#57: Oh yeah, he really is just. that. good.

[ldyjocelyn]

AAAAAGH! Hope you are feeling better kf! Clay soothes all ills, though...

[FearofH2O]

Stay healthy keepingfaith, you have a concert to go to. :thbighug-1:

Good morning FCA. Monday through Wednesday, we are cashing in one of the vacations I bid on and won at the Gala in October. At the same time the guy that is buying our little house, we never lived in it, wants to move in as soon as possible (to avoid another months rent payment). So we are coming back early next Wednesday to close. I have Droid so I can follow all Clay breaking out next week.

I guess I'd better order my TnT this week on Amazon. Although I do have 2 downloads ordered, there is a book I want to get too.

Have a great Clay day.

[jmh123]

Keepingfaith, glad you are OK!!

[ldyjocelyn]

The press release for the WTTW premiere of the PBS special, via the CH. I'm still looking for the link:

WTTW11 to debut new music special –Clay Aiken: Tried & True – Live! to premiere Saturday, June 12 at 7:00 pm CDT

Chicago – May 17, 2010 – All it took was a few bars of an old Heatwave song, and Clay Aiken was on his way. American Idol viewers in January 2003 were taken by surprise when an unknown singer strode confidently into the audition room, announced to the judges that he was their choice, and backed up that claim with an electrifying rendition of "Always and Forever" that instantly caught the attention of millions watching at home. Many of them -- like judge Randy Jackson -- must have wondered, "Where is that voice coming from?" Well, Clay knew…and he's never looked back.

After nine sold-out national tours, six million chart-topping albums sold worldwide, numerous television appearances, a New York Times bestselling memoir, an auspicious Broadway debut starring in Monty Python's Spamalot, extensive travels for UNICEF and the launch of his own successful foundation, The National Inclusion Project, Clay brings his clarion voice, engaging personality and Southern charm to PBS. WTTW11, Chicago's premier public television station, is proud to be the first in the country to present Clay's all-new television special

CLAY AIKEN: TRIED & TRUE – LIVE! The program debuts on Saturday, June 12 at 7:00 pm CDT.

Taped in Clay's hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina before a wildly enthusiastic audience and backed by an orchestra, Clay brings his powerful vocals and uniquely personal interpretations to new arrangements of some of the most iconic songs ever written, including "Mack the Knife," "It's Impossible," "Moon River," "Misty," "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," "Suspicious Minds," "Unchained Melody," "What Kind of Fool Am I?" and a stellar duet with his special guest, Broadway star Linda Eder, on Roy Orbison's classic lament "Crying."

Having grown up listening to this genre of music, Clay says, "I wanted to do something that paid tribute to the Johnny Mathis, Perry Como, and Andy Williams type of sound, because those artists sang really emotional material and did it wonderfully." And there were the "tried and true" songs themselves, which Clay finds "melodically appealing and beautiful." He adds, "I've often joked with friends that I was born at the wrong time because the songs I like to sing are all from earlier eras. So performing this kind of music was an opportunity to just be myself." Clay's new album titled, appropriately, Tried & True, will be released on June 1.

Also appearing in the special is Clay's good friend and American Idol colleague Ruben Studdard. "To be able to share the stage with Ruben again is so exciting," Clay says. "He is such a talented artist." In July, he and Studdard will hit the road together for their highly anticipated "Timeless Tour."

CLAY AIKEN: TRIED & TRUE – LIVE! is produced by International Media. Executive Producers are David Novik, Senior VP of A&R of Decca/UMG, and Gustavo Sagastume of International Media. Musical arrangements are by Chris Walden, Jesse Vargas and Ben Cohn.

About WTTW

For more than 50 years, audiences have turned to WTTW for distinctive programming that informs, inspires, educates, and entertains. WTTW reaches 1.5 million weekly households over a four-state area, making it the most-watched public television station in America. Recognized for its awardwinning local and national productions, WTTW is committed to presenting the very best in cultural, nature, science, public affairs, and children's programming across its four distinct television channels: WTTW11, WTTW Prime, its Spanish-language channel WTTW V-me, and WTTW Create, its "how-to"

channel. For more information, please visit www.wttw.com.

