Sunday, February 10, 2008

Valentine Week at Clay Nation


VALENTINE'S WEEK -- Clay Aiken fans celebrate important occasions with outstanding art like this animation graphic by Amazing_CA.

A Splash of Rewind

Valentines, 'Spamalot' on Tap

Borrowing a page from American Idol Rewind, this St. Valentine's Week blog takes a look back while keeping an eye on current affairs as they revolve around Clay Aiken and his growing fan club at Broadway's Shubert Theatre.

According to nightly recaps shared on various message boards, Clay seems to be in his element with the "Spamalot" roles, each performance revealing greater confidence, spontaneity, and his inherent improvisational skills. Not to mention the ever-present powerful set of pipes!

Whooping laughter and rousing ovations are the norm from the very appreciative audiences comprised mostly of the "Not Just Us" variety. The breakdown is usually more men than women, and weekend shows are often Standing Room Only.

Following this weekend's shows, Tiggy2winkle wrote, "There is a definite buzz going through the audience about Clay Aiken. A man a few rows in front of us was talking about him and I heard him say, 'That Clay Aiken is AWESOME!!!'

He got lots of laughs at his funny lines and cheers and lots of applause for his big numbers. He got the most rousing cheers as each actor comes out in the finale, and this is really something considering that almost the whole audience is NJUs and the quality of the other actors performances."

Here is a link to Clay's Monday Spamalot blog: What do you think it will be like performing on Broadway vs. in concert?

PHOTO INTERLUDE -- Celebrating Clay's success in "Spamalot," as well as this week of hearts, are these five graphics by Amazing_CA, photos by Toni7babe, 1 and 2; Sally, photo by Toni7babe, 3; ACA, photo by Irishbookgal, 4; and Claysmelody, photo by Katy4Clay, 5.









AI2 Rewind Spotlights Motown

This week's edition of American Idol 2 Rewind features the Motown songs of Lamont Dozier. Clay sang "I Can't Help Myself," and the songwriter-judge had this to say after his performance:

"Clay, you look live you've already arrived. You look like a professional, and you look like you've been doing this for years; and that's the look of a star!" -- Lamont Dozier, celebrity guest judge, Motown Week

In the show's current interview, Clay talked about how exciting it was to perform before a live audience for the first time in the competition and to see his name on several signs throughout the hall.



Motown Collage
by Fountaindawg

If you missed the Saturday-Sunday telecast, here is a Sendspace download of Clay's Motwon performance: I Can't Help Myself.

Want to know what's coming next? Take a peek at Fountaindawg's
American Idol wallpapers on the Clay Aiken Kids site. Here is a link for the collection in slide show form.

Take Me Back to the Sixties

You never know what gems are coming your way via email. This link for Take Me Back to the Sixties is a perfect example. With much appreciation to Grams4242, I hope you enjoy the rewind or -- for you "young thangs" -- a brief introduction to a very interesting decade.

The accompanying art is from Clay's very popular Jukebox Tour of 2005. The graphics by Amazing_CA and Cindilu2 feature photos by Tasapio.


Valentines Old and New

Continuing the theme of "looking back," my Sunday afternoon scroll through older Photobucket folders netted a memorable medley of Valentine art from previous seasons.

VALENTINE REWIND: Featured in this collection of graphics are the designs and photos of six visual artists, including Katt45, 1; Cindilu2, 2; ABeautifulMind, 3; ABM, photo by Scpkym, 4; and Amazing_CA, photo by KarenEh, 5.










Of course, in our family grandson Kai is the new Valentine. I think he looks right at home in the midst of all those candy hearts.


Graphic by Sally

Where There's a Will ...

One of my high school piano students ordered a boat load of Evanescence music for her March birthday. Near the end of her lesson Wednesday, her mother told us the music had been left by the mailbox on a day of constant, heavy rain. Her parents promptly contacted the company about the water-logged delivery, and a new set of music was already on its way.

They didn't have the heart to tell their daughter until her mother let the news slip at our lessson. The student immediately made plans to apply her hair dryer to the soaked music. She has her driver's permit, and I don't doubt she and her mother were home in record time that night.

Today I received an email that she did indeed rescue all but two pieces and will bring Evanescence to her next lesson.

I hope I can report the same about my dishwasher that spewed soapy water all over my kitchen floor early Thursday morning. After fixing the disposal problem, my plumber said the dishwasher's gaskets are shot. Well, they are 14 years old!

Meanwhile, I'm washing dishes the old-fashioned way. I wonder if a hair-dryer could weave some magic here, LOL!

Below is a clickable of Amazing_CA's opening graphic:

Have a wonderful week, Clay Nation!

Caro


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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful Valentine week blog, Caro! Candy hearts have a special place in our hearts, thanks to Jimmy Kimmel. They look good in Clay AND Kai pictures!

Good to hear that your student was able to revive most of her music.

Have a week full of candy, roses, and Clay!
Hugs,
Maddy

Anonymous said...

Hi Caro,
I am so glad you enjoyed the link to the “Take Me Back to the Sixties” website and thrilled that you used it in your blog. Whoever put together this site sure did their homework in gathering all this stuff. What a trip down memory lane. Speaking of memory lane, as I was scanning more pictures for my Dad’s photo frame I came across a picture of my younger brother in a “safe” child’s car seat. Believe me, I use the word “safe" loosely. I’ll send you a copy of the picture so you can have a big chuckle. It’s one of those “what were they thinking” moments.

I really love reading all the clack on Spamalot and seeing the pictures and video’s of the stage door. When I read that new interview up on Broadway.com, I thought to myself, now this is the Clay we know and love. And his message to Slimon…priceless! I haven’t been on the boards today so I don’t know if any of the news agencies picked this interview up.

Sorry to hear about your appliance woes. It always seems that once one thing starts breaking down, then others follow suit. It’s as if they talk to each other…”well if you can get fixed, then so can I”…LOL! But it’s also amazing how attached we become to these wonderful inventions!

Tomorrow I go to the Civic Hospital to the first of the three tests that the doctor has scheduled for me. This one is the Doppler Ultrasound and next week it’s the Echocardiogram and the Pulmonary Function Test. Then the wait begins for the results which is the hardest part.

My co-worker’s wife underwent her lung transplant two weeks ago and so far her recovery has been short of a miracle. I was talking to her husband today and they expect to release her from the hospital by the end of the week. They don’t know who the donor was, but they were told she was a young girl in her late teens.

Ottawa did a blockbuster trade with the Hurricanes yesterday in their quest for the Stanley Cup. In the world of hockey, this happens every year at this time and everyone is wheeling and dealing before February 26 which is the deadline to make your trades. I‘m happy with who we got from the Hurricanes and am positive they will add some depth to the team where we need it.

Have a great evening!

Hugs,
Sandy

artz11 said...

Claysmelody, your blog is fantastic. Everything in one place. It's very user friendly, informative, and if I do say so myself.....beautiful graphics included.

What a gift you are.

Artz11