Happy Birthday to our American Idol

All day I have been trying to come up with something worthy of Clay's 28th birthday. I haven't blanked out so badly since the 'Statement of Financial Position Cash Basis' problem on the CPA exam. Luckily the very eloquent Rockys Mom of Clayversity wrote a lovely post which went right to the heart of wanted to say, but could quite get out.


With Rockys Mom permission:

Happy Birthday Clay

While eating dinner my computer switched over to "screensaver"

The first picture that came up was of Clay,from his Atlanta audition.

And I wondered if I could go back in time and whisper in that young man's ear,that I could tell him that in just a few short years,on his 28th birthday...

He wouldn't have to worry about paying off his student loans or his mom making her mortgage payments

He wouldn't have to feel bad that Brett had been forced to sell his beloved Firebird

He wouldn't have to worry about getting his degree or what the Chancellor of UNCC might think of him

Instead....

He'd be showing WRAL around his 2 million dollar,9,000 square foot home

That one room of his house contains mementos of his trips to Indonesia and Africa as a UNICEF ambassador,one highly thought of by the organization,perhaps partly because of his ability to raise tens of thousands of dollars in less than a day-simply by asking his fans

His fans also help support the foundation he's started to help the cause of inclusion for special-needs children.This is aside from his postion on a Presidential council for special-needs issues.

Another room contains numerous awards he's been given for his skyrocketing musical career,plus an "Outstanding Alumnus Award" from UNCC

His dining room has held parties for much-loved friends and family and his "four-legged kids" roam the rooms freely

The girl that beat you in Charlotte....will become one of your dearest friends and you'll be Godfather to her son.

That shortly he'll be boarding a plane for Illinois to begin his seventh tour,singing songs of the season including hymns of praise to his Lord,backed by symphony orchestras.Fans travel 1,000's of miles in order to see him as often as possible.

He'll have set records of some type with virtually every recording he releases.His latest CD will see his first efforts as a lyricist and he's Executive producer on his new Christmas EP.

He'll be a sought after guest on TV shows,both for his singing ability and his humor,charm,and quick-wit.

They'll be bad days....some very bad days. But you will have fans that love you...really and truly love you,unconditionally....and they will not desert you through these times. Indeed,they will help forge an unbreakable bond between you and your fandom. You'll learn their words and you'll tease them mercilessly and we'll drive each other crazy sometimes.Some of us will hate your hair. Some will get your name tattooed on their backs. We'll learn that you have no sense of time,especially the word "soon". You'll learn that we must have our "Clack".

So don't worry,Atlanta Clay....just walk out there and tell them that you're the next American Idol. It's the truth...more than they will ever know. Happy Birthday,Baby!

Related Tags: Clay Aiken, Birthday

Where Has That Hand Been

If you have been following Ripagate at all, you know Kelly Ripa made a disparaging comment to Clay after he made the faux pas of placing his hand over her mouth to let him get in a word edgewise. Kelly said, "You don't know where that hand has been". Au contraire, we know very well where that hand has been. If only other hands should be as industrious, as expressive, as helping, as good, as Clay's hands then the world would be a much better place..



For a beautiful montage about Clay's hands don't miss "I don't know where your hands have been honey" by no1tvfan63





For a must-read blogs, please click on links to The ConCLAYve: Giving Thanks: Clay Aiken's Hands and ClaySpots: Kelly Ripa....you're a foolish, foolish woman.

Technorati Tags: Clay Aiken, Hands, Humanitarian, Kelly Ripa

Before They Stars

In the Dec 4th issue of People there is an ad for an upcoming special collector's edition of People called "Before They Were Stars" Subheading is "What your favorite celebrities were like before they became famous" .

As lylekira of Clayversity noted:

There are exactly 12 photos on this cover which means the editors were given the task of selecting 12 of the biggest and most recognizable celebrities from the worlds of Movies, Music and Television. They are also to be recognizable by only their first name.

Clay was selected for one of these precious 12 spots.