About International Media

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA is a production, marketing and distribution media company specializing in music and self-improvement programs for public television and the international market. The company was founded by Gustavo Sagastume, former Vice President of Programming for PBS, and long time Executive Producer of countless specials with international artists, including David Garrett, Yanni, Andre Rieu, The Gipsy Kings, Celtic Thunder, and Shangri-La.

[treenuts]

keepingfaith

[Carolina Clay]

The press release for the WTTW premiere of the PBS special, via the CH. I'm still looking for the link:

WTTW11 to debut new music special –Clay Aiken: Tried & True – Live! to premiere Saturday, June 12 at 7:00 pm CDT

Chicago – May 17, 2010 – All it took was a few bars of an old Heatwave song, and Clay Aiken was on his way. American Idol viewers in January 2003 were taken by surprise when an unknown singer strode confidently into the audition room, announced to the judges that he was their choice, and backed up that claim with an electrifying rendition of "Always and Forever" that instantly caught the attention of millions watching at home. Many of them -- like judge Randy Jackson -- must have wondered, "Where is that voice coming from?" Well, Clay knew…and he's never looked back.

Idyj, hope you find a link for this! I have the information in my blog, but not the official release. Here is a link in pdf format: Chicago Preview.

keepingfaith, all the best!

Thnx to those who have visited the Carolina blog. There have been lots of hits but few comments, and the entry was replaced on Google by an older Carolina blog. As long as live, I will never understand that site.

I sent all my students a link so they could read the spring recital segment. Wednesday the "Chopin Waltz" came in with a grin on her face, and she finally played her piece flawlessly. Today the fiddle group has a dress rehearsal. Cross your fingers that four sixth graders listen to each other enough to stay together in a very live hall.

Have a wonderful day in this wonderful month of Clay!

Caro

[cindilu2]

Am I really the only person who is finding it exceedingly weird that we are 10 days away from a new CD release and the man is nowhere to be seen or heard? Yes, we heard second-hand about an appearance in Texas - but seriously. It's ten days away. I'm not even expecting talk shows or any of that - but nothing? At all? For three months now? Weird. Sure would be nice to know he's at least as excited about it as we are. Or that he's, you know, alive.

[treenuts]

Am I really the only person who is finding it exceedingly weird that we are 10 days away from a new CD release and the man is nowhere to be seen or heard? Yes, we heard second-hand about an appearance in Texas - but seriously. It's ten days away. I'm not even expecting talk shows or any of that - but nothing? At all? For three months now? Weird. Sure would be nice to know he's at least as excited about it as we are. Or that he's, you know, alive.

Nope! cindilu2, you're not the only one!

I have been stowed away in "the angst car" for a few weeks now. Surely they do have a PLAN. I hope a very BIG PLAN. I just wish they would let US in on it

Though I think I'm now beginning to be a bit more worried that there may be something amiss with Clay. I'm sure ( I hope ) I'm wrong!! But it seems odd that the last 3 possible appearances (LKL, QVC, The PBS Convention in Austin) Clay was thought to attend strangely did not happen. I hope he/his family/everything is ok!

[cindilu2]

The PBS thing in Texas didn't happen? I thought there were 'tweets' about how good he looked (sounded?). Ehh, I'm not even talking about the promotion side of things - Team Clay seems to be doing things on that front. I just find the silence from Clay, the man, to be deafening. I'm the last person to angst over him or do the he-owes-us-something-rag. I think that's been established. But three months? Leading up to a CD/tour(s)? After being on the OFC almost daily in advance of the Raleigh taping? is just plain weird, and frankly, it's starting to freak me out a little.

[treenuts]

The PBS thing in Texas didn't happen?

