#56: Clay's going to sing. Life is good.

[merrieeee]

[FearofH2O]

I love argyle. I hope no one hates the sweater. Clay dares to be a little different and I love all his sweaters because of that. Hey he sings good too.

Looking forward to the clack from Scarlett and/or her camera. I hope she can get there.

[canfly172]

I just peeked in at the Grammys for a minute before I call it a night and saw the performance of Mary J Blige and Andrea Bocelli...Bridge Over Troubled Water...they were accompanied by David Foster. I have to say I didn't enjoy this particular arrangement. Way too many "trills" (is that the proper term?) for my liking .It really took away from the song,IMO..... I love Bocelli and I do enjoy Mary J Blige lately, but I thought she looked like she was straining. I think she was trying to keep up with Bocelli and that's no easy feat....the man slides up and down the scale with great ease.

I really could picture Clay up there singing his heart out...maybe some day.

I was only half-listening but it didn't impress me at all. It was a very strange arrangement. Bleah.

[jmh123]

[canfly172]

Looking forward to the clack from Scarlett and/or her camera. I hope she can get there.

Cross your fingers and pray to the weather gods, OK?

merrieee! Take good care of the equipment, K?

[merrieeee]

merrieee! Take good care of the equipment, K?

Who's equipment? Clay's

[Couch Tomato]

I'm watching the Grammy's cuz I'm way too lazy to get off the couch and go to my room. And I have to say that Pink was just crazy out there but it somehow worked and she sounded great. Don't know if it was live or memorex. Love the BEP..just feel good party music. Other than that, I got nothing. I'm working so I'm still drifting in and out.

ETA Actually loved the BOTW duet. Mary J sang it with so much soul and heart -- I may have teared up a bit LOL. And I'm no huge fan of MJB.

[Desertrose]

I just peeked in at the Grammys for a minute before I call it a night and saw the performance of Mary J Blige and Andrea Bocelli...Bridge Over Troubled Water...they were accompanied by David Foster. I have to say I didn't enjoy this particular arrangement. Way too many "trills" (is that the proper term?) for my liking .It really took away from the song,IMO..... I love Bocelli and I do enjoy Mary J Blige lately, but I thought she looked like she was straining. I think she was trying to keep up with Bocelli and that's no easy feat....the man slides up and down the scale with great ease.

I really could picture Clay up there singing his heart out...maybe some day.

Can't wait for reports/video from those attending GFI. I need to hear Clay music !!!!!!

I liked it in the beginning when Bocelli was singing in Latin. But when Mary J. Blige joined him, it changed completely. I think that Mary J. can really sing, but her voice did not complement Bocelli during this performance. IMO, they did not sound good together. It sounded awkward to me. I did not like her rendition of BOTW. I also did not care for the arrangement. I wonder if David Foster did the arranging?

[Couch Tomato]

that's what I kinda found intriguing about it.. the complete change of styles from one to the other.

I'm now laughing at the bleeping out of the rap song. Give me a break. It's not like anybody can understand anyway heee.

[FearofH2O]

Never watch the Grammy's. I seem to need a break from music after Christmas. Wrapping at he mall and hearing the same songs over and burns me out a little. By March 12, I'll be good to go again. Maybe even tonight, if I get home in time to hear the cellcert. Besides I'm a Big Love addict and it's getting pretty wild in Salt Lake City.

Have a beautiful day. Our streets haven't been scraped at all so hopefully with the SUV I can make it into work.

[bottlecap]

FORE!

Have a great time, y'all! :09:

[luckiest1]

Cellcert? Eep! I wonder if I even have a subscription to one of those anymore? I hope so!

I spent the weekend in Toronto celebrating my son's 22nd birthday. We had a very hairy drive home last night....the highways were a bit of a mess, it was snowing, there were cars spun out into the guardrail, and the salters were out in full force. To top it all off I ran out of windshield washer fluid in the middle of nowhere. I should know better! In any case, I was glad to see my cut off and get in the door safely.

Hope everyone in Florida has a great time today! How cool that we got a picture of Clay's 'warm up' appearance! Sounds like y'all are going to be getting a preview of the album....lucky ducks!

