#60: I l.o.v.e. my hawt humanatarianactivistsingersongwriterambassador boyfriend!

[shortyjill]

I'm doing what I did last year with the tour photos where I'm putting them all in one spot... here's the ones she linked for now, and I'll have all of hers at Photobucket soon.

[luckiest1]

Heading out shortly to cross into the states, with my daughter. We will catch 5-6 hours sleep in a motel and then our flight to Charlotte leaves at 5:45 am. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Luckily, we are flying Jet Blue which means wifi in the terminal (at least at JFK for sure) and we also have internet connection in all of our hotels on this trip. So I will be around....

[ldyjocelyn]

Via Facebook:

Tomorrow night UNC-TV[Twitter] parties with Clay Aiken in Charlotte at 6 PM! Check out our exclusive pics & vids, trivia & tweets (#unctvclay)!

Thanks Shortyjill, and have fun luckiest1!

[cindilu2]

Wow, those are some gorgeous pics (snix).

*vows henceforth to leave her camera in her room*

[shortyjill]

Finally, the one video I've been waiting for...Clay singing "I Kissed A Girl"!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DabNfyr9_ek

Wow, those are some gorgeous pics (snix).

*vows henceforth to leave her camera in her room*

I recently found out how to find out camera information from pics put on SmugMug, and from that I can tell she's got a really nice high end DSLR.... so don't feel too bad.

[aikim]

9 Days until Clay will be wowing us in Waukegan!

May 10, 2011- Clay announced another tour. Since his fans have such diverse tastes, he will do an all request tour. Unfortunately Ben quit, saying " No way". Details to be announced later.

One million years or until hell freezes over (which ever comes first) until Clay gets his body tattooed with all the states he has toured in (do we then get to sign our names in our particular state?)

September 18, 2015 -- Clay hosts a one-night only benefit singing the entire catalog of the Beatles. He has to stop on the middle of "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" when the stage is rushed with fans saying "Sure!"

Happy Birthday to all celebrating!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[ldyjocelyn]

From the Balitmore show last night, via heavens2 at the CH. Seriously, how gorgeous is he?

[aikim]

Neck!!!

Kim

[ldyjocelyn]

Should I continue to pin the threads for this tour, as a way to find them easy for chat? I pinned last night's, only to have no one there (me included). I subscribed to the cellcerts, but am finding it hard to attend many. What do you all think?

If nothing else, I'll pin the last one, as I know I'll be there, and I'm guessing many others will be chatting during that one as well.

Amy

[cindilu2]

I was there for a while, but it's not much fun to be all alone (tm King Arthur).

Excitement needs to be shared to thrive.

Can you stand a truly 'not just us' story? A little background: I have a friend in Germany that I made through another fandom (not music related) and over the course of our 'getting to know you' emails, I told her a little about my 'other obsession' (Clay) but honestly didn't go OTT or even really explain much about him. I asked first if she was familiar with AI, and she said she knew Kelly C, but that was pretty much it. She hadn't heard of Clay (or Ruben for that matter) at all. So after my excitement over FL and Cleveland, she asked a little more about him and I sent her links to "Where Do I Begin, Love Story Theme"/Love Story, Crying and "Mack The Knife" from Cleveland. She was v complimentary about the vids but didn't really say much more. This morning I got another email from her, in response to something I'd asked her (again, unrelated) and this is what she sent back (edited the unrelated parts). Keep in mind she is just learning English (from the message boards no less!). It really made me smile!

I got some other mails but I didn't looked at them, sorry, I got distracted. Got hungry, made me a sandwich and listened and watched once again to Clay's Love Story Song.. To listen a VT fan video over/by/at the iPad is SURELY not any audio quality time but this doesn't matter at all! The atmosphere can be felt, he is so engaged, so in the song, and I just read now that this has been his opening in Cleveland. OMG, he couldn't top this. Even as I don't know this guy I must say I got tears in my eyes just from watching and listening via iPad.

Wonderful. Absolutely...

Welcome to the cult, honey!

Does anyone know why all the posts appear to be bolded? If you 'edit' then go back out, even if you don't change anything, they revert to normal text.ETA: until you exit and come back - then it's all bold again. *scratches head*

[ldyjocelyn]

cindi, I know what you mean about being "all alone." I really do wish I could attend more cellcerts, but it's a time factor for me. OTOH, very cool NJU story.

