#31: The Very Handsome Sir Clay of Aiken

[cindilu2]

Annabear, when I click that it takes me to my photobucket. I wanna see CUTE Clay

ETA: Got it now! CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!! And lordy he looks so tall there!!!

[Gibby]

I'm gonna cheat on the word of the day, and pick a phrase instead. In the chorus of TRM - when he sings 'reveal me'. GAH! It's gorgeous. Particularly the notes he sings on 'veal me'.

Course, those words could interpreted a number of different ways . . .

Here's the wink - click to play (it worked for me):

[annabear]

Annabear, when I click that it takes me to my photobucket. I wanna see CUTE Clay

ETA: Got it now! CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!! And lordy he looks so tall there!!!

Sorry! I had trouble getting it to go to the actual clip & not just PB. I could watch that all day!

I'll have to listen some more (tough, tough job) before I can pick a word or phrase for the day, other than GAH.

[Ansamcw]

Lucky...In our area Clay will be on the today show 3 which comes on at 11 am, this station has Regis and Kelly at nine then they resume with Today show after that can't wait!!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

YAY for the new predictions!!!! I just knew he would come close to 100K...wouldn't be surprised if he does break 100K because of the mother's day up surge.

I know that people had questions about the timing of this release...but at this point I think it is working beautifully. I think they needed to do May cos if they moved it to June a lot of these shows will be on hiatus. Right now he was able to use his star power or his connections and friends to get prime spots on TV shows even with this short prep time. If they waited for Fall...they won't have the momentum of his success on Broadway. Right now I love how he is introduced, multi-platinum recording artist and Broadway star. In addition...every time he is introduced or his stint on Broadway is mentioned...it is promo for the show...so everyone wins. Its also good to do it when AI is so popular...it gives him additional buzz.

About AI and Clay...I also think this is a result of Clay being busy early in the season and not enough time to get him into the final few shows...and AI probably not wanting him to take away from the current idols. Having past idols there is good...cos it brings in old AI viewers who liked these performers...yet they do not create too much of a frenzy so the focus is still on the current crop. I remember that Clay always brings with him this incredible roar in the audience every time he comes out. I haven;t really seen that too much with other AI alums. I really don;t think the AI producers have anything against him, that feature they did of him was really great and they put in a lot of shots that was not necessary...but they showed what a star he was. Simon is another story.

EEEEEEEEEEEE they just showed a teaser for Clay...just a short clip of the OMWH video.

[lilyshine]

I love "Chatty Cathy" Clay!

He could talk on for the whole hour.

[laughn]

from the CH

CG35 just posted at OFC that MSNBC said Clay was about to be on speaking about the devestation in Myanmar.

[annabear]

I love "Chatty Cathy" Clay!

He could talk on for the whole hour.

EEEEEEEE!! Me too. I wouldn't mind a bit if they let him talk for the whole hour - he's excessively CUTE!

ETA: Thanks for bringing the GMA wink clip over to this page, Gibby! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[ldyjocelyn]

From Get Clay Aiken again:

Intro:

Runner-up on AI's second season. Just finished a run on broadway in "the funniest show you'll ever see," Spamalot.

Said he was trying to get off Broadway schedule and back onto TV schedule. Enjoyed it (Spamalot) more than he expected to.

Kathy said if you'd never heard of Clay Aiken...read song titles off the album...what does this say? He said you have to listen to the whole album and Kathy said she certainly would. Asked him about watching Idol. Football game analogy, but Kathy said she understood it. He made the point again that he owes so much to the show and will never deny that. How the show has changed; contestants are honed before they get there.

Did "vault" questions where he picks a number w/out knowing the question.

1st job - bagged groceries at Winn-Dixie at 14 y.o. Every place he worked ended up closing. Kathy asked if the record company knew that and the other lady (I forget her name) made a joke about them (The Today Show) being concerned.

I never get tired of.... He answered cheekily, "I never get tired of being here." :lol Then seriously said he never gets tired of singing, of performing.

Eeee! Asked if he had a favorite song on the album and he told the ALAWH story w/ Jaymes.

It was a nice interview. Lots of laughing and smiling. Oh, that Clay Aiken cackle. :love

Can't wait to see this. Sounds like a nice interview.

[Claygasm]

You know, I sort of miss the old constant "DO NOT PANIC; DO NOT EXTRAPOLATE" at the CH - so very much whining and angst could be avoided.

