#31: The Very Handsome Sir Clay of Aiken

[Couch Tomato]

And then actually having a real FCA post-something gathering - just like a real board! It was fun meeting EVERYONE who was there. I just wish everyone here could have been there. That would have made it even better.

Ok, enough of this schmoopie stuff. Obviously I'm really, really tired. I haven't mention his hair or the eyeliner all day!!!

heee..yes it was nice to actually have a reservation.. Thanks Play and Cha Cha for finding it for us.

and don't forget that if you do mention hair and eyeliner I will attack you with my new ship.

HOME SWEET HOME

[Iseeme]

Getting reports in from the line at Virgin...

NYC Police Department has now driven by and announced over their bull horn "Go Clay Aiken" Good crowd response to that. This is such fun

I don't think this has been posted yet:

http://media.herald-dispatch.com/blog/idol...and-better.html

Please Note: This review was written based on an Internet stream of the CD, and not the actual CD itself.

Normally, I listen to a CD at least twice before I post a review of it, but I am so excited about this one I couldn’t wait.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Clay Aiken is back and better than ever…

For any of you out there who were thinking we’d get the same old same old from Clay on his new CD, “On My Way Here,” I am happy to tell you that you are VERY wrong. Clay’s got a whole bunch of new tricks on this one including rocking basslines, vocoders and risqué lyrics—or at least as risqué as Clay gets.

But as excited as I am about this—and I am VERY excited—I’m a little sad because I can’t help but think that we could’ve already had this CD if Clive Davis had just stayed out of it…

And where in the world is “Coming Back for More”? I love you, Clay, but you really shouldn’t sing a song on “Good Morning America” and on your concert tour and then not release it anywhere. It’s just wrong…

The CD starts out with the title track, and even though I will never shake its similarity to “I Survived You,” it really is a good ballad and hopefully will score Clay some good AC airtime…

When I heard the chorus to “Ashes,” I just couldn’t help but smile. It has a great rocking guitar and it will make a great concert number with Claymates screaming all over the place—including me…

Clay gets funky and a little sexy with “Everything I Don’t Need.” If you listen closely, you can hear the backup singers singing “Get out of my bed.” Now before you start laughing at my calling those lyrics risqué, let me remind you that this is a guy who refuses to sing one of the best songs off his debut CD (“Touch”) because of its lyrical content (“the love that we make” and other suggestive things). So these lyrics are a big change. Granted, he doesn’t sing them himself, but you get my point…

“Something About Us” is a beautiful big sweeping love song…

“Falling” has a classic 80s feel to it with yet another rocking bassline and a moody melody. And the vocoder—which I’m normally opposed to—is kind of cool…

“Where I Draw the Line” is a great medium tempo song that I could hear playing on “Gossip Girl”—that is, if “GG” wanted to lose all of its street cred…

“The Real Me” is a gorgeous soul-searching ballad…

“Weight of the World” has a bit of a quirky bassline, but Clay’s voice totally makes it work…

Clay puts his theater skills to good use with “As Long As We’re Here,” which is a touch theatrical, but by that last chorus, you’re totally on board…

“Sacrificial Love” is also a little dramatic, but it has fantastic lyrics and really makes you wonder if Clay has been in the kind of relationship the song talks about, where someone just stayed with him until they found someone they thought was better…

Then Clay goes a little socially conscious on us with “Grace of God.” It’s an okay song, but with all of the different things Clay throws at us on this CD, the song doesn’t quite fit…

Clay finishes out the CD with “Lover All Alone,” which was available as an iTunes bonus track on “A Thousand Different Ways.” It’s a light, moody ballad that would have been great on another CD, but is just good here. However, I do understand why Clay included it on this “personal journey” since he co-wrote it…

I know that Clay lost some career momentum after “A Thousand Different Ways,” but in all honesty, that CD wasn’t that bad (I still listen to it all the time.). It was just disappointing that there wasn’t more new material and unfortunately, it came off a little cheesy. So I hope anyone that jumped off the Clay Aiken bandwagon is ready to jump back on because this is the CD we Claymates have been waiting for. I’m just sorry it took so long to get it (Thanks a lot, Clive.).

