#32: Man with titanium balls and the voice to back them up!

[KAndre]

I see Fantasia's definite talent - and I think it fairly up there because what she does (and does well) very few others can. As for her looks, well, I see that shade of red on the street every day - doesn't thrill me, but then I don't think it's any worse than all the native brunettes workin' the blond thing. I would make an educated guess that Fantasia knows perfectly well she's not conventionally pretty, but she works with what she's got. I ain't mad at her.

Ultimately for most of those appearing on AI that really want a career, I think they are doing better than they were. Those that seemed to be in it for shits and giggles (Nikki from season 1, Charles & Julia from season 2, and I really believe Jason from this year) will have some nice memories, maybe a little cash. Those who want more and are willing to work, will get more.

I like cats. Cats are easy and only occasionally bite people in a very loving way, no matter what Solo says!

[Couch Tomato]

Hey with all this talk of pets...we've decided to get one too... a fish!!

It's not about you being a good judge of talent Iseeme. She just doesn't appeal to you. That's perfectly ok. I can understand why people don't get her. But I also understand it when she gets raves for almost everything she does....well except that awful Lifetime movie. eek I'm not into hip hop at all but I could appreciate the performance and I just love her outrageousness. I prefer her soul with the heavy gospel influence. But I grew up on gospel. That's all I listened to for my first 10 or so years, PK that I am. While all my friends were grooving to the Jackson Five, I was into Tramaine Hawkins who I think has one of the greatest voices ever.

The Real Me...god I love that song so much. I think I'll put it on repeat and let it take me away.

heee...well what do you know..

heee. See, I grew up with this... probably explains why I love Fantasia.

[liney23]

I know why AI doesn't want Clay back on the show. There was never supposed to be an American idol for whom the idolatry lasted more than one season. It was like a Miss America pageant with the confetti, contract, and media blitz packed into a jam packed year of promotion, culminating with the CD release and then the selection of the new Miss Ameri idol. Clay's been the biggest celebrity ever produced by AI, and he's not going to lose that designation. He's forever "Clay" and that means more than we probably realize. The show gave him a platform to make himself famous and then he transcended it. That's more than they were looking for, because Clay's success steps all over the regular idols, even those who sell more CDs and get radio play. Clay doesn't take a back seat to any of the talent on the AI big bus. I'm sure that people in the industry know that Clay is here to stay. That probably galls a lot of them, hence the now-predictable negative tone from certain quarters. If AI ever doubted that Clay would forever upstage the contestants on the show, then what happened during and after Clay's AI5 tour-de-force made it clear to them. Oh, this is theory, only a theory.

And let me add my great big GAH! to the chorus of GAHS! over that sexiest-look- ever screenshot. That was the MONEY frame, first time I watched the video. And that one moment in the video was my final conversion to the blond hair. All I needed was for it it fall forward on his face so casually. That done, I'm now fully in with the blond hair. What a gorgeous man.

keeping... I like your thinking! He is unique in Idol annals, that's for sure. As someone said, he has IT and it shows.

Left the picture in cause I wanted to see it again! GAH!!!

Surprisingly, I half way enjoyed Fantasia's performance. Mostly cause I couldn't believe what I was seeing/hearing. She sure gets into it! Gonna kill her voice, tho if she keeps that up. I loved Simon's WTF look!

[cha cha trusty]

Just for fun, here's a picture of Simon during Fantasia's "performance" tonight.

Someone sent it to me in email.......

THIS is the one I really love tho.......... YUM!!! thanks gibby!

Just wanted to post this link again so it doesn't get lost...........

http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/Clay-Aik...U5WLIRWucs1wSUv

I kinda like this video. So what if it's not slick and "any fan could've made it" -- I think the elements are quite nice.

Not to mention it's a killer of a song. And oh yeah, there's that cute guy in it too. (not talking about the piano player. )

[aikim]

So, I fell asleep on the couch tonight at 8:00 and now I am wide awake. Catching up on the boards and see most of the talk is about Fantasia. Really interesting to see all the different viewpoints regarding her performance tonight; especially the Tina Turner comparison. Read a bunch of posts where people were saying they thought she failed miserably at channeling Tina and will never be her and then came here and see the opposite. Have to say, I have never gotten Fantasia's appeal and did not watch tonight, so can't comment on that; but it just goes to show how diverse musical tastes are; and if it weren't for that diversity, the music arena would be a pretty boring place.