Newest guesses from HDD as of this morning:

YOUR WEAKEND TOP 10 CHART PREVIEW: Good news, kiddies-there will be five debuts in next week's Top 10, and one of them will actually break 100k! That would be Neil Diamond, whose second Rick Rubin-produced Columbia album is headed toward the top of the chart, with a projected 125-130k. Behind the old-timer will be RCA/RMG's debuting Clay Aiken, who should come tantalizingly close to six figures, with 90-95k. Madonna's Hard Candy (WB) appears to be melting toward 85-90k in its second week, probably good enough for #3 in this age of diminished expectations, though she probably can’t wait to get her act to Live Nation. Another diva, Mariah Carey (Island/IDJ), will likely be next with 80-85k, while the sophomore album of J/RMG's Gavin DeGraw is headed for a bow in the neighborhood of 70-75k, which would probably get him to #5. The rest of the Top 10 should go something like this: Toby Keith (Show Dog/Mercury Nashville), 70-75k: Leona Lewis (Syco/J/RMG), 65-70k; Josh Groban (143/WB), 50-55k; and Dierks Bentley (Capitol Nashville), 28-32k; with #10 up for grabs between Reprise's Michael Buble Wal-Mart exclusive EP at 28-32k and Taylor Swift (Big Machine/Universal Republic) 28-30k. You are now free to get back to going through your Facebook notifications. (5/9a)

and frankly don't think the online Clay Nation had that much to do with it - I think that's just the "NJUs" seeing and hearing him in a variety of places - the same group of people (you know, nonobsessed fans) that discover and buy 200-300 ATDW every week. (I check that USA Idol Chatter blog periodically - it keeps stuff in perspective.

Yup. I found this report at the CH, but I think it originally came from CB:

Finally, I was in Fred Meyer's earlier this afternoon, and of course I had to make a quick stop in the electronics department to see if "On My Way Here" had been selling (and yes it had been), and while I was doing that, there was a lady about my age, (40'something's ) with the CD in her hands. I of course had to know if she was a long time fan, or a NJU, so I asked her (because inquiring minds want to know ). She told me that she had seen Clay's performance on "The View" (I haven't even seen that performance yet), and she loved his performance so much that she felt compelled to purchase the CD today! She told me that she had never purchased any of his music before, but she had seen him on TV a handful of times and always liked what she had seen in him. But today's performance on "The View" totally won her over! BTW, at Fred Meyer's you can actually listen to snippets of every song, before you purchase the CD and she had done that, and couldn't wait to get home to listen to the entire CD. I'm quite sure she won't be disappointed when her longing ears hear every song in it's entirety.

Shouldn't he have been on Today by now? No reports?

YAY for #2 (I hope)!!!!!

#2 has been verra, verra good to Clay!

Damn I wish I wasn't at work so I could be watching Clay on my TV!!

[luckiest1]

EEEEEEEEE! I just had a work-related call from a lady who told me last summer how much she loved Clay on AI. She was taking a trip to NC and was hoping her friends would go with her to the Cary concert, but it didn't end up happening for her. Anyways, I rarely hear from her, so I figured it was meant to be that she called me today! I just happened to have an extra OMWH in my bag this morning....heh......which has now found a home. She was tha-rilled! I don't think she's heard anything since MOAM. We chatted a bit about the album, and I even let her talk about the current crop of AI contestants (blah blah blah, smile & nod) LOL. I can't wait to hear back from her after she's listened.

[bottlecap]

HA! I think the Clay Nation needs to hook up with the Jehovah Witnesses and go door to door. "Can I leave you a WatchTower and a copy of On My Way Here?"

[Cotton]

Hello!

Haven't been around much but just saw the MSNBC piece. Thought y'all might be interested.

Wow!

Thanks for the heads up - I got to see UNICEF Ambassador Clay!

Very informative. Talked about UNICEF already being 'in country' so aid was not part of that confiscated (stolen) by the government. Spoke eloquently as always.

Interviewer (cute!) kept trying to get him to mention the album and she finally dragged it out of him.

He said 'It's in stores as of this week and people can buy it - and when they do, make a donation to UNICEF as well' and he laughed.

She teased him about not wanting to promote the album when he was talking in his UNICEF capacity.

Very cute!

Talked about his help with NC geography, too! hee

Talking about the storms and he told them where Elizabeth City, etc, are.

