GENERAL: Thanking Clay For the Summer Tour!

Two new montages thanking Clay of the wonderful tour memories were posted by suereu and iloveclay101 to YouTube.

Enjoy!

My Tribute to The Clay Aiken Soft Rock Tour! from iloveclay101

Clay, Thanks for the Memories from suereu

GENERAL: So Long to the 2007 Summer Tour

The 2007 An Evening with Clay Aiken tour has come to an end. This blog will become archived once tour news has stopped coming in.

For reference, we are posting the tour dates as well as links to news from each city in this post.

CDD has already set up our 2007 Magical Holiday Tour blog ... only 3 more months until we get to see Clay on the road again!

Tour dates

Date	City	Venue	More Info/Tickets
July 4, 2007	Frisco, TX	Pizza Hut Park	On sale May 4 to public through Ticketmaster; 10 AM CDT | More info
July 6, 2007	Houston, TX	Jones Hall	Public on sale March 28; Fanclub presale: 10 a.m. CDT on March 26th through March 27th by phone (713) 224-7575 | More info
July 7, 2007	Tulsa, OK	Brady Theater	Public on sale: May 12 @ 10 AM local | More info
July 17, 2007	Philadelphia, PA	Mann Center	Fanclub presale: April 14 @ 10 AM; Public on sale Apr. 17 through venue & venue website | More info
July 18, 2007	Syracuse, NY	Crouse-Hinds Concert Theater in Mulroy Civic Center at Oncenter	Fanclub presale Apr. 16 @ 10 AM; public on sale Apr. 18 @ 10 AM through website, box office and by phone. | More info
July 19, 2007	Canandaigua, NY	Constellation Performing Arts Center	Fanclub presale: Apr. 12 @ 10 AM; Public on sale Apr. 14 @ 10 AM thru Ticketmaster | More info
July 20, 2007	Chautauqua, NY	Chautauqua Institution	On sale now | More info
July 21, 2007	Columbus, OH	Chemical Abstract Service	On sale May 3 ... call venue at (614)228-8600 | More info
July 23, 2007	Sterling Heights, MI	Freedom Hill Amphitheater	On sale April 28 via Ticketmaster | More info
July 25, 2007	Gilford, NH	Meadowbrook Musical Arts Center	On sale via internet, phone, box office on April 14 @ 10 AM local time | More info
July 28, 2007	Newark, NJ	New Jersey Performing Arts Center	On sale May 9 through venue website | More info
August 2, 2007	San Diego, CA	Embarcadero Marina Park South	On sale now ... contact the box office | More info
August 3, 2007	Pala, CA	Pala Casino Starlight	On sale now via Ticketmaster | More info
August 4, 2007	Los Angeles, CA	Greek Theatre	On sale June 2 | More info
August 5, 2007	Indio, CA	Fantasy Springs Casino	On sale May 4 - more information available at fanclub's tour page | More info
August 10, 2007	Cary, NC	Koka Booth Amphitheater	On sale May 5 | More info
August 11, 2007	Asheville, NC	Biltmore Estates	On sale May 23 | More info
August 12, 2007	Knoxville, TN	Tennessee Theater	Public on sale: Fri. Apr. 27 @ 10 AM via box office, phone 865-656-4444, venue website | More info
August 15, 2007	Atlanta, GA	Chastain Park Amphitheater	Group sales start on Mar. 23; single tickets start on May 21 ... call (404) 733-4800 in both cases | More info
August 16, 2007	Fort Myers, FL	Barbara B. Mann Center	On sale June 23 @ 10 AM at www.bbmannpah.com, by phone at 239-481-4849 or at box office | More info
August 17, 2007	Tampa Bay, FL	Carol Morsani Hall	Symphony members: Wed. May 23 @ noon, Public: Fri. May 25 @ noon | More info
August 18, 2007	West Palm Beach, FL	Kravis Center for the Performing Arts	Fanclub presale: April 13 @ 10 AM;Public on sale Apr. 14 | More info
August 19, 2007	Orlando, FL	Hard Rock Orlando	On sale now | More info

Tour news by city
Frisco, TX

Houston, TX

Tulsa, OK

Philadelphia, PA

Syracuse, NY

Canandaigua, NY

Chautauqua, NY

Columbus, OH

Sterling Heights, MI

Gilford, NH

Newark, NJ

San Diego, CA

Pala, CA

Los Angeles, CA

Indio, CA

Cary, NC

Asheville, NC

Knoxville, TN

Atlanta, GA

Fort Myers, FL

Tampa Bay, FL

West Palm Beach, FL

Orlando, FL

ASHEVILLE: CDD's J4Clay's Pictures From Ashville

I never have given a summary of my trip to Ashville. By now you have all probably heard everything that happened there. So I just thought I'd share a few pictures that I took with you of the Biltmore Estates and of the concert.

The Biltmore Estates is absolutely gorgeous. We stayed in the Inn and the rooms were unbelievable. They grow their own flowers there, and in the lobby there are big sunflowers and other flowers from their gardens.




The estate itself is unbelievable. There are 250 rooms in it. All the furniture is the original furniture. Even the books in the library are original books. We took a tour of the house but were not allowed to take pictures, but here are some pictures of the outside.




Many of you have read about the long, long line of fans who waited for Clay to come shake hands with them after the show. Below is the field where the fans were lined up all the way around it. The field was huge. The picture doesn't do it justice. I didn't stay for this, but I hear it was a sight to behold!



Many of the clay fans got a package deal with the Biltmore which included staying at the Biltmore Inn, 2 tickets to Clay's concert in some of the better seats, tickets to tour the estate, and breakfast and dinner. There were so many people who bought the package that they decided to do a special barbeque meal for us at the River Bend Barn. It was lots of fun to be with only Clay fans and meet people I had never met before.




