#27: Ya' gotta give me somethin', honey!

[Claygasm]

Wait. They sell killer rabbit bunny slippers????

Hmmmmm. Nope. Can't do it. Can't buy killer rabbit bunny slippers. But I am tempted.......

Great review. I loved this:

Aiken is a charmer. With his aging cherub face and a frizzle-pageboy wig, he goes sweetly and deftly Medieval on Broadway

And this:

His voice has range and color. He dances with a childlike skip, he yodels and sings falsetto and gets through the scenes when Robin "soils himself" with no visible humiliation. This is not a debut for cowards.

This part alone makes his part seem so adorable I would want to go see Spamalot while he is in it even if I didn't like Clay!

He just sounds so CUTE!!!!

[keepingfaith]

I love the picture caption on that Newday review:

"American Idol" icon Clay Aiken's turn as Sir Robin in "Spamalot" shows he can act, yodel - and also sing falsetto.

And also:

His voice has range and color.

This is news? I guess she's new to the world of Clay Aiken.

Aiken is a charmer.

Ain't it the truth!

... he goes sweetly and deftly Medieval on Broadway.

Love that line!

This is not a debut for cowards.

No, just a typical day for Clay Aiken.

[merryclay]

That newspaper print called Clay an AI icon!!!in the caption.

[cindilu2]

... he goes sweetly and deftly Medieval on Broadway.

Thread title?!

Another great review!!! I just want them to be fair, and I think she is. The 'girlish' comment isn't entirely off the wall if she's speaking about Robin. I have my doubts about that, but that's another post. Heh!!! And the Liberace candelabra? Ummm.... Menorrah? Hee!!

I just love to see him getting his props for doing exactly what he set out to do - be a fantastic part of a Spamtastic ensemble!!!

I live about 600 miles from NYC, and have seen the show eight times over two trips - and I don't regret a single minute or cent of it. I plan to see it twice more (two weeks tommorow, luckiest1 !!!!!) and haven't completely ruled out that last weekend. I had big plans to see other shows while there, but those quickly went out the window. I figure Broadway will always be there; Clay may very well never do this again, and even if he does - there'll never be another first time. Clay is my hobby, and the only thing I spend money on. (I consider any and all computer/electronics expenditures part of that - my boyfriend is very inspiring. *g*) It brings joy into my life, and I won't ever apologize for it.

That said, I fully understand why people get upset/jealous/envious over reports of multiples. Hell, I've seen it eight times and I STILL turn green sometimes.

[bottlecap]

Spamablog for 2/25/08:

2.25.08: What has been the response from your fans about you heading to Broadway?

I really am so lucky to have THE most amazing fans in the world, I believe. Not only are they supportive of the music and the touring, they get passionate about seemingly everything I do. From music to TV to charities. They have been unbelievably supportive. I know that Python fans are EXTREMELY loyal and enthusiastic. It will be interesting to see the “Claymates” in Python-land!

[atinal]

:nana: to another great review.

YAY Clay, :F_05BL17blowkiss: Hope you can rest today.

[annabear]

I live close enough to go as often as I like. But there are those nasty, nasty, nasty things that always get in the way of my fun.

Work and money.

Maybe I should start playing the lottery!

They are nasty, nasty, nasty!!!

I am still laughing over Kimberme on Ai2 rewind - guess America did not like her hair, delusional much?

I know - that part made me laugh out loud at my TV!

Play, we come to the clay aiken boards to exchange information and share fan moments. Who's going to give those reports if those who do go will stop writing about their adventures, Clique?

HA HA! Scarlett made a BIG funny!

Aww, Cotton..... And a very gentle {{{hug}}} for your adorable little Aunt.

My mom & I have had the 'you only live once' discussion many times over the past few years. At one time, she might have been one who thought that traveling to concerts or shows was ridiculous. In 2001, she was diagnosed with stage IV breat cancer. As we sat in her oncologist's waiting room on 9/11, watching the news, I think we both changed our outlook on life and started living more for the moment because you never know when or what you could be hit with. She'll be going with me to NYC in April.

I'm loving these great reviews!!! Go Clay!!! Seriously, I wish they'd consider doing a DVD of the show while he's there so that everyone could see him.

[KAndre]

What?!??! Are y'all telling me there's some CUTE guy out there? Playing Sir Robin??!?

Well, I think I need to go see that (again)!

Heh, suggesting that "drama schools" close - though I think that's the kind of thing that pisses people off who did the "drama shool, chorus line, 3rd tomato from the left" thing for years...

