On Saturday afternoon, the Singer’s Art Voice Studio and The Theatre In The Park presented a master class with Clay Aiken. Held in the Theatre In The Park in Raleigh, Clay discussed some special moments behind the scenes of his professional appearances. He also answered some audience questions about the entertainment field.
Alison Lawrence, who was one of Clay’s music teachers at school, currently runs the Singer’s Art Studio. She joined Clay on stage and kept the program going smoothly. She added some interesting questions to the afternoon and shared some “Clay stories” with the audience.
One of the highlights of the afternoon was the critique that Clay gave to a group of young performers who sang for Clay and the audience. According to an audience member, there were 14 young singers and Clay had some helpful suggestions for them.
The following are a few things that were shared during the Master Class.
- Clay arrived in Raleigh at 6:30 in the morning on his flight from Los Angeles.
- Clay said he hoped that there would be no video of the afternoon.
- The program lasted 3 hours.
- Clay talked about the audition process of American Idol and said that to make the first round you had to either be really good or really bad.
- He asked each performer what type of career they wanted and gave them hints for that particular genre.
- He helped a young girl with some physical tips to help reach the high notes.
- Clay told a couple of Broadway hopefuls that he would see then there!!
Alison took over at one point and played the role of James Lipton of The Actor’s Studio. James always asks his guests the same ten questions. Clay answered a few and passed on some too:
- He said his favorite sound is the sound of his voice!
- The profession he would NOT like to do is garbage collector.
- Alison asked (a James question) What turns you on…answer…nothing lately!!
- What would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?…”Take A Nap”
According to those in attendance, Clay combined his performer life with his teacher life and made the Master Class a huge success. I would have loved to attend this class. What a treat for those who were there.
I love the Internet,Twitter and FaceBook. They make it easy to find fun little facts. The following are a few messages that pertain to Clay Aiken.
From Twitter
UNICEF USA @unicefusa 6m
Thanks to @clayaiken for the UNICEF love on @AmericanIdol Thursday. Terrific performance, too!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3GqgJQ1f9I
Rainn Wilson News @RainnWilsonNews 24s
NBC’s ‘The Office’ season 9 spoilers: First look at Clay Aiken, Mark McGrath … http://sns.mx/NmuFy5
View summary
Clay Aiken @clayaiken 13m
Hey @tntweknowdrama — PLEASE RENEW @Southland_TNT PLEASE!!! #savesouthLAnd
From FaceBook:
Marla Kapit He sounded really good. Great arrangement Michael. How come he chose that song rather than one of his own? Do you know?
Michael Orland Yes, i do know Marla Kapit – why, thanks for asking. That’s the song Ken & Nigel requested him to sing. (glad i knew the answer to that one, i usually don’t. LOL)
From Yahoo Music:
Check out the video! Nice that the hosts like Clay!!!
A big thank you to Clay for making the last few days so much fun.
Have a great rest today and enjoy the first rehearsal of The Drowsy Chaperone on Monday!
Great blog! Thanks for sharing all the info on the Masters Class. 🙂
Sounds like the Class went well. Thanks for sharing the info on this and the rest.
What a great day for news yesterday! Thanks for putting it all together musicfan! Wish I had been at the Master Class event cos it sounded so dang cool!
That sound like such a fun afternoon. I wish I could have been there. I’m still over the moon about Thursdat so I’m Lovin these tweets!
Thanks for all your posts Musicfan, I'm still listening to Clay singing Bridge over Troubled Water on AI every day, he was great! He sounds very busy, take a break Clay.
that soinded like a great afternoon i wish i could have been there please ; take a rest clay
Its great to hear that Clay is again helping others by giving advice to the 14 singers who performed at the workshop. Wish I could have been there, but I'll just wait to see Clay again on The Office.
Can't wait!
That sounded like a very interesting afternoon. These young people are very lucky to get someone like Clay to help them out musically. Wish I could have made it there.
Thanks for all the wonderful Clay news. It has been a great week. I would have loved to listen to Clay while he did the Master Class-getting to use his love of teaching with his love of music. : )
Those kids were so luckly having a masterful vocalist advising them. Thanks for telling us about this.
Thanks for sharing, Musicfan123! Wish I also could've been there. Just some FYI: One of my close friends and her friend were @ the Jukebox Tour when they stopped in Toledo. My friend told me they were so close they could practically touch him, but her friend didn't have the courage to do it. And when she told me this yesterday, I was like, Is your friend nuts?! To be THAT Close to Clay & not TOUCH him?! Man, would I would do just for a HANDSHAKE & To be THAT CLOSE to OMC!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!
Ellison