So, Claymates, I urge you to book it to your favorite store tomorrow and pick up a copy or two (Remember that Moms love Clay.). You will not be disappointed…

Now, get rested up, Clay, because we want a tour for this one! I’m saving up my money as we speak…

You can hear the CD for yourself here...

Image courtesy of Amazon.com

posted Angela Henderson @12:33 PM Post Comments 0 comments

Bio

Angela Henderson

"Idol Chit-Chat"

Angela Henderson has watched "American Idol" from season one. Every year, she promises herself that the show will not take over her life. Every year, she breaks her promise.

[PermaSwooned]

I'm loving these line reports. It brings back SO many memories from the West Coast. It's a really unique experience, and even though the conditions can be kind of grueling, it honestly is a lot of fun. All of you who are there will be talking about it forever!!

I opted out. I wasn't prepared for something like this, and my flight leaves from JFK at 5:05. Changing my ticket would have WAY more than doubled my air fare for this trip. It's kinda killing me, though.

OK. I don't like to try to edit on my laptop, because the color and the resolution never seem right, but this is the best I can do for the short term.

Clay made the "Six" gesture more than once, so obviously we were all supposed to buy 6 copies on the 6th. Maybe. At any rate, it's a good idea. Go forth and buy!!

I can't tell you how cool it was to see him up above the marquee. It was like the balcony scene in "Evita", or with apologies to all Catholics, the Pope out on the balcony at the Vatican greeting His followers.

Many thanks to my daughter for this precious moment in time.

OK. Gotta go get ready. I have a PARTAY to attend. Hope to see lots of you there!!!

[jmh123]

My friend and were making plans for tonight, and we just found out that our WalMart is no longer open 24 hours. It's iTunes or nothing til tomorrow for me. Well except for AOL. Thank god!

[aikim]

From the CH:

QUOTE("JamTrac")

My Dinner with Hannah

Ok, ok, I didn't actually have dinner, the hubby and I were having dessert (had to go to Junior's for the famous cheesecake I've been hearing about!), but Hannah was and we were with her. Heh.

First of all, thanks to ficus for suggesting that instead of us waiting for our bellies to empty from dinner to have dessert, we should go to Junior's now to avoid the dinner crowd. Unfortunately by the time we got there it was already 6:00 and it was packed. Said the wait was 15 minutes, so I went to the bathroom while we were waiting and had to pass by the bar on the way back and I noticed that there were two sets of empty seats there. When I got back I asked the hostess if we could sit there and she said, "Sure!" So we go there, order dessert and just as we're diving in, a waiter hoists two big plates of food past my hubby's head and sets them down on the counter next to him. I crane my head around his to see if that's one or two people eating all that food and who do I see about to sit down next to him?

Hannah. My hubby said my eyes got huge and he thought I was amazed at how much food was on the plate, but then I opened my big, fat mouth (I swear, it was like it was coming out of somebody else's mouth) and said, "Hannah??!!", yeah, like I knew her or something!

It's now been three days since then, so I don't think I can remember things in the proper order, so I'll just put them down as I think of them. I said something like, no, you don't know me, but I'm a Clay fan (waves to F'Dawg)and though I haven't seen the show yet, I recognize who she is (and that her voice is beautiful). She looks at my hubby and says in her exquisite accent, "You poooor, poooor man." We both laughed.

The hubby is very sensitive about not bugging people or being obnoxious around celebrities, so I try to restrain myself for a few minutes and resume eating my dessert and let Hannah eat her dinner. Then I can't help myself any longer, lean across him and say, "So Hannah, are you gonna miss Clay or what after this weekend?" and she says, "Ohhhh, you don't even know, we've gotten to be like this", and crosses her fingers. Awwwwww!

We talked about the fans a little bit and she commented on how nice and sweet the fans have been. I said that one thing about the Clay fans, we know talent when we see it and can appreciate it, and we also tend to be extra-nice to people who are nice to Clay and she agreed. She said that she and Clay had come in there (Junior's) on Tuesday and even though it was pretty quiet (I'm guessing lunchtime), he still got accosted a bit and she said she's happy with the level of famousness she has right now and wouldn't want to be as famous as he is.