And then of course there is the concert. The wonderful concert! It was probably 30 degrees cooler at Ashville than it had been in Cary. The scenery was beautiful and it was a perfect night. From what I heard, the staff of the Biltmore was quite impressed with his performance and had never seen anything like his fans before. We're hoping he will be invited back.

ORLANDO: CDD's J4Clay's Summary of the Orlando Concert

Once again I’ve put off writing up my review of one of my tour concerts long enough. I reviewed Cary, but still haven’t done Ashville. But I think I’ll skip Ashville and go on to the last show of the tour, Orlando.

This is the first year I have been to both the first and the last shows of a tour. Now this is an awesome thing to be able to do. You get to see first hand what he is going to sing/do during the tour, not hear it online. Then, you get to see what goes on in the closing show, any practical jokes, all the emotion and tears. This year there weren’t any practical jokes, but there were plenty of emotions and tears to go around.

I was excited to be going to the Hard Rock Live Theater to see Clay. Especially since it was right outside of Universal Studios. Even without going to Universal, there is still a lighthearted, party atmosphere that is so much fun. A friend and I ate at the Hard Rock Café and then she headed off to her meet and greet. That’s when I got a picture with Jerome. Now I knew Jerome was tall, but standing next to Jerome for a picture made me realize just how tall. I look like I’m down on my knees!!

After the picture I headed over to Margaritaville to be with some other Clay friends. There’s nothing like sharing time with some of the best friends in the world. It’s still all about Clay…going to the concerts, enjoying clack, helping with his foundation…but it’s become about as much about the dear friends I’ve made as him. Of course, my thanks go to him for making it possible to make so many friends and share these concerts with them.

It was now time to head over to the Hard Rock Live to take our seats to see Clay. The marquee at the front of the theater blinked the various artists who would be performing there, including "Clay Aiken"...."August 19". It took me several tries to snap my camera just at the right time to catch both signs!

Little did we know that we would have to turn in our cameras and then later pay $3.00 to get our own cameras back. What is wrong with this picture? I was afraid that they would not be allowing pictures since my tickets said, “No cameras”, but I wasn’t prepared for having to do this. $3.00 to get my own camera back?? The lines were long. Thankfully a friend of mine who was already in line took my camera and checked it with hers. The concert started late because of the long lines.

Our seats were up in the balcony, but on the far right end right next to the stage. We were at a table for four and 4 of our other friends were up above us in the high back chairs. This is the first time I’ve been in the balcony for a Clay concert, but I must say, these were excellent seats! And the binoculars I bought gave me a great close-up view of that gorgeous face and green eyes! We also had servers at our tables. We could buy drinks and food if we wanted. I settled for a diet coke.

When the show started, I already had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I know I shouldn’t, but seeing Angela and Quiana come out waving, and knowing this would be the last time we would see them all for a while, well, it is like saying goodbye to good friends. And then when Clay walks out on the stage singing, “Here You Come Again”, it really starts to sink in. The show was fantastic as always. There seemed to be a lot of emotion in their voices tonight. Angela and Quiana were on fire singing their songs. I believe they hate to say goodbye as much as we do.

The song "When I See You Smile" was fun tonight. Everyone brought yellow smiley face lights to wave as Clay sang this song. And, it couldn't have been planned better. Right before he sang the song, Clay said something like, "Everyone needs to have a smile on their faces", something close to that. And when he began singing, up went the smiley faces swaying to the music! I think he was quite surprised and touched by this. He never knows what his fans are gonna do.

I believe that the TV Show Medley and Classics Medley were the best I had ever seen. Before the Classics Medley, a lady named Regina yelled down at him about singing Invisible and Bridge Over Troubled Waters and that started a long banter with her. Regina was sitting right in front of my table, so we were able to see straight on into Clay’s face as he talked with her (and thank you for binoculars!). He was hilarious. He’s a natural at coming up with the craziest things to say and do on the spur of the moment like that. And he was absolutely into all the dances during the medley. You can tell he loves doing these medleys. And I love watching him have such a great time! What an entertainer!

Somewhere during the show, Clay asked if anyone had a sharpie. Someone on the 1st or 2nd row threw one straight across the stage for him! No eyes were put out thankfully! Then Jerome brought more out. Clay, Quianna, and Angela signed the stools they had been sitting on for the whole tour; Jesse and Sean will also sign them. These stools will be auctioned off later on, two for BAF and one for UNICEF. I can say this, I looked at the stools with my binoculars. The biggest signature by far is Clay's! If I could afford one of the stools, I'd buy one for sure! Start saving your pennies right now!!

The last song, "Because You Love Me", has a lot of meaning at every show. But this last show seemed to hold even more emotions for it. There were tears in Clay’s eyes I believe when he sang it. He really meant those words, especially on the last night I believe, making certain the fans knew just how much they meant to him with the words he said before singing the song. And it seemed extra special this time when the fans waved their light sticks to the beat of the music. I was so proud to be a part of that. Maybe it also was special because there were still fans that had light sticks. The venue took up bunches of them as the fans entered the theater, and a man came by and told us to put ours in our purses or they would be taken up. How could we not have our light stick tribute to Clay? And on the last night? Thankfully enough fans still had theirs to make a beautiful tribute to Clay.

When the show was over, we all gathered outside in front of the venue and formed a long line for Clay to greet us and touch our hands. This has become quite a tradition. Clay has to go quickly through the line, saying ‘Thank you for coming…thank you very much” as he grabs hand after hand in the line. But he does it because he loves the fans. He does not want to miss a night of doing this for us. And we are forever grateful for that. Venue after venue has been amazed at the loyalty of the fans and at how Clay is willing to do this. Our relationship with Clay is one of a kind.