As for the bolding of the posts -- I don't know what's going on. I thought it was just my computer, because when I went home last night, everything was fine. What system are you on? I'm on Windows XP here, using Firefox. May have to try it with IE to see if there is a difference.

[cindilu2]

cindi, I know what you mean about being "all alone." I really do wish I could attend more cellcerts, but it's a time factor for me. OTOH, very cool NJU story.

As for the bolding of the posts -- I don't know what's going on. I thought it was just my computer, because when I went home last night, everything was fine. What system are you on? I'm on Windows XP here, using Firefox. May have to try it with IE to see if there is a difference.

What is really odd is that right now, it looks fine. But then I'll come back and it will be all bold again. I am using Windows 7 and FF here at work, but was the same at home last night on my laptop with XP and FF.

Now I'll hit submit and see if it's all bold again!

The cellcert/participation stuff - guess it is what it is. There were 197 people on the CV thread at one point.

[luckiest1]

Hellooooooooooo for Charlotte! We arrived about 10:15 this morning and had to wait a while for a rental car to become available...however perseverence paid off and we ended up not only with our original quoted priced (apparently an Expedia error to our benefit) but also a free upgrade to a Ford Fusion. It's sleek, we are loving it. So far we've hit Pizza Hut for Wings Wednesday and Bi-Lo for the infamous peanut butter cookies. We also picked up some fruit (trying to be healthy ha ha) and some NC Tar Heels boxed tissues. Now we are getting cleaned up and ready for our PBS M&G with Clay at the Belk Theatre. luckiestdaughter is hoping that Clay/Mary/Jerome will agree to sign her arm so that she can get it tatoooed for all eternity....she has wanted this for 8 years. If they agree, there will be pictures.

ETA: Did I mention that it's warm? And sunny? Maybe not by NC standards, but by our standards, for sure!

[bottlecap]

Mmmmm… peanut butter cookies sound pretty darn good right now.

Have a wonderful time tonight!

[ldyjocelyn]

Mmmmmm, cookies....

From beagle3 at the CH:

Clay's Charlotte interview is now on their website.....

http://www.wcnc.com/...3329&sec=552187

And for those who can only read what was said:

Charlotte Observer interview -- "It's None of Your Business"

ETA: BWAH! Watch the beginning of the clip -- Clay wants to know where the cookies are as well!

[cindilu2]

Just got a text from luckiest1 in the PBS M&G. No autographs and a group photo of 10. Dang - luckiestdaughter was at this one with hopes of her first Clay up-close. She said there were more like 200 than 75 people.

She said he was great though - shook hands, asked names. Not much he can do with that many folks. Hopefully they get a great concert experience though! Hehehe, just got another text that reads:

Jerome said 'no squeezing the booty cheeks', and he meant it!! BWAHHHH!! I'm afraid to know what instigated that one!

[aikim]

That had to be insane!

Kim

[luckiest1]

Hey y'all...in the venue lobby, doors to the theatre don't open until 7. Yes, it was a bit nuts, we were thre 4th group of ten and there were two more already formed after us before we got ouit of the room. At least that many more people still in line as we exited. Clay was friendly but very rushed, no time for more than a handshake each. He had a purple sweater on and I got an extrmre close up aS he leaned past me to shakke someone's hand behind me. He already had his stage makeup on too.

Sorry for typos, typing on a blackberry sucks but at least we have a connection in here!

[treenuts]

Cindilu, great NJU story!! I wish he would/could tour overseas because I think they'd go nuts (hee) for him!

luckiest, I'm sorry to hear your M&Moo,Run,Flash(?) was so crazy huge! I'm guessing your daughter didn't get her armed signed by TC? I hope you both have a wonderful concert experience though. REALLY WONDERFUL!

And in honor of Jerome's request --->

ldyj, I actually came by to join the concert thread last night but saw nobody there

I won't be home tonight so I'll miss the cellcert. Will catch up later.

[shortyjill]

Just got a text from luckiest1 in the PBS M&G. No autographs and a group photo of 10. Dang - luckiestdaughter was at this one with hopes of her first Clay up-close. She said there were more like 200 than 75 people.

<snip>

That's just horrible..... I kinda feel bad for those who had to go through that cattle call...I'd be disappointed. JMO.

luckiest1 and luckiestdaughter, have a great time tonight!!