Oh, in telling her she had a beautiful voice, I'd said that I'd seen the clip of the two of them singing at the Easter Bonnet thing and how great it was. Regarding Spamalot coming in second place, she says, "Ohhhh, he was pissed!!" I said, well, he DOES realize that Rent did fund-raising for six weeks and Spamalot only did it for two, right? And she said, "yeah, but he was STILL pissed!" I laughed about that, such a competitive guy! We talked a little bit about the pics of them taken after they left the Minskoff, how the media was saying they looked like twins, and they probably went to the same hairstylist and all that and she says indignantly, "Yeah, ONE of them even said I looked like a transvestite!!" I'm all, "Nooooo!" and she's all, "Yessss!" And then I noticed she was kind of glancing at a magazine she had with her and I said, "Hannah! Are you reading a GOSSIP rag?" And she said, kind of chuckling and shamefacedly, "Yeahhhh. Hee!"

We also talked about non-Clay things like celebrities with big heads (egos), and how a friend of hers wrote the music for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and that I love her name because that's what my daughter's name is, probably a lot of other things that nobody cares to hear about! But I was very careful to not make the conversation sound like "Clayclayclayclayclayclayhow'syourfoodohandhowaboutthatClayguy?"

I guess I did ok, because the hubby said I was very sane and I did well and did not embarrass him at all. I mean, HE was the one sitting next to her (probably a good thing) and so of course HE was chatting with her too, so it wasn't like I was just rambling. Actually, I think Hannah did most of the talking, which was fine by me, because I love the sound of her voice and it took the pressure off of me.

I think she enjoyed the conversation, because at least she didn't have to eat her dinner alone with a rag mag. She has a good sense of humor too! At one point she dropped her fork and was kind of embarrassed that she had to ask for another one. The hubby says she dropped it twice, which I don't remember, but at the end she got the waiter's attention, "Excuse me, excuse me" to get the check and he says back saracastically before she could tell him what she wanted, "Whattaya want? What'sa matter, need another fork?" and we all cracked up.

Oh, somewhere when the conversation was winding down, I said, "well, we're sitting in the front row tonight, so maybe you can wave to us". And then later in the conversation she asked me if were sitting in the center and I told her yes, we were in the center on the house left on the end of the row. Didn't know why she'd asked me that at the time, but I had totally forgotten about the bouquet toss because as my shows have gotten closer, I've been skimming more and more over the recaps so I can be somewhat unspoilered.

Surprised the hell out of me when all of a sudden there were a bouquet of flowers on my lap and fortunately the hubby saw them coming and pinned them down! Then, as they're backing away and bowing I looked at her and she was waving at us! Sah-weet!

We were in no way, shape or form close to the front of the barricades, so I didn't stand a chance to get an autograph from Clay, but we were hanging out in Shubert Alley talking to fans and then we got out our map to figure out how we were going to walk back to our hotel when Hannah came out the stage door. I KNEW that guy was lying when he took the barricades down and said nobody else was coming out because they'd all gone home!

So I went over there, CAP took my program from me and handed it to Hannah, she signed it, handed it back to me and saw it was me and said, "Hi! Now you know why I was asking you where you were sitting!" I said, yeah, I figured that out. Thanks!"

Girl rocks, don't you think?

I've got a few more things to say about the weekend,but that's the Hannah part and also some people around here want ya know, dinner or something, it being 6 o'clock and all. The nerve!

[jamar1700]

Am I the only one being a "purist" and waiting until 12:01 a.m. tonight to listen? Heh.

No. At least for now.

Between the time I quoted your post and finished reading the rest of the thread...I've been wavering...

eta...okay...I caved. But just once. I mean it.

[gbmifan]

I am trying so hard not to listen to the songs tonight. I went on aol briefly this am and listened to two songs. I called my friend who is going out with me tomorrow to buy and she said I promised not to listen to then. So I did not go any further. It is killing me. I love what I did hear.