The tour was over much too soon for me, but aren’t they always? Another 3 months and the Christmas tour will be upon us. All I know to say very sincerely is this, “Thank you Clay for the most amazing tours anyone could ever put on. I wouldn’t miss them for the world!”

WEST PALM BEACH: Palm Beach Post Photos

The Palm Beach Post has some nice pics from the West Palm Beach concert.

GENERAL: Washington Post Answers Clay Question in Q&A Column

With the summer tour, and facing a 3 month Clay drought (aside from his appearance on 5th Grader), the Washington Post gave Clay some nice PR in their celebrity Q&A column today:

Bethesda, Md.: Hi Liz,

Clay Aiken's summer tour just ended, and he picked up some great reviews. Any chance it will turn into a television special? And what do you know about his next album?

Thanks.

Liz Kelly: Well, I have to confess that I'm not much of a Clay Aiken fan or follower, but a quick scan of the Web does reveal mostly positive reviews for the former "Idol" runner-up's latest tour. Good for him. Makes one wonder where Taylor Hicks is hiding himself these days. Anyone know?

As for a new Aiken album (maybe he could call it "Aiky Breaky Heart"?) the most recent reference I can find is a May Jimmy Kimmel appearance where Clay said he was interviewing producers for the project. But if you're really craving some Clay, you might want to try to score tickets to his just announced "Christmas in the Heartland" tour or make sure to tune in when he appears on an episode of this fall's celebrity edition of "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"

FORT MYERS, TAMPA BAY, WEST PALM BEACH, ORLANDO: riversend22 Posts New Florida Photos

The Clayboard's riversend22 has posted some fabulous concert shots from Clay's 4 concerts in Florida. Check all of them out at the Clayboard.

WEST PALM BEACH: "Lover All Alone" Video

I can never get enough of "Lover All Alone" ... here's another reason why:

ORLANDO: Sentinel: "the class clown got to be the star"

The Orlando Sentinel has published their review of Clay's concert at the Hard Rock Orlando last night. Another good review... (again, the version posted below is a snippet)

Clay Aiken performs Sunday at Hard Rock Live.

Clay Aiken performed "Baby's Got Back," accompanied by an orchestra Sunday night at Orlando's Hard Rock Live. Oh, he performed a spirited rendition of the theme to Welcome Back Kotter, too.

Got your attention?

The show, the final stop of Aiken's current tour, was full of surprises -- most of them surreal. I really never thought I would see hip-hoppy "O.P.P" mixed with Kenny Chesney's "She Thinks my Tractor's Sexy" in a medley backed by violins and cellos. Strangely enough, the more goofy things got, the more the show clicked.

His nonsensical banter with powerhouse backing singers Angela Fisher and Quiana Parlor -- as well as a steady flow of conversation with audience members -- can make it seem to newbies that they've crashed a private party.

"There aren't many faces in the front row I don't recognize," Aiken teased, "because they're the crazy ones."

And indeed he did know many of the audience members by name, giving them shoutouts or just calling into the crowd to find out where some of the regulars were sitting. Bob and Linda got special recognition for seeing 121 concerts in four years. These fans, called Claymates, mean business.

The night was well-stocked with cover songs, which make up the bulk of Aiken's latest album, A Thousand Different Ways. Some suited him better than others -- the soaring "Without You" (most recently a hit for Mariah Carey) showcased his tremendous upper range. But he owes Dolly Parton an apology for his slowed-down "Here You Come Again" that sucked the bouncy life out of the song. "Measure of a Man" and "These Open Arms" were other strong numbers that let his vocal ability shine.

What with the TV songs, the singalongs, the teasing chitchat, the overall effect was of a middle-school sleepover -- a really big sleepover where the class clown got to be the star.

ORLANDO: Concert Recaps

Wow, that was fast! Our summer with Clay has wrapped up. And what a memorable summer it will be - Clay performing Sexyback, taking Scarlett's camera, battling the New Hampshire bugs and singing an 8 minute medley of TV classics... thank you Clay.

Here is the last of the concert recaps for last night's Orlando concert:

Photos

• Clayboard photo thread - Orlando
  

Video

• ClackUnlimited.com
  

From the CB's clangel13:

I'm really surprised to be the first report back, since we just drove over an hour to get back to where we're staying and that was after waiting for the busline to finish and taking our time getting to the car, but here goes, just a...

quickie to say that the concert was great and very well documented in the cell cert. It took all of the hour and a half (7-8:30) to get everyone in past the security check, metal detectors and bag checks and everything reported about confiscating cameras was blow-by-blow true. There were two professional photographers, however, right at the foot of the stage taking pics through the first couple of songs, so we might be finding some newspaper reviews. It's Hard Rock policy NOT to allow cameras. The place was full, but probably one of the smaller venues, and some of the obstructed view seats remained empty.

Clay got something caught in his throat during the one song, so was having to take quickie drinks and passed to the audience to sing parts of it for him.

The girls messed with him on IWTKWLI. He looked at Angela first and I think that's probably why she started singing, and he looked so proud of himself, but just as quickly Quiana started singing so he whipped around to her, and they played back and forth until he just decided to sit in the middle and all three were singing.

Again thanks to pre-party organizers for the party at Freddie's. The upper level was packed with us, big screen + small screen Clay videos. Lots of goodies and good food again.

Reports from the greeting line are also very well documented and it IS 2:30 AM here, so I'm sure more people will report more details, but it's time to head for bed...and I may add more later.

