthe people do overrule the judges from time to time, hence the pimp overdrive they go into. The pimping doesn't always work because people can be stubborn, but a lot of times is does just because. I think it doesn't work when people don't really care as much and then one fans enthusiastic group can overwhelm the pimped up audience.

Pimp is not a really good word to use, it is insulting to the contestants, but I am at a loss for another word. We always used to use that word to describe the sales people from consulting companies selling us to different companies, especially when we found out that some were using some ahem white powder to encourage some management people to hire us.

ETA - Clay looks exhausted in that clip, kind of like you want so say "you can have a nap soon" to him - only it wasn't that soon.

[luckiest1]

In which clip does Clay look exhausted? If you mean the preview for the next episode of Rewind, he looks sad to me.

I think they probably did put minimal makeup on all the contestant, even in these rounds, because of the lights and TV cameras.

[Couch Tomato]

Hey Jamar..>I saw you volunteer to organize the book discussion hee. I PMed you.

Hey Gibby! Hi Christelklein!

I really need to start doing more of this..... sigh.

That's it! That's it totally for me, because it WAS great TV! And I happened to get a great boyfriend out of it. And honestly, the first few months of waving our fists in the air, screaming dramatically about the injustice of it all just like good drama queen teenagers was fun too! And then being confirmed that WE WERE RIGHT and THEY WERE WRONG with the RS cover and the record breaking single and the record breaking album - oh man. That was a serious high. But eventually one has to stop being pseudo teenage drama queens (because lord knows they get tiresome), and just enjoy the ride.

Yep and I'm sorry for using the word pissy last night...it's not exactly what I mean but I had sort of a brain meltdown and needed to go to bed. When I think of the judges today, the one thing I remember about Randy from Idol is him saying I hope that's not your first single as if Clay had some choice or as if he didn't know it was. But I also remember him on Larry King when him and Kelly went on tour and him saying ..these kids have real talent. Plus all his whoo hooos and his standing ovations. He was practically a cheerleader for Clay through the season. I thought the Simon/Clay stuff is one of the dynamics that made the show compelling. He was hard on everybody and said shit for dramatic effect. And no I don't think he GOT Clay. Which made every compliment that came out of his mouth extra special. I think one of the worst things he said that season was telling Trenyce she looked like a drag act. Now I remember conversations on the board that maybe that didn't mean the same thing in England as it meant here but well, it was America voting. And Paula, in hindsight, was actually lucid during season and had some phenomenal things to say about Clay. I thought Randy and Simon were spectacularly cruel to Carmen and I didn't even like her. I personally thought they brought her on to up the pretty faction but she stayed and stayed and stayed and when they were ready to get rid of her they went from complimenting her to lowering the boom PDQ. I think Randy actually made goat noises at her one week. And Ricky never had much of a chance becaue he also didn't have the right image.

Anyway, anytime Randy or Simon annoy me I just think book sales and smirk a little and move on.....didn't Randy sell like 35 books.

I really like the stories y'all posted here. I admit, it never crossed my mind to submit any because all in all, I'm still not that social a person. I'll tell stories to my little group because by the time I'm to the point of telling stories, they know me well enough not to back away and call either the police or the men in the white coats or CPS. I am not an entertainer.

I don't plan to submit anything either because public speaking is just really not my thing at all. I've overcome some minor stuff to get to CLay concerts (driving at night) but to get up on stage before thousands...NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I wouldn't even be able to enjoy myself on my trip becaue I'd be so nervous anticipating it. But if I could think of something to write I would and let somebody else read it. I think all my Xmases have been great - about family and sharing and whatnot but nothing specific springs to mind at all.

Now, KAndre, you certainly had us rapt at the winery. You tell good story as all of FCA can attest with your recapts. But yep, I understand exactly what you are saying.

OT ah my girl Nancy Grace is in the hospital.... best wishes to her.

Now the show today with the chair of failure, would be miserable, you can see who is getting rejected and that is not pleasant.

what's the chair of failure

LOL at the no ho ho hos...ridiculous.

[playbiller]

Anyway, anytime Randy or Simon annoy me I just think book sales and smirk a little and move on.....didn't Randy sell like 35 books.

Don't forget the How to sing book/CD that he and Paula sold for another 10 copies!

OT ah my girl Nancy Grace is in the hospital.... best wishes to her.

Ewww, taste is something, huh? I find her much, much worse than the AI judges they talk about lives, she sways public opinion with gross misstatements.

Now the show today with the chair of failure, would be miserable, you can see who is getting rejected and that is not pleasant.

what's the chair of failure

On AI, at the end of Hollywood week, they no longer do the rooms. Instead, they have each contestant walk into a long room and sit in front of the trio to be told why they are not good enough, sometimes they tell them that and take them anyway. A few, very few are told how good they are. Then the camera follows them on the walk back and someone trieds to talk to them about how miserable they are.

[Guest Toots]

KAndre, you may not consider yourself an entertainer but some of the best stories written here are from your adventures to bumfuck wherever! We were always in for a good chuckle when you gave us your written reality show.

What is not cute about that? He is just adorable, the ears are just part of him and I love the wonder in those eyes.

[Couch Tomato]

Oh yeah, Play, I can totally understand not liking her. I couldn't stand her when she was with Cochrane and Grace..she's so singularly focused and sometimes she just doesn't listen. I don't always agree with her but she entertains me, a lot.

[muskifest]

I remember what Clay said in Houston when telling the story about waiting to audition in Atlanta: "I wasn't gonna give it up. I didn't want to show all my cards." Now that's something I can extrapolate. I don't think that was a one time thing ... I think he likes to play his cards close all the time, and we can only imagine what he has up his sleeve. Maybe Simon's comment that Clay was unique and that his path would be unique, translates into the definition of a legend. I don't know what cards he's holding, but I think he's been playing them rather adroitly. I do know what I'm holding .... a ticket to ride.

ooooh, keepingfaith! I FLOVE this whole part hyere! Yeah....a ticket to ride...oh yes.

farouche, baby! Good to see you here! And yep, it looks like DC Clay is in my cards! WOO HOO! There's still the bothersome thing of plane tickets, finding a hotel, etc....but I SHOULD be there, along wtih CG.

I know very little at this point, other than I will find a concert ticket somewhere, will find a place to stay Sunday night somewhere and will leave for Memphis on Monday sometime. heh.

[Couch Tomato]

posthoing one more time before I head to work to tell Farouche that her story sounds sooooo intersting. I'd love to hear it if you're ever willing to share. Now what's this about a pile of coats or clothes or what was that? heee.

[jazzgirl]

Oh yeah, Play, I can totally understand not liking her. I couldn't stand her when she was with Cochrane and Grace..she's so singularly focused and sometimes she just doesn't listen. I don't always agree with her but she entertains me, a lot.

I, too, can see where Nancy can be grating and, at times, just downright wrong, but I rather admire her and enjoy her dissertations. Giving birth to twins at 48 takes extreme fortitude! She just recently found love after mourning her fiancé who was murdered in a random act of violence years ago, and which explains her rather strident pro-victim views.

Welcome Christel!

[sheiladownunder]

I also used to watch Nancy Grace a lot and found her entertaining until that girl committed suicide after being grilled on her show. I know the circumstances surrounding the little boy's disappearance was suspicious and it made the mother suspect, but then again maybe she was especially fragile and the interview sent her over the edge, but Nancy's attitude about such a tragedy just turned me off. I don't find her funny anymore.

It does look like Clay's eyelashes are darkened in that clip. That bottom lip is just tuggable. He does look sad. He found out what it's like for the entire class to get punished for the actions of others. I really didn't seem fair to punish everyone.