Lets break down who exactly is on the cover. There are only 3 other singers besides Clay, on this cover and Madonna, Will Smith, and Jessica Simpson are all artists who have crossed over into other mediums. There are only 4 other men on this cover; Besides Clay, there is Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Will Smith, and Matthew McConaughey. These are the five men People considered the 5 biggest celebrity men right now. Lastly, and most fitting, there is only ONE American Idol on the cover - Clay Aiken! (who says he didn't win)

They say a picture is worth a million words... and today these 12 pictures were worth a fortune to me. This put a smile on my face, and perhaps could explain just a little more why Clay may have a smile on his -- He is HUGE!!!

Technorati Tags: Clay Aiken, People Magazine, Special Edition, Collector's Edition, Before They Were Stars

Kelly Ripa Has A Tantrum

Kelly The Hypocrite


Kelly Ripa was a little jealous in not getting invited to the TomKat wedding so she decided to grab a little publicity for herself at Clay Aiken's expense. After a very entertaining show last Friday, Ms Ripa decided that Clay had a bit too much attention, so she waits until he isn't there to defend himself to rip into him.

I don't have time to devote that this subject warrants, so I direct you to an excellent blog that lays out what happened complete with video at: The ConCLAYve: Kelly Ripa gets upstaged...and sucks her thumb


Related Tags: Clay Aiken, Kelly Ripa, Live with Regis and Kelly

All Is Well

On November 28th, Clay will release a new 4-song Christmas EP that will be sold exclusively at Walmart. Make sure to pick up your copy or copies early because you never know about the stock situation at Walmart.


All Is Well

All is well all is well
Angels and men rejoice
For tonight darkness fell
Into the dawn of love's light
Sing A-le
Sing Alleluia

All is well all is well Let there be peace on earth
Christ is come go and tell
That He is in the manger
Sing A-le
Sing Alleluia

All is well all is well
Lift up your voice and sing
Born is now Emmanuel
Born is our Lord and Savior
Sing Alleluia
Sing Alleluia
All is well

Christmas Waltz

Frosted window panes
Candles gleaming inside
Painted candy canes on the tree
Santa's on his way
He's filled his sleigh with things
Things for you and for me

It's that time of year
When the world fall in love

Ev'ry song you hear seems to say
"Merry Christmas, May Your New Year
Dreams Come True"
And this song of mine
In three-quarter time
Wishes you and yours
The same thing too

"Merry Christmas, May Your New Year
Dreams Come True"
And this song of mine
In three-quarter time
Wishes you and yours
The same thing too

O Come O Come Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times did'st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.


My Grown Up Christmas List

Do you remember me?
I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you with childhood fantasies
Well I'm all grown up now
And still need help somehow
I'm not a child
But my heart still can dream

So here's my lifelong wish
My grown up christmas list
Not for myself
But for a world in need

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end, no
This is my grown up christmas list

As children we believe
The grandest sight to see
Was something lovely
Wrapped beneath the tree
But heaven only knows
That packages and bows
Can never heal a heartached human soul

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end, no
This is my grown up christmas list

What is this illusion called the innocence of youth
Maybe only in our blind belief can we ever find the truth

No more lives torn apart (No more torn apart)
That wars would never start (never start)
And time would heal all hearts (ohh..hearts)
Everyone would have a friend (one would have a friend)
And right would always win (would always win)
And love would never end (never...never end, no)

This is my grown up christmas list
This is my only lifelong wish
This is my grown up christmas list...

Technorati Tags: Clay Aiken, Lyrics, All is Well, Christmas Waltz, Emmanuel, My Grown Up Christmas List, Walmart Exclusive

Sales--Fall Releases from Idol Contestants (Updated)

Sales Numbers from Idol Contestants for Fall Releases:

Clay Aiken- A Thousand Different Ways (Third Album)Released 9/19
First week: 211,234 (#2)
TTD: 388,890 (Seventh Week)

Clay Aiken- Merry Christmas With Love (Second Album/Christmas)
First Week: 270,010
TTD: 1,189,295 (as of 4/23/06)

Clay Aiken- Measure of a Man (First Album)
First Week: 612,859 (#1)
TTD: 2,742,989 (as of 4/23/06)



Ruben Studdard- The Return (Third Album) Released 10/14
First Week: 70,501 (#8)
TTD: 111,491 (Third Week)

Ruben Studdard- I Need An Angel (Second Album/Gospel)
First Week: 96,389
TTD: 437,114 (as of 4/23/06)

Ruben Studdard- Soulful (First Album)
First Week: 416,569
TTD: 1,780,823 (through 4/23/06)