From the CB's wandacleo:

Well, I’m in a weird state—sad that the concerts are over but glad to be leaving the heat and humidity of Florida (which has @#%$ near killed me.) After the last 3 lovely venues, Hard Rock was, as one Claymate declared, the venue from hell. We had to walk (I swear, this is only a slight exaggeration) about 5 miles in stifling heat to get to the venue from the biggest @#%$ parking garage I’ve ever seen in my life and then the security was confiscating cameras, GLOW STICKS (?????), and water bottles and even some people’s smiley face lights. I mean really, this was beyond ridiculous. THEN, the seats were cramped together so that when people tried to pass in front of me I finally just gave up and stood on the seat. The concert started 1/2 hour late even though the orchestra was sitting out there ready. I swear I think the venue wanted us to buy more booze, and you all know what drunks we Claymates are at the concerts. (Good luck with that.)
Finally, people started stamping their feet, and the lights dimmed and the orchestra started with HYCA. Clay came out on our right, looking just great with those bangs, jeans, dark (black?) shirt, lighter (gray, maybe) linen jacket. Sounding good. EIH was beautiful. Really.
When it was time for IWTKWLI, Clay looked side to side and then turned to Angela who started singing, but then Quiana sang the next part, so he was turning from side to side and finally just threw up his hands, sat on the stool and faced forward for awhile. He changed the ending up a bit and did the contest of the notes with both Q and A, with some LOW notes with Q and then very high.
Then, he looked over and saw that there was a chicken McNugget’s box on the floor in front of Q and he asked her if there was a reason she had it. Q said that the box said “fish McNugetts” and I think Clay said something about a dead fish—I guess on a piece of paper. Q, said, “Remember” and told about the girls whom they saw at the McDonald’s who said that the chicken had fish in it, but Clay said, “They don’t ever let me off the bus.” (@#%$, I guess there’s no point in following the bus!!!)
Clay talked about being at the HR,“I’ve always thought I belong at the HR with and that’s where I’d be most accepted by my peers” and then he named off a few: Nickelback, Kid Rock. He said, “I fit in best where there is an open bar” and Q corrected him and explained that an open bar is “free” and Clay said “I’m not as well versed in the liquor as you are” and said something about how he hopes she keeps all her clothes on.
Clay talked a little about some of the things that had gone on during the tour—bats, for instance. Angela said “They scared the crap out of me.” Clay said that a bug went down A’s bosom (and he repeated the word 3 times, for emphasis.) He said, “He hasn’t found its way out yet.” Angela said, “He doesn’t want to!” and Clay said, “I think he just suffocated!”
He introduced Ethel, who was there in all her smiling glory, and he explained how earlier in the tour, she had wanted to put barbecue sauce on Sean so she could suck him up! Ethel apparently had barbecue sauce sent backstage and Clay said he had personally put barbecue sauce on his finger and rubbed it behind Sean’s ears.
THEN, (and this took titanium youknowhwhats for him to deal with) he said, “Some people think that Ethel gets too much attention, but if you were willing to make a total fool of yourself, you’d get attention too.” He said he joked with Toni last night as well and that people had been being mean about it (and he clearly didn’t appreciate it). He said, “Maybe you people don’t like black people.” (Ouch) “We are a family here and all this booing and being mean to people needs to stop.” Then he talked a bit about Bob and Linda. He said how Jesse and Sean have their own little group of fans and people were sort of calling out and he said, “You people have turned this into the Jerry Springer Show. We need happiness!” He said some of this in a joking way, but it seemed pretty clear that he would talk to whom he wanted to and he didn’t expect them to take flak because of it. (Good for him and enough said.)
He started singing WISYS, and—of course—the whole place lit up with smiley faces, which brought a smile to his face. Someone gave A & Q smiley face lights and A’s was quite large and Clay said, “Size doesn’t matter, ladies.” (Right, he can say that!) Clay started to cough at one point and couldn’t sing, so the audience started singing the words. He said after the song, “I gagged on my own throat” and did an exaggerated cough. When he sang RHW, he grabbed his bottle and took a quick drink between phrases. On “chance” he held the note about twice as long as usual.
When WW started up, he ran backstage for a minute, and when he came back he said, “I had a piece of Hard Rock in my throat, but it’s gone now.” He talked about music and all the “classical instruments” and asked if anyone was playing the recorder, “I could have joined. I can play 3 blind mice.” He chattered on about how he always felt like the President when he watched WW and how he watches good things but Q would rather watch “Who’s you baby’s daddy?” types of shows. He said that Q watched any kind of show that had someone in a black robe and then they talked about Eye for an Eye and how the guy had a baseball bat to beat on things and asked why she was watching that (or something like that)and Q said, “because you watch it too!” and he said, “Whoops, yes I do” and said it was funny. Then he started talked about the theme songs making him who he is today. He did the usual Facts of Life and Brady bunch with pantomimes. Talked about how stupid he was at AI and said, “I’m looking for the one person in the room who hasn’t heard this story before. He picked one person, but “OH CRAP” that person had heard it. He finally found a concert virgin and said, “Oh good, fresh meat.” So, then he explained to that person how he had brain-farted. Then, on to talking about shows and asking the person who his/her favorite show was and said, ”Don’t see AI. It hasn’t been good for years!”
He said that Fl was a special state because you never know what way it will go, so they’ve had competitions in Fl. Said that Ft. Myers was good, Tampa (held up hands and made a face—not so good). Then he said, “WPB may not know how to punch a hanging chad, but they can sing.” He divided us up into 3 groups and we all stood and sang lustily. At one point he looked up into the balcony and yelled, “Is there a nursing home up there? What are you doing sitting down?”
Clay did the pole dance with Angie (although not on the pole), down and up. During the Jefferson’s song, Clay was a dancing fool.
Q sang the “hit” in hit parade tonight and so Clay repeated his part 2 more times so she’d have to keep doing it and each time, he threw his arms out, like in a cheer.
A big bug started circling them and A and Clay were slapping at it. Angie said something like it was trying to find her shirt and she bent down and said, “You can come too.” Clay said he was afraid he might swallow the bug and when he started singing TOA, he did it with his mouth closed for a couple of lines (very funny.) He asked Jesse if something was wrong (I hadn’t noticed) and Jesse said that the piano pedal was stuck, and Clay said, “Just hold the keys down.” Anyhow, when Clay went to sit by Angie while Q sang, they were both slapping at the bug, and he was slapping at Angie and said, “I didn’t even try. I just wanted to hurt you.” Then he called out, “You lady there in the second row with binoculars, let us know if you see the fly” and he told Angie that she might want to button the top of her blouse because she was still looking for the fly from last week.