[aikim]

7 Days until The Big Clay Aiken News is Revealed!

26 Days until Clay speaks at the HRC Convention!

39 Days until The Magical Mystery Date!

48 Days until The First Day of Spring!

:glasses:

4 months until June and The New CD/PBS Special!

:04:

Clay addresses the Key Club Convention in July!

Happy Birthday to all celebrating!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[keepingfaith]

I just peeked in at the Grammys for a minute before I call it a night and saw the performance of Mary J Blige and Andrea Bocelli...Bridge Over Troubled Water...they were accompanied by David Foster. I have to say I didn't enjoy this particular arrangement. Way too many "trills" (is that the proper term?) for my liking .It really took away from the song,IMO..... I love Bocelli and I do enjoy Mary J Blige lately, but I thought she looked like she was straining. I think she was trying to keep up with Bocelli and that's no easy feat....the man slides up and down the scale with great ease.

Thought the BOTW arrangement sucked bad. Apologies to DF if he was responsible for that. Everybody in my house made a move during that song. The voices actually annoyed me together, and I'm a minor fan of both Mary J and Andrea. It was a slow plodding mess to me, and not inspiring in the least. But .... not nearly in the range of horror that was the Taylor Swift/Stevie Nicks duet of Rihannon. OMG, Taylor Swift singing even flatter that Stevie Nicks! If aural assault was criminal, they would have been taken off in handcuffs.

Loved Pink, Elton, Gaga.

Michael Jackson's Earth Song WAS inspiring. Really loved it.

[preden]

Have a good time at GFI tonight! Can't wait to see pics and clack tonight when I get back from work. I booked my flight to Edmonton Alberta for Feb. 22nd. hoping to meet some clayfans while there and of course spend some with my son that I haven't seen since April 2007!!!

[bottlecap]

There are a couple of updates about the day's events so far at Clay Aiken News Network. Anybody else seeing reports from elsewhere around the Clay Nation?

[aikim]

Reported at CV that Clay, Reed and Jerome were spotted having breakfast!

Kim

[Claymatron]

I am thrilled that Reed is there in FL with Clay. To me, this is a huge acknowledgement from Clay, and I'm very happy for both of them.

[bottlecap]

I am thrilled that Reed is there in FL with Clay. To me, this is a huge acknowledgement from Clay, and I'm very happy for both of them.

[liney23]

This could be a trial run on how Reed handles the fans and/or how the fans don't handle Reed... LOL

It is exciting and I cannot wait for some clack!!!

[treenuts]

Reported at CV that Clay, Reed and Jerome were spotted having breakfast!

Kim

[liney23]

Oi, those new pictures of Reed and Clay? YUM! They look so cute and happy!

This version was posted at GCA - created by Alyse.

bottle/Clayzy... I thought we could use a very purdy picture!!! THANKS!!!

I'm not sure why exactly, but I'm pleased that the NY Times didn't identify Clay in the picture. I just like it that he's just a face in the crowd, for some reason. I also find it extremely cool that we have a more "official" picture of Clay and Reed together. (lilyshine, I agree that it's nice that this appeared in the NY Times, not some rag. Also had to laugh at your purchasing the paper today -- he's still got you in his purchasing hands!)

Tech notes: anyone here use Google Chrome as their browser? I'm loving it, and they released a new version today that allows for extensions. I just discovered a great extension -- Picnik. I can now click on the little link in Google Chrome, pick the picture I want to crop/save that's on the web page I'm on, work with it, and then save it automatically to my Photobucket (or Facebook, or Flickr, or many other services). It took me about 30 seconds to take this:

and make it into this:

So very very cool!

OK, off the tech soapbox!

ldyj... just wanted to see these again and marvel that he and Reed weren't pounced on by the media... yipee!!!!!

Caro... wanted to tell you I spent a verra verra niiiiice hour playing on your blog last night. The SueRue montages of Clay's career were awesome. Thanks for doing this. I'll try to leave a comment next time I get back there so my visit counts more for your blog and for Clay!