Kim

[Couch Tomato]

Yep AIKim. ITA. I think about somebody like Tramaine...probably not well known to the general pop..but she is a goddess in some circles and has been making music and putting out albums for damn near 30 years.

BUT I signed on again to say eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Kenny on my TV!! I just found it by accident..the Scrubs repeat. I haven't seen it since it aired the first time.

[claytonic]

I watched Fantasia's performance on YouTube and I have to say I am worried about her voice. A lot of young singers take their voice for granted and I am so surprised she hasn't had someone give her professional advice about how to take care. Celine Dion does not even talk for hours before a performance, she is so aware of not damaging her vocals..

Although I understand why some people don't 'get' Fantasia, I personally was a fan from her semi-final performance onwards and I badly wanted her to win the way I'd want a friend to win a competition. On Season 3, she wasn't the best singer, she wasn't the best looking, she wasn't the best educated, but none of those things took away from her talent and stage presence and personality. Around the 4th or 5th season, Simon said in an interview that Fantasia was his favorite because she was such a nice person (paraphrasing here) and I totally understood why; she doesn't have a fake bone in her body. OK, and when she sang "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life" and of course "Summertime", she totally embodied the song, totally blew me away and I just knew she was going to win. I saw her Color Purple performance on YT (I'm Here) and she was just amazing.

LOL don't know why I feel I have to defend Fantasia. She's human, sometimes she will make mistakes but she's real. I think that's why she was so perfect for the role of Celie in The Color Purple. She even moved Oprah to tears.

I've seen Tina Turner in concert* several times (with and without Ike) , and I prefer Fantasia. At her best, she's incredible.

*During one of Tina's tours down under, she had NO costumes. Her luggage went to the wrong destination and there was panic all round - I mean, can you imagine Tina in concert without her stage wardrobe? Instead of trying to find replacements in a hurry, she opted to perform the entire show in white shorts and shirt. I doubt she'd ever forget that tour!

[luckiest1]

Totally OT: Carrie's bugging me to let her have a little pet of her own. She first said turtle, but we read up on them and I said no. Then she said guinea pig. Anybody have any experience with guinea pigs? Bearded dragons?

Late to the party, but I've had turtles, guinea pigs, and geckos (another type of lizard). I've also had rats (a long series of them as a child, since my dad was allergic to all types of animals), cats, and dogs.

I'd say stay away from turtles and lizards (too much time and effort needed to keep them healthy), and go with either the standard cat or dog, or else a guinea pig or a rat. I find rats to be more personable, and trainable, but not everyone can get used to them. Guinea pigs are cuter, and we used to take ours out in the yard into a little home made enclosure, and let them eat the grass. They loved it. Guinea pigs have a longer life span than rats (8-10 years vs. 3-4 years). Good luck!

I don't think that Clay's use of "we" is the royal we. I think it means Clay + Mary + managers + RCA + Team Clay etc. etc. etc and a way to acknowledge that he is a product of many people and that he doesn't make decisions in isolation. I'm willing to bet he doesn't refer to CLAYTON Aiken as we.

Love this post.

I don't watch AI, and I have no interest in Fantasia. Sowwy.

So, all my kids are taking off this weekend. Daughter is heading to NC to visit friends, son #1 is off on an overnight job in another town, son #2 is heading to Pittsburgh on a school trip for 3 days. Whatever will I do with myself?

[aikim]

Good Morning Everyone,

Went back to bed and slept for a couple of hours, probably going to be dragging by this afternoon though.

1 Day until The Climmel/Rachael Ray!

4 Days until Craig Ferguson!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[Ansamcw]

Wasn;t able to really catch up this morning....going to work today so I just have to leave this ...

SONG OF THE DAY: Ashes

[claytonic]

What a "double-edged sword" review!! But the good stuff is reallly good.

Singer Clay Aiken is finally starting to figure out style

Published on Sunday, May 11, 2008

ON MY WAY HERE Clay Aiken

RCA/19

Clay Aiken has always seemed like the most bewildered of the American Idol graduates — his instant fame cut with a bit of what-just-happened? caution, his music a hit-or-miss split between what he wants and what he's supposed to want.

Five years later, on his second full album of originals, On My Way Here, Aiken is starting to figure it out.

He is at his best when he wraps his big voice around big ballads, usually ones with big messages attached. He maximizes the drama on As Long as We're Here to poignant effect, with booming phrases that would make Celine Dion proud, followed by vulnerable questioning that emo leading men would secretly admire. He undersells Something About Us like it was a classic Johnny Mathis ballad and fills The Real Me with a quavering uncertainty that makes it work.