[merrieeee]

Now i am officially excited!! I booked my flight to San Francisco! It suddenly feels real. I get in at Noon on Saturday so I will have time to explore! eeee

[ldyjocelyn]

long-island.newsday.com

Clay Aiken brings "Tried and True" to Westbury

Full text is in the news section!

[luckiest1]

Just back from the concert....Faye was there, and Clay's grandma was there, Diane & Emma Bubel, Audra (from LTS), Mona (who was Clay's replacement with Mike Bubel when he went to AI2) all were there, so it was really a hometown show. The first time he hasn't worn jeans (I think). They were dress pants, kind of beige or gray (hard to tell with the lights), the shoes/boots about the same colour. Turquoise sweater with weird, colourful cuffs over a white shirt and don't remember the colour of the tie.

This as a different set list than we got in Cleveland because we got YDHTSYLM and BUIHTD but not It's Impossible and Misty. Quiana flipped her songs around, and sang the London Town one first. When he launched into the jazzy CA medley he said it had gone over great in one venue, not so great in another, and we would be the deciding vote on whether or not he continued with it. After it was over, and we raved it up, he said ok, he'd keep it.

The autotune was a Ke$ha song. I am not convinced someone actually shouted out her name....I think sometimes if they are only giving him artists who actually can sing, he just pretends someone says her. She seems to get picked on a lot.

The WSN tonight was hilarious....first bluegrass, then doo-wop, then disco, then death metal/rock. Clay was moving tonight, he even imitated Quiana's Bollywood routine at one point. Sure hope there is clack, and then he ran off the stage because Q's 'death' scared him to death.

Crying and UM were magnificent today. Spot on, gorgeous notes he hit. He joked around a bit when he came back for the encore, even while the band kept playing the intro to BSN. Then it went silent during the song, which he seems to feel more and more each time he sings it. He remarked that they are his favourite lyrics. There hadn't been much obvious clacking in the venue, because security was pretty strict and we were told no photography of any kind was allowed (by an usher). However he talked about it before IML and pointed someone out (I assume Scarlett?) He also said that flashes hurt his eyes (referring to other concerts, not this one). And didn't people take that as an invitation to start flashing during the song. Sometimes you just have to wonder how stupid people can really be. He talked a lot about Charlotte and AI and different things tonight, at one point he asked Felix how he was doing and said something like 'live with it, sometimes I just like to talk'.

Oh and before IML, after he told us how much he loved and appreciated us he plugged Greenville quite a few times, and said that if you weren't in Greenville tomorrow night, you were out of the will.

ETA some random thoughts:

Audra was actually sitting directly behind us, but I didn't want to turn around and stare so didn't really get a look at her. It was so cute because he talked tonight to quite a few people who said this was their first Clay Aiken concert....one group of three sisters sitting in the front row, from Georgia, IIRC. So when he was getting ready to talk about clack and cellcerts, etc, he said this is to explain to the people like Mona and Audra who haven't witnessed this insanity before, and also for the first-timers (and added 'are you scared yet?'). Hee.

Yes, the M&G certainly left something to be desired, and I am sure many went away disappointed, but everyone I spoke to was upset with PBS, who totally oversold the thing. I don't think Clay had any option, really. There was no physical way he could have done autographs and individual pictures.

Oh, when he first took the stage tonight, he said "I think I met almost every one of you at the M&G earlier. There had to be about 700 of you!" He said something like I'm tired but I think I still have something left. He was in good spirits about the whole thing.

Oh and Dell told a joke tonight (Clay reminded him that his grandmother was in the audience ), and after the punch line Clay said that the youngsters (i.e. the guitarist) always giggle about poop.

OK time to crash, we need sleep!

One more thing before my brain shuts down.....in the last line of "In My Life" he added "in my life North Carolina, I love you all".

[Couch Tomato]

Lucky, you still know how to write a great recap! And fast too.

By the time I get home from work most nights it's 10 or 11 pm on the east coast and everything is over. I'll be quite the virgin when my concert rolls around considering my lackofsounditis, if I may steal that from a certain red head.