It makes me think about Simon and his "Broadway" comments - oddly enough, he's going to see himself as absolutely right - because he did say he thought Clay basically would be madly successful on Broadway (which he is) which would have been a complement except for the context in which Simon used it (especially the sexual innuendo). Simon is as aware as anyone how difficult it is to make Broadway, let alone be successful at it. And Clay is the only one he said things like, "I would cast you immediately" - his comments to other singers tended to be "you sound very Broadway". And I think he really doesn't see Clay as a typical pop star - and to be honest, he isn't. He is one of the most unique entertainers of this generation, I think. I also think that 50 years from now, he will still be primarily know for his voice - but will have been extraordinarily successful at so many things....

Like this Broadway thing. It's one of things that the knowledge of it in this country is wide, but shallow. Everyone's heard of Broadway. Most people could name twenty shows that have played there. But a very small could name any of the leads - even in the biggest plays. But the number of people who know Clay Aiken is playing Sir Robin in Spamalot is impressive. You hear it everywhere. And I think the album push is gonna be "interesting". I don't think it's gonna be "typical" because frankly, "typical" or "average" or the "usual" isn't working anymore. I was reading an opinion piece from the New York Times (which I liked because much of it agrees with my main opinion about the trouble of the industry, that the abandonment of the single was what started pushing people away from the table. I know that many 'artists' have a coherent vision that they want to share with their audience - my problem is that most of the time I don't care about their vision - I just want to listen to the one catchy tune they have on their $20 crap album. One of the experts pulled those numbers I also see:

In 2005, less than one in five albums were released on a major label, and even among those releases, fewer than one in fifteen went gold (the usual measure of record success). With such daunting odds, recording an album may have seemed like a pointless task. But in that year, nearly 44,000 albums were released — enough to provide almost three consecutive years of listening.

If I've done my calculations right, that means only 586 out 44,000 albums went gold (much less platinum - I couldn't quickly find a number for 2005 but only 43 went platinum in 2007 - and 8 of those had been out for more than 5 years) - a little over 1% - and regardless of much gnashing of teeth over ATDW, that was a successful album - as indicated that Clay is still with his label. I'll lay odds it was profitable as well. In this time and in the situation, I'm looking forward to another gold-platinum album from Clay - 4 out of 4 gold/platinum album will mark him as an amazingly successful recording artist (so feh to Simon on that point).

Another significant quote for me was:

In a way, the blogosphere has removed all sense of mystery from the entertainment industry as a whole. For example, everyone knows what Heath Ledger looks like as the Joker in the the new installment of Batman, which won’t be in theaters for almost a year. We see previews of magazine covers weeks before they hit the stands. The Christmas Eve-type excitement and anticipation that used to accompany entertainment seems to have disappeared.

That's also why I tend to look with a little disfavor the desire to pre- and oversaturate all publicity everywhere about Clay's CD - his is one of the few that has actually worked up some natural anticipation - stupid fan press releases notwithstanding.

What all this boils down is me is that - MY BOYFRIEND IS MAKING PLENTY OF MOOLAH PEOPLE! I love rich boyfriends.

[Couch Tomato]

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee great review!!

Cotton :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[annabear]

New Spama-Blog is up!

[playbiller]

No one reads my posts or anyone else's apparently, Heh.

I keep listing Tony Bennett's RIAA awards and you would be shiocked. He has never ever gone double platinum. ,pst of his albums have not even gone gold, yet he is one of the people Clay is compared against for not getting proper promotion, even though he is an American icon (who dates kids young enough tpo be his granddaughters!). Gold records are rare. I think Ruben's sales were respectable and acceptable for a third album, he was just bumped because of being tied to 19R (annoying to BMG?) and to make room for new idols on the roster.

Ooh, I hear my dog tearing up my mail. Excuse me. To be continued

[KAndre]

Ha ha! That was 6 months ago! What can I say, I apparently have a short attention span...

(though I'm not particularly shocked at Tony Bennett's lack of platinum - the only song of his I actually like is I Left My Heart in San Francisco...

As for Ruben, I think he got caught up in perception - the overall numbers are respectable but tracking down, and tracking down dramatically.

And annabear doesn't read posts - at least not bottle's!

I read everything - I just almost immediately forget it!

[muskifest]

Oh.

I am so freakin' proud of Clay. And so freakin' turned on by him and his badass, talented, fearless, titanium-gilded, take-no-prisoners way of living his life.

Dayum. He's so......