Apparantly not. This was posted by Pink at the CH a day or two ago -

Interesting...I just heard from a PBS colleague who is attending the conference in Texas -- I had contacted her this morning to ask if she had seen Clay, whether or not she got to meet him, etc. She said he wasn't there at all...that they were given DVDs of the sizzle reel and CDs but there was no live performance. She said Clay had really wanted to be there but had a schedule conflict.

So all of the tweets we saw from attendees about Clay must have been referring the sizzle reel alone! Fascinating.

and also from the CH...the woman who was there to perform and blogged about Clay also being there posted this in her blog today -

dear LORD

my blog gets an average of 25 hits a day.

yesterday? 778.

today? almost 400 already. good lord!!

bellaria was (we think) a hit. after the pressure was off we hit some bar in austin till about 3am with the canadian tenors and celtic thunder. i didn't pay for any of my drinks (thanks, guys).

what an adventure!! i cannot wait to have the mental capacity to blog about it!

edit: i have since determined that the reason my blog got so many hits is because of my mention of clay aiken. a fan of his must have found my post and it got distributed amongst his fan boards very quickly. still, that many hits for my blog EVER is pretty disgusting. love it! and i never saw mr. aiken, though as you can see in this post i did get to hobnob with some of the other performers at the conference!

posted by miriam at 7:00 PM

Now the other woman who tweeted about how HOT she thought Clay is and wished him a safe trip home it turns out may be a make up artist and so perhaps he was somewhere making an appearance or filming something but nobody knows where or is saying. It's all speculation right now. I just hope all is well! I, for one, am more than ready to start to get sick of Clay Aiken!!

[cindilu2]

Thanks for all that, treenuts. Apparently, I need to get out more, lol. Curiouser and curiouser.

[merrieeee]

keepingfaith :thbighug-1: :thbighug-1:

everyone else

[keepingfaith]

The PBS thing in Texas didn't happen? I thought there were 'tweets' about how good he looked (sounded?). Ehh, I'm not even talking about the promotion side of things - Team Clay seems to be doing things on that front. I just find the silence from Clay, the man, to be deafening. I'm the last person to angst over him or do the he-owes-us-something-rag. I think that's been established. But three months? Leading up to a CD/tour(s)? After being on the OFC almost daily in advance of the Raleigh taping? is just plain weird, and frankly, it's starting to freak me out a little.

I'm not freaked out because I remember coming into the fandom after Clay was on the AI Finale in May 2006. I saw him again for the first time in early September, over three months later, when Inside Edition had a story on the photoshoot, as I recall. The first time we heard his voice was on September 15th on the Tonight Show the Friday night before the September 19th CD drop. Then the next week he was on GMA on drop day, and the week after that was on both Kimmel and Larry King (and on local morning TV in LA, from which I got my avi). That whole summer before he was in hiding it seemed. There were a couple of pictures of him attending a hockey game with Kristy, and attending a Kelly Clarkson concert with friends on the Fourth of July, and some paparazzi pics at LAX in August, but that was it, no official contact. I don't remember any blogs either other than Clay announcing the birth of Quiana's baby, and saying he liked the photoshoot. The only blog about the album was from Jaymes in mid-July to say they were finished recording, unless I forgot something, and there was an OFC contest to guess the title of ATDW. The "Album" controversy was raging on all the boards and many fans couldn't understand why Clay didn't address it head on. He didn't. I think Clay likes to stay under wraps and then make the Voila! appearances at drop time for maximum impact and enthusiasm. It was different for OMWH because he was in Spamalot until just a couple of days before the CD was released and he was doing Stage Door almost every night.

Just my opinion, but then I'm an incorrigible optimist, so don't go by me! However, I'm not worried, just anxious to see and hear him.

And ... thanks so much for all the good wishes. I really appreciate it!!

[cindilu2]

I'm glad you're cool with it all and optimistic. I'd have to say 2006 was quite a... different year than 2010 in just about every way imaginable. And yeah, that's about all I'll say about that.

I have my graduation ceremony this evening - who'd have thought I'd be getting a diploma at mumbletymumble years old??? It remains to be seen if I throw my cap in the air.

