Generation Clay

Recap of the DFF concert (Nov. 6/09) from LoveOMC posted at CV:

Quote:

Now that I've gotten a good night's sleep, I thought I'd come back and provide a recap of the concert. The show was really amazing overall. My take on Clay's performance is that it was a spur-of-the-moment idea, and since he and David had worked UM out before, they didn't really need rehearsal time, which I am certain they did not have. As for the clothing and Clay's need to borrow a blazer, Clay may not have traveled with dress clothes. I have no idea really, but the vibe I got is that the entire thing was impromptu. Clay looked and sounded terrific. I'd been longing to hear the lower register voice that Clay uses so well (the voice on "Broken Wings," for example); we got it, and I was thrilled. The crowd loved it. I sat next to my friend's husband (she was sitting elsewhere--long story). After Clay's performance, he said, "Well, that was worth the price of the whole ticket!" And this is a guy who often rolls his eyes at his wife's "enthusiasm"! As for David calling Clay his brother-in-law, my take is that David considers Clay family, and that pleases me no end. Clay sounded tremendously better than he did at the gala. There was only one place where I could hear some strain, and he covered it pretty well. I was sitting there really tense, hoping for the best but worried. Well, he pulled it off. I much prefer the lower register myself, and when I listen to his older stuff, I mourn its loss on the last album. In fact, when I listen to ATDW, I typically skip the higher register stuff, such as "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word." The beginning of that song, sung in falsetto, is just not my cuppa. But last night, he sounded grand. That beautiful resonance was back, as was his control over it. As for the gala, before I even heard him sing that night, I knew he would have trouble. He was staying in the same hotel I was, and the air was dehumidified to the point of intolerable. I lost my voice, so I knew he was going to have problems. That issue just didn't arise last night. The temperature in the Bay Area was mild, and for much of the day it was overcast. The humidity was just right for voice. The dry air issue was a problem in Minneapolis for the two 2007 Christmas concerts, too. On the first night, Clay really strained, and I was upset that I had spent all that time and money going there to get a subpar performance. However, by the second night, his voice had acclimatized and he was simply superb. I was a happy camper once again. A voice is part of the human body, and therefore subject to all its frailties. Age is no friend to it, I can tell ya that. Two of the older singers at the concert last night had some issues. Phillip Bailey, of Earth, Wind, and Fire fame, opened the show, and he really struggled with his falsetto. When he sang in a lower register he was fine. Peter Cetera, formerly of Chicago, also had some issues. He ended up sounding okay because he is a pro and knows how to cover, but watching him on the jumbotron was difficult; Clay's facial gestures are nothing compared to Peter's, which are quite grotesque. Ruben sounded wonderful, btw. He, too, has two voices, one of which I like, the other, not so much. The higher voice is what I would call a "head voice," and it sounds thin and false to me, especially coming from a man his size (honestly, I could have set up camp inside his suit! lol). The lower voice, what I would call a "chest voice," is just sublime, and he sang quite a bit in this register, and his performance was wonderful. David said that Ruben could make a song out of anything and have it sound good, so he asked an audience member for a line. One guy came up with "I love Erica," and Ruben constructed an impromptu song out of it (with David accompanying him on piano), and it was fantastic. They might have had a melody worked out--I'm not sure they could have worked together so well from nothing, but suffice it to say that it was a wonderful display of Ruben's musicianship. I just hope Rube stays with that lower register more--it's what made him a standout on AI. Charyce (sp??) was remarkable. She is very young (17) and really tiny. Physically, she reminds me of Allison Ireheta from this past season’s American Idol. Her voice has power and range so great that only Whitney, Mariah, and Celine--in their prime but not now--could match. She leaves one wondering, "Where does that voice come from?" Hmm. When have we heard that before? ;) Oh, I forgot to add that there was group of 4 men called "The Canadian Tenors" that just tore up (in a good way) Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." I got chills listening to it, so I'm going to go see if they have recorded that song. ETA: This post may travel.

Hello again, friends.
The Champions for Change Gala on Saturday, October 17 has produced some lovely new photos which I have posted
on the page called Today's Photos.

Here's a very nice recap from our friend Claymatron.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Bev!

Champions for Change Gala 2009  ~ recap by Claymatron

(October 19/09)

Helloooo everyone!

I'm home! Didn't get back to London until nearly 11 last night so stayed overnight with luckiest1 and then left her place about 9:30 this morning. Haven't had my shower yet, but I can see you were all anxious for a report, so I thought I'd give you a taste, at least. I had the awesome luck to be given a silver ticket from an angel who couldn't attend the Gala but wanted to support the cause. Because it included a group photo with Clay and a mini meet and greet, she wanted me to have that experience, so I Clayed forward my individual ticket too. As it turned out, there were 20 odd groups (I was in Group 18), so they were quick, but still an exciting experience. However before that, we were at the VIP reception where we all got the news of the Christie Cookie contest win and the presentation of the cheque to Clay and Diane Bubel. I think, because it was a last minute addition to the program, it might have held things up a bit, so the groups were introduced and photographed quite quickly.....but it was still amazing! Although I've seen Clay up close in the bus lineups and the stage door, he looked really handsome...and tall... in his suit. He looked a little tired and pale...I imagine this past week - losing his beloved Papa, was a strain on the entire family, but he was still joking and kidding around with us. He chose a sweet 78 year old lady from the group, took her hand, walked her to my end of the group where he stood her beside me, and then they took the photograph, so I was close! I think it was the only time in my life I wished I was older!!!, Ha ha! But I sat with her at the table for dinner and she was a delight and I was really happy for her. If it couldn't be me, I was so happy it was her, she was seriously in "the Aiken fog".

Anyway...(get on with it, CM!!) I've heard, because I can't be bothered reading, that there has been a lot of negativity from some people, but trust me, the Gala was wonderful. The entire evening was emotional and I can't remember feeling prouder of being a fan and a supporter of this man and his cause. As to the performance, I can't believe anyone could be anything but touched by his song choices and their presentation. I was there and "My Eyes Adored You" and "Moon River" were both so beautifully sung I had tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat, everyone one around me and those I spoke to afterward, were moved and thrilled. If he happened to have hit a shaky note or two, so what!?! It was live and he's human and he just needs to start singing on a regular basis again. He's got me for life...and darn it, I found out I'm not that old yet and if he likes sweet little grey-haired ladies, I still have something to look forward to!

OK, that's it for now! I will write a little more as I remember things..and will bring my photo to the Cluncheon on Nov. 7th. My luggage arrived safely, thankfully, and our trip was loads of fun, but I will recap as I remember things. Suffice it to say, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Here is a long and very enjoyable recap of the event by a friend of mine.
Many thanks to ncwannabe for sharing and allowing me to post this recap of her night at the Gala.

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Champions for Change Gala 2009  ~ recap by ncwannabe

I'm warning you right up front. This is gosh-awfully long. PLEASE SCROLL AT WILL.

Here’s my “I want to do a recap but not sure I remember anything of value and really don’t have time for this but I’ll try to do it anyway” recap. I’ll try to set the scene for those who weren’t there, so they can get an idea of the set up and time frame for things.

At 12:30 attendees could pick up their packets and also get an early look at the silent auction items. Many folks had been gathered in the lobby, waiting for the time, and soon a long line spread the entire length of the lobby as we all were so excited for this first step in what promised to be such a memorable event. The line moved quite quickly (with lots of reunions and hugs for distant friends going on), and soon my tablemates and I had picked up our packets, found out which table we were assigned to (table 11) and were reviewing the silent auction items which were displayed along the long corridor outside of the main dining room/performance area. Auction items lined both sides of the corridor and there were many “ooohs” and “aaahs” as attendees saw the items that were available for bid. I must say there are some extremely talented members of the Clay community!!

Fast forward a bit. My group was scheduled for arrival at 5:00 and I was down in the lobby by 4:15 or so. (yes I was a little excited and anxious – can you tell? I’m NEVER early for anything!!!) The lobby was looking grand with all of us in our gala finery as more and more people began pouring into the lobby. Finally it was 5:00 and off we went. We walked through the silent auction items area, and then were escorted into a separate room where we would wait as our group # for pictures was called. My group (toni, mercedes, winkatme, and carol5230) were group # 10. It was also in this room that the representative from Christie Cookies made her lovely speech and told us we had won!!! Massive cheers for that one!!!

Our group number was called (a kind of combination of groups, actually) and we were all milling in the hallway, waiting outside the room where we knew Clay was waiting for pictures. EEEEEE!! We managed to find the other five people who would make up the rest of our group and toni took charge and told them our group was all present and ready to go. Soon they called us and we were the first group to go in to have our pics taken! Filled with nervous anticipation we walked in and there he was!!! His back was to us initially as he appeared to be looking at some materials of some sort (maybe still going over the order of things for the program later) but he soon turned around and gave us a smile. My initial reaction??? OMG!!! He’s sooooo adorable!!!

The photographer was directing us to our various spots to stand for the photo and Clay piped up in his usual teasing, snarky way and kept telling us to “don’t look at me, listen to the photographer.” He was at that point still standing in front of us, facing us and pointing at the photographer. Then, in a completely random aside, Clay looked at me and said something like “You changed your hair, it’s different. It’s been a little while. How long has it been this way?” As he is finishing asking how long it’s been that way, he is now moving to his spot in the back row to place himself for the photo. He walks between the ladies in the center of the front row and moves into position in the back. Good thing, since I’m rather flabbergasted that he spoke to me and all I can do is mumble rather pathetically “I don’t know; maybe a month or two.” (I’m a stunning conversationalist, don’t you think?)

Anyway, by this time the photographer is ready to snap away and my feeble answer is forgotten (thank goodness) as we look forward and all smile. The photographer takes two pics, and then we were escorted out of the room . I sort of remember looking back for one last glimpse of the man before we went out the door. Wanted to soak up as much as I could!!!

Our plan had been to go directly into the main room as soon as our pictures were over so that we could find where our table was (ended up third row back, dead center. Yay!) and dump our purses and wraps or whatnot. However, the doors were not open. So, we waited in the corridor amid the silent auction items for quite some time. It became very crowded as the second wave of attendees had arrived by now, and soon the area was jammed with nervous, eager and excited women (whose feet hurt standing in our fancy shoes!!), waiting for the doors to open and the gala to begin. We used the opportunity to make some new friends and speculate about what the evening would have in store for us. Finally the doors opened around 6:30 and we all found our tables/seats.

Prior to actually starting dinner, Lynda Loveland (looking as stunning as always) made opening remarks. She introduced Clay, who came out and spoke very eloquently about the Project. At one point Clay started to say that he had never “dreamed . . .” but then he stopped and changed the word to “thought” that the Project could be as big and impactful as it has become. That struck me that he changed the word he used. Because I think he did “dream” about what the Project could become, but at the time the project first started I’m sure his reality was more along the lines of “hopefully we can make a go of this and make some impact here and there.” As I listened to him, I felt so proud of what he and Diane envisioned and what they have accomplished.

Next was dinner. Just a quick word about it for historical purposes. Salad was already on the table, along with water and unsweetened ice tea. The entrée was salmon, mashed potatoes and a cut of steak of some sort. Rolls were passed around. Dessert was New York cheesecake with strawberry drizzle.

After dinner, Lynda introduced Diane Bubel. She was wonderful – such a passionate speaker. A beautiful example of living a life of inclusion. In the course of her speech, she conveyed to the audience that we had won the Christie Cookie contest (many had not been present in the reception room to hear the initial announcement earlier.) The place just erupted in cheering!!! I’m eternally grateful that Clay began working with Mike and met this family that changed the course of all of their lives.

Next (I think) Jerry Aiken made some remarks, before turning it back over to Lynda. It was time for the first award, and Lynda announced Kristy (Barnes)White, who would intro the presentation and then present the award. It was for the young women who created the “Sparkle Effect.” The video showing them in action was lovely, and it was narrated by Clay himself. I was so impressed with these young women. The one who spoke after receiving the award showed amazing poise and wisdom for a girl of her age. I commend them so much on their efforts.

Next, Jerry Aiken intro’d the corporate award, which went to Mitsubishi (forgive me, I do not recall the actual name of which component of Mitsubishi they are). Their video was professional and informative and the two representatives of the corporation who accepted the award were both very honored and thankful to receive the award. Very well done.