[luckiest1]

This travel recap is screaming to come out, so here I sit at 6:30 am in the lobby. LOL. We left home at 6 pm on Tuesday the 22nd of February. Our flight to Charlotte, out of Buffalo, connecting in JFK, was slated for 5:45 am, so we reserved a cheap, airport motel. We had possibly the coldest, meanest border guard ever. He acted like we were bothering him when we responded to his questions. He asked the purpose of our trip, and luckiestdaughter explained that we were going to see two Clay Aiken concerts. I couldn't see well, but according to her he made a 'pfffffft' noise. She decided he didn't like the gay (us or Clay or both). We decided we were fortunate he didn't pull us in for a vehicle search. We found the motel no problem, and while parking remarked on a woman wearing a ridiculously large toque (winter hat for those who don't know). She was wandering around the parking lot. We went into the completely deserted office and stood around for a good 10-15 minutes, wondering how we were ever going to check in. Just when we were considering going behind the desk to push the 'service' button on the wall, in walked toque woman, and I swear it was like a scene out of a Chevy Chase vacation movie. She talked from the second she entered until we escaped. She was like a caricature of a backwoods bumpkin. I don't think she was quite all there, but she knew my name before I told it to her. Obviously, she was expecting us! She went on about the truckers, how she was patrolling them, how you can tell a trucker because they grow old and hunched over, and at times we thought she was talking to us but she was really talking to the TV showing CSI behind us. She directed us to the far building, bordering on a patch of trees ('the woods'), with a wave of her hand and told us to watch out for the skunk. I mean, you'd think he were in Buttfuck Idaho, not Buffalo NY. Ha ha ha priceless.

We had eaten a quick dinner before leaving home but decided we were starving. Even though we'd seen a restaurant next to the motel, it was too freaking cold to walk, so we jumped in the car. Good thing, since it closed at 9. WTF? So we tried the next one we found, a Cracker Barrel. Yay, open 'til 10. And the fireplace was roaring and it was empty so we got a fireside seat. I had rainbow trout and veg, and found a cookbook in the store for 50% off that I wanted. I was happy. Then we carefully made our way back to the motel, wary of skunks and the rickety, frosty wooden staircase to the 2nd level. The concessions we make to travel cheaply!

The alarm woke us at 3:45 am and we were in the car by 4:00 am, freezing our butts off without winter coats or gloves. I was never happier than to see the airport shuttle arrive to pick us up at the economy lot, as my fingers were going to freeze and drop off shortly. The driver was also unpleasant, even though I tipped him for the fast service. Then through security and into the nearly empty terminal, where apparently nothing opened until 5:00. We managed to grab juice before boarding. Of course, it was Jet Blue, who always offer a beverage and snack service, not to mention the seatback TV screens. I love Jet Blue (especially when they don't delay or cancel my flights ).

JFK had free wi-fi but no freaking Starbucks. What's wrong with this picture? I grumbled all the way to our next gate and then practically kissed 'Aunt Butchie' at the pastry counter who had a milk steamer. She looked at my strangely when I requested a cup of steamed milk but for $0.92 I was in seventh heaven. Thank god I carry Tazo Chai tea bags on my person at all times. My addiction is strong, y'all!

More snacks, more TV, welcome to Charlotte. It's still only 10 am and we're already here! Off to the rental counter to pick up our reserved compact car. Except they don't have any. Would we like a 12 passenger van instead? Um, no thanks, there are two of us and we plan to drive all over God's green earth. We want something good on gas. I swear we were the only 'non-preferred' customers in there but about 25 'preferred' piled in behind us, and we were the only ones getting service. Hee! After a bit of a wait we were offered a free upgrade to a sleek black Ford Fusion hybrid. Wheeeeee! They tried to screw us on the price we were quoted, but we had our print out, and they finally gave in, although they said it was an Expedia error. Sucks to be Expedia!

We programmed the borrowed GPS (thanks cindilu2!) for the hotel and checked in quickly. Then we programmed it for Pizza Hut (luckiestdaughter had seen an advertisement for Wings Wednesday on the plane and there was no stopping her). However, we were on the freeway when it said we'd reached our destination. No restaurants in sight. LOL! So we pulled off and reprogrammed for the next nearest Pizza Hut. That worked out fine, gotta love GPS. Our helpful waitress, named 'December', guided us to the nearest Bi-Lo where we bought out the entire stock of large tubs of peanut butter cookies (a grand total of 2) and some token fresh fruit. We need to go back for more cookies this morning, when they are fresh.

