#30: Faith has conquered fear...on my way here!

[Desertrose]

ome said Clay was performing and others said he wasn't. So we fired off an email to the show's publicist and she confirmed that "Clay Aiken is booked for an interview" only. The musical guest on that night will be Dierks Bentley.

You know, at one point I thought maybe this was because he was going to be scheduled at another time as well, one where he would sing, but now I don't know. We've heard he's not singing on Tyra...that's supposed to be a fan segment. Maybe he will sing on Leno, I don't know either way, but do you suppose that the reason for no singing appearances and no summer tour are connected? I mean, he's been singing literally night and day for months, Spamalot at night and recording the CD during the day. Maybe he needs to give that Golden Larynx a wee rest for a few weeks? I'm not sitting here hand wringing or anything. I have a feeling that guys vocal cords are cared for by some mighty fine and expensive doctors. I'm just musing out loud. Maybe he's trying to get his face and the message out about the new CD with as little live singing as possible.

Dierks Bentley's new cd also drops on May 6, and it could it be that he booked first to promote his cd so then it makes sense that the would be the musical guest. I wonder if Bentley will also talk about his cd. Then it will be two artists on the same show talking about cd. I want Clay to have his cd promotion without some other artist talking about another cd. It will be interesting to see what actually happens. Bentley is country so his sales should not impact OTWH sales too much.

[luckiest1]

I actually go BACK to work after my Spam trip on May 6th. I know what I'll be listening to all day.

Hee, me too. Going to be a tough day for sure, but thank God for my iPod.

[Claygasm]

I agree that the Kimmel possible non-performance seems weird. I wonder if a lot of it has to do with getting a band together. Is it certain that he's going to be performing on Leno? Is it certain that he won't be performing with just a backing track on QVC? There's still lots of unanswered questions regarding his performance....and I'm willing to wait patiently.

I assume he will be singing to a backing track on QVC. But it seems to me if he can find time during Spamalot to record an entire CD he could get a band together for the promotion he knew he would be doing. Its not like he didn't know he would be needing them!

Some said Clay was performing and others said he wasn't. So we fired off an email to the show's publicist and she confirmed that "Clay Aiken is booked for an interview" only. The musical guest on that night will be Dierks Bentley.

You know, at one point I thought maybe this was because he was going to be scheduled at another time as well, one where he would sing, but now I don't know. We've heard he's not singing on Tyra...that's supposed to be a fan segment. Maybe he will sing on Leno, I don't know either way, but do you suppose that the reason for no singing appearances and no summer tour are connected? I mean, he's been singing literally night and day for months, Spamalot at night and recording the CD during the day. Maybe he needs to give that Golden Larynx a wee rest for a few weeks? I'm not sitting here hand wringing or anything. I have a feeling that guys vocal cords are cared for by some mighty fine and expensive doctors. I'm just musing out loud. Maybe he's trying to get his face and the message out about the new CD with as little live singing as possible.

I think he isn't doing a summer tour because he wants some time off and he might be doing a UNICEF trip. I doubt it has anything to do with resting his voice. I also don't think doing one or even a couple of songs on the usual TV shows every few days or so would strain his voice.

I will try and let this go but I want to hear him sing! Its been so long since he has been on any TV show actually singing. You would think with a new CD out it would be a no brainer that he would sing.

Makes no sense to me. None. Nada.

Just curious -- how many working people have asked for May 6 off? I have.

I actually go BACK to work after my Spam trip on May 6th. I know what I'll be listening to all day.

I have to be at work and can't listen to any music and if I can't download the iTunes pre-order at midnight I probably won't be able to hear the album until I get home!!!

[muskifest]

Whatever...I'm with KAndre here re: "emotionally threadbare"...It's the 'threadbare' part. The connotation is, IMO, negative even though the writer obviously (well, after you continue reading, that is) means it as a compliment. Emotionally "raw" would send the right message to me; I think that for most people the word 'threadbare' is not a positive thing (ie...a threadbare carpet, sweater---someone's patience!), so the writer here picked an unfortunate word choice, imo. The overall review is positive, though...I'll take it!

Yeah, I don't know Clay's schedule (demmit) nor do I have a scan of his cd promotion strategy; as a result, I'm disappointed that I won't hear him sing his new songs to MEEEEEE! on Kimmel (demmit)...He'll have to give me some makeup sex singing on other shows is all I know.

[ldyjocelyn]

{{{{CG}}}} I hope iTunes will allow everyone to download sometime EARLY on May 6.

