Blogger Boy

Clay Aiken goes weeks without blogging at the Official Fan Club, but with the latest contest to guess the acronym of the title of his new CD, Clay becomes a blogging fool. Heh! The amount blogging Clay does has been a bone of contention with some. The fan club states that with your subscription to OFC that there would be a weekly blog. Well, not quite true. We get a blog when Clay feels like blogging which is way less than many including me would like. The CD must be totally ready because Clay is monitoring the guesses for the acronyms. We must not be doing too well at it because the contest, which Clay snarkily calls NANA (New Album Name Acronym) started with one guess and no clues, is now up to seven guess with clues. The contest was announced on June 30th, and four days later we get the first blog.

I figure since it was July 4th, Clay was done with his family gathering, full of pulled pork and lima bean pie, sitting in his jammies, thinking about his contest. In that blog he tells us only to guess letters because he SERIOUSLY doubts anyone will guess his title, and that this is his favorite contest evah. We also learn that only about four people know the title. Now that totally sounds like Clay, holding the superduper top secret info close to the vest. He wants no snooping in the back channels. I wish I could figure out where those back channels are. I feel a little left out. *g* The next morning he blogs again. I think we must really suck at guessing because he says we would have better luck if we treated it like a lottery with random letters.

Clay must really want someone to win his contest because OFC changes the contest rules.

From the public part of the site:

07/05/06 / OMG! Clay Ups the Ante on the Acronym ContestOver the fourth of July holiday, Clay has decided to up the ante on the new NANA (New Album Name Acronym) Contest and add a personal touch as a thank you to his fans. Since the first contest clue leads to a possible 456,976 acronyms, Clay would like each fan club member to now be allowed up to seven (7) entries giving everyone a better chance at guessing the acronym for the title of his new album. And that's not all... Clay wants to add more to the jackpot! The grand prize winner will now also receive a one-year fan club membership renewal, compliments of Clay, and a congratulatory phone call from Clay himself!!!! Posted by Team Clay

A phone call from Clay. Those little words got the fandom working double time in coming up with some possible acronyms.

He is so pumped about his contest that he blogs again (wait two blogs in one day!) and tells us in his best Teacher Clay voice to give our guesses in his blog so he can see them. He doesn't want to wait until the end of the contest. His fans could give him a few lessons in waiting. *g*

Clay must have been pulling out his pretty hair because despite the seven chances, we still suck at guessing. New blog...new clues. First letter is a vowel and the next three aren't. One person has the correct letters in the wrong order, and one person has almost the correct order with the middle two letters inversed.

With a fandom full of computer and math geeks, those clues are all that is needed to spur a flurry of activity with Excel spreadsheets.

Unfortunately, the contest is not fun for some people. Only US fans are eligible because of contest legalities. Also some fans are crying foul because clues were given after some people had sent in their official entries. It's hard to make if fair for everyone. The alternative is that no one gets anything. I hope it doesn't come to that.

I haven't sent my guesses in yet, and even though I doubt I have a chance of winning, I will participate because this contest is making Clay happy. For me, what I like about this contest is that Clay is interacting with his fans like they are friends, like he feels the connection with us that we feel with him. He giddiness is coming through on his blogs. I love the feeling I am getting from reading them. His apparent happiness makes me happy.

A message board poster put it perfectly this morning:

"At this point, I really have no expectation of winning. However, for me, the prize in this whole situation is not the phone call. It's the knowledge that he's not so guarded and wary that he has to consult with an attorney and
publicist before blogging, that he's unafraid to actually have fun with fans. I hope it never ends, but I fear that one day, if he finds people to be too exacting or unforgiving, it may."~~posted at Clayversity

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