AIKEN NEWS NETWORK DEC 8

[clayMaine-iac]

Have a Tremendous Thursday everyone!!

Clay Aiken

"Hi, Amazon.com customers. We put together backstage footage of my Joyful Noise 2005 Tour for you to check out. I hope you enjoy it. Please remember to donate to UNICEF's hurricane relief fund. There are so many people in the Gulf states that are in need of our help. Thanks for your support--and come see us on the road!"

ABOUT UNICEF

Since 1947, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF has supported the work of the United Nations Children's Fund by raising support for its programs and increasing public awareness of the challenges facing the world's children. In the United States and other industrialized nations, UNICEF typically does not operate child survival and development programs, instead engaging in advocacy and fundraising efforts in support of UNICEF's mission. However, the extraordinary nature of the Hurricane Katrina emergency demands that all of us play a role in responding.
In the areas affected by Katrina, thousands of children have literally seen their lives washed away--they have lost homes, schools, communities, and with that, their sense of security, normalcy, and well-being. Many children have witnessed a breakdown of the very structures that are designed to protect and sustain them, and have been witnesses to unprecedented scenes of destruction. UNICEF is contributing to the recovery effort by working with the U.S. government and other domestic aid organizations. 

ABOUT CLAY AIKEN

Since 2003, Clay Aiken has become quite the Renaissance man: multiplatinum recording artist, television personality, goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, bestselling author, advocate for individuals with disabilities through his Bubel/Aiken Foundation, and American Music Award winner. With his second holiday tour, Joyful Noise 2005, Aiken even adds a new title to the list: playwright. 
Some might call this overachievement, but for Aiken, it has become standard. Following his introduction to the American public, he became the first artist in history to have his first single debut at No. 1 on Billboard's "Hot 100" chart. His first full-length album followed suit, debuting at No. 1 as well. His 2004 book, Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life (co-authored by Allison Glock), went to No. 2 on the New York Times bestsellers list, while Merry Christmas, With Love, his holiday album, went platinum in a few weeks. He has graced the covers of People magazine, TV Guide, US Weekly, InTouch, and Rolling Stone.

TV Guide readers recently voted him the "Most Loved Reality Star of All Time," and the same publication also included him in their list of the 25 Greatest Teen Idols. And much to his surprise, Aiken was touted as one of the "Sexiest Men in America" and "Sexiest Crooner" by People magazine and In Style magazine, respectively.

What is perhaps most surprising is that Joyful Noise 2005, which kicked off November 2 and continues through the holidays, marks Aiken's sixth successful major tour.   

 
AMAZON.COM

[clayMaine-iac]

Click on the link to see the video:

CLAY AIKEN VISITS KIDS AT THE LEARNING PROJECT TO SAY THANK YOU

[clayMaine-iac]

Click on this link to see photos:

YAHOO/SINGER AND UNICEF AMBASSADOR CLAY AIKEN

[clayMaine-iac]

Aiken visits Back Bay school
Students at The Learning Project Elementary School raised $6,000 for UNICEF's tsunami relief efforts, so yesterday UNICEF spokesguy Clay Aiken -- the spikey haired dude from ''American Idol"-- stopped by the Back Bay school to thank the students. .

BOSTON.COM

[clayMaine-iac]

Letters to Santa make holidays special 
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. And he writes letters.

In 1912, then Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock authorized local postmasters to allow individuals or institutions to use letters addressed to Santa Claus for philanthropic purposes. This tradition is carried on today, with Post Offices across the country making "Letters to Santa" available to individuals and groups upon request.

While Santa receives most of his mail at the North Pole, AK, some are sent to Santa's helpers, charitable organizations, Postal Service employees and volunteers who help make a child's wishes come true. Interested organizations should contact their local Post Offices to receive and respond to Letters to Santa.

Some of the Santa letters will be featured during a one-hour special, "Dear Santa," airing on Friday, Dec. 9, 8:30 p.m., with special guest appearances by Clay Aiken and Raven Simone on the FOX Network.

"Dear Santa is a one-hour unscripted holiday special featuring the dramatic and heartwarming stories of children whose letters to Santa will be answered with the help of some very special guests. The U.S. Postal Service teams up with some of today's hottest stars to share some dramatic stories including a girl who wants to make the holidays special for needy children, a young boy who dreams of a safe place to skate, a little girl who hopes her dad will come home for the holidays from his military duties abroad and a girl who wants to further her education," according to www.fox.com.