Weather gal just mentioned they could always use Clay Aiken's help with geography! Cute!

Today Show

I'm sorry Clay wasn't in the studio watching the monitor when Henry Winkler was on. I think he'd have loved the segment.

DH commented on them showing footage of The Fonz and compared it to people always intro'ing Clay as Runnerup on American Idol. Let it go, it's been years! heh

Clay on TTS

He was funny, they showed the album cover, KL kept calling it a record (showing her age hee).

Got the inevitable AI question/football team answer, but he got to complete his thought about the new seasons NOT having the innocence, etc. (whereas on the View, he never got the chance to finish that)

Talked about Jaymes and Clay and the song they both came up with in their first meeting. DH found that very interesting, he'd never heard that. Mentioned Spamalot and the grueling schedule.

It was good.

He looked great.

[cindilu2]

courtesy of gerwhisp at the CB (who also said she capped it and would have it up soon - awesome!!)

[duckyvee]

I'm gonna cheat on the word of the day, and pick a phrase instead.

I'll cheat too, then.

My phrase for the day is:

'You fill my head

You block my view'

from Everything I Don't Need, which has settled firmly into my favorite track spot. Gosh, I love that song. Even though it doesn't seem to fit, and even though the phrase 'dying breed' seems unconnected. And even though it doesn't seem like a Clay song. And, most of all, even though my reaction to it is about SOUND and not LYRICS. Those who know me well will understand that is quite a departure for me. I'm a lyrics person, first and foremost.

(I suppose I stretched the boundaries of phrase a little.)

[annabear]

Thanks so much for bringing this over! I was too tired to read it last night, but I really really enjoyed it this morning. It's so cool to know she was a big fan!

You're welcome!

Gah. I forgot how much I love how his voice and the cello become one on Lover All Alone.

and frankly don't think the online Clay Nation had anything to do with it - I think that's just the "NJUs" seeing and hearing him in a variety of places - the same group of people that discover and buy 200-300 ATDW every week.

Yep - I agree wif that. Kinda said the same thing last page - his promo really began this week. LOTS of folks who had no idea he had a new CD out will be hitting the stores before Monday.

Yes, yes, yes - the cello & his voice melding together is incredible. I can't get over how different LAA sounds in the context of this album as compared to ATDW. I also agree about the NJU's picking up on his appearances this week. What might seem like too short a time for us can be the perfect moment for that voice to capture their attention.

Cool story about the lady seeing him on The View & having to get the CD! Thanks for bringing it over, CG!

I know that people had questions about the timing of this release...but at this point I think it is working beautifully. I think they needed to do May cos if they moved it to June a lot of these shows will be on hiatus. Right now he was able to use his star power or his connections and friends to get prime spots on TV shows even with this short prep time. If they waited for Fall...they won't have the momentum of his success on Broadway. Right now I love how he is introduced, multi-platinum recording artist and Broadway star. In addition...every time he is introduced or his stint on Broadway is mentioned...it is promo for the show...so everyone wins. Its also good to do it when AI is so popular...it gives him additional buzz.

WORD! Second guessing the timing of the release is just continuing to play the ignorant armchair quarterback.

HA! I think the Clay Nation needs to hook up with the Jehovah Witnesses and go door to door. "Can I leave you a WatchTower and a copy of On My Way Here?"

BWAH!

[laughn]

HA! I think the Clay Nation needs to hook up with the Jehovah Witnesses and go door to door. "Can I leave you a WatchTower and a copy of On My Way Here?"

See, I bet that one line of marketing RCA didn't consider

[00lsee]

Oh, guh...UNICEF Clay looks gawjus, y'all!

Okay, I posted this at the CH, but I'd really like some input from our audiophiles here, too. Note* link to thread is for THIS board's spanking new audio thread.

One more reason to buy the CD, if someone hasn't already, is how much better it sounds than the iTunes download (at least to me). I ripped my CD yesterday using Apple lossless setting...and it sounds incredible to me, y'all.

Don't get me wrong, I thought the album download sounded fine at the iTunes 128 kbps...but...the album is quite simply amazing (to me) at CD quality. I know next to nothing about compression and encoding and all that. But I'm very happy to possibly be hearing the CD closer to the way it was crafted to sound, instead of from a file made "smaller" by iTunes to fit better on iPods. To these ears, it makes a significant difference.