Aiken turns the title track, written by the omnipresent Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, into one of those ballads that could have been written anytime in the past 30 years or, probably, in the next 30. But when he tries his hand at songs that sound timelier — the poppy Falling, a clone of his hit Invisible, or the Pink-ish Ashes — he starts to lose it.

As much as his record company would want him to be, Aiken isn't a crossover pop star. He's a male Celine Dion, a nerdier Michael Buble, a new-millennium Barry Manilow, and there's nothing wrong with that. The sooner he embraces that, the better his albums will sound. With On the Way Here, he's not quite there.

— Glenn Gamboa

RCA/19

Newsday

[00lsee]

muski, I think a lot depends on your daughter's expectations from her pet. Does she want to be able to pick it up, cuddle, and handle it? Or would she be content (as with a turtle) to hand feed and WATCH it? There's a huge difference in interaction with some pets.

Those who have had guinea pigs that were actually cuddle-able are fortunate. We had (two) guinea pigs when I was a young girl...and the disadvantage to giving a guinea pig a 'friend' is their tendency to bond with that friend instead of you. We ended up giving them back to the pet store because they were so skittish, so dang noisy, and they smelled bad. If we got them out of their 'home' they peed on the floor or our laps. ugh. Those that like them really like them. But perhaps ours were too old for a new home or something. With pet stores, you never know. I've had gerbils before and loved them...but when we got our kid a gerbil, I think we had the same problem as with the guineas...the creature may have lived too long in the pet store so that it was difficult to tame. Never could tame it, and I had experience! Still, it was fun to watch her. They don't live all that long, though. Two and a half years is my max with these guys. Hamsters...I had a fluffy hamster that was very sweet...who lived about the same length of time. She would play on my lap and enjoyed being petted. She would get food from the supper table (meat, veggies) as well as her hamster food. (I should perhaps clarify that she did not eat ON the table, just that we gave her some healthy bits of what we were eating...she liked green beans, oh mama) It is hilarious watching them stuff their pouches with food! However, when we got my kid a hamster, it was wacked out crazy and would attack any hand that came near (back to the pet store with that one)...the second hamster had a sweeter disposition, but was also difficult to tame. If you get a rodent, I would suggest getting it from a private breeder...someone who has hand-raised it. (Or get one that is obviously very young...a fully mature rodent is much harder to tame). The gerbils I had as a child all came from friends who had hand-raised them and they could be played with and seemed happy to be held. One thing to keep in mind. Hamsters and gerbils tend to be active at night and sleep during the day. If you wake a hamster up, it is irritable and may bite. And their activities at night can keep you awake, if their cage is right next to your bed. I recommend a medium size fish tank for small rodents. Very easy to keep clean and low odor if you use the recycled paper litter. Cedar litter stinks. And I think you know who will be taking care of any pet you get. I took care of my own gerbil and hamster, but my kids have to be constantly reminded to do what is necessary. So, yeah, I ended up doing most of the work.

Now, as for rats...some people have good experiences with rats...but they do require some specific things to be healthy. My niece had rats and she did not take good care of them. Their cages always smelled bad and both ended up dying of respiratory problems. Whenever we would get them out to play with them, they'd pee and poop on everything. Gerbils and hamsters do this too, but rats have larger accidents and it was kind of gross. Maybe they can be trained not to wet on you, I don't know.

We currently have cockatiels and I would not recommend them. Too expensive by far, if you are like us and get unhealthy birds to begin with. Parakeets are fairly easy to take care of and can be tamed. But they are okay pets even if you don't want to handle them. One of my relatives never tamed her parakeets, but they are still fun to watch and pretty to look at. Birds can be noisy and messy.

If you had cats before and loved them, then another cat might actually be your best bet. I didn't want another dog after ours passed away, but now we have two. I agree that reptiles have very specific requirements for survival, which can be expensive. We decided not to get a snake back when my older child had a hankering for one. lol

Anyway, good luck with that. Those are my experiences with various small pets. Sounds like you are doing your research, which is good.

More later...I'll talk about my favorite pet of all, Clay Aiken.

[ldyjocelyn]

claytonic, I think that review was posted a few days ago. That seems to be a review that has been picked up by more than a few papers.