TBNWEEKLY

[clayMaine-iac]

CBS) This season, The Early Show, Walmart.com and United Way are teaming up in a unique effort to brighten the holidays of children whose lives were impacted by three recent hurricanes, Katrina, Rita and Wilma.

The Early Show is devoting weather segments twice a day to collecting Christmas toys for those youngsters.

On Wednesday, Dec. 7, Caroline Kennedy donated an autographed copy of her new book, "A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children," for an eBay auction. The proceeds will go to the United Way.

On Monday, Dec. 5, supermodel Gisele Bundchen and Clay Aiken took part. Both also appeared in their own segments on the show.

Bundchen donated a karaoke machine, revealing she's a big karaoke fan, though she doesn't sound as good as Aiken!

He gave an assortment of toy trucks.

CBSNEWS

[clayMaine-iac]

THE TELEVISIONARY
Laura Kennedy
December 07, 2005

Name what these guys have in common: Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and Vince Guaraldi.

Is it too obvious? They’re all Christmas icons. Of course, if your holiday TV education is limited to claymation — and I promise I’m not talking about Clay Aiken — then you’re probably only familiar with the first three characters. But Guaraldi is more important than you’d think: He wrote, arranged and performed (with the help of his trio) the backing score for my favorite Christmas special of all time, A Charlie Brown Christmas. If 40 years of adoration and TV exposure doesn’t grant you some kind of icon status, I’m not sure what will.

DIAMONDBACK

[clayMaine-iac]

Daily TV Picks - Friday December 9, 2005

Dear Santa
08:00 PM ET -FOX-
Each year, thousands of children write to Santa Claus. What becomes of those letters? Tonight, the U.S. Postal Service teams up with some special guests to help "Santa" answer some of those often dramatic and heartwarming requests. Some stories featured in FOX's hour-long special include a girl who wants to make the holidays bright for needy children, a young boy who dreams of a safe place to skate, a girl who wants to further her education and another little lady who hopes her dad will come home for the holidays from his military duties abroad. Featuring appearances by Clay Aiken and Disney Channel star Raven Symone.

YAHOO

[Her]

M.B....good a.m. to you and here's hoping no snow in for you....you must CLAYTREK tomorrow!!!! 

[clayMaine-iac]

Good Morning Buddy!!

Everyone for my trip!!!

Here ya go:

[ANGELA]

GOOD MORNING DEANNA , JAYNE & ANYONE ELSE READING THIS.

DEANNA, AS ALWAYS THANKS FOR THE NEWS.

ANGELA

[ANGELA]

DEANNA, HAVE A SAFE TRIP TO RI & I AM SURE YOU WILL JUST LOVE IT

ANGELA

[stargazer]

Deanna, GOOD NEWS, thank you.
Have a very Merry Claytrip , enjoy, enjoy.

Morning, Jayne and Angela, and the rest of the gang that drops by today.

[KSChristian4Clay]

Claymates in Clayland
'American Idol' star brings his holiday tour to the Palace tonight  
 

By STEVE BARNES Senior writer
First published: Thursday, December 8, 2005

Clay Aiken, a big-voiced nerd from North Carolina and the most successful loser in "American Idol" history, is on his way to becoming the next Barry Manilow: adored by legions of fervent fan-addicts ("Claymates") who buy his albums by the millions, yet considered a punch line, or ignored altogether, by an even larger contingent of the population.
Advertisement

After finishing as runner-up to soul crooner Ruben Studdard in the second season of "AI" in 2003, Aiken, now 27, went on to release the smash-selling CD "Measure of a Man" and to tour solo, drawing screams and sighs from audiences comprised mostly of generations of women.

This holiday season, as he did last year, the proudly Christian Aiken is touring with a Christmas show. He, backup singers, dancers and a band provide the theatrical and musical accompaniment, including many songs from Aiken's multiplatium "Merry Christmas, With Love" CD, for a story performed by actors. Aiken wrote the script, which details how a grumpy lady finds her holiday happiness restored by the ebullient festiveness of an 11-year-old boy.

Aiken's "Joyful Noise" tour makes a stop tonight at the Palace Theatre in Albany.

Because the fervency of his fans plays an unusually large part in his career -- and because the Claymates know far more about him that we do -- we asked them what they wondered about him. The interview questions below were e-mailed to the Times Union and read to Aiken. When available, questioners' full names, ages and places of residence are given.

Q: What do you want for Christmas (besides world peace)?

