The United States Figure Skating Nationals have been taking place all week. As an avid fan of figure skating, I have been watching every moment I can. Thursday night, the ladies skated their short program and it took almost 4 hours.
As I was watching, I couldn’t help but think about Clay Aiken and his escapades on the ice.
The first time we heard about Clay on the ice was on December 21, 2003. Called Skate With Clay, the Bubel/Aiken Foundation and the Carolina Hurricanes sponsored a great afternoon of skating. Clay spent the afternoon at the RBC Center, ice-skating with 100 children from the local area. The purpose of the event was to mingle children with and without special needs together. It gave them the opportunity to learn from each other and make new friends.
According to Dawn Graham, a volunteer from the foundation:
“Clay spoke and skated with each of the children, asking their names, where they went to school, etc. He looked to have as much fun as they did! They were each outfitted with a specially made Bubel/Aiken Foundation jersey, and Clay was sporting a ‘Canes jersey with ‘Aiken 03’ on the back. Some of the children were not physically able to skate, so some of them were pushed across the ice on metal chairs…”
The next evening, Clay performed at the Carolina Hurricanes/Dallas Stars Hockey game. After singing the Star Spangled Banner, Clay entertained the crowd with a short concert. The highlight of the evening occurred during the first intermission. Seemingly without any concern, Clay took to the ice and sang “I Will Carry You” as he skated around the arena. Besides sounding wonderful, Clay skated with confidence and got a huge round of applause.
Clay made a quick appearance on ice at Rockefeller Center. When he was in town for the Christmas Tree Lighting, Clay tried to get in a short skate. He probably hoped he wouldn’t get caught, but……he did and we got some cute pictures!
The next time we saw Clay on the ice was in Las Vegas on November 6, 2007. Clay was tapped to be the exclusive musical guest on “Capital One Holiday Celebration on Ice.” Clay was joined by many World and National champions as they celebrated the holiday season.
The program was broadcast on TV on Christmas Day. At that time, the audience got to see some back stage film of Clay getting a skating lesson from Olympian Sasha Cohen. The program ended with Clay joining the skaters as they took their bows by skating around the arena. It looked like Clay was having a great time.
I wonder if Clay has been skating recently. He seemed so at ease on the ice and seemed to have a good time.
Are you watching the US Figure Skating Nationals?? You can catch the ladies on NBC on Saturday night at 9pm (Eastern Time). The girls are skating for placement on the Olympic team.
The following videos show Clay as he makes his way around the ice.
IWCY on Ice
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24EvM-0fa_M
Holiday On Ice
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XabZ1Wu26QQ
lol..what fun videos. thanks for the smile 🙂
Good Morning Musicfan
It was nice seeing the videos again. It's been awhile. When I think back to when Clay skated while singing…..I really have to hand it to him…..Just to sing to a packed arena would have been enough…but to sing and skate at the same time…..that takes quite a bit of confidence…He pulled it off though. Loved the Capital One Skating show as well…not only the skaters, but being able to listen to Clay sing….it was done really well.
Hugs,
Judy
Haven't seen the skating vids when Clay Aiken hosted Capital One Skating for a long time. Fun!
Thanks for the videos from the skating show. Clay Aiken does like his skating.
I was lucky enough to be at the Hurricanes game that night. Clay can skate.
Love the videos of Clay on the ice. It was fun seeing him pretend he couldn't skate when he was on the Christmas special. He really is OK on the ice.
Thanks for all the info.
I haven't seen those videos of Clay on the ice for a good while. He seems to really enjoy skating. It was comical watcing him have to pretend not to know how to skate when he was on the Capitol One Holiday show.
Clay Aiken is a better skater than he lets on. Those were fun to watch!
Musicfan,
Thank you for the excellent overview of the good works and fun performances Clay Aiken has provided on skates. Loved watching the videos again!
Have a great weekend!
Caro
I love skater Clay. As a skater myself it would be a dream come true for me to get to skate with him. I'm sure that'll never happen, but I have skated to Clay's music a few times.