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

[FearofH2O]

So why doesn't Larry have a TV show. He would kick Larry King's butt.

I loved listening in on his personal discussion with Clay. I'm just surprised that he didn't know that Clay is a great conversationalist and is very knowledgable. I hope a lot of NJUs listen to this.

[luckiest1]

I was lucky enough to listen to the interview when it aired this afternoon (thanks goldarngirl!) and it was the best.interview.ever. What a difference a respectful & knowledgeable interviewer makes! And I love it when Clay and whoever he is speaking to 'click'. I love when he isn't under time constraints and is allowed to express his thoughts in full. No interruptions! Just heaven, really. This one is going on my iPod!

[keepingfaith]

I just checked iTunes albums and T&T is # 12. It had fallen to # 22 this morning, so it looks like Larry's listeners got busy (and I'm including myself among Larry's listeners). What a great interview! It's on my iPod and I'm going to bed with it tonight ... I want to hear Clay called "babydoll" one more time before I sleep.

As to the 15th song Clay recorded, I heard his answer as Eso Beso, because he mentioned Buttercup at the same time, and specifically said that he hadn't recorded Buttercup and didn't know why, other than not wanting too much Idol stuff on the album. So I think Eso Beso was recorded. Regarding In My Life, I think he's saving that for the inevitable Beatles cover album he'll record one day. (Okay, dreamin' again. Just slap me.)

[merrieeee]

Consider yourself slapped!

[ausdon]

So far, the favorites feedback I've had from three people I gifted with CDs are:1. Unchained Melody, Suspicious Minds, and Misty2. Moon River, It's Impossible, and Crying3. Moon River, Mack the Knife, and Only Make Believe Pretty diversified responses!Also, one of my son's friends was here at the house yesterday and told me he saw Clay sing on TV this week and "he was awesome." I asked him what Clay was singing and he said, "I don't know. I think it was that Ghost song." Oh poor Caro! My sympathies to you, and wishing you some cool breezes in the evening. I remember the summer of 1980 when it was over 100 every day for about 20 days and our AC went out. There was such a demand that the AC guy couldn't come out for a week and I lived at the movies and the mall that week with the kids. The only one who didn't mind it was the 2-year old who would just keep going even though his face was red and sweaty. Even the "cold" water in the tap was warm. I'd run bath water and put ice in it. One night I just couldn't stay in the house and made a pallet outside on the patio in hopes of catching a breeze. I woke up about 5 am and was staring into the eyes of some creature. I didn't know what it was at first, and almost had a heart attack until it hopped off and I saw it was a rabbit. You just never expect to wake up with a rabbit in your face, at least I didn't!ETA: My sister thinks SM doesn't belong on the CD, that it doesn't fit with the other songs. The next person I talked to loved SM and it's one of her top two favorites. I guess Clay is absolutely right to sing the songs he loves because just as Ricky Nelson sang in Garden Party, It's all right now, I learned my lesson wellYou see, you can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself

Ah Kf - just a leeetle rabeeet!

[cindilu2]

Still thinking about yesterday's interview. Still smiling. Still loving TnT. Still loving Clay.

Maybe Clay shouldn't take the first-week numbers personally. This article on my homepage this morning says the week prior to his (ended May 30th) was the lowest sales week since they began compiling that data in 1994.

[aikim]

1 Day until Clay is on The Chelsea Lately Show!

5 Days until The PBS Special Airs in Chicago!

14 Days until Clay is Bringing Broadway Home to NC!

32 Days until Clay Addresses The Key Club Convention!

47 Days until The Timeless Tour Begins!:09:

Happy Birthday to all celebrating!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[ldyjocelyn]

And welcome to the first installment of...

Song of the Day!

Today's song is:

Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You

Post your thoughts, questions, opinions, anything you want about the song. You have the next 24 hours or so to post. I'll hopefully be in later today with my thoughts. I think I need to listen to it for a few times first.

Tomorrow's song: What Kind of Fool Am I?

[ldyjocelyn]

yahoo.com

Clay Aiken Finds Comfort in Old Songs, New Life

Clay Aiken Finds Comfort in Old Songs, New Life

By MARTHA WAGGONER, Associated Press Writer – 38 mins ago

RALEIGH, N.C. – For Clay Aiken, life now is about being comfortable, from the songs he sings to the life he lives.

Aiken's CD "Tried and True," released last week, is a collection of 13 songs from the 1950s and 1960s, all of which predate the 31-year-old Aiken. But Aiken feels intimately familiar with the music that he heard as a child, while riding in the car with his mother.

The songs, including "Mack the Knife," "Unchained Melody" and "Moon River," are not merely standards, but songs Aiken wants to sing live. And since many singers make their bread and butter from touring these days, Aiken says he never wants to record another song that he won't perform live in concert.

"There are certain songs I've recorded that I've never sung since the studio," says Aiken, who starts a tour in July with good friend Ruben Studdard, to whom he came in second on "American Idol" in 2003. "So every song on this album is a song that I enjoy singing and love doing live."

The cover for the album features a different look for Aiken: He's pictured with slicked-back blonde hair, not his usual red, in a photo that harkens another era. Still, there is something comfortable about it: He's sitting in a well-known restaurant in Raleigh, where he grew up (he lives in an area nearby).

"I wanted everything to be about being at home," says Aiken — his hair back to red — as he sits beside his mother, Faye Parker, at her home in Raleigh.