Consider this your "Save the Date" -- preplanning for an OMWH listening party are set for Friday May 9 and Saturday May 10. For those who are fairly new around here, we create a thread in our "Clay Parties" section. Then, we all start with the first song on the album, and play it over and over for approximately 15 minutes, making comments in the thread as we all "jointly" listen. After 15 minutes, we start with the second song on the album. And so on, and so on, and scooby dooby dooby. It takes 2 nights to do this, and it's really a lot of fun, what with all kinds of varying opinions, and lots of "gahing." Anyway, set aside May 9 and May 10 if you can join us. More details to follow....

[keepingfaith]

Just a couple of things and then I really have to work today ....

Emotionally threadbare is next to the skin. It's unadorned. It's the opposite of what Mariah Carey would have done with this song. I've heard the term before used in poetry, and read it in a context that made me understand it, and I do know that it's not an obscure reference in music or poetry.

And next, I first heard the iTunes bonus track as a John Denver song on the Muppets Christmas show -- but it's not a Christmas song. Originally it was a folk song written by a folk singer in the early 70's. I checked on YouTube and there's a version of it sung by Freddie Mercury and Cliff Richard. It was also a group sing for a stageful of artists at LiveAid in the 80's.

It's In Everyone Of Us

by David Pomerantz

It's in everyone of us

to be wise

Find your heart

open up both your eyes,

We can all know everything

without ever knowing why,

It's in everyone of us

by and by ..

It's in everyone of us

I just remembered

It's like I've been sleeping for years,

I'm not awake as I can be

but my seeing is better,

I can see ..

through the tears,

I've been realizing that

I bought this ticket

and watching only half of the show,

There is scenery and lights

and a cast of thousands,

Who all know

what I know,

And it's good

that it's so ..

It's in everyone of us

to be wise

Find your heart

open up both your eyes,

We can all know everything

without ever knowing why,

It's in everyone of us

by and by,

It's in everyone of us

by and by..

Okay now, does anybody else have any concerns or complaints? I'm taking all comers today. Give me your best shot. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[00lsee]

Woot! Thanks to laughn, for the black and white inspiration for the new banner!

I can't seem to summon worry about this album or its promotion. Just can't. I know it seems like the fastest runner wins, but I'm learning that endurance sometimes counts more. Clay is in this for the long haul and so am I. So, if Clay isn't singing on one appearance of any particular show, I feel confident there will be other opportunities. No doubts about this in my mind.

Got my pre-order in at iTunes. Maybe now I'll finally get around to using some iTunes gift cards I've been hoarding. And I LOVE that the "floor" picture is being featured in his promotion. So gorgeous.

I'm just going to enjoy this pleasurable anticipation for a while longer, no matter what.

Plus, hey, I need to focus on my packing.

"Threadbare"? I know all the negative connotations. I just prefer to believe the writer meant "almost naked". (or, what keepingfaith said). heh

[bottlecap]

Leno ( the highest rated late night show); a potential appearance to a huge prime-time audience on American Idol (I'm hoping and praying - just speculating); and what is sure to be a buzz-generating appearance on Kimmel. Sounds good to me! If fans didn't take it upon themselves to try to ferret out every single detail about every possible upcoming promo appearance way ahead of time, I think a lot of angst would be spared.

[KAndre]

Heh, I'm a poetry heathen - if it doesn't start with Under the spreading chestnut tree, the village smithy stands or was written by Ogden Nash, I tend not to like it and mutter to myself, "ding dang humanities majors! Why can't they just talk like the rest of us...mutter..mutter...grumble". Threadbare to me doesn't mean unadorned - it means raggedy and you need to throw it away. I could sort of see where you're coming from with a LOT of context (you know, the whole Velveteen Rabbit backstory thing), but in general, I just look at the surface and go, "ick". And I realize a lot of this is because I can't ever remember having my emotions "next to the skin" in such a way. Sentimental I definitely ain't, which is why I like to drown in bright or dark primary swaths of emotion, screw that subtle shit! Not that subtle isn't perfectly fine for some people! I can be subtle. I generally just don't see why.

And looking at the lyrics of that Muppet song, he'd better sing the crap out of it - because the lyrics simply aren't thrilling me. They inspire me to march to my own damn drummer who is suggesting that I kick over the ticket booth and make everyone run off in terror as I cackle maniacally...I may have issues. I really, REALLY am not sentimental.

[ldyjocelyn]

I think this album will be successful if KAndre cries after first listen. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[Ansamcw]

Did Angela or Quiana say anything about being with Clay this spring for Promo? I seem to remember something about that

If Clay won't be performing with a band on any promo appearances, then I think its probably because of lack of time to prepare with the live band or its promotional budget concerns. I am also wondering if the orchestral arrangement of OMWH makes it tough for Clay to sing this song live because of the instrumentation...If its just Kimmel then I bet its simply a scheduling conflict. I doubt its anything to do with his voice because he has gone on singing even when he is sick and the singing he has been doing hasn't been a strain. I do hope if he does not sing on TV...that they would be putting promo budget on Radio instead.