[luckiest1]

Have a blast, cindilu2! Sorry I can't be there. Mom's eye surgery went well this morning and I'm trying to keep her resting and quiet. However, she is quite determined that she is coming with me to pick up the new puppy on Saturday! She even went so far as to get one of the staff at the clinic this morning to come out and assure me that she was allowed to go. LOL!

I just figure Clay is enjoying his down time before all hell breaks loose on June 1st. I fully expect him to be on TV promoting his album (don't we have word that he'll be on The View on June 2?) and maybe even Kimmel on the 1st (or has that open musical guest spot been filled?). I would think he's going to be busy, busy from now until at least the end of the tour. Yeah, I guess it's a bit weird that we haven't heard much from him, but sometimes he seems to disappear for long stretches. Hopefully he's ok and will surprise us with something next week.

[cindilu2]

Thanks, luckiest1 and I'm glad to hear Mom's surgery went well. Doesn't surprise me a bit she's eager to go with you - she's a going concern!

As for the down time? The boy ain't exactly digging ditches for a living. Just sayin' ;-)

PS.. the winners of the facebook tagging contest have been notified. Check your inbox if you entered.

[luckiest1]

Well damn, nothing in my inbox.

[FearofH2O]

:14: Congratulations Cindylu

As someone who should know, "you are only as old as you want to be."

[jamar1700]

After the "Deflated" blog .... I didn't expect to get much in the way of communication from him in that type of format.

Perhaps they are trying to control his press at this time. Not taking a chance on it taking any wacky turns. The way it has been known to when people take bits & pieces of what Clay says and blow them out of proportion.

JMO

Can't wait fot the CD and the Tour and the Show.

[keepingfaith]

The DVD up now on Decca's website has me confused. Why does it specify that Buttercup is live? Isn't all of it live? Isn't Eso Beso and I'll Take Romance live? I don't understand that.

DVD available 7/27/10 from Decca

[jmh123]

The DVD up now on Decca's website has me confused. Why does it specify that Buttercup is live? Isn't all of it live? Isn't Eso Beso and I'll Take Romance live? I don't understand that.

DVD available 7/27/10 from Decca

Maybe because it isn't on the album??

[keepingfaith]

The DVD up now on Decca's website has me confused. Why does it specify that Buttercup is live? Isn't all of it live? Isn't Eso Beso and I'll Take Romance live? I don't understand that.

DVD available 7/27/10 from Decca

Maybe because it isn't on the album??

Yeah, but it includes several that aren't on the CD. Isn't this the DVD of the PBS concert?

[ldyjocelyn]

My guess is this: the bonus DVD that is coming for many of us on June 1 (the deluxe version of TnT) includes "Build Me Up Buttercup (Live)." I assume that's a "sample cut" from the real DVD that will be released late July. They probably just did a "cut and paste" with the information.

I could be totally wrong, though. Wouldn't be the first time, certainly won't be the last....

Congrats cindi!

[jmh123]

The DVD up now on Decca's website has me confused. Why does it specify that Buttercup is live? Isn't all of it live? Isn't Eso Beso and I'll Take Romance live? I don't understand that.

DVD available 7/27/10 from Decca

Maybe because it isn't on the album??

Yeah, but it includes several that aren't on the CD. Isn't this the DVD of the PBS concert?

Good point--I should have looked more carefully. Dunno.

I wonder if there is a difference between the pledge DVD and this one. One would think that would be a good idea, to increase pledges, but I do know you can buy other such DVDs. I've just never looked for one in advance of a PBS special before.

[Carolina Clay]

I'm glad you're cool with it all and optimistic. I'd have to say 2006 was quite a... different year than 2010 in just about every way imaginable. And yeah, that's about all I'll say about that.

I have my graduation ceremony this evening - who'd have thought I'd be getting a diploma at mumbletymumble years old??? It remains to be seen if I throw my cap in the air.

Congratulations, Cindy! Wish we could all be there to cheer for you! :clap:

Caro