That picture of Clay on the roof is just gah! Those hips are unreal now. He looks so good!!!!!!!

I want to thank everyone who reported in all these months. I could not go and I could not wait for recaps every night.

[Clayzorback]

My friend and were making plans for tonight, and we just found out that our WalMart is no longer open 24 hours. It's iTunes or nothing til tomorrow for me. Well except for AOL. Thank god!

I just found out the K-Mart in my town no longer carries CDs, at all, and I can't get Clay tomorrow. I was shopping for a couple of other people too. HELP ANYONE?

[annabear]

Last night was a thrill-ride. And I wasn't even there. Thanks to everyone for so generously sharing your experiences with those of us who couldn't make it. You all rock!!

Ahhh, but you were there in spirit! I did your ticket proud & screamed/cheered/laughed/clapped loud enough for the both of us - and then some! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Are we sure we are getting an extra with the Music Pass, or is that just speculation still? Sorry, I am not caught up yet. But I am HOME! No delays, everything was v.v. smooth today (except for the minute or two in the Buffalo airport where I was sure I'd left my car keys in the NYC hotel room). LOL.

I didn't find any keys, but I do have someone's sneakers that were left in the closet & a lock (maybe from someone's suitcase?)!

I'm finally home, too. Smooth flying, no problems. I was glad that I ended up actually sitting in an empty row on all, but the last leg home from Chicago because I spent the entire day thinking back over last night and going back & forth between grinning like an idiot and getting a little teary eyed!

Waves to my roomies - Couchie, Cindilu2, & luckiest1! Thanks for trusting that I wasn't an axe murderer & allowing me to sleep with you!

Waves again to all the FCA'ers I met this weekend - Play, Fear, CG & LurkerFriend, Muski, Cagney, Ducky, ChaCha - whoever I may be missing because I'm so tired & schmoopie & excited.

I just don't even have words for how wonderful this weekend was. I'm so proud of Clay Aiken for being one of those very special people, who can sing and dance - often at the same time! - and deciding to give "this Broadway" thing a try. I think it's safe to say that he succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams....

From five years ago:

"I'm the American Idol."

To today:

"When I'm up here on the stage

I'll be the Idol of my age

You will pay to hear my golden larynx ring."

Always & forever.....

ETA: I'll be checking the lone K-Mart in my area & will pick up some extras if they have the CD.

[luckiest1]

Hee, annabear, not my sneakers.......must be couchie's or cindilu2's. Glad to hear everyone got home safely! It was great sharing the room with y'all!

I am holding strong and virginal (heh), but I did stream the AOL site with the volume muted. Might have to take a nap between the end of House, and midnight, but I'm sure crimsonice will be waking me up if I do. She is determined to get that iTunes download so she can listen at work tomorrow. I haven't seen her this fangirly in a while.

I'm thinking that I might have to be a few minutes late to work tomorrow Wednesday, so I can stay home and watch GMA live......I will tell the boss I had to run an errand or something. ETA: Heh, I got ahead of myself there for a minute. Blame it on NYC, I still haven't got my bearings yet!

GAH I love all this excitement!

[cindilu2]

What a Knight! Heheh, has that been done enough yet? Well I'm not sorry!!!

Count me among those fortunate enough to have been at both his incredible debut, and his triumphant final (for now) bows on Broadway. I spent a lot of money over these last four months, but I wouldn't even begin to put a price on the fun, adventure and joy that Clay's Spamalot journey brought me.

Apart from the awesomeness that is Clay, I am mostly struck by how much I love this whole show. A total Python snob I was - stupid humor, indeed. Well I don't even need salt to eat the large piece of crow on my plate. From straight up frat-boy humor to sophisticated innuendo that sometimes took two, three, five viewings to catch. Awesome. It's tribute to Eric Idle that there are portions I laughed at just as hard the fourteenth time as I did the first.

