Clay Aiken Portrays 'Home' in New Montage

Clay Aiken - Home, Montage by SueReu
View video full screen at YouTube.
Download 'Home' montage with this Sendspace file.

An Aiken Theme Song

'Home' Spotlights Singer, Triangle

Clay Aiken singing "Home" from The Wiz is the perfect accompaniment for SueRue's new montage spotlighting the singer's performances and appearances in his hometown of Raleigh.

During the past eight years, Clay has returned to the Triangle on tour, for interviews, and to sing the National Anthem at sports events, assist with fine arts fundraising, tape the Tried & True ~ LIVE PBS Special.

Raleigh is also headquarters for the National Inclusion Project, the charity he co-founded with Diane Bubel in 2003.

Retelling the original Wonderful World of Oz, the musical The Wiz was written by Frank Baum with music and lyrics are by Charlie Smalls.

Audio for the montage is from Scarlett's video of Clay performing the song at Bringing Broadway Home.

The expandable graphics below highlight events from the saga of Clay and his hometown. Visual artists include Fountaindawg, 1 (photos by toni7babe), 2, 5; AmazingCA, 3; and cindilu2, 4, 7 (jojoct screen cap).

HOME

Think of home
Home

When I think of home
I think of a place where there's love overflowing
I wish I was home
I wish I was back there with the things I been knowing

Wind that makes the tall trees bend into leaning
Suddenly the snowflakes that fall have a meaning
Sprinklin' the scene, makes it all clean

Maybe there's a chance for me to go back there
Now that I have some direction
It would sure be nice to be back home
Where there's love and affection
And just maybe I can convince time to slow up
Giving me enough time in my life to grow up
Time be my friend, let me start again

Suddenly my world has changed it's face
But I still know where I'm going
I have had my mind spun around in space
And yet I've watched it growing

If you're list'ning God
Please don't make it hard to know
If we should believe in the things that we see
Tell us, should we run away
Should we try and stay
Or would it be better just to let things be?

Living here, in this brand new world
Might be a fantasy
But it taught me to love
So it's real, real to me

And I've learned
That we must look inside our hearts
To find a world full of love
Like yours
Like me

Like home...

Clickable screen cap from 'Home' montage by SueRue.

Have a wonderful weekend, Clay Nation!

Caro

The montage is also highlighted in the June 10 Clay Aiken News Network blog entry.

Clay Aiken Hits Anthem Out of the Park in DAP Festivities

STAR-SPANGLED: Clay Aiken sings the national anthem at the Second Annual Return to the DAP Monday night. Graphic by Fountaindawg expands to wallpaper size.

Vintage Evening in Durham

Clay Aiken Nails Anthem at DAP

DURHAM, NC - Clay Aiken hit a home run as the Triangle's own pop singer performed the National Anthem to the accompaniment of a ballpark flyover by vintage World War II bi-planes, opening the second annual "Back to the DAP" game Monday night.

Bill Evers, all-time winningest manager of the Bulls, tossed the ceremonial first pitch at the historic Durham Athletic Park, home of the Durham Bulls from 1938 - 1994.

Both teams, the Durham Bulls and the Indianapolis Indians, wore vintage uniforms from the 1960s. Sadly (from a North Carolinian's point of view), the visitors won 7-5; but that didn't dampen the spirits of the SRO crowd of 2,638.

And that's not counting the multitude of Clay Aiken fans who tuned into the radio stream and board cellcerts to hear the singer knock the anthem out of the park.

If you missed it, here is a video of Clay's performance posted by NBC17. Cindilu2 capped the radio stream and provided this audio download of the Star Spangled Banner.

Clay Aiken performs during opening festivities of the Durham Bulls' second annual 'Back to the DAP' game.

Monday's game marked the second straight season the Bulls have played in the remodeled park, the team's home from 1938 - 1994. Bull Durham, iconic baseball film, was shot at the DAP.

Below are clickables of photos posted on the NBC17 Facebook wall and by the News & Observer. The final two images are wallpapers by Fountaindawg, the last a wide screen version of the opening graphic.

Cellserts Connect Fans to Game

In addition to cellcerts along the Claycyberspace network, Twitter was a treasure trove of information and reactions during the pre-game festivities:

IndyweekSports Triangle Offense (Potter) Local hero Clay Aiken does the National Anthem and we're ready for first pitch, folks.

Listening to Clay Aiken sing the national anthem on 620 The Buzz @DurhamBulls

Clay Aiken, the "international pop sensation" opened the Bulls game. He's really gone far!

Ooh, Clay Aiken on the mic with a WWII biplane fly over. Not bad not bad.