Aiken is equally comfortable talking about his sexuality as he is about his music. He came out in September 2008 after the birth of his son, Parker, who was born through in-vitro fertilization to a friend, Jaymes Foster.

His newly redesigned Website still has promotions for his favorite projects — UNICEF and The Inclusion Project. But now it also includes GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, which focuses on safe schools for all students.

Aiken chose GLSEN because of the teasing and name-calling he endured on school buses and classroom hallways.

"But the truth is, when I look back on it, I absolutely know that (being gay) is why I got picked on. People said it, we heard it," Aiken says, glancing at his mother.

Even though his mother knew about the bullying, Parker says she didn't acknowledge Aiken was gay until he told her at the end of 2004.

"I heard the kids call him names," she said. "I knew some things about him were a little bit more effeminate than others. But parents engage in denial."

Aiken wonders if his endorsement for GLSEN will make a difference for gay kids. "I don't know what it would have done for me," he says. "But I feel like there's a potential impact there."

The 2009 student advocate of the year for GLSEN, Austin Laufersweiler, says gay teens do care when a famous person acknowledges their sexuality.

"The face that significant people identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender gives this cause credibility and it certainly allows one to be more courageous," said Laufersweiler, 18, of Marietta, Ga., who just graduated from high school. "It really spreads the message that I can come out in school if this person can come out to the whole world."

The GLSN promotion is another step in gay rights advocacy for Aiken, who spoke in February at the Human Rights Campaign Carolinas gala in Raleigh. He's also taken to his blog to criticize anti-gay statements and legislation.

Aiken credits his increased advocacy to his son Parker, who Aiken hopes grows up in a different kind of world as far as treatment of homosexuals (Aiken and Foster share custody of Parker, who visits Aiken's home in two- to three-week stints typically).

"If he's gay, I want him to not even think about the fact or have to worry about the things I had to worry about," Aiken says.

He adds: "I'm not going to pound the pavement as much as some folks would like. ... But I also think there's a place for deliberate, thoughtful advocacy."

___

Online:

http://clayaiken.com/

http://www.glsen.org

[aikim]

AP Interview:

http://cbs4denver.com/wireapentertainment/Clay.Aiken.finds.2.1736584.html

Kim

[ldyjocelyn]

Ha! I beat aikim!

LOL!

[merrieeee]

Ah! A day that will live in the annals of the FCA*g*

Larry Flick says nice things this am and Chelsea Handler tomorrow and another good interview (this is an AP writer). Drip...drip...drip!

Comfortable Clay

[ldyjocelyn]

Hey! Stop repeating me! I'm an admin around here, I was hoping people would, you know, read my posts, especially when they bring Clay articles!

*sniff*

No one loves me.

[/jk]

[aikim]

Hey! Stop repeating me! I'm an admin around here, I was hoping people would, you know, read my posts, especially when they bring Clay articles!

*sniff*

No one loves me.

[/jk]

Awe, I love you...just great minds you know..we all seem to be on the same wavelength.

Kim

[luckiest1]

Wow, what a great day to be a Clay fan. I'm loving it. Can't get enough of the album. Can't get enough of that OutQ interview. Love the AP article. Looking forward to more clack tomorrow. Got a deluxe edition CD/DVD yesterday, thanks to friends. And my US order shipped in time for first week sales! Wheeeee! Stupid Canadian site is still sitting in limbo though.

[jmh123]

Did y'all hear the AP article came out today?

[merrieeee]

No really!

[jmh123]

Yes, really. Have you seen it?

[cindilu2]

I know it's Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You day and all, but hey, I only got my deluxe edition yesterday and I just have to say... ldyj, I hate to tell you this but Breaking Up Is Hard To Do and I are having a torrid affair behind your back. Oh my god, he really, really knows how to torch up a song. Those low notes all the way to the falsetto at the end. *dies* No wait, *dies satisfied and smoking a cigarette*

And I'll never tire of listening to him sing the words 'who's sorry now?'.

Enjoyed the AP article (too bad nobody let me know it was out there :-P)

I get the feeling that Granny Aiken took things better than Mama Faye did. And that's all ima say about that.

[keepingfaith]

Consider yourself slapped!

Somehow I knew you'd be first in line. Maybe I'd like it.

[preden]

Just loved the interview, helps me understand things about someone coming out. It was fun hearing talk like that and explaining things, understand how he is guarded to give info about his relationship and not wanting to show pics of Parker. Just can't wait for the concerts in August, how am I going to stand waiting for them!

[cindilu2]

Just loved the interview, helps me understand things about someone coming out. It was fun hearing talk like that and explaining things, understand how he is guarded to give info about his relationship and not wanting to show pics of Parker. Just can't wait for the concerts in August, how am I going to stand waiting for them!

Your post makes me very happy, preden.

Welcome to the world of wishing your summer away for Clay!

[Silverclady]

I just lost what I posted. Off to work now. I will try again later.

[jmh123]

I just lost what I posted. Off to work now. I will try again later.

So sorry--I still haven't recreated a post I lost last week. Please do try again. And

[merrieeee]

Tweet:

markhaefeliprod

Joe with Clay Aiken at the recent Satellite Media Tour

Another Tweet:

tdaenzer

What ever happened to Clay Aiken? Find out Wednesday as he talks to host Bev Thomson on Canada AM