Kellie Pickler- Small Town Girl (First Album) Released 10/31
First Week: 79,133 (#9)


Other Sales:

Mario Vazquez
First Week: 11,812 (#80)
TTD: 34,000 (Seventh Week)

Ayla Brown*
First Week: 300 (per Ken Barnes Idol Chatter Blog)
TTD: 800 (Three Weeks)
*Independent label release




Schedule of other Idol related releases:
Kellie Pickler Oct 31
Chris Daughtry Nov 21
Katharine McPhee Dec 19
Taylor Hicks Dec 5
Fantasia Dec 12
Jon Peter Lewis Nov 7 (Independent release)

Congratlations to Carrie Underwood on winning the Horizon and Female Vocalist Country Music Awards. Her album, Some Hearts, is in its 51st week and has sold 3,650,575 copies-to-date. She is still selling strongly after nearly a year on the chart with 45,130 copies sold last week and #19 on the BillBoard Top 200 Album Chart.


Related Tags: Clay Aiken, Carrie Underwood, Ruben Studdard, Album Sales, Idol Contestants, Release Schedule, Fantasia, Taylor Hicks, Katharine McPhee, Chris Daughtry, Kellie Pickler, Jon Peter Lewis, Mario Vazquez

Clay and His Harem

"Clay Aiken has a harem... He controls them with a flick of a wrist"~~LiveJournal Blog





Clay recently appeared on the Megan Mullully Show. The fans always love when Clay makes talk show appearances because it gives people a chance to see him in a intimate setting and for those of us not lucky enough to be there, gives us a chance to get first-hand accounts of what went on at the show...a sort of behind the scenes kind of look. From all accounts Clay was a perfect guest by making it easy for the interviewer. His humor, wit, and charisma were in full force as seen in the interview video and the opening skit.

~~Opening Skit~~


~~Interview~~

~~Performance of "A Thousand Days"




Here are some excerpts from some recaps of attendees:

"I think one of the greatest things about this appearance is that it was very close to concert Clay in terms of the banter. During the breaks, he just chatted away with the audience, and as we noted several times, bossy Clay was in evidence, and all the staff got a big kick out of it.

I don't think they were kidding about being the best audience ever. A young writer gal was out at the line a couple hours before the show and passed out cards to ask questions for possible show fodder....what is the craziest thing you've ever done....what's the weirdest thing in your purse....etc. She first asked us who was excited about seeing the Megan show and everybody cheered. She grinned and said that she wished all the audiences they had were like us. All of the crew, director, etc. seemed very happy, and more and more staffers kept creeping onto the set to see what all the laughing was about." ~~Posted at the Clackhouse

"Disco balls again! Suddenly, they started to lower from ceiling... first one, then another... Clay said, "Megan's balls are dropping." The audience coordinator said, "I've been wanting to say that, but I need to keep my job." ~~Posted at the ClackHouse

"He was very animated on stage and interacted with the audience more than I've ever seen him. In fact, he looked around the audience once and seemed to be scanning faces - like he was looking for someone.

When Clay asked Angela how many copies of ATDW she bought. She said "one". And Clay said "and you paid for it?" And Angela replied "yes, remember? . . . you were with me when I bought it." And then he remembered and nodded yes with a chuckle. This followed him asking Quiana the same thing and she said that she had two - one purchased, one given to her by him. He then asked us how many we bought. I was so busy bending some of my fingers to make a total of 8 that he looked at me in wide-eyed astonishment like I was flashing 10 times 3 or something." ~~Posted at the ClackHouse

"Clay made a head-count of the guys in the audience...there were 8 and he said that was better than the usual percentages."~~Posted at Clayversity

"One of the people that came up today with me was the receptionist from my Dr. office. She likes Clay. I've given her DVDs and CDs before, but she has never seen him in person. She left the show in that ClayFog most of us experience the first time we see him up close. It's very cool to watch someone go through that for the first time -- to see that initial, personal comprehension of, and appreciation for, his charisma and talent, and the magic that he weaves."~~Posted at Clayversity

"Random ramblings. Of course I love his singing, talking, laughing, “dancing” and just plain old breathing. But…ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE THINGS is extemporaneous Clay. The TALKING, the banter on tours—like on JBT—engaging the audience, the off the cuff quips, the spontaneous quick wit, snarky, flirty, playful, funny, cute, adorable sexy…the stuff that is natural, regular, just plain old Clay. Nothing plain about him, but you know what I mean. This goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway. I don’t know Clay, and I don’t pretend to know how he thinks or feels. So here’s some of what I experienced and observed.