Not much to add to the discussion on Fantasia (didn't see it, might check it out later on YouTube if I have time) or pets (love my kitties dearly, would never have anything else but cats), but I do have something to post for my dear friend bottlecap...

Gif from gerwhisp

jpg from Shirley Rodriguez

Will there be an avatar change in her future? Inquiring minds want to know.

And I'm STILL looking for a "Clay blows his face up like a fish" gif!

ETA: SUNNY 99.1 has their interview up with Clay. You can download directly from their site.

[luckiest1]

But when he tries his hand at songs that sound timelier — the poppy Falling, a clone of his hit Invisible, or the Pink-ish Ashes — he starts to lose it.

As much as his record company would want him to be, Aiken isn't a crossover pop star. He's a male Celine Dion, a nerdier Michael Buble, a new-millennium Barry Manilow, and there's nothing wrong with that. The sooner he embraces that, the better his albums will sound. With On the Way Here, he's not quite there.

And therein lies the problem - the hardcore fans seem to prefer the poppier stuff (for the most part) whereas the "NJU" would rather he stuck to the ballads. Does he try to please the fans he already has, or does he try to conform to what will make him more acceptable to the NJU? Personally, I'm glad he's decided to follow his own heart, and do what it is that makes him happy. I also think OMWH was an excellent choice for the first single, because it walks the fine line between big soaring ballad and more current, understated ballad. It's something that doesn't make the NJU uncomfortable, but sounds like Clay Aiken enough for the fans.

I love OMWH, the album, because it is such an eclectic mix of genres and sounds. I couldn't be happier with it or for him with what he managed to produce. I also love (note the present tense) ATDW because Clay took classics and made them his own, and therefore, in my opinion, outdid the originals. They each work in their own way for me, they each hold a special place in my heart. And of course, I will always love MOAM.

I can't wait for the next concert tour!

[ldyjocelyn]

luckiest1, just WORD!

CG, the vaults have replaced the GDL files to a better copy. Me thinks they got more than a few complaints about the quality of the previous clip (I noticed the same thing, really bugged me too...)

[luckiest1]

I hadn't seen this interview before. From Notacanuck at CH:

ARTIST Direct

INTERVIEW: Clay Aiken

Clay Aiken is a guy who proves that winning isn't everything. After getting his start as the runner-up to Ruben Studdard in season two of American Idol, his success and stardom has far surpassed the "winner" America chose at the time. To date, Aiken has sold well-over a million records over the course of his three-album career. And with his latest album of original material, On My Way Here, he is poised to sell even more copies—and not just to his devoted, and somewhat obsessive, fans, who call themselves his "Claymates."

Before a performance of the Broadway hit Spamalot, where Aiken stars as Sir Robin, we caught up with the double threat (he's a self-confessed terrible dancer) to talk about his new album and current Broadway experience. In the course of our interview we found that Aiken is a straight-to-the-point, no-nonsense kind of guy, who knows what he wants and gets the job done.

[claytonic]

I love OMWH, the album, because it is such an eclectic mix of genres and sounds. I couldn't be happier with it or for him with what he managed to produce. I also love (note the present tense) ATDW because Clay took classics and made them his own, and therefore, in my opinion, outdid the originals. They each work in their own way for me, they each hold a special place in my heart. And of course, I will always love MOAM.

I agree, Luckiest. I have never understood the fuss about ATDW (didn't even know there WAS one until I joined this board, because I wasn't part of any Clay discussion before that). What's not to love about ATDW? Well-loved songs sung by my favorite singer. It's a treat, sheer bliss.

[Claygasm]

Wasn;t able to really catch up this morning....going to work today so I just have to leave this ...

SONG OF THE DAY: Ashes

Ooops. Missed that we were doing a song of the day!!! I bet you all were heart broken that I didn't participate yesterday.

luckiest1, just WORD!

CG, the vaults have replaced the GDL files to a better copy. Me thinks they got more than a few complaints about the quality of the previous clip (I noticed the same thing, really bugged me too...)

YAY!!! He looked to good to have boils on his face!

Muski - If Shadow would be ok with it and Carrie really wants a pet of her own, consider a cat. I remember when you lost Baxter and how heartbroken you were, but I bet he would want you to have another one to love like you loved him. And there are soooooooooooo many cats who need homes DESPERATELY. But Shadow needs to be taken into consideration. I know he used to have a cat in his house, but its been a couple of years and he's older now.

Damn, I need to get moving or once again I will be late for work!