A: At this point I'm pretty happy, and I'm sure I'm a lot tougher to buy for than I used to be. I guarantee if I told somebody something I wanted, fans would go and spend their own money and I'd get 55 of them, so I'm a little hesistant to say anything. I'm pretty content right now. I do want my house I'm building (in North Carolina) to be finished.

Q: If you had to choose one from the following, which would it be?

A. Unlimited peach ice cream

B. Perfect vision without contacts or glasses

C. Flip-flops for every occasion

A: Oh, gosh. If I had one wish, it wouldn't be any of those three; I don't think I care for any one of them. If I had to pick one I guess it would be the flip-flops.

Q:  As a grandmother and mother, my question is: Because you are traveling for the tour, was your mom able to be with you for your Nov. 30 birthday?

A: No, but we'll see each other at Christmas, and we talk often. I'm getting, hopefully, old enough where I can have a birthday without my mom having to be there.

Q: Clay, you talk so much onstage it's clear you're a "born talker." How do you protect your voice from the strain of performing almost nightly shows?

A: Oh, my Lord, I don't even pay attention to it; I just kind of do it. My (former high school) choir director, who's on tour with us, says I've always been the very worst when it comes to warming up, protecting the voice and all that mess. I don't think I really do anything.

Q:  When you're singing at a concert, which do you prefer singing: a slow ballad or an upbeat song?
A: Oh, my goodness, it kind of depends. It doesn't necessarily depend what the tempo is, but whether it says something and whether it's got a good melody. When it's live, sometimes ballads are more powerful, but when you're recording something, a faster song can be great.

Q: If you could sing anywhere in the United States, where would it be, and why?:

A: I've done most every state, except I've never been to Louisiana or Mississippi, and I've never been to Montana and I think there's another one -- Wyoming. So I probably would go with those: Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana or Wyoming, for my fans there.

Q:  was chatting online with a couple of friends on The Clayboard, and we all had tickets for a rescheduled show you did in El Cajon, Calif., last Dec. 30, and I said to them on The Clayboard, "Remember, Christmas isn't over 'til the skinny kid sings." Imagine my surprise and delight when you said pretty much the same thing onstage at that show! Ever since then I've been wondering: Did you get that line from me or was it a case of great minds thinking alike?

A: I got it from my manager; he has a penchant for saying that. So I guess I'd say I got it from the manager.

Q:  I had to come all the way to Albany to see you last time and will this time, too. When organizing your tour dates, would it be possible to include a city on the eastern side of Canada? I'm sure that I am not the only Clay fan in my area.

A: I don't schedule my tours. I have to trust the agencies or tour operators. Sometimes we have trouble getting to all the places we'd like to.

Q: When you were on "American Idol," I voted for you every time -- not once but many times during the evening. Now I'm disappointed to see the price of tickets. They are $47 to $127, and some online sites have them as high as $360! What do you say to fans who liked you because you seemed to be a real down-to-earth guy who is now commercialized?

A: That's something that's a concern of mine, too. But I have nothing to do with ticket prices. All I can do is show up. If you buy from a reputable source, tickets are never really higher than the official prices. It sounds like those tickets are being sold illegally. Ticket prices are a concern of mine, and I want to make sure that my shows are affordable for family, but I only have so much control.

Q:  I know you don't like to talk about your personal life, but we Claymates have heard stories about you with girls in college, making out at parties and such. Tell us the truth: You're not as innocent as you want us to believe, are you?

A: Oh, my gosh! (Laughs) We're nice to you and give you time for one last question and you go for the dirt?

STEVE BARNES: Dirt? That's not dirt. You should see the fans' questions I didn't ask!
A:  What was the question again, about making out with girls at parties?
SB: She asked, "We Claymates have heard stories about you with girls in college, making out at parties and such. Tell us the truth: You're not as innocent as you want us to believe, are you?"

A: Some things are best left to the imagination, Claymates.

Times Union

[KSChristian4Clay]

For Clay Aiken, Life After `Idol' Has Been Joyful

December 8, 2005
By AMY ELLIS, Courant Staff Writer  Your holiday wishes have come true. Clay Aiken, runner-up to Ruben Studdard in "American Idol 2," is back in town.

Aiken brings his "Joyful Noise 2005" tour to the Chevrolet Theatre in Wallingford Saturday night.

"Joyful Noise 2005" is the sequel to Aiken's first holiday tour and will feature songs from his "Merry Christmas with Love" CD. The concert includes several songs Clay recorded for the album that didn't appear on the CD as well as new arrangements for some traditional favorites.

We talked to Aiken by phone this week from Boston:

Q: You're doing something a little different this year on tour: a series of vignettes with a running storyline, which you wrote?

A: We actually played Wallingford last year and we had a show that was just music with an orchestra. The second half with the religious songs, we tried to connect them together with some local school children reading passages from the Christmas story. As I watched that part I thought, you know it would be great if we could figure out a way to link together the non-religious songs too, with the story, and try to make them have some purpose, some meaning, some story to them ... I was going to do an outline and hand it off to somebody else and let them write out a script and it turned out that if you want something done right you do it yourself.

Q: So how's it going? Are you happy with the way it's come out?

A: It's a lot of work but we've pulled it off. We had a really great director come in and really made it work really well; we've got some dancers who kind of provide flashbacks for us and really pulled it all together into a very, professionally done, produced show.

Q: I'm sure you've been asked this question a million times, but what's your favorite holiday song to sing?

A: I get it asked all the time, my favorite kind of changes. My favorite Christmas song of all has always been "O Come, O Come, Emanuel" and I didn't get to put that on the Christmas album; this year for the tour we decided to do it. And so I think that's probably my favorite. ... Since I didn't put it on the album I haven't worn it out for myself yet.

Q: Does your family have any special holiday traditions that you do every year?

A: You know, not really as far as strange, creative holiday traditions. We don't really do anything different. We always get together as a family, the whole extended family comes together at my grandparents' house and that's nice because often times it's the only time I get to see some cousins throughout the year. It will be a little different because my brother just got back from Iraq; he's stationed at Camp Lejeune. He'll be home for the holiday but a lot of his friends who are Marines with him probably won't be able to make it home, so he'll bring them home with him. And we'll have some people who are from the tour who aren't able to make it back home or who aren't going home for Christmas ...so we're going to have an extremely extended family for Christmas with us.

Q: You're working on a new album. Are you planning on doing any collaborations with anyone? Any duets?

A: We started before the tour, we stopped before the tour and we get back in the studio some time around January. ... I'd love to sing with somebody else. I'd love to put a duet on the album. We've just got to find the right person to do it with.

Q: Any artists come to mind?

A: Well there's definitely people who I think are talented and I would love to sing with. ... I think there are people like Faith Hill and Martina McBride who are extremely talented.

Q: Well you didn't win "American Idol" but you've had a lot of success since the show. What do you think your greatest accomplishment has been so far?

A: It's hard to say. I could say a few things like, you know, `We had an album,' `We had a Christmas tour' and so on and so forth. Honestly for me, I think probably the biggest accomplishment has been being able to go and do things working with the [Bubel/Aiken] foundation that I've set up.

Hartford Courant

[GWENN]

A: No, but we'll see each other at Christmas, and we talk often. I'm getting, hopefully, old enough where I can have a birthday without my mom having to be there.

 

GWENN

[lorraine]

GOOD MORNING DEANNA AND FRIENDS.

CAN'T BEGIN MY DAY UNTIL I COME HERE AND NOW MY DAY IS OFFICIAL.

DEANNA - YOU ARE GOING TO R.I. TOMORROW.  SO ARE US HUSSIES.  WE MUST MEET UP SOMEWHERE.  WILL CHECK FOR FOR UPDATES.  SNOW STORM COMING IN TONIGHT SO WE ARE HEADING UP THERE TONIGHT TO STAY OVER.

SEE YOU LATER.

HUGS
RAINEY

[cjrmax]

A: We started before the tour, we stopped before the tour and we get back in the studio some time around January. ... I'd love to sing with somebody else. I'd love to put a duet on the album. We've just got to find the right person to do it with.

I thought he was done recording, unless they decided to put a Mongolian Polka on it!  He said they had enough recorded for 4 or 5 albums! Now they will be going back into the studio in January??? 
 
Will this album ever be done???

[KSChristian4Clay]

Off-Topic -- Idol Alum. Grammy Nods...

4 for Fantasia
*Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
*Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance
*Best R&B Song (Songwriter Award)
*Best R&B Album

2 for Kelly
*Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (SUBG)
*Best Pop Album

[Marilyn]

Click on the link to see the video:

CLAY AIKEN VISITS KIDS AT THE LEARNING PROJECT TO SAY THANK YOU

BOY, THAT CLICK ON "CLAY AIKEN MARRIAGE" IS A TEASER- JUST BRINGS YOU BACK TO THE SAME STORIES!!