No recaps from me - mine generally consist of OMG! He was awesome. I am in love. When can I go back??? But it just wouldn't be right to let this go by without saying for the record, last night was one that will keep me in warm, happy memories for a long, long time. It seemed to me that each and every member of the cast paid some sort of special attention to him at some point during the show. Kisses and hugs and shimmies from the gals (and some googly eyes from the Nun). The shout-out from Lady of the Lake. Generous pauses from the guys, encouraging the hambone in Clay to give us just a little bit... more. I have just about worn out the phrase 'could not love him more', but when King Arthur Neiled kneeled before his Knight at the curtain call, well this ol' heart grew a couple more sizes.

And then? the man crawled out a window for us, y'all. I won't ever forget the sound of that alley and the collective Eeeeeee!!! when he appeared on that roof. Incredible. I just can't think of another word.

Capping the night off at O'Lunney's with a real, live FCA party was icing on the cake. It was great to share the afterglow with everyone. I find myself torn between wishing we could go back to Jan 18th and do it all again and wishing for midnight, and the next part of this wonderful ride to begin. I think Fred said it best. I feel happy!

[00lsee]

ETA: I'll be checking the lone K-Mart in my area & will pick up some extras if they have the CD.

Remind me again...what was special about the KMart cd? A poster?

[cindilu2]

Hey annabear. Thanks for not being an axe-murderer! That would've definitely put a damper on the weekend. :lmaosmiley-1: It was great to meet you! The shoes aren't mine either, but the lock is. Dangit, I even saw it on the floor when I was packing and said 'hmm, I should pick that up before I forget it'. Hehehe. I'm sure we'll meet on the road again one of these days. You can bring it then!

Is it midnight yet??? I had a nice long nap this afternoon and I'm ready to download. *eyes iTunes*

[playbiller]

I have to read my PMs, but my kmart has CDS - I expect they will get a lot of Clay's, so start asking if you want me to get one, I can send it out with the remaining magnets and posters and playbills. Why would they geta lot of Clay's cds? Becuuase I bought about 40 there two years ago for people.

All you virgins, Fear, the one who can't log on for some reason, wants me to tell you that she is still hanging in there and not weakening. I listened to AOL listening party.

[laughn]

ETA: I'll be checking the lone K-Mart in my area & will pick up some extras if they have the CD.

Remind me again...what was special about the KMart cd? A poster?

Yep...a poster.

from bigappleforclay at getclayaiken...

Had 2 hours to kill till the next bus. Decided to check out the fan lineup at Virgin since it was only a few blocks away. I cracked up when I got there because everyone--the usual suspects who show up for all these big events--are so experienced in waiting in line that they had brought all their camping paraphernalia and all looked wonderfully comfy in their sleeping bags, lined up against the Virgin records wall.

I walked back past the Shubert, and there were a few fans milling around checking the updated Spam listing with the new Sir Robin, Bob Prescott (Sob! Clay's poster was taken down by 10 pm last night! The new one features only Jonathan and Hannah). Ended up chatting with the very charming box office guy, Craig, who was a fountain of information. He's been recruited to be the auctioneer at tonight's CD release party. Some tidbits:

-Clay went up to every staff member yesterday, thanked and presented each one with a personalized, autographed CD. (Craig added that the ticket staff are considered the bottom of the Shubert barrel and they can tell about celebrities' character by the way they treat the staff. Suffice to say, this guy has become A Clay Fan.)

-One fan had already offered $1,000 to buy a signed CD from the staff! But some have already been donated to tonight's party auction.

-Craig went on saying how he was initially intrigued by Clay fandom, and "got it" during last week's auction when Clay spoke to the audience. He was blown over by how Clay had the uncanny ability to make each person feel like he's talking only to them. He added that Clay is so talented an actor that he should be in the movies or TV soon.

- The ushers were going crazy trying to control cameras in the audience.

- Hannah will be returning to London in June (hmm, let's see if Clay makes any trips there.)

- The walk up to the balcony last night was no easy task. Clay had to walk up a long flight of stairs (like a fire escape) for his final wave to the fans.

- Craig has been around: An actor himself, he's escorted Gloria Swanson, and worked with the likes of Elizabeth Taylor. But he has never witnessed the kind of fan adulation that surrounds Clay.