Next it was time for the new Bubel/Aiken Founders Award. Both Clay and Diane came out together to explain the concept for the award and to announce the nominees. Clay said he was nervous about this! He also mentioned that it was an extremely hard to decision to come up with the finalist and the winner, and mentioned that they argued and discussed and argued and changed their minds and argued. .. LOL! He reached down under the podium to bring out the actual award (or trophy for lack of a better word) and they outlined each of the finalists’ accomplishments, before finally announcing the winner. I’ll add at this point that it was mentioned some time during the evening that Clay himself designed the awards.

Next it was time for the award honoring the Hughes’ and the band director at the college Patrick Henry is attending. The award was introduced and presented by Dr. Braeme. You’ve all heard by now that Patrick performed two songs to a most enthusiastic audience. Afterword, he spoke briefly, as did the band director and his father. A very moving and inspirational story to say the least!!!

Lynda returned at this point and actually was in tears as she described watching Patrick’s father’s face while his son was performing. She was very moved, and had to take a moment to collect herself before announcing that it was time for the auction to begin.

Up comes Joe, our friendly, funny auctioneer for the last two galas. Clay announces he is going to be Joe’s sidekick. They have a great thing going, with a lot of back and forth between the two and a very easy give and play between them throughout the entire auction. It’s obvious they like and respect each other. I love that throughout the auction Clay’s friends and family are helping. Board member Frances Wilson assists during the auction bringing and displaying some items on stage. As does Clay’s brother Brett. We also saw Clay’s friend Cameron throughout the night and know that he was helping out as well. It makes me extremely happy to see how much Clay’s friends/family support him in this. He is so loved.

I won’t mention every auction item but just a few random recollections as I recall them of things I particularly remember . During the guitar auction, which was the first item, Clay mentions it is signed by Kelly C, himself and Fantasia, and says that Ruben is “available” and he can get him to sign it as well. Then he says that way it will be signed all by people who beat him! The DF & F’s tickets were one of the surprise items not listed for bid originally. So, as Clay begins to explain what the next item up for bid is, he says that it comes from a good friend, and then mentions “family” as well. Awwwww. As Clay is describing who all is going to be at the DF concerts, he mentions Ruben, Peter Cetera, and Charice. He says Charice’s album will be great and that it is “gonna finance my son’s college education – thanks to Jaymes.” (Jaymes is the EP on the album). Hee!!! He said “you’ll have to buy 7 of that one too.”

Another item is a huge poster from Spamalot, the actual one that hung in the frame on the outside wall of the Shubert theatre (the one to the left of the door on the corner, facing 44th street). The thing is huge, and Clay mentions it is quite heavy. I see fingers around the edge holding it up, but can’t see who is behind it. As bidding goes on, I see Clay make a motion to the person holding the poster, and suddenly he pushes it so that it falls forward onto the floor and there stands a grinning Sean behind it. Clay says he’ll throw in dinner with Sean along with it!! This morphs into an actual bid for dinner with Sean, mainly a war between Ethyl and the McVargas girls. I’ not sure who actually won, but the winning bid was $1000. More to that later. The stripped funky jacket from the NAT comes out, and Clay says we had a word for it. He asks us to repeat it, as he says it is “not appropriate.” Hee! Clay first declines trying it on, but soon takes off his suit coat and gives it a go! Success! He’s soooo proud! He even can button it with room to spare! Bidding goes crazy and the final bid is for (I think) $34,000. Woohoo!

Dinner for ten is announced as an item up for bid. My group is going to bid, after having such an amazing time last year. However, we have a limit. Lovely Mercedes is doing the bidding for us. We have to bow out, but not before going waaaaay over what my limit was!!!! Whew! Hope the winners enjoy it as much as we did! In the course of describing how the auction item came to be, Clay describes how last year he was going to go to the Celine concert with a group of 10. But that it snowed, and the dinner with we ten happened instead. He then says “and here’s the picture of us all” and up pops a picture of all of us and Clay at the dinner! Good Lord! I’m on the big screen!! He talks with us a bit from the audience, asking a few questions, among them inquiring how long the dinner was. When we say it was about 3 and ½ hours, he says well it must have been enjoyable cause he didn’t think it was that long (or something to that effect, I think. The fog was happening.) Anyway, when the winning bid of $41,000 was secured, Clay yells for Sean to come back out. Sean appears and Clay gives him a “Hey Sean, how much was your dinner bid again???” Snarky Clay at his best!!!!

Next is the surprise “Clay experience” which Clay prefaces by saying that whenever friends of his from out of town come to visit, he generally takes them on his own tour of Raleigh, which tends to include the places that are meaningful to him and places he frequents and so on. Sooo, a “Day with Clay” is the surprise. Wow! The tittering and tingle around the room is palpable. Who is the lucky person who can afford this???? A bit of a bidding war ensues, and Spooky emerges the winner. What a great prize Clay came up with! Hopefully he’ll think of something equally unique for next year too.

The last item of the night is the “Back for More” cd. As he begins to tell about it and says it is illegal (with the appropriate scared look on his face for breaking the law!) and this is the only other copy of something, other than what he has on his computer and Jaymes has on her computer, I said to myself “OMG, it’s Back for More.” Clay moves the piano bench over, goes backstage to bring out a portable cd player, and holds the mic up to the speakers and presses play. Sure enough, it’s Back for More. The place goes wild!!! Our dear fellow CVer Claym8 places the winning bid and, as she was sitting right at my table, I hear her say “I’m getting a hug.” Before anyone can stop her, she marches right up to the stage and holds out her arms. Clay complies and gives her a big hug!! Lucky girl!!!!

Thus the auction ends, and Jerry comes out and speaks for a bit, once again reviewing the wonderful work of the Project and how the Project has made many “friends” and has partnered with many organizations, including Johns Hopkins, the Eunice Shriver program, various universities, and whatnot. He urges us to keep spreading the word, and to donate when we can. He then brings out Faye to introduce Clay.

Faye intros the band first and then goes on to talk of Clay a bit. Among other things, she mentions that he has always cared about kids who didn’t fit in and who would be sitting on the sidelines. That is when we hear Clay interject from backstage with a loud “What????” It is hilarious! Faye ends her intro by saying here is “her son, you all love him, Clay Aiken. “ (exact quote may be wrong, but you get the idea)

I know you’ve al seen the clack, you know what he sang. Just let me say that as soon as Clay began to sing, it was like coming home. I had waited (as we all have) for sooo long to hear that voice. I just sat there with a huge smile on my face, taking it all in. I was lucky enough to have a wonderful seat where I could see Clay’s face, his expressions, his beautiful hands. I love how Clay sings. His entire body sings. He puts everything into it. His body language is so fluid. As some have mentioned, the notes weren’t all perfect. He especially struggled with "As Long As We're Here". I won’t begin to speculate about what may have been going on with Clay – tired, grief, allergies – I just don’t know about any of that. But, what I do know is that the man I watched put everything he had into the performance. His voice, to me, was still beautiful. He connected with me. He interacted with us in that special way he has. He smiled when we all laughed as he forgot the words. He knows we know him – he knows we love him anyway. He rolled his eyes and laughed a bit as he sung when we hooted and hollered after the long “Myyyyyyyyy” in MEAY. And he smiled big when he told us “don’t worry” that he was “in the studio working on some things.” He knew we needed to hear that – he gave us that to hold on to. And, when he began singing MR, and an audible gasp escaped from the audience, I saw just the slightest hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth.

Geez, this is a book. Sorry. I like to give details for those not there, but perhaps this is just too much. Sorry. But, if you’ve lasted this long, here’s my parting shot. I’m thrilled for Clay. Thrilled for such a spectacular success that the Project has become for him. Thrilled that this gala is such an incredible event. And I’m thrilled that so many of us were there. If you recall, the gala sold out in 4 minutes! And what is wonderful is that we ALL wanted to be there. Last year, there was a lot of tension. Emotions were raw. I think many of us felt protective – I know I did. I was anxious to let Clay know that I was here – not going away – here for the duration. And I was worried about those who were there who did not feel the same way.
This year, we are past that. Yes, some have left. But many remain. And he knows that. He knows that those of us here now love him and support him and support his causes and that for many of us it has become our cause as well. We live it and believe it. There was no tension. No need to protect. So while the evening may not have had the same emotional connection as it did last year, it is wonderful to know that it didn’t need to. Clay is loved AND accepted by the people in that room Saturday night. He knew it. Enough said.  ~

This recap is from Margaret, who was the last peasant honoured...at the final show of Spamalot.
Thanks, Margaret, for saying that your recap could travel.


Warning: THIS IS LONG!!! Feel free to scroll.

My P(l)easant Experience

One late night many months ago, I decided to check online for Spamalot tickets. Mom and I had not really talked about going, and I pretty much had no hope because of money issues. Well… I decided I wanted to check anyways. I got on the website and searched for seats on May 4th, Clay's last show. "How great would it be," I thought, "to go to that what's-sure-to-be-amazing closing night." I searched for two tickets, best available, when what to my oogling eyes did appear… but two seats in fourth row, center section, and the end of the row next to the right aisle. My heart started pounding and I exclaimed, "MOM!!!!!!! COME LOOK AT THIS!!!!" Well, we grabbed those tickets and held on with all our might. From there our trip blossomed. We arranged to fly in on Saturday, see the show on Sunday night, have a day for shopping on Monday and leave on Tuesday. We knew our good friend ClayIzzaQT was going for closing weekend, and I was thrilled thinking about how many of our Clay friends must be going and how excited I was to see everyone again.

Fast forward to May 3rd. Mom and I knew one show just wouldn't be enough if we actually wanted to see Spamalot… we needed two shows, one for the play, one for Clay . We had mezzanine seats for the 8pm Saturday show, and it was really nice to see everything from far away. It also added to the excitement because now we knew what to look for regarding Clay when we were sitting close. When the audience peasant scene unfolded (with Mr. Ravioli from seat D101) I thought to myself from my mezzanine seat, "I wonder what I would do if I was that person…" I concluded that I would want to flirtatiously wave at Clay. Other than that I had no idea what I would do, but it didn't really matter because I thought, "That's never going to happen to me."

Or was it?

The next day, we got into the Schubert and mom and I excitedly made our way down to our 4th row seats. As I drew closer to my seat, D101, I started to realize something… SEAT D101 WAS THE PEASANT’S SEAT!!!!!! From that point on I was freaking out. I was able to relax during the first act because I knew the peasant scene didn't happen in that act. I also didn't want to get my hopes up too high in case they had changed the seat they used from the night before, however the very nice lady sitting next to us told us at the Sunday matinee show it was D101 as well. OMG. I pretty much knew it was going to happen then. Act two came and then I started REALLY freaking out. The Holy Hand Grenade was thrown, and alas, it was D101. Everyone around me who knew what was coming looked at me and some said "Congratulations!" Patsy came and got me (he was so sweet, he told me exactly what to do which was good because I would have probably done something stupid otherwise), found the grail, ClayRobin asked the King if they could reward me, and Patsy led me onstage. That night as I was getting dressed I had decided to choose comfort over looks in my shoe choice. Instead of wearing a pair of silver dressy heels I decided on my black Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers (they went with my outfit and if it was cold after the show my toes wouldn't freeze off waiting at the stage door!). As I got onstage the King exclaimed, "I like your shoes!!!" to which everyone laughed. I said thanks, he asked my name and I said "Margaret." He asked my last name and I told him. Between this moment and the next, I shifted my weight to my left leg which caused me to lean to the left a bit. As I did this I looked past the King and there was Clay's face… poking around the King's head… and he was *beaming* just positively beaming. The best, cutest, handsomest, THUDworthiest smile I have ever seen. You all know what smile I'm talking about… the one where his bottom teeth are showing ever so slightly and his jaw is open a bit… ahhhhhh if only I could have that moment captured in a picture… Seeing his face caused (what I'm sure was) the biggest, silliest grin to permanently fix itself on mine. It also made me less nervous, which I now find odd! Now, you must forgive me because everything starts getting fuzzy here from that Aiken Fog. I’m not totally sure I have the order of everything correct, but this is my best shot at it. I know I won the Best Peasant of the Year Award, and started shaking hands with everyone. I shook Lancelot’s hand, and I remember turning to Clay and starting to put my hand out to shake but he didn’t. Remembering I wanted to wave to him, I did just that, a small, flirty wave. To my sheer delight, he returned it, just as flirty. His face was sort of turned away from me, but his eyes were looking over at me. Kind of a I-don’t-want-her-to-see-me-looking-but-I-want-to-look kind of thing. I saw his shy-boy nervous smile and I could hear everyone laughing and that helped me gain some more confidence, so I waved again and again he returned the wave!! We might have done it once more, too. Lancelot then said to me, “Ohh do you know each other?” but before I could answer I think someone said something. The next thing I remember is the song. I don’t even remember how the song goes (lol) but I do remember something great about it. I remember Clay was knelt down to the front right of me during the song. I remember looking down into that singing, makeup-ed, overly-expressive face *so close* to me and those eyes, squinted in joyful song…singing *my* name…THUD is the only thing more I have to say about that. Oh wait one more thing… somewhere in the song there’s a word that starts with P (probably peasant) and when this word was sung Lancelot overdid the “puh” noise so a puff of air came out of his mouth and blew my hair all over my face! I thought that was funny, the little sh**. Now, it was either after the song or somewhere earlier and I just have the order mixed up, but I know somewhere in this whole ordeal Clay grabbed my hand with both of his. Sadly his hands were gloved so instead of feeling those legendary hands I felt gloves… but they were Clay’s gloves!!! So it was all good. Then it was time for me to return to my seat. I got back to the chair and turned around just in time to see Clay nudge Lancelot and say (I could read his lips), “She’s cute!” THUDTHUDTHUDTHUD. He then proceeded to look for me in the crowd and wave to me again!!! And I waved back. Those waves were the best waves I have ever and ever will receive in my entire life. After all this, I was a shaking pile of goo. Thuded almost to death. It was amazing I could walk and talk, but I pulled through.

