Today is Tuesday, November 24th…and it is the day that “A Year In Pictures”, an art exhibition featuring the work of NYC Public School children with disabilities is having a private viewing and awards ceremony.  The event is held at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery from 11:30 AM – 12:30PM.

Sponsored by VSA( Very Special Arts) and the Marquis Studios, this special event will include VSA Founder, Jean Kennedy Smith and recognizes Clay Aiken, City Council Members, and student artists. The exhibit is part of the ongoing celebrations of VSA’s 40th Anniversary, promoting art by and for people with disabilities.

It is exciting that Clay is being recognized for his leadership in working with children with and with out disabilities.  I hope that there will be someone there who will report on the entire event.  Maybe someone will even send a Periscope.

Congratulations to all that are involved in this wonderful event. It sounds like this will be an exciting time for the students, the teachers, and those who support the organizations.

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On November 22, 2006, Clay Aiken was a guest on the Tyra Banks Show. It was a huge hit with the television audience and the live audience reported that it was one of the best shows they had ever seen.

The live audience saw Clay sing at the beginning of the show. He first sang “A Thousand Days.” Then, after a quick set change, he sang “Mary, Did You Know” that would be used on another show.

According to reports from audience members, the director planned on taping 2 segments of Clay and Tyra. However, the two stars just had so much fun together that they just kept filming.

More and more people from backstage filtered in to watch and listen as the show went on and on. The serious man who held the cue cards began to laugh… a lot. Two of the cameramen were grinning ear-to-ear the entire show. The young director talked and laughed with Clay during the breaks. They all seemed to be having a great time.

During one of the breaks, Quiana came out onto the set and stood behind the couch talking to Clay. Clay turned to the audience and told the story of how Quiana had beaten him in his first AI audition. He said he wished they could hear her sing. Quiana acted rather shy and started to leave. The warmup man gave chase and dragged her back out and gave her a microphone. Clay said to Tyra, “If I get her to sing, will you tell her about your hair weave?” Tyra agreed. Quiana then blew away the place with “I Will Always Love You.” The warmup guy commented about what kind of a guy Clay was and how rare it was to see a big star do something like that. He later said Clay was the best interview they had ever had.

Fortunately, we have videos of the show. We don’t get to see the fun backstage antics, but we can see how relaxed Clay and Tyra were as they talked to each other.

If you watch the videos, you will see talk about Clay’s changing looks, his allergies and even a short segment when Clay interviewed Tyra. Oh yes, even a small kiss!!

The three videos take a bit more than 30 minutes, but they are so worth it. We can all hope that there will be another fun interview with these two good friends.

Did you see the interview by Clay and Tyra?