I know lots of things don;t make sense but I have faith that Clay and TC are doing the best they can to promote this CD, not just for big opening week numbers, but for the CD to continue to sell and even have a slow build up. It is disappointing that Clay is not singing on Kimmel but hopefully he will be able to do so later in the year. I am dreaming of November sweeps...Clay singing with a band, Kimmel mini concert...singing Ashes, or falling or Weight of the World...hopefully with one or two songs charting on radio.

Keepingfaith...thanks for the lyrics of Its in Everyone of Us. Now I am hoping it is the song cos the melody is wonderful. Very sweet and moving song...

[YSRN]

I am getting too excited for words...and therefore will do THE KITTY CAT DANCE!

My boyfriend just texted me. *preens*

eta... hee. Hallelujah, indeed!

[Gibby]

Hey, my boyfriend texted me, too! Hallelujah!

I'm going to have a difficult time choosing between Hallelujah and When a Man Loves A Woman. They're both great songs!

ETA: Looks like WAMLAW is winning by a large margin at this point.

[Ansamcw]

Hey, my boyfriend texted me, too! Hallelujah!

oh darn why don;t I have a cell phone!!! :cry4:

so anybody want to share???

[ldyjocelyn]

Crap! I'm on a conference call, and can't read my boyfriend's text.

[Gibby]

The text is asking us to vote on the three finalists:

a Hallelujah

b When a Man Loves a Woman

c Amazing Grace

[Ansamcw]

WOW I love all three but I will go with Hallelujah!!!

can someone vote for me?

I bet this is for the bonus track of the music pass version...EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

[YSRN]

You can keep track of the text messages and replies here:

http://www.mozes.com/clayaiken

You can actually participate by logging into that site and leaving messages.

The first text said:

The finalists are in! Vote on your fav of the top 3 songs! Thx!

Reply with:

a(Hallelujah)

b(When A Man Loves A Woman)

c(Amazing Grace)

Currently WAMLAW is winning.

[KAndre]

My boyfriend texts me a LOT more than he blogs me!

I have GOT to stop leaving my cell phone at home! Rats!

If Clay is gonna get ME to cry, subtle ain't gonna cut it!

[ldyjocelyn]

If Clay is gonna get ME to cry, subtle ain't gonna cut it!

Depends on the definition of "subtle." Clay's frying pan of talent might work.

[luckiest1]

Leno ( the highest rated late night show); a potential appearance to a huge prime-time audience on American Idol (I'm hoping and praying - just speculating); and what is sure to be a buzz-generating appearance on Kimmel. Sounds good to me! If fans didn't take it upon themselves to try to ferret out every single detail about every possible upcoming promo appearance way ahead of time, I think a lot of angst would be spared.

You can keep track of the text messages and replies here:

http://www.mozes.com/clayaiken

You can actually participate by logging into that site and leaving messages.

The first text said:

The finalists are in! Vote on your fav of the top 3 songs! Thx!

Reply with:

a(Hallelujah)

b(When A Man Loves A Woman)

c(Amazing Grace)

Currently WAMLAW is winning.

Can you actually participate in the voting there, or just read the answers? I'd love to participate from Canada. I'd love a full, clean version of WAMLAW.

[keepingfaith]

My name is keepingfaith, and I'm a hopeless romantic, an overt sentimentalist, and (this one's for you, KAndre) a transcender of virtue.

Emotionally threadbare is not subtle, btw. It's truth in all it's bleak, stark reality. It's stripped. It's OMG how many ways can it be said:

Even with all the new set dressings, Tegan and Sara are still plenty capable of carrying a song with nothing beyond their dual guitars and distinctive harmonies. There is a rawness to the vocals and the production that suits the emotionally threadbare songs.

Ranging from the first records of folk-infused punk – equally informed by the Velvet Underground, Jonathan Richman and Northern Soul – to dissonant, feedback-enhanced, emotionally threadbare rawk, Fish has never left his musical or lyrical wit at the door.

This EP is the work of Conor Oberst and Neva Dinova's Jake Bellows. The two switch off on vocals, but the songs flow evenly and Bellow's twangier pieces sit quite nicely next to Oberst's more emotionally threadbare material. Fans of Bright Eyes will eat this up and hopefully seek out Neva Dinova's great self-titled album.