There is an overall feeling of confidence about him; not to get weird…some call it aura. But he truly “feels” different of late—like an inner calm, a settling, like he’s really growing into himself. I saw it at the Kimmel sound check (a full hour and a half) and his whole demeanor and appearance at the CD signing and Kimmel’s. He seems confident and self assured. He seems at ease, comfortable, like his life fits—it’s the difference between his custom made designer suits and his Salvation Army baggy pants. Of course both good, but one is VA VA VOOM! He interacts with the stage people, band, Q and A both professionally and personally at the same time if that makes sense.

Please no darts. But I remember in the early days, USUALLY at a TV taping, he appeared to be all business. He came out on stage very serious and totally focused and took care of sound/backups/directions…the cameras came on and he lit up. It seemed like the “performance” was job 1 period—rather than the appearance/experience/performance all as one. It was almost as if he were trying too hard to be perfect. Performance over—lights off--and it was over. Often very little or NO audience recognition or interaction—before or after, especially at the end of a performance or show. He seemed a bit awkward, like he didn’t know quite what to do with himself. Just stood there, shifted his weight, made uncomfortable faces, didn’t know what to do with his hands and that was it. Of course, always LOVED HIM and the performance and all, but the appearances and his comfort level varied quite a bit—especially in regards to audience interaction. Sometimes he seemed in kind of a far away alternate universe and not quite fully there. I know there were a few Meet and Greets where a few felt he was preoccupied and wasn’t quite present. Two entirely different people—Real Life Clay and Performance Clay.

These days he seems—well, just different, easy, loose and relaxed—and it’s more than just growing older and maturing. I wonder if it might have been a conscious decision--like he wrote in LTS--as soon as he stopped worrying about what everybody else thought and was himself, life got good. Now, he comes out on stage and it’s the same person that “sings.” He is him and the performance is part of him, not separate from him. He enters, acknowledges the audience, smiles, waves, often says something, nods in appreciation of the cheering and welcoming fans. He interacts, sings, whatnot—and it all matches. Totally NOT IN A COCKY WAY, but in a playful way he almost hijacked the show—personally playing with the audience, teasing, bantering and Megan loved it! It’s the closest we’ve come to capturing Concert Clay on live TV. On the couch, he includes the audience in the conversation. He brings us into the performance so we can celebrate with him. He “invites” us in. Talking and teasing and being totally present and engaging with the host as well as us. It honestly felt like we were sitting around the living room eating cheese and crackers. It really is quite remarkable. These days he seems less guarded and more uninhibited, genuinely relaxed and having the best time. The “aw shucks” stuff was missing, and he even graciously accepted a couple of compliments—AND he didn’t even act embarrassed. Can’t explain it, but I’m so totally hooked—and I know I’m not alone. Clay recently seems to embrace his fans, and it looks like he really is just crazy about us and is proud of us. To me, he doesn’t “feel” detached anymore or incongruent. He also on the last several performances is nodding almost in a bow after sings and lets us cheer and appreciate him. That is so different. Now when the lights go off and the show is over, he doesn’t seem in such a hurry to “run.” His hugs to the hosts seem huggier. After I see him I feel like I’ve been so lovingly and warmly embraced and kissed sweetly on the cheek. (And all tingly from head to toe too.)

He really seems to have come into his own, hit his stride as some might say. OH, HOW I HOPE HE REALLY IS HAPPY. He sure does sprinkle joy all over the place everywhere he goes, and I feel ever so lucky to get a first hand dose once in a while. Delicious! And from what I’ve seen and where I sit—Kimmel day and Mullally day—HE WANT THIS—HE AIN’T GOIN’ ANYWHERE! "~~Posted at Clayversity

Note 1: A duet of "Silver Bells" by Clay and Megan was also taped to be shown on December 22nd.

Note 2: A Thousand Different Ways has been certified Gold by the RIAA. Congratulations to Clay.

Technorati Tags: Clay Aiken, Megan Mullully