[muskifest]

the hardcore fans seem to prefer the poppier stuff

BWAH, luckiest! I'd just finished reading 00lsee's helpful post about all the pets in her past and so when I saw this line in your post, I was reading it "seem to prefer the poopier stuff"

So this morning I woke up humming "Something About Us"....sigh...seems that every day there's a different Clay earworm...(life could be worse, huh?)

Uh...ldyjocelyn? Hmmm....You know, I had an avie of the Clay raspberry for a while and then replaced it with the Clay raspberry gif until just last night when I replaced it with the drop dead photoshoot cap that you can observe now....So....you sayin' you've got me on ignore? :F_05BL17blowkiss:

(Gawd, it really is a sickness when I can look at that face giving a raspberry and think, "Dayum, he's hot!")

Stressful day ahead at work....send bright light my way, folks....

Oh...and yeah, I think deep down I'd rather get a cat, but I KNOW I would be the one doing the litter box thing and I'm too old for that now.

[Iseeme]

Good morning! Well all the what'ifs are out there this morning on Little David A.

I have a different take on what Clay's diehard fans want. I don't necessarily want him to sing the poppier stuff and I know alot of other fans who feel the same way. I think the fans that expound ad nauseum about that are the ones that want him on the radio. And they think the only way he'll get there is with the poppier stuff. Just my opinion! But I think he's been VERRA VERRA outspoken about that - even to mention the songs that WON'T be released as singles. Wish people would listen to him sometimes and let some of this "he needs to" stuff go. I think there is something lost with Clay on the poppier stuff when you can't see him performing live! He has such a beautiful voice and I think it's better presented on the ballads. But having said that, I still love Invisible! And I do like Falling and Ashes......they're just not my favorites. I think the problem is that he was marketed as something he isn't coming out of AI. Or if you did well on AI than it's a natural progression that you're pop/rock.The media still wants to use that as the benchmark for everything he does - which is really unfair. (fair not being a word used in the entertainment industry....) He's made it clear what niche he wants to be in. Now if he isn't successful at that....well, he'll figure out what to do. But Clay "live" can sing anything!!!! And well.

And I don't see David Archuleta making a mark in the pop world either.......or certainly not as big a one as MOAM was because I think all he CAN sing is ballads.....forget the cross-over stuff!!!! I shudder to think of having to sit through interviews and talk shows with him ........................someone a few pages ago said every time he's asked a question he looks like he's either going to barf or pee his pants. What an accurate description.

[ldyjocelyn]

If you get a chance, watch Clay's appearance from the Tonight Show on hulu.com. (Unfortunately, Canadians, it's not available to you -- sowwy). They have the entire show up, but it's fairly easy to watch just the last two segments. The show will be on hulu until May 30. The reason I suggest it is that it's in wide-screen, and if you can tear yourself away from Clay talking, watch Jack Black. It seems as if he's enjoying listening to Clay as much as the rest of us! And watch his face when Clay starts talking in his Spamalot accent. Hee!

[luckiest1]

Oh...and yeah, I think deep down I'd rather get a cat, but I KNOW I would be the one doing the litter box thing and I'm too old for that now.

Doing cat litter is no better or worse than changing the shavings in a rodent's cage.......just sayin'........don't even get me started on changing the water in a turtles tank (EWWWWWWW!) And having to buy crickets to feed lizards? Is a pain in the ass, because the crickets require their own little container to keep them in, and they smell, and they escape and then chirp in your house. Heh, there are downfalls to every pet, I guess.

I hope the widescreen Jay Leno video is vaulted. I'd love to see it. Hee, my 16 yo was aghast when he realized that Jack Black (one of his favourite actors) was actually responding to Clay's humour. I got such a kick out of him screaming at the screen "no Jack! Don't laugh! He's not cool! You'll ruin your street cred!" BWAH HA HA!

[Iseeme]

ldyj - thanks for the link. Jack's facial expressions are hysterical....the raised eyebrows! I think he really did enjoy Clay's banter with Jay!

[rohdy]

..

[bottlecap]

I do have something to post for my dear friend bottlecap...

Gif from gerwhisp

jpg from Shirley Rodriguez

Will there be an avatar change in her future? Inquiring minds want to know.

And I'm STILL looking for a "Clay blows his face up like a fish" gif!

I wll assume I should be , but I can't actually see imageshack stuff until I get home. Stoopid filters..

:F_05BL17blowkiss: for thinking of me!