This seems to be a hotly debated topic on the internet, as I discovered last night. There was mention of "iTunes plus", where supposedly you could download albums or songs on iTunes in a higher kbps (and upgrade previously downloaded music to a higher bitrate)...but I don't think "On My Way Here" is available in iTunes plus yet. (Interestingly enough, my single of "On My Way Here" from Amazon downloads is 240 kbps mp3 format)

Anyway, if you have some advice, tips, or comments for me or others interested in optimal audio, would you please post them here in this audio thread?

So far, I'm more confused than enlightened after my internet crawling...and I've seen several other people asking questions about this in the past few days. And thanks to whoever posted about the CD sounding so much better than the iTunes download (to you). I agree with ya.

[ldyjocelyn]

I think bottlecap is a marketing genius. *g*

*sigh*

[muskifest]

courtesy of gerwhisp at the CB (who also said she capped it and would have it up soon - awesome!!)

God, I love that ambassador face. Intent. Serious. Determined. I haven't watched this interview yet, but reading about his reluctance to promote the CD while in his UNICEF role... this man is so special.

(BTW...that word of the day? It's in Ashes...near the beginning when he caresses that high note in "I beleeeeve..." gah...)

Oh. Sacrifical Love just came on...this song slays me.

I have no worries about the CD...I really do think it will have legs. Viral listening, if you will. He'll sell it--the voice will sell it. The man sells himself. What a commodity!

[Ansamcw]

YAY Clay is about to come on here!!!

this is an interesting show...like a mix of Live and the view...

EEEEEEEEEEEEEE he is here!!

[Ansamcw]

tan coat

pink sweater

cream shirt

he looks pretty tired with a litte bit of bags

nothing really new to add...its really a cute interview

OMG Kathie lee is really this frustrated singer cos she just told clay she was goign to send him some songs...hee

that was fun...too bad no singing cos I think thats what sells it to casual viewers, but this will hopefully remind people who already like him to check this out.

[cha cha trusty]

Well poop. I was up at 7:15 and set the recorder to record til 9 am. So I guess I missed him, cause then I went back to bed!! It's been weird around here lately, I've been staying up really late and sleeping late too!

Thanks to gerwisp and ldyj for the caps! Can't wait to see the whole thing!

What's been running thru my head for the past 24 hours (or more) is:

I've been here one too many times...

Seems whenever I let somebody get this close

Right back where I got hurt the most

Around my heart is where I draw the line

And various other parts of various other songs..... :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[jmh123]

One more reason to buy the CD, if someone hasn't already, is how much better it sounds than the iTunes download (at least to me). I ripped my CD yesterday using Apple lossless setting...and it sounds incredible to me, y'all.

Don't get me wrong, I thought the album download sounded fine at the iTunes 128 kbps...but...the album is quite simply amazing (to me) at CD quality. I know next to nothing about compression and encoding and all that. But I'm very happy to possibly be hearing the CD closer to the way it was crafted to sound, instead of from a file made "smaller" by iTunes to fit better on iPods. To these ears, it makes a significant difference.

This seems to be a hotly debated topic on the internet, as I discovered last night. There was mention of "iTunes plus", where supposedly you could download albums or songs on iTunes in a higher kbps (and upgrade previously downloaded music to a higher bitrate)...but I don't think "On My Way Here" is available in iTunes plus yet. (Interestingly enough, my single of "On My Way Here" from Amazon downloads is 240 kbps mp3 format)

The easiest way to answer this is to compare it to photographs, which are more familiar to people: an HQ photo versus a thumbnail. Problem with HQ audio on an iPod is that it takes up a lot of room. Also, your stereo system and your speakers matter--lossless format is useless if you're using a little pod dock or cheap earphones. There's a lot of factors to consider. If there's something I want the highest quality for, I typically just play the CD, and use the iPod for a convenient way to access a variety of music when I'm driving. This is why I still prefer to buy a physical CD rather than download an album from iTunes. I can rip it into iTunes and have the best of both worlds.

Someone posted an article awhile back about how some Top40 music is actually diminished in quality in order to sound best on an iPod. UGH.

[cindilu2]

Sendspace for Unicef spot

This is gerwhisp's sendspace from the CB - might have to give it a couple tries. Their server is v. busy. Hee!

[ldyjocelyn]

The Today Show has their clip up.