- Jerome told him Clay is taking the summer off, but they are planning for a TOUR this September. (This timing makes sense to me; perhaps it is being kept underwraps or remain up in the air until TPTB get a sense of CD sales.) So, there is HOPE.

[ldyjocelyn]

ETA: I'll be checking the lone K-Mart in my area & will pick up some extras if they have the CD.

Remind me again...what was special about the KMart cd? A poster?

Yes, it's a poster. I'm buying at least 4 tomorrow for me and others.

I was going to reply to luckiest1 on the GMA thing, but I see she caught herself....

My iTunes is up. My iPod is plugged in (and with a software update installed, no less). I'm ready. Hubby is making me a Cafe Americano (double shot espresso) in about a half hour, so I should be WIRED.

Thank you all for your memories and recaps from last night. I'm still in awe of his going on the marquee for the fans. That is one of the most touching gestures I've seen in a long time. Permaswooned, I simply LOVE the picture you posted!

Is it midnight yet?

[luckiest1]

from bigappleforclay at getclayaiken...

- The ushers were going crazy trying to control cameras in the audience.

Heh, no kidding. We had a doozy up in the balcony. She was nuts, or at least she walked around telling others that they were. Hee, right cindilu2?

- Jerome told him Clay is taking the summer off, but they are planning for a TOUR this September.

Hmmmmmmm. Still not going to get my hopes up until I hear it from Clay.

[Couch Tomato]

well crap..those are my stinky shoes heee.

HELP! I just couldn't concentrate on the album until after Spamalot and now I'm under the gun. So when you preoder from itunes..you don't have to pay at the time? It just told me thanks for preordering.

[laughn]

poshpenny at the CH received her Amazon copy today...here are the scans. Lyrics and everything...only one 'thank you' on the CD. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

her post...

I got my CD today from Amazon! Weeeeee! I scanned it so all y'all with the midnight downloads and such can take a peek.

(2 posts)

[annabear]

Thank God for those who were able to get pics of our sweetie up there on the Shubert roof last night! I figured why bother trying for another shot of the tip-top of his CUTE head & put my camera away. My meager contribution? My cellphone's view of the crowd in Shubert Alley, taken from down past the take out section of Junior's, looking towards 44th St. It was just as full looking in the other direction. Unreal!

[laughn]

[ldyjocelyn]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Lyrics! And gee, I think he REALLY likes the song OMWH, what with the lyrics all over the place.

And Clay...you're welcome. *sigh*

couchie, I think it's supposed to charge you when you download from iTunes. I have a credit with them which should more than cover my purchase.

[Thankful4Clay]

I took my illegal download and burned it to a CD. After lunch, I gave it to a female co-worker and asked her to listen to it. She is not a Clay fan but she loves music. She kept sending me emails as she listened: (I inserted the song names.)

So far I really like 4 (SAU) and 5 (Falling). Especially 5, his voice gets deep in parts and it's HOT and I like the guitar! He should use that low register more often!

So far I really like 6 (WIDTL) too!

I can buy this tonight?

I LOVE number 7 (The Real Me)!!! I have this song by a Christian Artist on another CD. Natalie Grant I beleive? I thought she wrote it but maybe not.

TRACK 10 (Sacrificial Love) It's SO SAD!! :o( (but beautiful song...)

I think I'll have a new concert buddy. She is 39 with two young children. I was jumping around outside of her cube because I was so excited that she liked it. This is my first Clayversion.

[Clayzorback]

Thanks annabear.... :F_05BL17blowkiss: I need 3. I was supposed to pick one up for keepingfaith, so check and see if she needs one. I'd pick up 3 extra for sure. If you don't mine.

[laughn]

I think I'll have a new concert buddy. She is 39 with two young children. I was jumping around outside of her cube because I was so excited that she liked it. This is my first Clayversion.

I don't know why, but this made me ...the jumping around. Only another one of us would understand that feeling I think.

I love that she is loving the music too. I feel good things in my bones about this CD.

...as for the thank you...right back at cha' Clay :F_05BL17blowkiss: