Clay Aiken's 'Unchained Melody' Showcases DWTS 11

Clay Aiken/DWTS Season 11 - 'Unchained Melody'
View montage by LovesClaysVoice full screen at YouTube.

Final Surge for Pepsi Grant

Montage Pairs Aiken, DWTS 11

The 11th season of Dancing with the Stars is barely a week old; but, thanks to a new montage by LovesClaysVoice, three couples are already dancing the Viennese Waltz to Clay Aiken's signature rendition of "Unchained Melody" on YouTube.

Featured in the magical video are dancers Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough, Rick Fox and Cheryl Burke, and Brandy and Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

"Unchained Melody," a track on the singer's new Tried & True CD, can be downloaded via iTunes and Amazon at YouTube.

Clay Aiken - Suspicious Minds 2005 - 2010
Montage by Wowzers4Clay. View full screen at YouTube.

Montage Traces 5 Years of SM

In her latest montage, Wowzers4Clay intertwines Clay Aiken performances of "Suspicious Minds" from the past five years. Represented are the 2005 GMA Summer Concert Series; the 2005 Jukebox Tour concert in Clio, MI; and this summer's Timeless Tour show at Chautauqua.

Contributing videographers include Scarlett, MnM, Mrs Loki, and Roy Ferrer.

PEPSI REFRESH -- Inclusion Project needs huge final four days!

At camp, my son does not have Down Syndrome, wear hearing aids, or have difficulty with his speech. He is simply a camper. - A mother

NIP Supporters Plot 4-Day Push

A groundswell of additional daily votes is imperative to move the National Inclusion Project from #18 into the top 10 during the final four days of September's Pepsi Refresh Challenge.

The pay-off, a $50,000 grant, would help fund Let's ALL Play Camps in which children with disabilities can experience life with their peers.

In a special edition of The Voice newsletter this weekend, Inclusion Project supporters were encouraged to enlist additional daily voters and provided tools with which to help the charity place in the all-important top 10:

We need your help to spread the word so we can bring Let's ALL Play training to more programs across the nation and open doors for ALL children to participate in all that life has to offer!

Here are ways to recruit potential voters:

1. Home Page Splash: Check out all the ways you can vote by visiting the National Inclusion Project home page!

2. Daily Reminders: Sign up to receive a daily email reminder and become eligible to win a free iPad if we finish in the top 10 and win $50,000! Sign up here: Inclusion Project/Pepsi Challenge.

3. Facebook/Twitter Updates: Join us on Facebook and Twitter!

4. Forward the NIP email, and share the information on message boards, Facebook, Twitter, in blogs.

5. Schedule a group text! Have the attendees turn their cell phone sounds on and walk them through sending a text together. When Pepsi texts back, the feedback will be amazing!

The National Inclusion Project was founded in 2003 by singer Clay Aiken and Diane Bubel, mother of a son with autism.

Originally the Bubel/Aiken Foundation, the charity, which is based in Raleigh, NC, changed its name in 2009 to better describe the organization's mission and programs.

Foundation Forms Voting Alliances

The National Inclusion Project has established voting alliances with other participants in the Pepsi Challenge. Besides offering opportunities to garner more votes, this also helps build awareness of the foundation's mission.

In reality, each person has 30 votes to use daily via text, Facebook, and through the Pepsi site. Below is the current NIP voting alliance list:

National Inclusion Project - Text 102308 to 73774 (Pepsi)
RETT Syndrome - Text 100842 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Safe Places To Play (Cal Ripken) - Text 102661 to 73774 (Pepsi)
BRIDGES - Text 101364 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Blind Cat Rescue - Text 102422 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Children's Rare Disease Network - Text 102614 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Congenital CMV Foundation (childhood disability) - Text 101692 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Courageous Disabled Kids - Text 100058 to 73774 (Pepsi)
1p36 Deletion Syndrome - Text 101439 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Lake Reba Playground (handicapped) - Text 102102 to 73774 (Pepsi)

Be sure to copy/paste a message similar to the one below so the organizations will know the Inclusion Project is supporting their cause:

A vote from the National Inclusion Project! Help us help kids with disabilities experience life with their peers. We're going for $50K. http://www.refresheverything.com/nationalinclusionproject. Text 102308. Thank you for your support!

A $50,000 Pepsi Refresh win by the National Inclusion Project would fund the following programs: train staff across the country on best practice inclusion techniques; provide training supplies; give scholarships to children unable to afford programs.

Four days remain to make this happen. Something as simple as recruiting a teen-aged granddaughter with unlimited texting (who has friends with unlimited texting) could make a difference.

I plan to send an email again to my circle of friends, relatives, students/parents, etc., who might want to win an iPad. Just think what would happen if the NIP got a huge influx of four-day voting from new blocks of people.

Just four days to pull out all the stops! Have a productive week, Clay Nation!

Caro

Thank you for for visits and comments in the Carolina blogs. To leave a remark, scroll to the bottom, click on the "Post a Comment" link, and write in the box provided. Many thnx for stopping by today! - Caro