WORTHY.

on so many levels

[ldyjocelyn]

His voice has range and color.

This is news? I guess she's new to the world of Clay Aiken.

You know, honestly -- for some people, yeah this is news. He has the image of the big voiced belter. There's lots of things that cultivated that image, including Clay himself IMO. So, for him to be doing something like Spamalot, where there's more subtlety involved, I think it will open some people's eyes.

And yes, I think their ears would have been opened if they had LISTENED to ATDW. I know, people will point in the direction of LAA, and I can agree with that. But I would have also pointed people in the direction of HYCA too -- what a range that song has, and I think people would have been truly surprised (in a good way) with that song!

Clay wrote:

It will be interesting to see the “Claymates” in Python-land!

I know I'm "parsing his words" here, but the way this is written, I wonder if he did these blogs ahead of time, and they are just publishing them once a week (except for the one week they forgot....).

Damn, got to work. More later....I want to reply/agree with KAndre for sure.

[annabear]

And annabear doesn't read posts - at least not bottle's!

I read everything - I just almost immediately forget it!

Hee - oooops! That's what I get for trying to be on the board *at work* and keeping the screen minimized to about 2 inches - tend to miss the posts at the top & bottom of each page!

ETA: Muski, I wanted to comment on how selfless it was of you to text Clay last night.....

[JennaZ]

Great review! Thanks for bringing it over. It's great to know that critics appreciate Clay's talent and charm.

Thanks, too, KAndre, for sharing quotes from your article. It seems to me that, in likelihood, ATDW's gold status is an achievement, regardless of fan disappointment. I would bet that RCA does find Clay profitable, even if he doesn't go multi-platinum wit every album.

I like Ruben as person, but honestly, I don't think he was dropped solely because of his 19 management. Fact is, even though the label could get his songs on the radio, he has never been able to generate much buzz after the show. I mean, people seem to like him, but there's not a lot of passion for him, which may make it harder for the label to have confidence in his future sales. I have to say, interest in Ruben has been waning for a long time, now, and his struggle to sustain even a modest concert career is evidence of that.

Though Clay can be polarizing, he somehow always gets press. He may not be quite as popular as he once was, but the fact that he can still sell tickets indicates that he's still a profitable investment.

[playbiller]

Back - Holly has successfully killed the mail once again, good thing it was just bills. I hate taping checks back together, the bank is not nice about it at all.

Cotton, sorry about you Aunt, I read about her last night on CV. I feel I do live life, I just have ther priorities than Clay Aiken. There are dog operations, which tend to come out of no where, like when Holly was hit by that car last year after the offices were closed on a Saturday night (more expensive to get help) or trailer land rentals, an amount that shocks people, but it is 1/2 block from the ocean people! Taxes are outrageous at the beach because we have to truck in tons and tons of sand every year or pack up and leave. Or even maintenance on an old house. Or ridiculous perscription drugs (new perscription 114 a month!!! to take for 3 years!?!? It sucks that it is worth one Spamalot ticket, but seems to be working so I will take it) It is all about priorities. And I don't want to get to the point where I don't laugh at the jokes in Spamalot when I go, so I don't want to go too often, I want to go just the right amount, where I get to see it and the changes, but don't get blase'.

Sorry K'Andre, I posted Tony Bennett a few weeks ago, on another board, I forget stuff like that, it is all one big Clay nation to me.

Newsweek review is pretty darn good! I wonder if anyone pays attention to them? It is an embarrassing role, but they really should have gotten the menorah joke, Spamalot has so many layers, I guess a few escape attention.

As for people in the NY area knowing Clay is in the show, well it is hard to miss with the TV ads on morning and night and the busses and the newspaper promotion, there is always something going on.

Jennaz, I just meant that most artists sell less than Ruben, I did not think his sales were really horrible. I think there are other issues, like buzz that led to his dropping. But 19R also takes half the profits from BMG of any artist while really contributing nothing and I do believe that could be a business reason reducing Ruben's profitability.

[Gibby]

Whew! I had one buuuuusy weekend, with several Titanic shows. It's done now, and it was a great success! We had large, almost sold-out crowds at every show, loudly appreciative audiences and excellent reviews. For me, the most important part of being a part of this show was the opportunity to share an experience with my daughter. I agree, Cotton, life is short, and we should make the most of it. At this moment, I'm looking at my oldest daughter going off to college in 1 1/2 years. I want to spend a lot of time with her now, and being involved in her stage life is a great way to make memories together.