After the show seeing Clay on the roof was amazing. Hearing everyone tell me congratulations and how cute Clay and I were was amazing. Hearing other people’s recounts of my time onstage was amazing! Someone told me that Clay looked me up and down, checking me out. Another lady told me she thought he was going to kiss me (I wish!!!!!). All these extra tidbits of knowledge fueled my Clay High.

This next bit I will probably never know if it was luck or it happened on purpose. Since Clay didn’t come out of the stage door I wasn’t able to get my playbill or polaroid signed. I was a bit sad about this but it wasn’t a big deal because I was ecstatic with just being onstage with him. Well… a while after the show and at least 10 minutes after Clay had left the Schubert my mom and I were still there talking to friends. I was still holding my playbill in my hand and I had my polaroid out too because everyone kept asking to see it. Out of the corner of my eye I see a woman dressed all in black walking towards me with her hands behind her back. I thought she was coming over to see the picture and as she was walking over I could tell she was looking at it so I kind of held it out for her to see. Then she said, “Is that a blank playbill?” “Yeah,” I said. She then slowly took it out of my hands and replaced it with one that she had been holding behind her back and walked away. I looked down and to my surprise, I was holding a playbill autographed by Clay!!!!! I looked back to thank the woman, but she was slipping back through the stage door, never to be seen again. I’m wondering if Clay had left it for me!?!?! What a guy *swoon*.

My mom’s and my flight home was scheduled for 4pm on Tuesday, two hours after the CD signing was to start. We had concluded that there was no way we could have done the signing and made it to LaGuardia airport and our gate by 4, so we pretty much counted ourselves out of that. The next day, however, mom and I found ourselves standing in line at midnight at Virgin, saying to ourselves, “If we get wristbands, we’ll try to push back our flight, if not then we’ll go home.” Alas, we got wristbands and booked it back to the hotel to get online to look for later flights home. We were so lucky because we found one that departed at 8pm the same day and it only cost us $25 each to change our flight!! It was fate.

The CD signing is a blur too. You know how everything with Clay goes, it all happens way too fast. Day-um he looked delicious in that black sweater. GAH. I took my Polaroid along just in case I could sneak an extra autograph on that too. As I got up to the table, Mary took my CD insert and saw the picture. She said “Oh! You were the peasant!” She’s so cute. I walked up to the table, heart pounding, and shook Clay’s hand (oh those hands…). He said “Hi, what’s your name?” “Margaret.” “Margaret, we’ve met before!” “Yeah! I was the peasant at your last show, do you think you could sign this [the Polaroid] too?” “I can’t, I’m sorry, they’d yell at me and I’d get in trouble but thanks for coming out, I appreciate it!” “Okay, you’re welcome, thanks!” And it was over… My mom was after me and she goes up to him and says, “I’m just the peasant’s mother!!” Clay repeats, “Just the peasant’s mother!” Mom says, “You were flirting with her!” Clay then gave her a look (which I SO wish I could have seen!) that was like “Yes I WAS flirting with her!” THUDTHUDTHUD.

What a wonderful weekend. Everything was just amazing. Seeing friends I hadn’t seen in a while, seeing Spamalot twice, being the peasant, talking to so many nice, sweet people that recognized me, being able to go to the CD signing, BUYING A NEW CLAY AIKEN CD!!! Talk about perfection. Thank you so much to everyone that was happy for me and told me things I hadn’t seen that had happened when I went onstage. This recap wouldn’t be as complete without you! Thanks to ClayIzzaQT and toni for being you And, as always, thanks to our guy, Clay Aiken.

Last but not least, here's the picture:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v45/redwings63/img001-Copy-Copy.jpg

This recap and picture can travel!

Grabbed this when I saw it on the CH:
Thanks to Cheer4Clay870 for sharing this.( I know you have all seen her photo with Clay and Tyra,
but I can't post any of them as all are by "stock photo" companies.) I copied this without editing.
She's a teenager.

Cheer4Clay870 at OFC wrote:

i might as well fess up already since my whole face  is now floating around on the internet. hahah i was trying to keep it SUCH a secret because i read in the contract i signed that i wasnt really supposed to tell what went on. but oh well here i go. yes its me that was picked! my name is tara and im 16 years old from south jersey. i had never MET clay before ever (well except for a few handshakes and shoutouts from the audience). so this was basically my DREAMMMMMM coming true. i FLIPPED OUT when the producer even CALLED me to even be considered for this! i wrote this big sappy story to Shira Piell saying that i was always made fun of in school for liking clay and that i got so depressed because i felt like i had no friends. but then i read LTS and it changed my life. i wrote too that i didnt have a sweet 16 party because i went down to Orlando, FL to see him on my birthday instead and that i have met most of my best friends from having clay in my life. they told me that i had to come up to nyc on that wednesday to have a producers meeting or something? i was told to have my hair and makeup done (but they obviously re-did it when i got there) and to be prepared to be on camera and bring lots of outfits and clay shirts for them to pick from. ok???? i said. when i got to the studio they picked out my outfit (i should have had a clue when they picked the spamalot t-shirt) and they told me that i was 1 of the 5 finalists. the other 4 girls were off somewhere else. we were all going to be the very first to see "clays new wax figure". we would each see it at different times and the girl who had the best reaction would win the biggest fan competition. ok????? easy enough! so we went outside, they put a BLINDFOLD on me so i wouldnt know where i was going (i thought we were going to madam tousous or something). i had to walk all around nyc IN HEELS and i had to get in a cab and whatnot. ugh it was painful on my feet. so finally we get to the destination and they tell me to say this line in the camera something like "HI IM GOING TO BE THE VERY FIRST ONE TO SEE CLAY AIKENS NEW WAX FIGURE AND I AM SOOOOO EXCITED" then someone came up to me and was like "YOURE SO EXCITED?!??!" and i was like "YEAH??" and she was like "DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS IS?!?!" and i was like "NOO!" and she was like "...you dont know who this is?" (of course i knew who it was! it was TYRA BANKS right in front of me!) O-M-G so then i was like "OMG IS THIS TYRA?!?!" and she was like "YES!!!" and i was like "CAN I TAKE OFF THIS BLINDFOLD NOW!?" and she was like NOOOO! then she was like theyre rolling the wax figure out right now! reach out and touch it! so i was touching its CHEST and what was going through my mind was this "wow this shirt is so soft. wait they put actual clothing on these wax figures? hold on a minute this does NOT feel like a wax figure..." then the thing jumped at me. and i screamed. and i took off my blindfold. and it was clay aiken in the flesh right in front of me. I. DIED. litterally. i even fell on the ground at one point. HAHAH during one point in the whole thing i was thinking about the other 4 finalists and i turned to tyra and was like "wait, what about the other 4 girls?" and she was like "GIRRRL IT WAS JUST YOU THE WHOLE TIMEEEE" *dies* it was THE. BEST. expierence of my entire life. i got a backstage tour of spamalot and everything. the next week i was sent back to be on the actual show. hahah im shaking even thinking about this! once the show airs ill add more details and all that jazz. this may float to the CB. just dont give it to access hollywood or anything.

April 8/08

From butterflyshine at CV:  It's a recap of Clay's event (creating his hand prints for the restaurant's collection) at Planet Hollywood this afternoon.

Quote:

okay, i am back from Planet Hollywood, stupid phone went dead, so no pictures...hair...it was flat ironed...not glued to his head, but very straight...so interpret how you will got there and like Cap said was told if i had lunch i could watch...got seated right next to the stage... had no pen...but a nice waiter got one for me and i took scribbles on a placemat so I got there and the media started to set up must have been 20 at least...they had assigned spots...the ones in the back stood on stools... Fox News and NBC both there...could see their logos on the cameras Barry, the publicist, was there...and this out of order, but i heard someone ask his assistant if she repped Clay and she replied that she worked for Barry...he is very cute btw Spam promo people were there, and i was chatting with them...and i told them that the fans loved his Spam promo...this was after the event... Waitress told me that they don't get advanced notice or she would have had her family come in, they get told the day of.... So, he was introduced and like Cap said he was asked about Spam and he said it was the hardest thing he ever did and for 2 weeks he did nothing but go home and lay on the floor he was that sore... then he did his hand prints...and pressed his hands in and the Planet Hollywood guy pressed on his hands to make sure he made a deep impression...and then more photo ops... then he did his hands up in the air...surprisingly clean...and smiled...huge photo op...did photo op with Spam sign... and then he had a few minutes break --rubbed his eyes a bit...there were a lot of flashes...it was like a light show... My notes say that when he was intro'd the guy said that he had gotten great reviews...verrra, verra nice... Then he did the tv interviews...I couldn't hear the first...just Clay laughing so i moved myself a little closer with some others... this is no particular order and a cummulation of the three interviews i could hear and i couldn't hear them all b/c he wasn't mic'd...and each crew had their own mic: i got closer and i could hear him say that when he first started he was huffing and puffing...now he is not...no he has no problem he said he has fun doing Spam...he told one reporter about a running joke, not sure what it was, but i think he was discussing his lack of dancing ability and that it didn't come naturally that he had to be taught every move...Spam role has made him stretch... talked about a new album, original works, or songs most haven't heards....said something about album of love songs...and so many forces at work.... said something about album promotion and then some time off and then maybe a trip for UNICEF.... Said something about October...i think it was about a tour, not entirely sure, so take it for what it is worth.... Clay did a lead in for one of the news shows after the interview...and he did "Hey this is Clay Aiken" and then the reporter said something about big news and "Clay was mouthing big news, huge news it was super cute.... made reference to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and that Phylicia Rashad and James Earl Jones are next door....most talented people are on Broadway... Said he didn't know if he could do the (dancing) -the talent was so hidden, he didn't even know he had it Told the NBC guy he liked the light on his camera the best...not so harsh... part is easy now b/c he knows it... said to someone he thought his hand prints would be hung in the kitchen... discussed new album with each interview...and the concept of the album... shook each reporters hand... gave one of the lady reporters a hand up on the stage.... at the end left with Jerome and Barry, but not before he stopped and took a picture with some children who standing nearby and watching... each reporter did a lead in and called Clay a superstar... this post may travel, please post it verbatim and in its entirety...b/c of the bits and pieces... thank you.... if i think of more, i will post.... ......thanks to ButterflyShine for this recap and for saying that her post might travel.

Webmaster's Recap of NewYork/Spamalot, March, 2008

Arrived Tuesday night (March 4) in NYC at Penn Station at the exact same moment (9:45 pm) that the Rangers game got out. Thousands of fans in Rangers jerseys were flooding the train station...not to mention the cab stand on 8th Ave, where I had to wait 20 min. for a cab. Raced to the hotel, dumped my luggage, and headed to Shubert Alley. Arrived about 2 minutes before Jerome and Clay came out...whew--just made it! My friend handed me a Playbill, and as I am tall, I waved it over the heads of all, and within another 2 minutes I had my first Clay autograph ever. Yay, Clay! Thank you!