Q ripped into WTLGD.
On ATD, Sean was playing the piano and Jesse the drums! Clay stood over to one side so that everyone could see the change. Clay started singing ATD, but his mike cut out and he traded mikes with Q and then motioned for her to step out and she started singing , but she sang it like Clay, with all the motioning, etc. She was great, and you could see Clay just enjoying it. At the end, Q pointed at Clay to sing the high note (like he sometimes does to her) and he nailed it! (And said later he had done that note for the first time in his life.) He told Jesse that Sean had taken his job and done perfectly fine. Sean and Jesse switched back again.
SSTBTHW and MOAM were just great and he really ripped it up with MOAM. The audience flat out refused to sit down and just continued to scream even though he kept signaling us to sit down, so finally he yelled, “SIT DOWN. We already started late.”
Then, he did the usual in 2003, 2004, etc. He mentioned the trips he had taken for UNICEF and asked Jerome to come out and said, “Jerome Bell, everybody.” Then, he talked about BAF and how Q had hated the stools at first because they were ugly but came to like them because they were “cushy, so we thought we’d auction them off.” He explained that 2 would be auctioned for BAF (because we’re poor) and 1 for UNICEF. He said, “We thought we’d sign on stage, and he took a marker and signed each chair, yelling at Q, “Don’t sit down. You might get my name on your fanny!” So, they each signed, and Clay said that he wanted people to know that they were really signed and not done by a machine, “You know how many of you have snuck your video cameras in here, so there’s proof.”
After WY (on which he wailed) he said, “Thank goodness I won’t have to do that song again soon.”
Q had a bunch of the “Lincoln” family there and then Clay asked Sean and acted all shocked, “Your PARENTS are here!!!” He asked them to stand up and they did, with Sean’s father wearing a concert t-shirt. Clay said, “Oh, that’s a nice t-shirt. You got style.” Then he asked them how many shows they had attended—“seven.” Clay said, “You’re practically a Claymate.” Then Clay asked Bob and Linda how many they had been to—121!! Clay thought that was more than he had gone to and asked them if they didn’t get tired of going and Linda said, “I don’t get tired of anything.”
Then, as usual, people started calling out wanting him to wish people a happy birthday, and Clay said if he did for one he’d have to do them all and for anniversaries and for “the first time you” (and made a pause there) and then someone said that a couple had gotten engaged at the concert, so Clay had to a ask about that, “Hold on! You just met them in the lobby and you’re making a fool of yourself for them?” So he said something about singing them a song about love and lifelong happiness—TWYMF and when we all got to the part about “You really turn me on” Clay said, “You apparently turn him on!” He told us to “Sing it to them!” He did some weird robotic type dancing and sort of collapsed at the end with Angie saying, “Come one, tell me. Come on!’ Clay said, “You turn me on too!” Then, he told the audience that he usually tries to go into the audience but “You seem a little crazy and I have a propensity (big words are SO sexy) to fall” and talked about falling on his butt (making people scream) and then he chatted about how we screamed no matter what he said and he tried out a few words, “roast beef, curtains.”
Then, the woman from last night started in with “BOTW” again, so Clay finally asked her to stand up and asked her name—Regina. So, he commenced to chat to her and said “You aint seen me do nothing but AI and you’re the same one who said that I should have won rather than Ruben. Have you hibernated? I have done other things besides sing that song. When we do a tour, we rehearse. No matter how many quarters drop, I’m not going to sing.” When people started to call out and interrupt, he said, “HOLD ON, I’m talking to Regina and I know you are not Regina.” Then, (and the spot light was on this woman way up in the balcony) he asked her what she listened to on the radio and she said 104.7 and he said “that’s [something that sounded like magic], right?” and asked what kind of music they played and he cracked up when she tried to say they played him. He wanted to know if they played cool songs, “I’m not talking about Josh Groban cool.” He also asked Diane, who was with Regina, what she listened to and she said some kind of community radio. Then, he continued with how if you want to be cool you have to be current and how music changes. When they were singing and he and Q were doing that hand dance thing around the faces, he had Regina do it too “Work it out girl!” He also wanted her to clap along, but she wasn’t doing it right so he said, “You got to do it on the beat, Regina. Clap when she claps (and pointed to either A or Q).
When Clay sang Sexyback, A & Q put the handcuffs on again, and then Clay said, “OMG, there’s no key!” but he got them loose.
Clay was dancing around, wiggling his butt, and REALLY partied all night.
“See what I’m talking about, Regina? You understand what I’m saying? It’s been a hard lesson learned. I haven’t always been this cool, this fly, this off the chain, this hip. You’ve got to sing songs about butts.” He said that only the cool people listen to top 40 and hip hop.
A just rocked on Listen. Clay said, “Good Lord, you tore the mess out of that. Angela didn’t want to sing that song when we started, but then she realized she can tear the roof off with that song.”
On to the story about how Jaymes was “adamant” that he write a song. LAA. (sniff, sniff, my LAST TIME!!!)
He introduced the members of his merry little troupe, starting with Mary. He asked Mary if she would like to play something, and she sat down (with Jesse standing over her) and played a little tune, which apparently most of the audience recognized, but I didn’t. He explained how Mary started with them 4 years ago and the first time he introduced her they had to drug her because she had such stage fright but now she was playing for “thousands” of people. She looked pleased. He said that Jamie does everything that Mary doesn’t do, like fixing hair and choosing clothes, “and she’s my cousin.”
Jerome got a standing ovation. He grinned and looked shitfaced happy. Clay said, “If you follow us after the show, you’ll see his mean face.” Introduced Fern, who has worked for everyone, including the Dixie Chicks, “I was the last one left and he’s stuck with me. “ He also said that Fern keeps the bus organized and clean even though it’s not his job.
Clay asked for the lights to be on and talked about how they look out at the audience and see faces that they recognize at concert after concert and said he recognized most of the people in the front row, “These are the crazy one! We carry our audience around with us. We have a bus for them.” He talked about how they didn’t really rehearse for the concert, but just got together for one day in his living room with the girls and Jesse. He talked about how we (the fans) give up our work, our vacations, “your husbands’ money” and how appreciative and thankful he is that we have allowed him to do this, “It’s not lost on me how much you make this happen.” It was lovely, really. I felt so sad.
BYLM was from the heart and the place just lit up with all the smuggled in glowsticks!!!
So sad. So sad. So sad.

WEST PALM BEACH: Palm Beach Post's Leslie Gray Streeter Blogs on "The Aftermath"

The Palm Beach Post's Leslie Gray Streeter, who has been providing some truly wonderful Clay coverage this past week, posted some additional thoughts about Clay's concert on her Palm Beach Post blog:

Clay Aiken: The aftermath!

"So you're going to be Clayverted!"

More than one Claymate, or hopelessly devoted fan of singer, humanitarian, near-American Idol and cultural phenomenon, decried that by the time Clay's show at the Kravis Center was over, I would be one of them, ready to don the T-shirts, join the Internet groups and plan my vacations around Mr. Aiken's concert schedule.

So now? I'd gladly see him again, because he was great. Do I see me wearing a Clay T-shirt or traveling to see him or joining a huge network of Clay fans...Uh...don't kill me, but not really. I'm a fan now, but not one approaching the heights of what I've seen in my week of Claymate exposure. But I get it now, now that I've seen Clay Aiken and found him wonderful.

So I get it, Claymates. I get it. And I am admitting now, after talking to you and seeing how hysterical and talented and kinda cute Clay is, that I understand a little bit better. And after meeting Katie, Helene, Debi and Carolyn, our featured Claymates on the Palm Beach Post.com site and their friends, I get that their devotion now transcends the love of the music or the smile of a cute boy.

Amen... well said, Leslie!

WEST PALM BEACH: Concert Recaps

Photos

• Clayboard photo thread - West Palm Beach
  

Clack

• ClackUnlimited.com
  

From the CB's wandacleo:

My friends, I apologize for the length of this. Feel free to scroll:
Just when I swear Clay just couldn’t get any better, he just proves me to be dead wrong. As usual: I’m paraphrasing as best I can. WPB Kravis Center is a beautiful venue with balconies up to the SKY—I mean HIGH, and there were people all the way to the top row! Clay came out on our left tonight while the audience was madly looking forward, backward, and in both directions. Jeans, white shirt (expensive one with French seams), beige jackets with faint blue squares (stripes in both directions), and beige suede loafers. Hair perfection. Didn’t notice stubble, but LOOKING GOOD!!! Amen!!! Brought the audience to its feet in a big screaming roar of approval. After he sang HCYA, while the audience was still screaming, he said something to Q (which I couldn’t decipher). When he sings, “Here you come again, and here I go…..” he sort of moves his head back and forth away from the microphone on the “go” part to modulate the sound. So cool.
EIH was just lovely—pure beautiful sound.
Before IWTKWLI, Clay looked back and forth and back and forth and finally faced Angela, who started singing and he said later it was about the first time he had gotten it right as they decide which one is going to sing each night and don’t tell him. They TORE up that song. Clay is becoming very adventurous with his falsetto and was beckoning to Angela to bring it on, but he WON with a high note to die for. During this whole contest, I got the butt view because I was in the 3rd row on the side (and yes, I’m extremely lucky). Now, normally I’d just be bitching and moaning about a butt view, but I’m willing to make an exception for Clay’s butt. Anyway, Clay was ragging on Angela about how she could sing higher and ad lib better, “but when I step away, the spotlight stays with me and they can’t see you.” Angie said, “You scared me,” and Clay said, “I scared myself. I almost broke a blood vessel. For the first time I got it right [picked the right singer] and wanted to compete in vocal calisthetics.”
Clay told the story about how Q bought the same blouse twice and Q pointed out a woman in the audience who had the same blouse!
Clay talked about how some days and good and some are bad and about having McDonald’s before and how some woman wrote to Q and said he was getting too fat, “She didn’t have the balls to write me, I guess!” (I don’t have to explain the reaction of estrogen-crazed women to the word “balls” coming out of Clay’s mouth.) He said he was frustrated: “Have you seen RUBEN? Did you write him a letter? Do you want me to give you his number?” (All outraged!)
Q was shaking her finger and pointed to a little girl in the audience, saying “He’s sorry. Clay asked the child how old she was and I couldn’t hear her, but he said “Oh, crap!” and Q got on him even more. Clay said, “Her mom’s looking at me like—I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!”
When he sang, WISYS, he was smiling very tenderly down at someone—and I think it was the little girl.
On RHW, he held the “chance” for frigging-ever.
During West Wing, Clay stepped back behind the curtains for a minute.
Clay came back and introduced the orchestra and talked about how great they were and how they should use them and exploit them and talked about the song they played and said, “Which, Angela, you know is…” but she didn’t answer WW fast enough or with enough enthusiasm and he ragged on her and said that all the energy he had felt was gone, so she (or maybe Q) yelled out WEST WING!!
Then, Clay went into his spiel about how he is sick of being accused of sitting on his “fanny” (balls and fanny in one night is almost more riches than one can bear) and watching too much TV and talked with Q about the shows she likes “Divorce court, Insider, Judge Mathis, Judge Judy, and Maury Povich,” and I think Clay said something like “Do you want a paternity test???”
They started in on the theme song routine. Clay’s pantomime of the Brady Bunch is just beyond priceless and I swear that his rubbing his fingers together to signify the couple getting together is totally naughty and he is completely aware that it is. (Dirty Clay, dirty, dirty.)
Clay said, “I feel better. You aint seen that show in how many years and it’s still stuck in your head.” Then, he told about the wrong song and said, “You’ve never heard this story before, Angela.”
When he was singing “Nothing’s going to stop me now” a little tiny bit of spit went flying out and he said, “What in the world came out of my mouth?” and I thought he was talking about the spit, but he was talking about singing the wrong song at AI (just as well as all of the women in the front row would have been on the ground rubbing their hands over the floor to get his DNA.) He divided us up for the contest sing-off and the audience was really into it—men and women and everyone. When Angie did the pole dance and shimmied down the microphone, Clay shimmed right down beside her (YOWZA!). “Party all night” was righteous.
During “Moving on Up!” Clay just danced up a storm! (Who says he can’t dance???)
When the song was over, Clay sort of collapsed on the stool and I think he must have looked down at his pants (missed that to my great dismay) because Q started giggling and couldn’t stop. Clay said, “I thought she said I busted my pants and I had to see! What did you say?” Q said that she said, “Don’t bust your pants.”
Q sang the “hit” in hit parade tonight!!
Clay asked Jesse to play Matlock and said, “I just wanted you to have a moment.”
TOA rocked.
Clay talked about how he is asked the same question in interviews “over and over and over and over and over and over” about which singers he liked the best and how it was hard to find people. He asked A and she said she listens to oldies but goodies.
He said that he likes to take a rest and break to get oxygen in and carbon dioxide out and took a number of deep breaths. He said that he had been putting together a Christmas tour and trying to pick songs for A & Q to sing but it was hard because they could sing the whole show.
Q was really good tonight.

After intermission, Clay came out laughing, saying something to Q. ATD rocked. I swear I heard a couple of little growls on some of the words.
During SSTBTHW, Clay sits demurely on the stool, tugs his shirt down, and holds his hands strategically, protecting that to which he had made a prior reference.
MOAM—great—and the audience was up and screaming again.
Clay talked about who brought who. Sean’s parents and friends were there and Clay said they were Seanmates and Claymates now and that he could depend on Sean to help fill up the venues.
Clay said to Angela, “I don’t think the pants thing is helping me” as he sort of tugged at his pants, and he said that Angela had done her “mommy” thing during the break and rolled the band on his jeans under all the way around (be still my heart) because she doesn’t think he has a butt and was afraid his pants would fall off (and someone said something I couldn’t hear but I’m sure was dirty). Clay said he could apologize for his foul mouth but he couldn’t do anything about the dirty minds of some of the women, “They get dirtier and dirtier, and most of them are married. This mother wants her money back!!!!” (pointing toward the mother of the little girl!) The audience was just about dying laughing.
Then, he started picking on a guy in the audience who just happened to be sitting RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME” Clay started asking the guy questions about if he could name what Clay was singing (I think) and the guy said,
“No, I can’t,” and Clay said, “The snoring was too loud. Did she [the guy’s wife] bring you here?”
“Absolutely” the guy answered. Clay said that sometimes you just want people to lie.
Clay asked what the wife had to do to get him to come and the guy said, “Said I’m coming.”
Clay whooped, “He’s like, I AM WHIPPED!!” Then Clay went on to say that some of the “ladies come to every single show and their husbands haven’t seen them for 2 months! When Clay was singing WY, he inserted a line about “try to stay awake.” After the song, Clay was holding his side and said he hurt, “I think I pulled something.” Then, Clay started picking on the guy again and said “You did stay awake! That was your third song!’ and the guy yelled out, “SECOND.” That cracked Clay up and he said something about the guy getting “This close!!” to getting into big trouble. He asked the guy whom he liked and he said Rod Stewart. Clay said, “Rod Stewart and me, we’re very much alike.” And then he asked for more names, and the guy said “Madonna.” And Clay said, “Some would say that we’re alike.” Clay came and squatted right down in front of the guy to talk to him. I had to force myself to look at his face since he was only about 4 feet in front of us! (Hardest thing I’ve done all year.) He asked the guy when he was born and then started asking the audience about when they were born, “in the early 40s?” and so on. Clay said that people come to his concerts in strollers and walkers.
So anyhow, Clay goes on to do the fast song stuff and starts singing his Michael Jackson and goes to get off the stage and falls on his butt (which unfortunately I couldn’t see but I could hear. Clay continued to sing and then got up on the stage and said something about “No audience has ever knocked me off my feet” and Q said he did a Beyonce. Then Clay did a whole routine:
“Who saw it? Raise your hands?” (Half the audience raised hands)
“How many of you have cameras?” (Huge amount of hands up!)
“How many of you had a video camera?” (about half the hands stay up) and Jerome makes a running grab for someone! Very funny. Clay talked about how he only fell one other time but fell gracefully but this time he fell right on his butt He said, “Thank God I have been getting fat and had some padding).
Then, he did the serious, “I want to talk” routine about what we have hear on the Internet and blogs and at work when people say, “YOU WENT TO A CLAY AIKEN CONCERT!! He’s a _____. Talked about how he’d had his fair share of criticism and he was tired of it and was “working on changing that.” During this, Q kept reminding the audience that it wasn’t funny.” Clay said, “I’m not cool, and I think it’s been obvious this evening.” He said he was sick of not being cool and not being on the radio. He said, “It takes a village, and I feel you guys can help me.” He started singing Big Butts and when he did the beginning of 1999, he squatted down and I was treated to a brief glimpse of BUTT from those low slung pants because his shirt had ridden up a bit, but Q saw it and went over and tugged the shirt down, grinning (and who wouldn’t be!!??) When he was done he was slouching around, “How you feel girl? I too cool for this mess.”
Anyhow, near the end when he’s talking some blithering idiot yelled out “BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER!!”
Clay said, “It amazes me that some people think I’m a juke box and you can just put a quarter in me [she yelled again] and I’ll sing and even after I’ve made fun of them in front of 3000 people, they still keep yelling. It makes me feel like I haven’t pleased you. You can’t make everyone happy, so I’ll sing what I want. This will make you really depressed,” and he sang LAA just beyond beautifully.
There were glow lights all over the audience tonight and Q was teary-eyed, and Clay seemed really touched as well.
OMG, I have gone on much too long, but I didn’t want to forget anything!!
Wonderful concert.
Wonderful man.
The guy Clay had been teasing was just having a blast. I asked a white-haired somewhat older usher how she liked the show as I walked out and she said, “It was wonderful, very special,” and grinned just like the rest of us.

WEST PALM BEACH: Palm Beach Post - Clay "really talented, kinda sorta sexy"

There are those eureka moments we all feel when a reviewer just plain gets it... kind of like that Billboard review from earlier this month. Even though this review of Clay's West Palm Beach concert was not nearly as long as that Billboard review, it is another eureka moment... this reviewer just gets it!

Here is a snippet of the review... make sure you give the Palm Beach Post lots of hits for this... as a thank you for their fantastic coverage of the concert over the past 4 days.

Aiken more than singer he's a showman
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Sunday, August 19, 2007

WEST PALM BEACH — Clay Aiken, whether or not you are a fan of his, is pretty much considered a good singer by most people who have ears.

But even the uninitiated would have to be blind not to see that Aiken - who has an amazing range and was vocally flawless - is that rare celebrity who is both a singer and a performer, equally, even though, as he pointed out, "I am not cool."

But here are three things that Clay Aiken is:

• Clay Aiken is a funny guy. Whether leading the crowd through a medley of television theme songs, including Diff'rent Strokes and Growing Pains, or mocking his uncoolness with OPP or SexyBack (yeah, you read that right), the boy's got a comedian's timing and deft touch with a zinger.

• Clay Aiken is really talented. He is not just a whiz at the questionably sappy original songs like Into These Arms. Aiken breathed new life into I Wanna Know What Love Is, a song that hasn't been fresh since 1984, and made the theme to Perfect Strangers, which was never really all that fresh, revelatory.

• Clay Aiken is kinda sorta sexy. I'll let you chew on that.

But because Aiken revels in that, he transcends even the goofy moments into genuine entertainment, like with his cover of Bad English's When I See You Smile. He is so uncool that he sort of is. And that's a talent.

WEST PALM BEACH: Palm Beach Post Pulls Out All The Stops For Clay Concert

We've gotta give kudos to the Palm Beach Post. Not only have they been profiling Claymates for the last 3 days, they've also given some other great coverage for Clay's concert tonight in West Palm Beach, FL.

Have a look:

1. Clay on the cover of their weekly TGIF section:

2. Front and center on their music page:

3. On their homepage:


Concert preview:

Don't miss popular singer and American Idol finalist Clay Aiken performing with an orchestra Dreyfoos Hall. His debut album, Measure Of A Man, hit No. 1 on Billboard's 200 chart and went triple platinum, while his powerful rendition of This Is The Night/Bridge Over Troubled Water won the 2003 Billboard Music Award for best single.

4. Their Clay Aiken quiz:

5. And, last but not least... day 4 of their 4 days of Clay; today's featured Claymate is Helene Lunden:

Our final Claymate!

Helene Lunden!
Residence: Boca Raton
Age: “Older than 40”
Profession: project manager for a major computer firm
Number of Clay Aiken concerts seen: “More than 20.”
Furthest she’s traveled in the name of Claydom: “Either Burlington, Vermont or Kansas City. I guess it depends on your measure.”

Her first Clay encounter: “I had never watched ‘American Idol,’ but I heard ‘You have to watch this kid sing! He has a fabulous voice.’ He did. He had something else that was hard to put a finger on. He has such a great spirit.”

I need you, more than anyone baby, you know that I have from the start: “My favorite (“American Idol”) performance was ‘Build Me Up, Buttercup.’ I loved it. I loved the way he looked, the song. He just comes out and makes me feel good.”

Funny, funny: “The only (Clay-related) thing I have in my office is a cartoon with John Edwards, where he’s talking to people about how it’s really too bad he lost, and how he hopes they voted for him. And when they walk away, one says ‘Who was that?” and the other person says “I think that was Clay Aiken!’”

The real “American Idol?” - There is a huge contingent of Clay Aiken fans who believe that he really earned more votes and is the true winner of the second season of “American Idol,” not Ruben Studdard. Says Helene: “I think that the votes were counted correctly. But did some get jammed up in the phone lines? Possibly. I think he’s much more popular because he didn’t win. His loss gave fans resistance to push against. They were supporting him far beyond what they would have. But God has a path for Clay.

TAMPA BAY: Clay Plays Peek-A-Boo

Hee hee... this is so cute! Clay playing peek-a-boo at the Tampa concert last night ....