Doing a bunch of shows was really draining, though. I don't know how people on Broadway do eight shows a week! I suppose that's it's not as difficult after they learn their parts, and the show is a bit more routine. I can understand why Clay was so exhausted at the beginning of Spamalot. I hope that he's really resting up today and tomorrow, so he can start feeling better.

And I know this has been addressed numerous times, but I want to put my 2 cents in: Play and Scarlett, I am so happy that you can attend Spamalot so many times! And I appreciate hearing your reviews and information about how Clay changes things up or how things are different in a particular show. Please don't stop!

Woooohooooo for another good review! I'm still hoping that these great Broadway reviews will bring a little more respect to Clay in the media.

[cindilu2]

caveat: I genuinely like Ruben, and I think he's a really good singer. His gospel stuff is sweet. To this day his voice is the one I like dueting with Clay the best.

However.... I never felt like he was willing to do the work. I always got the impression that he felt like, Hey! I won - bring on the success. I know some of his problems were health/weight related, but there were many reports of missed/cancelled appearances especially at the start. Clay has worked his skinny white butt off, practically since the day after the finale. He's earned every measure of success he's had, and maintained it by doing the work.

[KAndre]

Actually, I was think that people nationally know that Clay is in the show - I was mildly surprised when a co worker brought it up - one that has absolutely no interest in Broadway - but likes Monty Python. He seems to have as much if not more coverage than Fantasia did in The Color Purple.

See, I didn't see in Ruben the "I won - bring on the success" - he never struck me as full of himself - or bitter, which it what I would expect with a sense of entitlement. Rather, he struck me as more accepting of what came along as opposed to Clay - who really did work like a crazy person. But they both strike me as happy with where they are.

I think Ruben has earned what success he has had as well - his path is just different than Clay's - like Clay's is different from Kelly's.

[muskifest]

See, I didn't see in Ruben the "I won - bring on the success" - he never struck me as full of himself - or bitter, which it what I would expect with a sense of entitlement. Rather, he struck me as more accepting of what came along as opposed to Clay - who really did work like a crazy person. But they both strike me as happy with where they are.

I'm pretty much in this car, too, KAndre. I never got any self promotion on Ruben's part. "Accepting" is as good of a word as any, I guess. Didn't he originally go to the AI audition just to accompany a friend? It wasn't something he planned on doing. We all know the story of how and why Clay was in Atlanta---completely different motivation.

And whereas I have no doubt Ruben worked hard during the AI competition, I never got the vibe from him that he was really, really striving to win. Again, "accepting" is a good word. Honestly, I don't even really know what or how Ruben's doing now with his music. I do enjoy his voice--it's pleasant and he seems like a nice guy. If he's happy with what he's doing, then...cool!

This Aiken guy, though. He tears himself into my life just by being who he is and sounding the way he does and smiling that smile and being so damned 'charming' and funny and ballsy and so full of life and talent and joy and...

I can't imagine ever losing my and :F_05BL17blowkiss: for him, you know? I have such a paradoxical calm excitement about him. Everything he does excites me but I feel so SURE of his success--the kind of success HE wants.

Joy magnet, indeed.

[Gibby]

BWAH!! I just watched Jimmy's post-Oscar video response to Sarah Silverman. I think it's a scream. And I'm soooo glad Clay isn't in it - this is the last thing he'd need publicity for. Anyway, if you haven't seen it, here's a link:

Jimmy's response on youtube

[ldyjocelyn]

BWAH!! I just watched Jimmy's post-Oscar video response to Sarah Silverman. I think it's a scream. And I'm soooo glad Clay isn't in it - this is the last thing he'd need publicity for. Anyway, if you haven't seen it, here's a link:

Jimmy's response on youtube

Damn it Gibby, you beat me to it! I was going to post the People magazine article about it though....

I still can't beethe from laughing.

[keepingfaith]

I'm one who doesn't see Simon's comments regarding Clay as being on target at all. Simon told Clay: "You'll make a forture on Broadway off of this (Idol). I just don't see you as a recording artist."

Clay has made a fortune as a recording and touring artist -- and has his fourth (YAY) album coming out in a couple of months. The first three were: Platinum, Platinum, Gold. Period. I doubt what he makes on Broadway compares to the fortune he's already made as a recording artist, and will continue to make.

Simon has no claim on All-Knowing-Recording-Expert. To me, he's just another guy with an opinion.

[luckiest1]

BWAH! Can't wait to get home and watch it on YouTube tonight. Damn work filters....