My favorite remark occurred during the Clayversity cellcert provided by claygalsal and her son Will. Mom handled a video camera while her son transmitted the anthem via cellphone.

Those tuning in heard Will's astonishment as his mother asked some of the baseball players to please move over so she could get a better shot. "Did y'all hear my mom?" an incredulous Will asked the stream.

CA fans are fearless when it comes to securing clack!

See Durham bulls fall in return game to historic DAP for the sports recap.

Have a winning week, Clay Nation!

Caro

NHL All-Star Game Another Memorable Clay Aiken Sing

RALEIGH IS MY HOME - Double clickabe graphic by cindilu2.

Clay Aiken Nails National Anthem

Hometown Performances Special

When Clay Aiken performs in his beloved hometown of Raleigh, NC, it's always a special "This Is the Moment" kind of event.

Like when he returned on June 21, 2010, to help raise money for Raleigh's theater arts in the "Bringing Broadway Home" benefit concert. The performance of "This Is the Moment" was videoed by Scarlett.

THIS IS THE MOMENT - Clay Aiken
View 'Bringing Broadway Home' video full screen at YouTube.

True to form, Sunday's rendition of the US national anthem will be, too. Be sure to check back later for a report of the "Star Spangled Banner" from pregame festivities.

UPDATE: Clay hit the banner out of the RBC Center!!! The announcer commented that he brought down the house. Here are Sendspace downloads for audio and video files (Canadian feed). The photo below links to the Canadian telecast on YouTube.

Clay sings national anthem at 58th NHL All-Star Game.
Click photo to view Canadian telecast on YouTube.

Click to enlarge this News & Observer photo of Clay.
To view more photos, see Getty Images.

Meanwhile, here are other memorable Raleigh performances -- not all, but a few. Take, for example, the unforgettable moment when the American Idol 2 Tour played Raleigh and the first runner-up took the stage.

Captured by an unknown graphic artist, the moment when Clay stood before a packed hometown crowd in the Raleigh Municipal Auditorium is preserved on countless CA fan hard drives.

RALEIGH TOUR PERFORMANCES: For the American Idol 2 concert
in his hometown, Clay appeared in a Carolina Hurricanes shirt.

Montage Presents NIP Overview

Featuring the dedication to humanitarian work that has always defined Clay Aiken, the final montage in the four-part 'Memories of 2010' series by LovesClaysVoice rewinds the latest Champions Gala of the National Inclusion Project, charity co-founded by Clay and Diane Bubel in 2003.

Included are portions of the singer's speech, live and Dutch auctions, and the treasured finale, "Both Sides Now," performed as a duet with Debra Leisey signing the lyrics.

Making a Difference - Memories of 2010, Part 4
View montage by LovesClaysVoice full screen at YouTube.

'Retro 3' Spotlights Appearances

The third montage in SueReu's Retrospective series features an overview of Clay's 2003-2009 special appearances.

Among the highlights are several national anthem performances, including the "Skate with Clay" National Inclusion Project fundraiser at a 2003 Carolina Hurricanes game.

Also featured are Christmas specials, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Capital One Holiday on Ice, Ed ("This Magic Moment" and "Ebay gold"), Scrubs ("Isn't She Lovely?"), Days of Our Lives, A Capital 4th on PBS, Saturday Night Live and the "Aiken wink," 30 Rock, and "Solitaire" from American Idol 3 and the 2007 Neil Sedaka Tribute.

Clay Aiken - A Retrospective, Part 3, A Special Guest
View montage by SueReu full screen at YouTube.

This overview of the Raleigh native's hometown performances would be incomplete without the PBS special taped last March. From Clay Aiken: Tried & True ~ LIVE, here is the big band arrangement of "Mack the Knife," a track from the singer's latest Decca release.

Songs from the Tried & True CD and special, promptly dubbed by fans as the "OMG Concert," are set to go on tour in selected cities Feb. 10 - March 12. For concert dates and times, see the Jan. 11 Carolina blog entry.

BACK IN TOWN: Clay sings "Mack the Knife" in Raleigh taping.
View PBS concert full screen at YouTube.

Another sing-it-to-the-rafters Raleigh performance! Have an awesome week, Clay Nation!

Caro

P.S. Thanks to Sandy Hall, Clay Aiken and hockey enthusiast extraordinaire, here is a very complimentary take on the All-Star weekend from the Ottawa Citizen: Pressure's on Ottawa to keep the Raleigh going.

