AIKEN NEWS NETWORK DECEMBER 26

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« on: December 26, 2006, 05:34:34 AM »

A Clay Aiken Christmas Special
December 25, 2006
Clay Aiken is making it home for the holidays.
Clay Aiken celebrates Christmas with a cross-country tour, his TV special and in his new home.

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CLAY AIKEN's new 9,000-square foot home in Raleigh, NC, won't be standing empty this Christmas. The platinum-selling recording star took great pains to make sure that this year's Christmas tour finished up in time for him to get home to spend the holiday with his mother, FAYE, family and friends.

Before he headed out on the road, Clay began decorating his Christmas tree with ornaments sent to him from his fans.

"This one is from JENA and JUDY in Ohio [and says], 'Merry Christmas with love,'" the recording star tells ET.

Clay began touring at the beginning of December, singing songs from his Merry Christmas With Love CD, but the last two stops on his agenda were in his home state of North Carolina, making sure that even if it was a snowy year, he would be able to make it back to the home he just moved into.

Adding to the festivities for the former "American Idol" contestant was the re-airing of "A Clay Aiken Christmas," originally shot in 2004 and now available on DVD. Joining Clay on the holiday special, originally broadcast on NBC, were Grammy Award winner BARRY MANILOW, "Will & Grace" star MEGAN MULLALLY and gospel singer YOLANDA ADAMS.

"I met Barry for the very first time with the special," Clay commented back in 2004. "He was in the rehearsal studio playing 'Because It's Christmas' that we performed together. He and Yolanda Adams were standing there singing, and I had to step back. I said, 'You guys sing it once because I can't just jump in and sing with Barry and Yolanda, two of the greatest performers, right away. It was breathtaking to be in the room and rehearsing with them."

The special includes several songs from the platinum-selling Merry Christmas With Love, which includes a mix of modern and classic holiday songs, from "Mary, Did You Know?" to "The Christmas Song" to "Joy to the World."

"We asked our guests to sing songs that were important to them," Clay explained. "I am not about trying to make anyone feel uncomfortable."

Additional songs on "A Clay Aiken Christmas" include "Christmas Waltz," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "O Holy Night."

"I believe Christmas is one of those holidays that is understood to be religious," Clay said. "For the TV special, we sang songs that were classically Christmas. Yolanda sang 'O Holy Night,' which one would agree is a Christmas song regardless of what your religion is. For me, I decided to perform 'Mary, Did You Know?' I believe those are the only two religious songs on the special. To me it is important to maintain my belief system no matter what I am doing, but it is also important that I don't ostracize any person's belief or religion."

When it comes to childhood memories of Christmas on TV, Clay's thoughts go to the claymation "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," but he is also a fan of the warm, cozy Christmas specials, such as those done by ANDY WILLIAMS. So, he wanted to capture that feeling for his own show, but give it a little more edge.

"The cameras are pulled out and you see how the show is being made," he explains. "At the same time you get a look backstage, a little behind-the-scenes action going on, but inside the set itself, it is very classically Christmas. It is about the music, the holiday season by the fire, mistletoe hung and that kind of thing."

ETONLINE


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clayMaine-iac

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Clay's Maine Squeeze