"...bundled together with a lyrical perspective sharp enough to cut...Ennen packs alot of conceptual punch into her emotionally threadbare sagas."

The loose randomness of Garden State instills it with the authenticity of youth — or perhaps the end of it — contained in the sort of formative week that everyone experiences once or twice in their own lives, which makes it very tempting for viewers to perhaps glimpse sketches of their own autobiographies, even if they really aren't there. It's a film that's worth returning to again and again, both for the script and the strong performances, particularly from Zach Braff (who claims that a great deal of the material comes from his own life or people he knows), while Natalie Portman's ethereal beauty and boundless energy creates a suitable counterpoint to his emotionally threadbare state of mind.

Okay, I'm done with emotionally threadbare. It's an intellectual term and has been around for decades. Fuck it all.

Now regarding Climmel, jumping to conclusions and speculation are two completely different animals, and I never feed the former, but have a pronounced weakness for the latter. I notice that Clay's CD has 19 Recordings Limited attached to it wherever you see it. In fact, 19 is listed before RCA Music Group. And from what I'm reading lately, the franchise may be getting wobbly, or wobblier. Heck, last week they acted like it was the second coming that Mariah Carey was on the show and Randy was the Godfather and whoo-hoo, etc., et al, and it was the lowest rated performance show in years. The Wednesday night show when Mariah performed was the lowest ranked results show since the initial 2002 summer series. So maybe 19 is having Clay on the show because nothing would pump up the ratings like having Clay Aiken return to Idol and debut the single off his hot new album. And they'll hype it like mad. And it will work! Meanwhile, Clay goes on Leno and Kimmel, talks about Spamalot and the new CD, and hypes the Idol appearance, and is as funny and entertaining as always. Then he goes on Idol and the show has it's biggest numbers of the season. When June rolls around and the Musicpass thing is ready to go, and the label sets a release date for a faster track to Hot AC, he'll do a outdoor concert at Kimmel, or maybe something bigger. Speculation is my dear friend because it brings me pleasure and I never get attached to it, or disappointed if only a pleasant dream. It's my fantasy and I'm keeping it ... with faith too. Faith that Clay knows exactly what he's doing and what's going on, and we don't.

Okay, one more for the road, KAndre:

My friend, the poet, is running emotionally threadbare (I think the spiritual environments he has allowed himself to travel over the last decade or so is are taking their toll, what man walks into Hell and lingers for so long without a few burns on the soles of his feet?), and thus I think this a most relevant choice for today's poem.

Awaking to the Sound of Distant Trumpets

accept me for what I am.

living proof of the dichotomy of life

of thought

of soul

of God.

sacred and profane,

containing a riddle to be answered

after the game is played.

I have, more than once, strayed

from wisdom.

more than twice,

from peace.

and more than thrice

have denied more than a Messiah.

I have denied myself.

we will know the answers one day,

if we are fortunate and our anthromorphic projections

of the nature of divine intellect

are more than just the feeble scribblings

of frightened children

wanting to think there is a Father in the hall

to cap the monsters in our souls' closets.

for we know they are real...

and we feel...

overwhelmed.

there is a desire to find the design

in the eddies in the wine of blood

transformed into love,

as we transform our passions into something noble...

if only in our vague illusions.

there is a need to find sustenance

in the crust of converted bread,

fed to shed our guilt.

our reasons wilt against the yeast released

to ferment the gluten of our transgressions.

so this is the valley of the shadow of death.

I have seen worse.

I have seen flawed hearts failing

and desperate liars railing

and lost souls sailing for a horizon invisible

and ill-advised.

but our pride propels us to the brink.

and we stare into the throat of time,

Tequila bottle worms going down.

swallowed whole because the universe

doesn't really like our taste or texture.

but in the belly of the beast,

when all is lost.

that is when we feed on the fifth stuff.

and, because we dared to fail. to fall. to live. to die.

we achieve divinity.

Stick a fork in emotionally threadbare. It's done.

Ansa, can I vote for you if I vote WAMLAW? Please?

[YSRN]

Ahhhhmen (tm Brother Maynard)

I believe if you sign in to mozes, you can vote there. You can definitely send text messages using the site. I'm not clear if they are counting those votes, but people are voting that way.

[annabear]

CRAP!! My account says he did, but my phone contains no texts from Clay to meeeeeeee!! I knew I forgot to tell him something on Saturday!

My name is keepingfaith, and I'm a hopeless romantic, an overt sentimentalist

I'm right there, with ya! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[keepingfaith]

Current tally:

WAMLAW - 48%

Hallelujah - 34%

Amazing Grace - 16%

Obviously I was lying to myself about working today. It's a Clay week for me. What the hell was I thinking?