Clay Aiken Talks Tour, Hockey, American Idol, Charities

TRIED & TRUE MAGIC-- AmazingCA lived up to her screen name when she took several of Scarlett's T&T ~ LIVE screen caps from the previous entry and produced this handsome graphic. There's another one at the bottom. Both are double-clickable.

National Inclusion Grant 'Official'

Clay To Sing SSB for NHL All-Stars

Clay Aiken will take a break from Tried & True Tour preparations to sing the American National Anthem at the National Hockey League All-Star Game Sunday at the RBC Center in Raleigh, NC. The Canadian Tenors will perform their country's anthem.

A longtime hockey fan, Clay has sung the "Star-Spangled Banner" to open numerous hockey games since the Carolina Hurricanes arrived in Raleigh in 1997.

Like most residents of the Triangle area, he is excited that his hometown is hosting the all-star game. "We built a brand-new airport. It specifically opened Sunday to be ready for the all-star game," he said.

AP Photo by Karl DeBlaker

In addition to Sunday's festivities, Brian Mansfield's story for USA Today also includes previews from Clay about the T&T Tour:

"I like being relatively laid-back and casual," he says. "This is Moon River, Unchained Melody and What Kind of Fool Am I. These songs don't need a lot of flashy light stuff. I like to come out and sing the songs, and I like talking to the audience."

Most of Clay's set will focus on tunes from his recent albums of standards, but he says he has a few surprises up his sleeve.

"Most of these songs are big-band types songs," he says. "I think we're going to do a medley of songs that are on the radio today, but we're going to do them in a big-band style."

Such as? Lady Gaga's Poker Face is on the short list. So is Kenny Chesney's She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy.

"They're definitely songs you would not expect to hear in big-band style."

WKNO: A Conversation with Clay Aiken
View Pierre Kimsey's interview full screen at YouTube.

Memphis PBS Chat Covers Bases

WKNO producer Pierre Kimsey's interview with Clay Aiken was a hit when it first aired on the Memphis PBS station last fall. Already on YouTube, the interview has this week begun airing on other stations throughout the PBS network.

Kimsey's chat with Clay covers all the bases -- performing, sudden fame, the National Inclusion Project, UNICEF, family, fans, connection with former teachers, the Tried & True PBS Special, Broadway -- and much more.

Promo for the interview provides an excellent overview of the chat between Clay and the WKNO producer:

WKNO Producer Pierre Kimsey talks with singer Clay Aiken. The North Carolina native was beginning a career as an educator working with special-needs children when he took an opportunity to audition for the TV show American Idol, then in its second season.

His life was transformed as a finalist, and he has emerged as one of the most successful singers to have been launched by the show.

Aiken has used his celebrity on behalf of the international charity UNICEF and has traveled to Somalia, Afghanistan, and other countries where children have been impacted by war.

IT's OFFICIAL! The National Inclusion Project has been informed
that December's $50k Pepsi grant win was certified Friday.
Double click on the NIP Pepsi banner to view full size.

NIP Pepsi Grant Win 'Official'

Throughout Clay Cyberspace, fans are "dancing in the streets" with news that the National Inclusion Project's December $50k grant win has been declared official.

Jerry Aiken, executive director of the foundation, received word of the certification on Friday and shared the news with supporters via Facebook:

Thanks so much to everyone that helped us win. We will hold the drawing for the iPad early this week!

Most Inclusion Project supporters are still voting -- for the alliances and partners who helped bring home the $50,000 grant. As this sampling from the NIP Pepsi page shows, the daily votes have not gone unnoticed:

SHENAN ARTS: Hello, National Inclusion friends! Shenan Arts appreciates your continued support! You're the best. Thanks for any additional votes you can send. Congrats again, and thanks for all the support!

CRAVEN ARTS COUNCIL: Craven Arts Council thanks you, thanks you for your support!!! We so appreciate you continuing to vote for us. We need it!

VOMA: The Venue of Merging Arts can't thank you enough for remembering us and continuing to support our efforts.

LONG ISLAND RIDING for the HANDICAPPED: Hello, National Inclusion Project! Thanks so much for your continued support of LIRHA. We're now at #11!!

ROBERT MORRIS ELEM SCHOOL: On behalf of Robert Morris, I would like to Thank all who have been coming back and voting for us. You guys are the BEST!!!

Double clickable graphic by AmazingCA, caps by Scarlett.

Unlimited Clack Now on Facebook

There's a new "face" at the popular social networking site that should keep fans rolling in videos of the singer's performances. Visit the growing Unlimited Clack wall at Facebook, and join the fun.

Scroll through the Unlimited Clack widget in the Carolina sidebar that continuously reflects the latest additions with a page refresh.

Have an awesome week, Clay Nation!

Caro