After that we returned to the hotel to shower and prepare ourselves for the M&G and concert. We headed downtown quite early, as of course I was antsy and afraid we might get stuck in traffic. I finally got a real Starbucks, and we sat in the window and people watched for a while, then scoped out the back of the Belk theatre, where we had been instructed to meet. We met a few fans outside, and then Fatima and Stacy from WTVI walked by. So we were definitely in the right place. jmh123 and friends arrived with our passes & concert tickets, and we, by this point, there were a lot of people forming a line. As many of us as possible crowded into the small lobby area, and gradually we worked our way into a large room (almost gymnasium-like). Fatima advised us that there would group photos of 10 people, and no autographs. Much grumbling ensued. Mary and then Jerome appeared in the room after we had been assigned to our groups (we were given the number '6' on a WTVI card). Jerome went to each group and told us 'the rules'. He said he didn't know how to put this in a politically correct way, but 'no sqeezing of the booty cheeks'. We all laughed, and he said he knew it sounded funny, but he was serious. Sadly, people really do this, and also rub his back, etc, sometimes unintentionally, but he wanted us all to be aware that none of this was welcome. He said there is really no politically correct way to bend a 60 year old woman's hand backwards if she tries it. Eeeeep!

The groups were actually formed before Clay joined each one. Jerome was his stand in. The photographer stood on a chair to get a better angle. Clay whizzed into the room and went to the first group, shaking each person's hand and repeating each person's name back to them. Then he posed in the middle, the shot was taken, and he said thank you for coming and headed to the next group. While he was there, Jerome replaced the first group with the third group. Etcera. We were the fourth group (no idea why we were #6) so we got to watch the first few before being called over. We tried to push the newbies towards the centre so they could get closer to Clay, but he ended up going behind all of us and standing on his toes (I think) so the photographer could see him. I got an extreme close up when he was doing the introductions because I was in the front row (being short) and he leaned over me to shake the person's hand behind me. I was pretty sure he already had stage make up on. I couldn't tell you what he was wearing but luckiestdaughter said a purple sweater over a shirt. No idea on the pants. It was very, very rushed but Jerome had it well organized. When we left there were already two more groups formed and taking pictures and there were piles of people still in line in the lobby and out on the street, to the corner. Had to be at least 150 - 200 people. That is insane. Even 75, as we originally thought, was insane. Clay, Jerome and Mary did the best they could with the situation. luckiestdaughter (and most others) were disappointed, of course. I blame the two PBS stations that radically oversold this thing, and misadvertised it to boot. Next time, I'm bidding on the NIP auctions.

So after this we decided to go and have a bite to eat, since it was 5:37 and the concert didn't start until 7:30. We had some really good Mexican food at a place across the road, then took all our unautographed items, and my Starbucks mug purchase, back to the rental car. They let us in the venue but the actual theatre was not opening it's doors until 7 pm. Thankfully, there was a public wireless network available so we were able to go online to kill the time. Our seats (provided by PBS) were row G off to the side. Not the greatest but at least close enough that I could see facial features without binoculars (good thing since I left them at the hotel). jmh123 and many, many others had upgraded to closer seats, so while the orchestra area of the theatre was quite full (right to the back) there were the odd few empty seats here and there. The first balcony was also quite full. I was impressed with the attendance. We saw Diane Bubel sitting about 5 rows in front of us, with her daughter.

I won't recap the concert again as I've already done that. Suffice to say that it was glorious and funny, and it will be a crying shame if some of it was not captured due to the clack down. I took a self-portrait of us before the lights went down, and was immediately jumped on by an usher, who told me that there was no photography whatsoever. I agree with those who said that Clay dressed to please Faye....I was not a fan of the pants. They were not pantsssssss if you know what I mean. Sure, the jeans he has been wearing may be a bit ragged and loose fitting, but I much prefer them. Just me I'm sure. The cuffs on the sweater were a bit odd too. They didn't match. And they couldn't have been attached to the white shirt. LOL I love his quirky choices in clothing though. I hope Faye enjoyed it.

After the concert we exited the venue to a live band complete with trombone and tuba! It looked to be a family affair, the trombone player about 8 or 9 years old. They were attracting quite a crowd. We headed for the car, said hi to some more familiar faces, and hit the highway back to the hotel. By this point, luckiestdaughter was almost asleep on her feet, she was so tired. So her impressions of the concert will have to wait until she is conscious and hopefully rested. Today we are planning to take a look around UNC Charlotte (maybe hit the store there for hoodies) and then make our way to Greenville. We have better seats tonight. I hope luckiestdaughter gets brave and answers Clay when he asked who listens to Top 40 radio, because other than our iPods, that's what we've been listening to. Kind of funny, as I have heard a lot of the songs Clay has done on tour so far!