It was a mild night (compared to filthy weather in TO) and Clay was not dressed warmly (but Jerome was!) Clay only was out about 3 minutes, but Tom D. came out just as Clay was departing, so I got his autograph too.

On this trip I was just there for one show, on Wednesday night.

Spamalot is hysterically funny. I could not stop laughing. The satire is exquisitely hilarious, and it just keeps coming at you.
Clay was totally marvellous, and I don't think I could find any new words to describe him. He is having so much fun, that he positively glows.
I would have been terribly sad to leave NY after just one show, but in fact I left with a light heart, knowing that I would be back at the end of April.

The people in the cast are totally fabulous. Everything that everyone has written is true. I loved every last one of the cast and I was lucky enough to get a night when there were no substitutions.
One reason I went this week was that I had friends to share with, but another reason was that I really wanted to see Christopher Sieber, who was totally wonderful. Glad I did not miss him.
And Tom D is priceless. I loved Hannah, too. After I got my first Clay autograph, he soon went inside, but Tom D was still outside signing and so I got his autograph too, right beside Clay's.
Tom is a sweetheart and one of the funniest actors I have ever seen in action.

But OMG, Clay was gorgeous....both in the play and after the play (see below.) His acting was wonderful and his dancing.....well, let's just say that he can never again say that he can't dance. He is so into it!
He was funny as all get out as the guard in the window ('swallows' routine) and I loved him in the "bring out your dead" bit. But he shone in the scene guarding Prince Herbert (played by Tom) where there was so much funny stuff going on that it was hard to decide who to watch. Clay was being utterly thick and dense, just hilarious, but behind and above him, Tom was really into the Prince thing, and the two of them had me helpless with laughter.
I just love how all the players (actors, singers, and dancers) in this show play off each other. Truly teamwork. No divas to be found anywhere.
Can't leave this recap without saying how much I loved Clay's big solo (You Won't Succeed on Broadway....etc) and at the end in the white tux (swoon) he's in his element....I'd go again just to see that bit again, lol.
This is, bar none, the funniest show I have ever seen, and I can't wait to go back.
I was at the stage door two nights in a row, and fired off as many photos as I could. Didn't get anything original, of course, and it's hard to get anything usable, depending on where you are standing, how quickly Clay moves, and whether anyone throws a hand or an arm into your photo after you have pressed the shutter. So I was happy to get 3-4 pix that turned out, no matter how modest. Here is one of them.




Main floor was packed solid and there were a quite a few SROs. Friends who were sitting in the mezzanine said that it was not full, and no one caught a glimpse of the balcony. Audience had a ball, laughing all the way.
They were loud and appreciative; gave Clay a standing O at the curtain call. No untoward calling out was heard at any time, heh.
Majority of the audience were NJUs, and there were many men. Also lots of tourists. And the usual complement of fans.

At the stage door altho' the crowds were "small" I was happily surprised both nights at how many men were waiting there. Last night by pure happenstance, AFAIK, the waiting crowd was unusually tall..both men and women...some very tall gals there. Normally in any crowd I am one of the tallest, but not last night. I couldn't get anywhere near the front of the crowd nor could I reach my hand over...tons of people over 6 feet tall and a lot of big men. It's all good.
I was happy to see them!

The cast was on fire. They were having a blast. I have not laughed that hard in many a moon. I thought the show was fabulous, and the cast was absolutely terrific. As many have reported before me, Clay positively glowed. He is clearly having such a blast! I thought his acting was great.
He looks wonderful, and sounds even better....he was in just perfect voice last night, I thought. And he's hilarious. I just love him.

Thanks to AnnTherese54 who clued me in on how to get on the Times Square webcam. Now that was a hoot. Phoned my daughter once we were on the cam, but she had already found us and was capping like crazy. So much fun!
The screencaps are low resolutions (files run about 32 mb) and impossible to enlarge with any clarity but still fun to have. You can see us at the Times Sq camera location on the GC goes to Spamalot page at www.generationclay.com




Sometime after 3 a.m. Thursday (March 6) I was awakened by a loud noise and heard sirens. I was right by the window and had been thoroughly awakened, so I looked out. There were fire engines, ambulances and police in the street below. I got back to sleep but was up and out before 6:30 am, off to catch my early train home. I saw/heard no news til I got home, but then I heard a bit about the bombing that occurred early that a.m. in NYC. I think that is what awakened me. It was pretty loud, even heard from the 9th floor, and I was deeply asleep at the time.
I departed  Penn Station at 7:15 am, and arrived back in Toronto at 7:45 pm. It was a very comfortable ride, the equipement having been upgraded since my last trip on The Maple Leaf. Now its Business Class is equipped with lovely comfortable reclining seats, and duplex electrical outlets at each seat. (I think my iBook will be going with me in April.) Thursday was a beautiful spring-like day for my trip home. It's long ride (12 hours) but not hard. (The hardest part is getting one's luggage thru the station!)

The train ride was calm and beautiful (such a pretty, sunny and warm morning in lower NY state.)..the Hudson River was calm like glass and so beautiful...lovely trip. Saw many water birds feeding on the river: old squaw ducks, mallards, geese, gulls. No snow anywhere in the south....wasn't til near Albany that I began to see snow on hillsides. Saw a deer in a field (felt from the start of the trip that I would see a deer, don't know why, but I saw him Thursday afternoon.) Also saw the peregrine falcon in Rochester at last. Yay for the falcon; have wanted to see that falcon for about 6-7 years. Signs of spring everywhere, even where there was still snow on the ground. Saw 2 enormous groups of migrating geese, one large flock on a field feeding; 10 minutes later a huge gaggle of geese in the air, in classic V formation.  Each gaggle had more than 50 birds. All the little creeks were unfrozen and running freely.
But the back bay of Lake Ontario was still frozen fast (this was at Aldershot). Near NYC, no ice anywhere. No ice on the Hudson until I saw a wee bit in backwaters of the Hudson near Albany. Can you tell I just love looking out the train window?

Home exactly on time: train pulled into Union Station at 7:45 pm and I was in my living room at 8:05.
And it has snowed almost non-stop since I got home. Spring will be a little late this year, I think.

I can't wait for my next trip to see Spamalot and Clay, at the end of April.


--by Liz

Issa's recap of her whole NewYork trip.

This is a fun read, Issa! Thanks for sending it!

March 4, 2008
 
I arrived at Diane's house 15 minutes earlier than expected, but boy was this woman ready or what?!  Her 2 grandsons were pulling their suitcases out the door as I attempted to knock on the door.  We flew out of there in a heartbeat.  Diane was EXCITED.
 
Our 2 1/2 hour drive to Detroit was great. Roads were clear of snow and ice and traffic ran smoothly that day.  When we found the hotel , the snow started falling.  We went to Crackle Barrel to get something to eat before we officially checked in to the hotel which was only across the street.  A good 45 minutes later, the car was covered with snow.  We really lucked out big time not to get snow while we were still on the road.
 
We checked in to our room and we found it very cold, we tried to work the remote control for the heater but we could not figure out which button to push.  The front desk clerk came to assist but he failed too (so we felt not to dumb afterall not being able to operate a remote control), he had to call the maintenance man.  I am telling you instructions on some products are not consumer friendly at all.  After the maintenance man is gone, we watched American Idol, then went to bed right away as we have to be down the lobby by 4AM to catch the shuttle that goes to the airport.
 
March 5, 2008
 
I probably only got 1/2 hour sleep because I have been going to bed at 3AM lately following a surgery I had 2 1/2 weeks ago.  Or this could be too much excitement.  The snow outside was 12 inches high!!!  Diane had to bring our dirty clothes to the car in the back of the hotel and she said that it was just horrible outside.  The shuttle was on time, but the roads we took to the airport has not been plowed at all.  The driver was passing cars and I was praying to our dear Lord that we do not end up on the ditch or turn over.  Luckily we made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare.  I hate going through security and having to take off my shoes and belt and when my tray goes trhrough the x-ray machine the attendant is busy chit chatting with a fellow worker and is not paying attention to what is passing through.  I defintely feel secure.
 
Looking out of the airport window, we saw a snow covered runway.  There was parade of snow plows running up and down the runway.  Our flight was at 6:15 AM, but it did not get to take off 'til 6:45AM.  I witnessed how they hose down the entire plane to free it from snow and ice.  It was neat to see a very tall scissor lift go over the wings and hose them down with de-icer.  It made me feel better also to see this process done before take off.
 
We arrived at LaGuardia at little after 8:30AM.  The weather was slightly warmer than Detroit's but it was very cloudy.  It was close to 9:30 when we got out of the airport and called a cab. The cab cost us $38.50 (including toll) plus $9.00 tip from the airport to Belvedere.  The taxi driver was a typical NYC cab driver who rushes then comes to a complete stop at a millisecond.  Our heads were bopping forward, backward and side to side.  We tried checking in early but off course rooms were not ready, so we just left our luggage to the bellhop.
 
We started looking for the theater, and we found it 5 blocks away.  When we found it, we were like 2 little kids that found a dollar on the street.  We took pictures infront of
Clay's Spamalot poster and stuck our heads in the cardboad billboard on the sidewalk there.  Diane should have the picture and hopefully she will send it to Liz. It was close to 11AM when we found the theater.  Hunger set in so we looked around for places to eat.  Junior's was just around the corner from the theater, actually you can see the stage door from Junior's.  After we had something to eat, we contacted Betty, Liz and MJ, who we met right in front of Times Square.
 
It was really fun to see familiar faces, and I am glad to have gone this time when there are other GCers there.  This is the only group I associate with and I am happy to see the faces I know almost like family.
 
After chit chatting with GCers, Diane and I continued our NYC adventure.  We walked up to the Rockefeller Center and took the elevator up the observation deck.  We walked and walked which was too much walking for me since I am used to taking a car even in short distances.  NYkers are definitely more trim than MIders.  This walking keeps them in tone.  We headed back to the hotel around 2 PM which luckily there was a room ready.  I took an hour nap before we started getting prettied up for the show.
 
We met up with Ann, Patty, Betty, MJ and Liz at Juniors for dinner. Ann suggested a pizza place called "John's" since most of us were just at Junior's for lunch.  The place was marvelous.  It is an old building with an iron stairway leading up to the mezz floor and had stained glass ceiling which was absolutely gorgeous. It must have been a nightclub back in its younger years. The pizza that Diane and I shared was delicious.  I bet they made their own cheese and pizza sauce.  It was extraordinaire.  We got seated and served in less than an hour.
 
We walked to the theater and browsed inside a Broadway store before they opened the theater door.  When we finally got in, Diane and I headed to the basement to check in her bags. As I limped down the stairway, we met Jerome and he commented how nice my eyeglasses were.  I could have asked him if this earned me a favor to meet Clay.
 
THE SHOW
 
I have never been to a Broadway show before in my life, but I have been to high school performing arts musicals and I have seen and own a few musicals on DVDs.  The venue is small, really compact.  I almost wondered how seating were like after talking to the man who checked in Diane's bag, he said they might not fit under the seat or infront of her leg, she might have to put it on her lap.  The rows were very narrow, people had to stand up to let us in to our seats which were in the middle of the row.  On the first day, we sat on the first row up the center mezzanine which were perfect.  It seemed like the actors especially the Lady and King were looking up at us.  Of course they were focused on the lights which were right down below us.
 
Clay was hilarious, his facial expressions were so funny, IT IS HIM.  His accent was believable and he acted like he has done this all his life.  He really seemed like he was enjoying himself.  He did not miss a beat.  His dance moves were unbelievable, HE CAN DANCE, shaking his booty and all.  The best part that I enjoyed was "You Won't Succeed In Broadway" part.  This was the longest solo he did if I recall correctly.  I liked the way he started shaking his body with his arms up ala "Fiddler on the Roof" papa.  FOTR is one of my faves.
 
After the show, we tried getting out as soon as we can but because we were in the center seats you have to wait for the others to move, and they were not moving.  We did not make it to the stage door to get to the front.  When Clay came out I tried to reach out to get my poster signed but he was not able to.  That really made me so disappointed, but I got a nice picture of him so that made up for it.  As the others were saying there was a bigger crowd on Clay fans that night than most of the other weeknights.  I did not get extremely discourage as I know I had another shot the following night to get an autograph.
 
The GC group had an after show dessert at Juniors and the night ended up with a lot of hugs and goodbyes.  I may have to wait 'til summer to see some of you again.
 
March 6,2008
 
Diane and I slept in a little; did not get up until 7 AM.  We had breakfast at a restaurant down the road. Again, food and service was excellent.
 
We bought tickets to the CitySightSeeing Tour Bus for the day, and we went Downtown and Uptown routes.  We went up the Empire State Building, walked to Ground Zero, met my friends at the United Nations building and had dinner at a Japanese restaurant.  My friend, knowing that it was my first time in NYC, gave me a "I (heart) NY" hat as a souvenir.  It was not the cheap looking ones that can be bought on the sidewalk.  My friend and her husband dropped us off Times Square before the show.
 
The theater doors were already opened when we got there.  We started chatting with Filipino claymates we met the previous night.  This woman has seen 24 shows. WOW.  As we were doing this, a man with a microphone appears and Diane started chatting with him.  This is the guy from Idol Extra.  He asked if we wanted to be interviewed, actually he said he wanted Diane because she was the MOST excitable ONE.  I was Diane's sidekick that moment so I went outside with them after we had signed our waivers.  The questions we were asked were:  Name, where we came from, what was the best part of the show we enjoyed, and would we throw underwear on stage.  Of course the answer I gave when asked about the best part I enjoyed was what I mentioned above, and I said "NO I would not throw underwear on stage because Clay would not appreciate that".
 
The play was once again GREAAAT!  I forgot what part of the play it was but an adlib was added by King Arthur mentioning OBAMA.
 
Our seats were on Orchestra Center aisle seats this time.  We met this lady from Wisconsin that people had been talking about on the Clayboard as to being annoying asking Clay to look at her shirt.  She actually started being normally nice; she had an extra seat because her husband did not come to the trip with her.  She rode the train and travelled on her own.  She offered the extra seat to a lady who was in the SRO area.  After the show, I dashed out of there as if there was nothing wrong with my knee.  I beat Diane to the stage door by quite a few seconds.  When this lady came, she started telling us how she would ask Clay to look at her shirt.  We tried to tell her that he really stays out there for not even 10 minutes and did not really have time to chat.  She started pushing and so I told her that will have to stop or it will be the end for everyone out there.
 
When Clay came out, I handed him my poster and he signed.  I had the hat too in my other hand and I had asked him to sign it too since it was my first trip to NYC, and he said to me "OH REALLY", THIS IS MY UNFORGETTABLE CONVERSATION WITH CLAY. Now I have a nice autographed poster and a NY hat autographed by Clay Aiken.  What more can I ask?  I have been waiting for this for quite some time now.
 
This lady with the shirt story hung out with us until we walked back to our hotel.  I thought she was going to invite herself to our room, so I asked Diane that I will not allow that.  I started getting leary of her.  We got subs at subway and took it with us our room and said goodnight to her outside.
 
March 7, 2008
 
Diane was up at 5AM getting ready to go to the GMA show, when I got up at 6AM, I told her that I did not feel like walking anymore since we had walked so much already.  Just the same I did not want to disappoint her and myself if we miss out on something, so I cleaned up and off we went.
 
We lucked out because there were not a lot of people there so we were able to get in the studio.  We saw and ate Emeril's food.  Robin was really nice and we got a good picture with her.  This young crowd coordinator chic told us that she tries to stay away from Claymates after we told her why we were in NY.  We were waving our Spamalot Playbill, so it was obvious why we came and who we were.  Everyone was nice in GMA even the "secret service" men.
 
I really had a wonderful time in NYC.  I could not stop talking about it to my family and friends.  It is a bummer I can not talk to my co-workers about it since I was supposed to be recupperating from my knee surgery when I was in NYC.  I will just a big grin on my face and they will not have a clue why.  I HAD MY CLAY FIX.
 
 ... by Issa C.

Ed. note: I think Issa must be one of the very few fans to have had two items signed (at one stage door visit) by Clay, who has unfailingly told everyone he is only allowed to sign one item per person.
Lucky Issa!
 
 

Betty's Spamalot recap:

I didn't get much sleep before leaving, for the fact I left the last minute things too long and also had to get my husband ready for work before he dropped me at the airport. I got there about 4am and found they didn't do check in before 4:30am. So of course by the time that rolled around, the others were starting to come in. 

But it went well, the only line being for the security check. I know to take off my shoes, that is a given now, but my sweater? Well, it had to come off too. Guess they want to see if I have explosives strapped to my body? What is going through the other security scan for? So once I got that all done, it is "wait.' Our airport is small and has a lot of "neighbors," so the noise is limited to daytime hours. We can't fly out until 7am. By that time there are several flights waiting to take off too.

My flight was to Chicago as we don't have the large non-stop flights from this airport. I worried but it worked out good. It was nice to navigate on my own, that is NO wheel chair this trip!! The flight into La Guardia was two hours late. I think this is more standard than unusual as the weather wasn't bad. They had rain earlier but it shouldn't have caused the delay. So with MJ waiting for me, I felt bad, but once there we grabbed my suitcase and lined up for a taxi. Wow, I couldn't believe we had to line up for a taxi. It was OK, they went fast, so we told our driver we were late for our show and to hurry please, LOL. He did and I think I had my eyes closed most of the way. I said it was a good thing the taxis were all yellow, so if they swapped paint it wouldn't be so noticeable. I know I sure held my breath too!!

So since we were late we rushed to drop our luggage in our room, which we found to be WAY too small with two twin beds that one could roll out of bed just turning over. Needless to say, we had to deal with that when we came back after the show, for a slight charge, of course. Live and learn. So MJ and I took off without so much as combing our hair or anything, not even the bathroom I think. We got there just over half an hour late but we knew we would see the show again the next day.We met Liz outside after the show and she and MJ got their autographs, and I didn't try as I knew I would have a chance the next night. After that we found a delicatessen that stayed open late and served just about anything one could want. We had soup and sandwiches as we were all too hungry to NOT eat. Then to the hotel to deal with the small beds. We got up the next day and the other two had breakfast in the hotel coffee shop. Then it was off sightseeing. MJ and I had been to NY for GMA in 2005 before the JBT. So we had seen Times Square but were excited by the video cam Liz had talked of. I had asked my family to watch, but with the three hour time difference I knew they would not be able to, even if they could have done it at work.

As it turned out my granddaughter was scheduled for them to induce her labor. I was a bit unhappy that it was scheduled for the very day I left for NY but they all kept me up to date by calling me. Also her brother managed to have to be in another hospital for an emergency appendectomy. So my son had two kids in two different  hospitals that day. The baby wasn't born as they planned though, and they finally had to do a caesarian the next day. Both mommy and baby went home Sunday afternoon. The appendectomy was performed and the sick one is home too. His appendix didn't burst but was so very badly infected, and he was very sick and thought it was the flu.
The baby is named Lily Elizabeth and weighed 8lbs 10oz. She is beautiful, of course!! Number fourteen of my great-grand kids and number fifteen is due in May.

So after having fun on the video cam,  we met with Issa and Diane in Times Square, [and then we did some lunch at Junior's.] They had already had lunch so they went off sightseeing. We also scoped out the lobby of the theatre and a gift shop to see what was available. I bought a shirt and a souvenir brochure, but only after they opened just before the doors opened. I also bought a pin.The souvenir brochure has a poster in it with Clay on it and I left it with Ann to see if she could manage to get it autographed for me. I want it for my door that we are to decorate on the "Cruise 4 Inclusion" that some may know about that is talked of on the Clayboard. That is for May 2nd to May 5th and Faye is to be there and it is her birthday. An added treat to have her along. I have never been on a cruise so I guess with my not getting any younger, I decided a "mini cruise" would initiate me.
Now after meeting for an early dinner with Ann and her friend Patti, Issa and Diane, Liz, MJ and I  were ready for the next show!!
 
 Wow, MJ and I had center orchestra, second row, right in the middle of the row, too. Clay was almost touching distance away. I was so mesmerized by the entire show, but watching Clay was priority. Once during the Wednesday show I KNOW  he stared right at me. I was afraid to breathe and just hoped he didn't say what an idiot that woman was to himself, as I was so locked into his beautiful eyes. They actually glimmer. I know it is the lights but he does have such expressive and shiny eyes anyway. And yes, I got my autographed souvenir brochure!! I wanted to get the poster inside autographed but only one per person, so I didn't bother to try. I would have cried if he had chastised me, I just know I would have, LOL .What can I say. I loved, loved, loved the show. I haven't laughed so much ever, I think. It is so irreverent but oh so crazy. I loved Tom Deckman and am sorry I didn't get his autograph too. He has a beautiful voice and is such a great actor. In fact they all are, but I was impressed with Tom. Such a cutie and those big eyes!! I won't give away the "plot" but he is great!! And Clay, you can see he is totally enjoying himself!! Oh, and the man CAN dance!! He is great!!

If you can go and see this show, I would say you won't be sorry. I know I am looking forward to going again the end of April!!
After a short night where we were awakened by the noise that we later learned was the bombing, we all had to scramble to get out. I misread my leaving flight and had to throw things into the suitcase and run for checkout and a taxi. Of course it ended up being a hurry up and wait situation again at La Guardia. The flight is made miserable by NO food, not even a decent box lunch for sale, so again I was starving when I reached my destination, HOME, again.
I went to bed VERY early to make up for all the lost sleep and didn't do much all day Saturday, but did go to dinner with my husband.
Again, go if you can, it is soooo worth it, NOT just for Clay but the whole cast is so good. I am hooked and wish I could do more shows than even the ones the last of April!!

....by Betty

....with minor editing by Liz

It took me a couple of days to get home from Columbus, the last of my four concerts, and anything I could have summarized about those four has mostly been said. They are old news now but still fresh to me.

So: some highlights from my week on the road, without musical concert comments, since at this point they’d be a bit redundant.

Syracuse: we had fabulous seats in the fifth row. Soooo close! When Clay entered singing, he was literally so beautiful he took my breath away. Holy mackerel, mama! You know how that feels: you can practically see the aura, and you sure do feel it.  Then we got “it” in spades when he took to the “catwalk” (actually the edge - apron?- of the stage) on our side, and stopped at and literally sang to our row. He was as close as my living room couch. OMG, there are no words to describe how that felt. Thought I would never recover from that just breathtaking moment.
Syracuse also memorable for me as it was the first hand touch ever for me, and it wasn’t just a fingertip touch, it was a hand grab. Yes, I got the whole hand for a fleeting moment. I floated back to the motel on cloud nine.

Canandaigua night began with the CH dinner at Koozina’s and how delightful was that? Terrific. I was happy to meet so many members of the ClackHouse, not all of whom I can remember by name, but special *waves* to Karen Eh!, AnnTherese, Scarlett (thanks!), Solo, jojoct, Ficus, vzubie and more. It was great to see you all. Oh, and the food at Koozina’s was the best of the week. Congrats to whoever picked that restaurant. Of course, the rain started before we even left for the venue. We had a downpour!

But actually the rain made it an unforgettable, atmospheric night. Clay’s entrance on the upper level was spectacularly effective. The crowd was on their feet screaming (OMG, how he loves to make a dramatic entrance!) as he came down through the crowd. MarLovesClay’s video of this really captures the moment. That’s a keeper for me. I grabbed a still photo ("on the fly"--they were moving quickly!) of him and Jerome on the upper level. Just past this point, they turned and walked down through the audience (all were cheering and taking photos like mad) and Clay did not miss a note.  Just barely made it up onto the stage in time....he had to run for it to finish on the stage, lol.  Great moment.
 


Re the tackle by Jerome: it happened right at the end of my row. This venue sold beer on the grounds, and in the row in front of us, a couple were really drinking. He kept going out for more beer and coming back in, clearly getting loaded. I saw Jerome take him down (IMPRESSIVE, folks.) It happened in a flash. The drunk was walking back down the aisle as Clay was coming up it, singing. The guy went for Clay (a stupid drunken move; he seemed be offering Clay his baseball cap.) Jerome took him down with a tackle and held him there until security came to remove the drunk. Clay witnessed the takedown, didn’t even blink, turned on his heel immediately, and headed back down the steps, still singing and totally unruffled (also impressive.) Jerome handled it fantastically well. Drunken lout was allowed to return to his seat in front of us, where he sulked for the rest of the concert, but by the end the plastered lovebird was hugging and cuddling his wife during LAA!

This was also the night of the song titles on the easel. It was a funny bit, and many people liked it because they were so unfamiliar with the TV theme songs, a fact that had finally sunk in for Clay. I don’t think he ever realized that many in his audience would not recognize the themes.

We decided to skip the bus line because of the rain (still had 2 more concerts to attend, and wanted to stay healthy)  but in the parking lot, we ran into the concert master from the orchestra and her husband, who was also in the orchestra. They raved (unsolicited) about Clay. They were thrilled to meet his fans and told us how wonderful he had been to them. They raved about his voice, loved his praise for the orchestra, and certainly were impressed by his speech about supporting the community arts programs (every orchestra loves this!). They remarked more than once that “what you see is what you get” with Clay (their words):  a very nice man, no attitude, not a diva, but kind and respectful to all, and a pleasure to work with.
 
Clay is making new friends and fans everywhere he goes on this tour. And the feedback from the venues (wherever we went) was that everyone would like to have him back. He’s great for business, y’all!

Part 2

If Canandaigua was memorable for a wet night, and the haunting atmosphere when Clay sang Lover All Alone to the sound of the rain pattering down, then Chautauqua was memorable for the summer beauty of this famous resort/cultural institution. I’d heard about Chautauqua all my life, and always longed to see it for myself. Thanks to Clay, I finally did. He’s apparently called it a summer resort for old folks. It may well be that, but they certainly bring their grandchildren along. I spoke to little girls who played their violins in the park as we ate our takeout supper, and they said they spend the whole summer there at their grands’ cottage. The Institution also gets many day trippers such as ourselves. It’s a centre for religion, the arts, education, and retreats.
I was enamored of the beauty and peace of the place (no cars; pedestrians only). We arrived on a warm, sunny afternoon, and walked in from the parking lots.


 
I only wish I had seen more of Chautauqua. The general admission policy was not as terrible as I thought it might be, and the amphitheatre was packed. Many residents, non-ticket holders, hung over the walls that surrounded it. Other residents sat out on their upper decks and watched/listened for free. This concert was even better than the last one,(he was sooo ON) and the skeptical folk of Chautauqua, advertised to us by the locals as folks who would pack up and leave the amphitheatre by 9 pm, stayed  til the very end, and were cheering all the way. Won them over, baby....
The best thing that happened to me that night was that I met Jerome on a path as I was walking to the entrance lineup. He greeted me by name as he went by! I was speechless that he knew my name. Must have been visiting the website.
 
The bus lineup, once it was reorganized by Jerome to his liking, stretched through about three streets of the resort. It was a night to remember, as we were lined up amongst all those tall Victorian cottages, most with their lights on, many with residents sitting out watching us (by candlelight). It was a very long line....and we got to see Clay go down to the end, circle around and come back along our side of the line. I got another hand touch, not quite the clasp of the Syracuse line, but enough to make me very happy.
It was a long hard walk uphill on the brick paths til we reached the exit, and then it was another long trek thru several parking lots until at last we found Brig’s car.

Columbus was a special night for many reasons. It was the biggest concert of our four. The staff at the venue told us they usually got 3000 people for their “Picnics with the Pops.” Their estimate for Clay’s night was 12, 000! There were people on the grass as far as the eye could see. Sitting out there, folks could bring their own picnics. Thanks to our in-house Ohio connection, (Peg and her group purchase for us and the Ohio fans) Generation Clay had prime seats at tables in the second row, where we enjoyed our catered boxed suppers. We had totally unobstructed views, and were thrilled with our location. We were surrounded by tables of people who either had not seen Clay perform ever, or who had not seen him since AI2. It seemed to me that a lot of us talked to these Clay rookies. They were interested what made us Clay fans, and wanted to know what to expect. I met three men in the driveway before the show, who were totally interested, and one emailed me after I got home (I gave him the GC card) ..totally Clayverted, baybee!
As soon as he started his banter after the third song, Clay identified a prime table (right down in front, presumably symphony subscribers) of disinterested partiers who were into their wine. Snarked on them, and shut them up. He's a master at this. I did notice that at the end, he had totally won them over; they were on their feet cheering along with everyone else. Clay sure did win a lot of new fans in Columbus.

Columbus was also the biggest turnout of Generation Clay members of the whole tour. We were all sitting at adjoining tables and we made one big mistake: we didn‘t gather for a group photo.*sniff*. I think we were so excited to see each other that we just forgot.
The concert was fabulous. Julie’s recap tells you what it was like when he went out into the audience (gasp!) The jewel of the night was Lover All Alone, once again, when the huge crowd, which had so recently been rockin’ and dancin’ with The Classics, went totally silent as Clay’s voice wove its magic once again. There was a brief pause as the song ended, and then the whole audience was on its feet, screaming and cheering for Clay. Because You Loved Me, directed as usual to the Claymates, marked the end. He saluted us all, and was gone.

Afterwards, about 1000 people showed up for the bus line. Jerome had us line up all around the venue. It was a HUGE line, people! Suddenly, there he was, whipping down the line, “Hi guys; thanks for coming,” over and over again, touching every hand. My 'hand touch' this night was just that, fingertips touching, and then he was gone, racing down the line. He goes by so quickly.....We went to stand by the tour bus as we worked our way back to the car and I took a few photos, but Clay was already inside the bus. It still amazes me that he will do this line for every concert, all summer. Is there any other entertainer who will do this....go out and greet and touch hands with every single person who is willing to stand out there til he appears? No wonder we love him.

My concerts for this summer were over, and in the a.m. we would start the long drive back to Ontario. And every mile of the trip had been SO worth. it.

Thanks for the memories, Clay.

........Liz

I've had the most amazing week...5 concerts in 6 days and there was something incredibly special about each of them.

Syracuse will always be remembered for the intimacy of the theatre and the amazing 5th row seats (thank you, Patches!) and having Clay come out on the skirt of the stage right in front of us. I blew him a kiss at one point and got the most wonderful nod and smile in return. and a full hand shake at the bus.

Canandaigua, for me, will always be "Lover All Alone" with the sound of the pouring rain, a lonely cello and that beautiful pure voice filling the air.

Chautauqua with the hard pew seats and "no cushes for our tushes" which, incredibly, no one even noticed once the concert started. Seeing and hearing all the not.just.us comments from folks who were seeing him live for the first time since AI, and noticing that the local people who normally leave the venue at 9 o'clock, stayed in their seats for the whole concert.

Columbus, although not as intimate, also had its charm. For me, the most wonderful thing....aside from seeing our man in his nice jacket, was winning the prize I most coveted in the Central Ohio Clay Fans' BAF Raffle...the autographed (by Clay) copy of "Our Friend Mikayla". I was tha-rilled!!

I have to admit, though, the absolute ultimate was Sterling Heights last night. I don't know if it was the gorgeous, low slung jeans with the belt, or the fact that Clay was in perfect voice, or that I was sitting between OCF and HeartsOcean, my London Claymates, who were both seeing their first, and only, concert - but it was the best, especially the second half.

As OCF mentioned, we were sitting on the east side of the venue (Section 100) and the sun was right in our eyes for the first half of the concert, and Clay, ever thoughtful and observant, noticed we were squinting and shading our eyes, so he moved up the aisle beside us and sang several songs sitting on the railing of a deck so that the sun was at our backs. He mentioned, of course, that all the people with front row seats were going to be ticked off, but the rest of us sure weren't.

He joked and talked about how he and Angela went on the rides at Cedar Point on their day off, while Quiana spent 4 hours at Target in Sandusky. Angie's voice was really rough and she mentioned that she wasn't feeling well. Just before her solo, she left the stage and Clay and Quiana sang "Listen" as if they'd been doing it every night. WOW! I love Angie singing it, but it was such a treat to hear Clay and Quiana "wing it". UNBELIEVABLE!

His rendition of MOAM was the best of all five concerts, and, with the exception of Canandaigua, so was LAA. Maybe because it was my last one, I got really weepy when he sang "Because You Loved Me". I'm running out of superlatives, but it was amazing. I told OCF that if she could only see one concert, she sure lucked out on that one!

So, it was the perfect ending to a perfect week.

(snip)

I have to send out special hugs and kisses and lots of love to my two wonderful concert buddies and enablers...Bella19 and LizInToronto . Bella, thanks for picking me up in Toronto and putting me up and putting up with me, as well as doing all the driving and getting us there without mishap, and Liz, thanks for sharing the rooms and letting me sleep-in that one morning. I sure wish the two of you could have experienced Detroit, but I wouldn't have missed any of the other four either.

(snip)

Quote:

---

i didn't get whipped last night unfortunately, however, i did get a good stare during HYCA for about 5 seconds.

---

I think I got the "I see you singing along" comment when he was doing the TV commercial medley! He was looking right at me, and I was definitely singing.

So, five concerts in six days, four handshakes in five concerts. Sigh....I guess that ought to hold me for awhile!


.....Bev

Generation Clay's gift to Clay
This shirt was created by our Mary S and
delivered to Clay at the Syracuse concert, July 18.
Well done, Mary~ hilarious shirt!
We hope he got a laugh from it, because we all cracked up when we saw it.



now for the closeups......





....thank you, Mary!

Warning…long…during the concert I kept remembering things and writing them down in my notebook so that I could give you all every detail possible. LOL!
 
We arrived at the venue early so I could get my meet and greet pass, then we could all go check in to the hotel where we were staying to catch up because we had not seen each other in awhile!  My friend and I went to “gate 2” and looked to see if we could find the 'will call' office.  We headed towards the buildings and security stopped us, asking if they could help us.  We told them we were looking for the 'will call' box office and they said “You just passed it! It’s right there.” We turned to see where they were pointing and  MUCH to our surprise it was a TENT, not a building at all! LOL!  Went to the tent and picked up my pass and they told me TO STAY THERE even though it was only 4:30 and the email said we didn’t have to be there til 5:45!   We quickly left and checked into the hotel and I came back to stand by the fence area around 5:30.  Soon, the rest of the Meet and Greet people were at the fence also, and we all started to chat about the email and our excitement to meet Clay.
 
About 6:10 or so, Jerome walked over to the area where we were all standing for the Meet and Greet.  He told us to follow him and he led us to a large building.  On the way there, we chatted with Jerome about how excited we were about this, how we loved the set up and how they were doing it, and he said, “Good to hear, because some people don’t like it.”  Surprised, we said “Really? Why not??” He said “I honestly don’t know!” and one gal said, “Well, in my opinion THIS is a true meet and greet and I’m really excited about it and appreciate it!”  He smiled as most of us chimed in and agreed with her…THIS is the way to do it!! TIME with Clay Aiken in a small and personal setting!  What more could you want?? 

We got to the door and we all went inside. A lady greeted Jerome and said they had changed the room where they wanted us to meet and Jerome said something like “wherever you want us, is fine” and we followed her.  They led us to an auditorium with a little stage and chairs.    We all sat in the front row and Jerome sat down on the stage in front of us with his legs dangling to the floor. He told us the first rule was no cameras.  They would take the pictures and email it to us.  He said the other rule was one he could NOT figure out how to talk about because no matter how he tried to cover everything, someone seemed to find a way around it.  He said, “For example, there was an older lady once and I went through all the body parts I could think of not to touch, but apparently I missed one and she did it…and said "Well, you didn’t say not to touch him THERE’!"  Then, I started to tell people to please imagine they were speaking to their pastor or priest and one lady said, "Well, I’m not sure you want me to do THAT!! …" and Jerome laughed. 

“So now I am telling you to pretend this is a church social.  Conduct yourself the way you would at a church social.  Hopefully there is nothing in THAT that can get you into trouble!”  LOL!!  He then said, “The last thing I wanted to ask all of you is this.  Please be gentle.  I tell Clay not to hug people just before we walk into these things and the first thing he does is hug someone, so when he hugs you, PLEASE be gentle.  There have been a couple of instances where Clay has had bruises because people were not gentle, so when in close contact with him, be gentle, please” We all agreed, of course.  Then he lightened up and asked us if we were enjoying the day and excited and of course we were. 

One gal in the group told Jerome he was famous and he got all shy and said he really wasn’t.  She said, “Yes you really are!  I only entered this Meet and Greet contest so that I could meet YOU up close!”  He looked surprised and said, “Really?” She said, “No! not really,” and he laughed so hard he lay down on the stage with one knee up!  Too funny!  Another girl asked Jerome if it was true that he had to tackle someone the other day at a concert.  Jerome said “I have no idea what you are talking about.” She said, “Really? It’s all over the boards!  People are talking about it.  I was hoping you could tell us what happened!”  Jerome smiled and said something like, “To be legally correct, I have no recollection of that!”  We laughed. After a few minutes Jerome left to get Clay.
 
Jamie and Mary came in soon after that and talked to us a bit.  Said they were tired of waiting and headed in without Clay and Jerome.  Truthfully? Can’t remember a word that was said during this time! My mind was racing and I was hoping that I could remember to ask Clay the questions I had written down!
 
Soon after this, Clay walked in with the same purple polo shirt and khaki shorts that he came to the buses in.  He went to each one of us, shook our hand, and asked our first name.  He pulled up a chair and sat right with us.  He said “What was tonight’s color? Orange, right?  Let’s see how many are wearing orange. " We went down the line and when he got to one gal that didn’t have any orange, he said “Now what’s going on here?” She said “Clay, I just had a baby a month ago and my wardrobe is limited!”  He said jokingly, “No excuses!  You’ve had four weeks!” and she laughed.  Another gal didn’t have orange on either because she said she didn’t know she was supposed to check the boards for that.  He said, “Well, we need to get a color for the next concert.  What color should we do?”  Someone said purple and Clay said “We’ve done that one all ready…we’ve done blue, purple, green and now orange.  Someone suggested yellow.  “Yellow? Everyone agree to Yellow?”  All of us said that was fine and Clay said “Yellow it is!  Now you all have to go home and post on the boards that tomorrow is yellow and I’ll know if you don’t!"
 One gal (I’m not saying names or board names because I know at least one of the people there wanted to remain nameless) started talking to him (but I have no idea what she said  LOL) and Clay exclaimed “Wow, you are energetic!!   Are you the spokeswoman for the group?”  She said “No, not really.”.
 
Clay asked us all where we were from. All but one were from Ohio. One was from Chicago. I was surprised that only one of us were from the Columbus area. I said, “By the way, this shirt is for you from the Central Ohio Clay Fans.   It’s the beta alpha name we have and the COCF committee signed it.”  I handed it to him and he said “Thank you!” He went down the row and asked if people had questions. The first three people did not. When he got to me, I picked up my notebook and he said, “You have a notebook of questions?” I laughed and said, “Well, I just wrote down a few so I wouldn’t forget to ask you.” He laughed and said “So you are prepared?” I said, “As prepared as I can be, I guess.” He said, “We’ll come back to you” and went to the next couple of gals. One of them did ask some questions.
 
Now is when I may remember things out of order. (LOL)
 
During the conversation she asked Clay if he and Kimmel were as close as Kimmel says. Clay said, “We do talk to each other on the phone. He is really funny.  Have you ever seen his show? He’s just really funny!” Of course we’ve seen the show, Clay...YOU WERE ON IT! THINK WE’D MISS THE SHOW?  Anyway, she went on and said that Kimmel says Clay is his “go to” guy! " And Clay made a funny face (like he was thinking about that statement) and said “Do I really want to be Kimmel’s "go to" guy?” and laughed.  There was a question about if Clay had something to do with Kimmel getting something in  North Carolina…Clay said “I actually had NOTHING to do with that, but it’s nice for him to give me credit anyway!”  He came back to me.  “OK ready with your questions?”
 I said “yes” and he said “Go!” so I asked him about Steven Curtis Chapman and him singing together.  Told him I loved that that happened and wondered if there was a friendship there. He said, “We do talk to each other…in fact…he hasn’t called me back!  I left him a message before I went to  Afghanistan and he still hasn’t called me back!”
 
He turned to Jamie and Mary and acted mad and said, “He hasn’t called me back!!”  I said, “Maybe he needs your new iPhone number!”  Clay said, “It’s the same!”  I said, “Well, there goes that excuse!”  He said, “Yeah!”  Then he said, “Actually, we do talk and we did work on a song awhile back. Brett said something to my mom and I was talking to Steven about it and he wrote a song.  It was called 'What I’m fighting for.' It was a great song and I wanted to put it on the album, but then it didn’t really fit on the album since we changed direction with it. I think Steven is going to use it, now.” 

I said, “Do you know Steven Curtis Chapman has a new CD coming out in October?”  Clay said “He does?  Man!  That man can really write lyrics!  He pumps one (album) out every year and makes it looks easy and it's NOT!!” I take 5 years to do ONE album!” and he laughed.  I asked if he’d ever be interested in doing a Christian album and he said, “You know? I would, but not right now since I am on RCA’s label and they don’t really do that.” I said, “Yeah, that’s true…they wouldn’t let ya do that since that’s not their focus.”  I said, “That kinda gives me a good segue into the next question…” and Clay looks at me and grins and teased, “Oh! Smooth!” 

I grinned and said “Is there anything fans can do to help you get what you want on this next album?”  He said, “Thanks for asking that! But no, just buy it even if it’s crap.”  I told him nothing he sang could be crap and he could sing the phone book or just put a single out of the abc’s and we’d buy it.  He laughed and turned to Mary and Jamie and said something like, “Write that down….maybe I will do that…maybe we’ll use that idea!”   Then he said that the label was being very supportive and working well with him on what all to put on the next album. Said they seemed to be on the same page. Then he asked me if there was anything else and I said, “Well, only something you have all ready heard, but people wanted me to tell you anyway, and that is how much they love Back For More and would like to see it on an album.”  He groaned a bit. “Ohhh…I don’t know…don’t you think that song is cheesy?"  Then he mimics the beginning lyrics in funny voice ‘not to crazy ‘bout love songs…’  No, I just don’t feel like it works…it’s just…cheesy!”
 
That was the end of my questions so then he got silly and started making fun of his toes.  Said people tell him his toes are long and that he could smoke a cigar with them.   I told him mine are long too and people tell me I can play the piano with mine!   We all laugh.
 
At some point I brought up Quiana’s baby.   He said that he talked to him on the phone one day and he said “hi” then hung up the phone! LOL!
 
Also, we asked him if we got to know the “secret” from the night before.  He got serious and scooted his chair up closer to us, took his hand and put it on his face and said “OK, now…I’m serious…THIS is my serious face…do not tell anyone…we have their names and board names and email addresses, right?  So I will know who tells if it gets out, and there will be no more Meet and Greets for anyone!  I’m serious, now!”  Then proceeded to tell us.
 
 
Someone told him that he should tell the background story of JERICHO like he told the background of THE RICHES.  He said, “What’s to know?  A bomb drops.  People die.  People survive.  It’s great!”  I agreed, but I think I was the only one that watched the show of the Meet and Greet people, unless they were just too shy to speak up, I don’t know. It was funny though…  What’s to know?  LOL!
 
Someone asked about the galas.  He said he’d like to see them move out of Raleigh and to somewhere else…not a lot of cities…just one city and a lot of nights.  I think he said the goal was to raise a million dollars.  Thought it could be done because last time raised 300K just by “whoring myself out” (LOL).  This time he has help from Kimmel (not sure if others are helping or not, but I know he said Kimmel was going to help him raise money too).
 
Oh another funny thing happened during all this chatter, too, but I can’t remember the details.  One gal corrected Clay’s English once.    He said, "I ain't got no problem with that," and she said, 'It's any problem, Clay'.  He looked at her and smiled and turned to the girls (Jamie and Mary) and they all laughed.  He said, “You know I am usually the one that corrects people’s English, but lately I am trying to be colloquial."  The gal said, “Oh, I’m impressed you used that word! He said, “I even know how to SPELL it!”
 
I told him my 3-year-old loves him and he said, “Oh, she’ll get over it,” and I said, “I hope not! But I do hope she starts to like more than just one song…. “Without you” and he said, “Oh she’d love tonight’s show, because that’s all I am singing!! Just that song over and over again!” I laughed and said I bet we’d all stay as long as he kept singing it, and he said, “I’d put you all to sleep!” I said, “No you wouldn’t.” He said, “Then I’D fall asleep!”   haha!!
 
Someone also asked Clay about writing more lyrics and he said he really didn’t have anything to say right now…only writes when he really feels something and he doesn’t feel anything to write at the moment.  Doesn’t want to hold up the new CD waiting on him to figure out words to write.
 
Mary and Jamie tried to hurry us along because we needed to take the pictures.  They called the first one up to the stage with Clay. Just as they snapped the picture, the lights went out in the auditorium and quickly came back on. We were all going, “What happened?”  Then Clay said, “You know, this might happen every time we take a picture because the lights might be sensitive to the flash or something."
Jerome comes slinking out of the corner of the room and says, “OR…Jerome could have hit the wrong button at just the right time!” and we all burst into laughter!
 
When it was my turn to take my pic, he said, “The prom pose?” I said, “Sure,” and I was sure to be gentle (NOT because he is bruised right now, but because Jerome said he had gotten bruised in the past during meetings with fans) as I put my arm around him for our 'prom pose' picture! After all the pictures were taken ,he left and we all sighed a collective sigh and soon headed out to find our places for the concert.  What an experience!!  The best Meet and Greet anyone could ever dream of!!
 
The best thing about this is that when people ask me “Is Clay really what he seems to be on stage?  Is he really as kind and caring and personable as he seems?  Is he as good-looking up close?  Do you still like him as much as you did before?”  I can say with all honesty, “YES HE REALLY DOES HAVE THE HEART HE SEEMS TO, HE REALLY DOES CARE, HE REALLY IS HUMBLE, HE REALLY DOES NOT KNOW WHAT WE ALL SEE IN HIM AND THAT IS WHAT MAKES PEOPLE LIKE HIM ALL THE MORE…AND YEAH I STILL LIKE HIM FOR ALL THE SAME REASONS THAT I DID BEFORE!”   Now, if that isn’t a great Meet and Greet, I don’t know what is!!
 

....by Julie

(with very minor editing by Liz)
 

I traveled with Robin, Betty, and MJ.  We stopped in Pittsburgh and saw Sharon, Marty and Brenda for dinner and headed out the next day for Syracuse.
 
Syracuse:   Had dinner with the Claynadians (ed note: Liz, Bev, Brig) and Mary and Donna.  It sure was good to see you two again.  And Mary still has her cookie Gay and I sent her.  Fifth row seats on the end.  Thank you, Betty.  Clay singing right over me.  I could have grabbed his leg or worse but controlled myself.  LOL It was a thrill as was the hand squeeze and "thank you for coming" outside the venue.  The hotel shuttle bus arriving just in time made it all perfect and sitting and chatting with everyone in the lobby after made my day. We went to bed happy and with Clay singing in our ears but soon heard a rattling noise, not Clay, from the air conditioner and the room got mighty hot.  This woke us up and with a call to the desk learned the repair man went home for the night and the air conditioner was probably frozen.  Soooo...we needed to move to another room for the night and Kay got to get dressed again and go down to the desk for a new room key.




Mary and Liz in Syracuse; photo by Kay.
 
Canandaigua: Headed out for the next concert with Map Quest in hand.  I was so proud of the fact I got us right into Rochester and turned the corner, 480 feet, right into a parking lot on Melvin Alley.  What!!!   A parking lot.  Boy were we surprised.  Well not being able to find Eastern Road we called Donna who said, Honey, aren't you in the wrong town???   Duh!!!   So back track we did to the EconoLodge Motel.  When we got there they informed Betty we didn't have reservations but they would be able to help us.  Yes, we would have a room.  Two hours later, still no room and getting nowhere, Robin, using her head, went to the computer in the lobby and booked us another room there.  Boy, did that make them mad.  But we had our room.  What else could go wrong!  Well, it could rain, and it did.  The guy Jerome tackled was trying to take Clay's picture; I saw his digital camera.  Boy, did Jerome hit him hard, just like a football tackle.  Bet he was sorry.  Clay came right down our aisle and I was in the third seat and got a few shots off.  Loved the give and take with the song cards.



GC at Canandaigua, submitted by Kay

(L to R) Kay, Francine,MJ, Robin (blurred) PJ, Natalie
and down in front, Nikki, on tour with mom PJ and sis Nat, for the first time.



Kay's photo of Clay in the aisle (good shot!)
 
Chautauqua: Might be my favorite concert.  So cute the way Clay and the girls managed the broken easel.  The brick road up the hill after the handshakes took all the girls together to push Betty in her wheelchair up the hill. What a picture and I think Francine took a picture of the 'push.'  I wondered if I was going to make it with my asthma, but I did.  Loved the venue and it was a beautiful night.  We all ended up at the shuttle stop with Sara Jacobs.  It was nice meeting her and Jill for the first time.



Robin pushing Betty in the wheelchair...somewhere on tour......by Kay
 
Columbus: Was surprised there was no cover on the venue and very glad it didn't rain.  Loved our table being so close and Julie getting a Meet and Greet there.  She asked him such great questions that she really made us proud. Clay told her the questions were sure better than the night before when they asked which side of the bed he slept on and what he put on his hotdog.  My hand squeeze and "thank you for coming" made my day.
 
I had a great time. We three old ladies couldn't have done it without Robin. What a gem she is. Lots of good memories for me. Had everything gone as planned, I don't think it would have been half as much fun. We laughed at all our goof-ups. Thank you everyone who helped secure me a ticket and box lunch..
.......Kay
(....with minor editing from Liz)


 

Well, the concerts in California, what can I say? Clay is always great.
Pala was way back in the “hills” and the winding roads were a bit of a surprise. Our trip was long and hard as the afternoon Southern California traffic was at its worst. I couldn’t go earlier as Michelle had to work and I had to wait for her and my husband.  The venue was funny in that the hotel rooms surrounded the area where the concert was. There were people watching from the rooms but I don’t know if they could hear.

Someone had a “flat Clay” in the window and later on after he had made comments about it, they went up and moved it around as if he was up there. It was after everyone was leaving so the effect was a bit lost. But there were some enthusiastic watchers and at one point Clay told Angela [with thoughts that they couldn’t hear him] to point to the person up there, getting a free show and when he counted to three we were to all turn around and say Boo!! It was  hilarious!!

But his comments on the drunks is getting sad. I feel bad that the venues even allow alcohol, but with the Pala it WAS a Casino. In the Greek Theatre they had lots to sell also. Any kind of alcohol could be bought.
Clay, of course, couldn’t come down into the audience at Pala, and announced there would be no “line up” for the buses as it was impossible.

At the Greek Theatre the line was endless and I didn’t bother to try to stay as it was getting late. I disappointed my grandson, but he thought he would actually meet Clay, so I had to explain it to him. He was still disappointed, but we were tired and ready to  go home. The trip there from home was much easier than the one out to Pala, thank goodness. The other thing is that when one isn’t “in charge” one does what one can, as I felt I had been getting super treatment from a “not really a Clay Fan’" daughter. 

So home we went but meeting Kathy P. and Judy S. was great, also saw Shelley F. and of course she still isn’t well.......She does have an electric wheel chair now, so that helped. Many of the group had gone to the pre-party to eat and I guess it was a wonderful if expensive restaurant. After the show so many disappeared, looking for a spot in the line. We all know that once Jerome got out there, it would take him time to set up the line to suit him. I could see the line was going to be forever so we did get headed home.

Unfortunately (our) Kiwis didn’t make an appearance to me, so I didn’t get to meet them. We wore our GC shirts so they would recognize us but they didn’t make it to see us. We stayed out front to hope to see some come in, but it didn’t work, I guess. We were VERY early, so how we missed them was only because WE didn’t know whom to look for. I am sorry for this as I had hoped to meet them.
......Betty
(with minor editing by Liz)

First, want to say to Julie...you lucky dawg! Loved the photo! Thanks for sharing.

Sorry it has taken me so long to write this recap. I just haven't found a moment to sit and reflect on my experience since I returned home. And, to be honest, I've been working on a writing project this week. It's not about Clay but, in a way, because of Clay. So, then when I finally sat down and typed most of the recap tonight …I somehow lost it before I had a chance to save it. So, here I go again. The details of that night might be a little fuzzy by now, but the feelings I experienced are still clear in my mind and will probably never leave me.

I have to thank Kathy P. for all her help with planning my trip and in transporting my friend, Karin, and me to the theater. Along with her friend, Judith, the four of us partied all weekend. Before the concert, after the concert, and since we all stayed at the same hotel, part of the next day as well. I also enjoyed meeting other fans at dinner, including Shelley F., whom I'm happy to report is healing well. Can't believe that while we were down the hill from the theater waiting for parking to open up, that Betty Y. came rolling by our car in her wheelchair. I jumped out in a flash to greet her. I told her we must have been fated to meet there.  I was frustrated that I couldn't find my GC lanyard for the photo, and then, of course, I found it soon after the photo was taken. Was also great to meet other GC members at the theater before the concert. Please forgive me if I don't mention all of you by name here.

I wasn't down in the front section, but had a pretty good view, nonetheless, and there were other GCers on either side of me in our row and behind us, so I was in great company. I brought my beloved Clay concert binoculars for those all-important close-up views. You've probably already read the details of this concert in reviews and recaps and seen Clack from that night. I don't have any other concerts to compare it to, since that was the only one I attended, but I can tell you that Clay was in rare form and having a merry old time. I mean, the man was ON! Anyone who thinks Clay is inhibited when his mom is in the audience, didn't see him at that concert. Angela's family were also in the audience and he was having a great time bantering with her on stage for their benefit. The first number, HYCA, set the tone for the night when they continued, after the music stopped, in a run competition to close out the song. Back and forth holding those notes and warbling, higher and higher. Finally Clay snapped at Angela to quit trying to upstage him. It was too funny, but also vocally entertaining. Clay was so relaxed and seemed to be having so much fun. Q or A commented that he'd "been like this all day"...meaning unruly.

The dry air was bothering his voice, he mentioned, but he was hitting the notes regardless. The medley of TV theme songs was inspired, as was his tribute to radio "crap." Clay's solemn confession about being not cool was both amusing and, on another level, the perfect putdown of all the reporters trying to pry a different confession out of him, regardless of whether it was the truth or a lie. And just for the record, anyone who can stand on a stage and do exactly what he wants and say exactly what he thinks without regard for whether it might be viewed as cool or not, is definitely cool in my book. I was happy to see Clay so comfortable with the audience. With his mom and Angela's family there, as well as Jaymes Foster, it was like Clay was entertaining friends and family, which included pretty much the whole darn audience. That was definitely his stage and his "peeps" and he's as real and original as an pop singer/entertainer can get. His songs are the only thing slowwwwww about Mr. Aiken. He's got a quick wit and smart mouth, and he knows how to use them.  His final love song to his fans, which was accompanied by the audience waving glow sticks, was touching and beautiful. Clay signed "thank you" a couple of times while singing.

Of course, my heart leapt with joy when I spotted "The Bus" on the way into the theater because I really didn't expect them to be using it in L.A. So, I finally dared to hope for a line after the concert to meet Clay. We started gathering after the concert, and I was near the end so we were up the hill further and then, because the fans were bunched together near the bus, we had to keep walking further up the hill to get everyone in single file. This was good because we moved from a very dark area into a well-lighted parking area. There was speculation that Clay would be driven up the hill to the end of the line (I heard about 800 people long). However, we heard a commotion down the hill and finally spotted Clay hiking up the hill in his shorts, T-shirt and sandals, passing by a couple of yards in front of the line all the way to the end. Of course, he came down even faster and I had to move quickly to grab his hand as he passed. I remember the feel of his fingers sliding down mine for a second, hearing him say "Thanks for comin'," and then he was gone. But what a perfect ending to a perfect day!

....by Judy S.
 

Ann's recap of the Cary and Asheville concerts

WOW - WOW - WOW!!!!  I'm sure you've all read some of the recaps about the Cary and Asheville concerts by now and please download whatever you can.  I got home about 5:15 pm tonight [Aug 13]from Asheville, leaving at 6:30 am this morning.  All the driving and HEAT were worth the concerts.
 
Cary and Asheville were absolutely magical.

[Cary] I had heard 'the scum of the earth' was supposed to be in Cary with his mother, but I guess he came with some 'slime' back-up.  [With the Claymates] apparently following Clay's mantra, [the scum] was completely ignored as he should have been.  Clay was at the top of his game, confident, playful, and put on a fabulous show despite the sweltering heat and potential problems that could have occurred.  Everyone had a glow stick and I doubt there was a dry eye in the place when he finished BYLM with his hands wrapped around the mic and his head bowed - you could tell he was overcome with the LOVE of 7000 people.

(Sorry, could not find any authorship for this photo--it may be a screencap)
 
Asheville was a beautiful venue and the 'bats and bugs' certainly added some fodder for Clay's quick wit.  I was just about doubled over laughing with the comments coming out of his mouth about the bug down Angela's blouse.  I'm sure there are many recaps out on the boards [which] have eloquently reviewed the concert and I won't bore you with any additional comments.  The hand shake line was incredibly long, running three times the length and width of the grassy area in front of the Biltmore house - I doubt that place has ever seen anything like that.  Everyone as usual was orderly, and most who attended the concert must have stayed-- and there were many, many people who had never attended one of these concerts.
 
I have a lot of downloading and catching up to do . . . and now it's time to start buying tickets for the "Magical Holiday" tour . . .
 ........ by Ann

(with minor editing by Liz)

MJ's recap from Florida concerts


Nice way to spend it [my birthday] watching Clay. My granddaughter went with me....... The FL concerts were so great......When we were standing in line to get in to the Hard Rock concert in Orlando, this guy was telling his wife the security was so tight because they had such a big superstar here-- Clay Aiken. I really got a kick out of that one. It was so bad trying to get into the venue. We started standing in line around 7, and at a little after 8, I could not stand any more because of my knee. (The one that hasn't been done yet.) I told Kayla to just follow me and I made my way toward the front of the line and ran into Bob and Linda, and they let us in, in front of them.
[ed.note: yay for Bob and Linda!] I have never seen a mess like this venue was to get into. They were taking cameras and you had to check them and then pay $3 to get them out. I gave my camera to Kayla and she put it into her pocket and kept her hands in the pocket and they never checked her --just my purse. I was in the 14th row, so really couldn't get any good pictures.

When Clay sang IWTKWLI and the girls were both singing it with him, it was just wonderful to see. One of the highlights of the Orlando show. ATD was great because the girls again both joined him at the end and it was really beautiful. That is my favorite song and I was so glad to see he added it back on the tour. I think Clay got kind of teary-eyed when he saw all the smiley faces lit up. It was wonderful to see. I gave them to the young ones here and they got the biggest kick out of them. They were even checking the purses for glow sticks but I don't think they got too many, because for BYLM everyone seemed to have one and it was such a nice feeling to see the love for Clay. I started crying like a lot of people around me.

Jerome didn't want Clay to do the handshake [line] but Clay insisted on it, and they made it happen okay-- kind of having the line go around in circles. [ed note: jojoct's video of this line is posted on the Summer Tour page] When Jerome was trying to figure out the line, I asked him if it was all right to have a picture with him, and Kayla took it. He was just so nice about it. He and Clay are very lucky to have each other.

 Britney, my other Granddaughter, went with me to the Ft. Myers concert and they both wanted to shake his hand. We didn't get home to about two thirty in the morning and I was so tired. ..... but it was worth it to see them both so happy for having gotten a handshake from Clay. My daughter went with me to the Tampa concert and she said she needed a good laugh and that Clay was so funny, but she kept turning to me and saying 'he is crazy,' Mom. She wouldn't stay for the handshake. She likes him okay but would never think of going out of town to see Clay. She thinks I am obsessed with him and I try and tell her if I am, than thousands of others are also. I told her just look around, Deb and listen. These girls all love him for the person he is and the beautiful voice that he has. At least she understands a little more than the boys [ed.note; MJ's sons] do, who really think I am crazy going to so many concerts.

I sure am going to miss following the cellcerts every night and hearing how Clay is doing. The girls are so lucky-- the ones going to the taping of the skating show and Are you smarter than a fifth grader? There are no Xmas concerts in FL this coming Xmas season.
I always look forward to the Xmas concerts so much. Did you see that new Xmas CD that will be coming out with the crooners on it and Clay singing WAYDNYE? I think that will be so wonderful and probably all the Claymates will be buying one and making it maybe a #1 Xmas CD.

....by MJ
 (with a little minor editing by Liz)