AIKEN NEWS NETWORK MARCH 20 & 21ST 2010

[Marilyn]

Another Clay Aiken summer concert has popped up at Ticketmaster.

Put August 10, 2010 on your calendar if you are interested in seeing Clay and Ruben Studdard perform in New Hampshire. You can catch them at the historic Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom.

Located on the New Hampshire shoreline within an hour’s drive of Boston, Mass., Concord, N.H., and Portland, Maine, Hampton Beach has been a prime summer holiday designation for more than a century. The historic Hampton Beach Casino, built in 1899, remains a leading attraction in the New England resort area, while the adjacent Casino Ballroom, added in 1927, continually draws some of the top names in entertainment. In order to sustain its reputation as one of the best venues in which to play and hear live music, the 2,200-seat ballroom has received a major redesign of its audio and lighting systems.

CANN

[Marilyn]

Clay Aiken To Perform in New York City
By musicfan123 · Comments 8791(1)http://www.claynewsnetwork.com/2010/03/19/clay-aiken-to-perform-in-new-york-city/Clay+Aiken+To+Perform+in+New+York+City2010-03-19+19%3A23%3A43musicfan123
This is a great day!!  More concert information for Clay Aiken is being announced.

This concert has not been confirmed by any official source at this time.  The information is from a fan.


Clay and Ruben will be at The Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on August 11th.

The Hammerstein Ballroom is a two-tiered, 12,000 square feet ballroom located within the Manhattan Center Studios on 311 West 34th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States of America.  It is known for its elegant appearance and excellent acoustical design.   Recently restored, this elegant room features a hand-painted ceiling, ornate woodwork, and three balconies with side boxes.

CANN

[Marilyn]

A REVIEW OF LAST FRIDAY-LOVE IT!!

I’m back off the road again after a four day journey to see Clay Aiken’s special concert that was filmed for PBS. I will spare you the crazy adventures of three New Englanders and one New Yawker through parts of Virginia on the way down to Raleigh.

I didn’t quite know what to expect with this concert. This era of music is not mine and was only partially my parents. We knew 3-4 of the songs by name and they really didn’t excite me. As I walked into the Memorial Auditorium, I just wanted it to be good. This was a very important concert for him.

I shouldn’t have worried. From the minute the curtain rose and a debonair Mr. Aiken stood there with his back to us in a pose that can only be described as C to the OOL, my head was spinning.  I think I described it later as OMG overdrive. I’m not sure I took the requisite number of breaths per minute for a person sitting down.

He opened with Mack the Knife. I’m too young to remember Bobby Darin and to me this song was always something a cruise singer would do in some schmaltzy rendition in the all night lounge. How wrong I was. You couldn’t help but move your shoulders in a sort of sitting strut. The last note was so long that I think the seasons changed from spring to summer.

CONCLAYVE

[Marilyn]

CLAY ON CELEBRITY SCHOOL PICS:

CELEBRITY

[Marilyn]

WATCH CLAY AGAIN ON THIS INTERVIEW:

Clay Aiken talks about new album

Former "American Idol" finalist Clay Aiken talks about his new album and upcoming performance in Raleigh.


WRAL.COM

[Carolina Clay]

March Madness Bumps Clay Aiken (Sort Of)

Despite the fact that my team, the Carolina Tar Heels, didn't make the 2010 NCAA Tournament, March Madness has again taken over my life and temporarily bumped Clay Aiken from my computer.

Well, not completely. Confirmed Cluben Tour dates/links and a graphic by LovesClaysVoice are featured. 

Thank you for your hits and comments. Have a great weekend!   

Caro

CAROLINA ON MY MIND

[Marilyn]

If you’re a fan of shmaltz, 60’s music, and/or Clay Aiken, Raleigh Memorial Auditorium would have been a magical place to be on Friday, March 12.

Last summer, Clay Aiken’s recording contract with RCA ran out, and label and artist mutually decided not to continue together. Instead, Clay made the move to Decca records, home of such classic artists as Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Judy Garland, and Billie Holiday.

Now Clay is preparing for the release of his fifth studio album, tentatively titled Tried and True, a compilation of 60’s covers. As a part of the celebration of his album release, sometime this summer, PBS will be featuring a concert of Clay’s new music. Though the show will not air until around the time of the release, the actual concert took place on the previously mentioned date. Anyone who was lucky enough to be there, whether they were from the Raleigh area or they had to travel in for the occasion, knows what an amazing evening Clay had in store for his fans.

The set list ranged from the up tempo beats of “Mack the Knife” (with such an amazingly huge, long, perfect last note that it moved the audience to a standing ovation as soon as the first number concluded), “Eso Beso,” “Suspicious Minds,” and “Build Me Up Buttercup” to the slower, simpler side of Clay with “Misty,” “Moonriver,” “In My Life,” and “Unchained Melody” (with a jaw dropping climax in which Clay hit a note that seemed to redefine the meaning of the verb “to sing”). There were flashy lights, lots of smoke, and chandeliers that descended from the ceiling to change the atmosphere before certain songs.

Front and center was Clay’s amazing voice, but coming in a close second was his big heart. This showed up early on in the night when, after the first five numbers, Clay came into the audience looking for Sandy Schmidt. Ms. Schmidt had taken four busses over a 36 hour period from Nebraska, traveling all by herself just to see Clay again. After receiving word of this from her friends, Clay personally escorted Sandy to the front row.

EXAMINER.COM

[Marilyn]

From the CH:


QUOTE ("Pink Armchair")
I had this conversation about the show with my pledge director last week. After filling him in about my adventures ("This stuff could only happen to you!" he said), I told him I thought it was one of the best performances of this type that I had ever seen. He laughed and said, "C'mon now...you've seen a thousand of these [I probably have] -- what made this one stand out? The band? The song choices? The production values? How was this one special?"

The voice, I said. I tried to describe it and found I couldn't without sounding like a lunatic. It's a combination of the power and timbre and frequency of the sound and the way it hits your senses. Like a big bite of the best chocolate ever, or the sound of a baby laughing, or (okay, I'm dating myself here) the wave of euphoria that hits you when that Thai stick you're smoking kicks in. That's the best way I can describe it, I said, and it still doesn't really do it justice. How does it hit you like a freight train while tugging at your emotions at the same time? How does he do that?

Add that to the sparkly copper aura around him (am I the only one who sees it?) and his quick wit and sidesplitting humor, and he's really unbeatable. (And the visual ain't bad, either. *g*) Many people have one or some of these qualities, but I've never seen anyone else who had it ALL. And there's never been a recording or clack or a TV appearance that has truly captured what it's like to be in the same room with him LIVE. I'm really, really hoping that this special finally does that. The rest of the world needs to see what WE see.

When I finished telling my pledge director this, he was shaking his head and grinning. "Boy," he said, "you're far gone, aren't you?" Then he leaned forward and said eagerly, "Tell me how much those VIP packages went for again!"

Philistine. *sigh*