[treenuts]

From Notacanuck at the CH

Wonderful article/interview from The Palm Beach Post

Clay Aiken at Mirasol: Golf, inclusion and fatherhood

http://www.pbpulse.com/tv/2010/02/01/clay-...and-fatherhood/

In 2008, I had a chat with “American Idol” finalist, Broadway star and all-around big famous sensation during his first annual Golfing For Inclusion benefit at Palm Beach Gardens’ Mirasol Country Club, for what was then called the Bubel-Aiken Foundation. He was there to help raise money for the foundation’s goal of providing opportunities for kids with disabilities to attend camp, but not to share his mad golf skills, because he apparently doesn’t have any.

And today, at the third annual golf event to benefit what is now called the National Inclusion Project, Clay revealed that after three years and a couple of clinics with golf pro Wayne Player, his game…still has no game.

“I still don’t know anything,” Clay, chilling in a small room not far from the very rainy golf course where about 75 golfers were to be teeing off. “We do the clinic and I still don’t know what (Player) is talking about. I just stand there and make a few jokes.”

Still, Clay’s willing every year to be the test subject in Player’s clinics every year, if it’ll inspire people to show up, play golf and contribute to the cause, which has been dear to him since his pre-Idol days as a camp counselor in Raleigh, North Carolina. There, he remembers, was a little girl – “Let’s call her Jessica,” he says, who signed up for camp before anyone realized she had disabilities. Upon discovering Jessica’s situation, Clay remembers, the camp’s director, tried to send her away, “because I think the director and the camp were not educated that it was possible. I almost quit over that. But now, people know that it’s possible, easy and effective.”

What The National Inclusion Project has done is create a curriculum that can be used by already-existing camps to make their facilities accessible and fun for would-be campers with disabilities. For the third year, the foundation has donated $15,000 to a Florida facility – this year’s recipient is the Florida Lion’s Camp in Lake Wales.

Clay says the foundation’s new name makes plain what its goals are, unlike the old one, named for him and co-founder Diane Bubel, whose autistic son Clay tutored — “No one knew how to pronounce Diane’s name, including our executive director. Make sure you print that! They said Bubble, Babel, Buble’. Plus, no one knew what (the foundation) did, even with the minimal name recognition. But this new name has helped us reach out to a national audience.”

The event, which attracted about 75 people for golf and is expected to have about 200 for a dinner and performance by Clay this evening, was nearly turned into “Poker For Inclusion,” because of the soggy weather. But the foundation’s Kristy Barnes, who was a counselor with Clay back in the day, reports that most everyone stuck it out and played nine holes or so before retiring into the club to play cards, while “talking about how much fun they had.”

Since the first event, Clay’s life has changed somewhat – he finished a stint on Broadway in “Spamalot,” came out on the cover of “People” magazine, and in the summer of 2008 had a son, Parker Foster Aiken, with friend Jaymes Foster (sister of producer David Foster). He says that parenthood has helped the cause of inclusion “resonate even more” with him than it did before.

“Before, Diane Bubel always talked about this from the perspective of a parent, and I didn’t understand. But this year, me and Christy, who is also a new parent, were putting together the video for our gala, and we finally thought ‘We know now what heartstrings we need to pull.’ Before, we would have asked the question, ‘How would you feel if you were left out, if you weren’t included?’ and now we’re asking ‘What would you do if it were your child,’ because now, that’s so much more powerful to us.”

Still, Clay laughs, his golf game is not, nor is his interest in watching sports in general – “I don’t have the patience for it,” he says. “But I did watch the Vikings and the Saints play, and I was somewhat intrigued by it. If they could shorten the entire football season down to about a week, I could be into it!”

Loved this piece! Love the cause! Love the man!!

(bolding mine) BWAH!!!

[aikim]

From CH EEEEEEEEEEE

QUOTE

Report from merrieee. Clay looks wonderful. Hair short, nice color brown. Reed is sitting with him!

Program's about to start!

[keepingfaith]

From CH EEEEEEEEEEE

QUOTE

Report from merrieee. Clay looks wonderful. Hair short, nice color brown. Reed is sitting with him!

Program's about to start!

merrieeee called just a minute ago from the lobby and in hushed tones said pretty much the above. The hair is nice and brown and he looks wonderful. She asked, "Guess who's here?" I said, "Reed." In a very loud whisper she managed an emphatic, "He's gorgeous!"

So that makes two of 'em.