I always love days when there is so much news about Clay Aiken that you wonder if you can get it all in one blog.  Well, at least I will try!

It is always fun to find print interviews about Clay and The Joyful Noise Tour.  The Hour Online posted a nice article by Keith Loria.  Titled, Have Yourself a Claymate Christmas, the article covers Clay’s professional history and announces that Clay will be at The Palace in Stamford, CT on Thursday,  December 6th.  I particularly enjoyed these two paragraphs:

…Despite losing out to Ruben Studdard back in 2002, Aiken’s recording success far exceeded his American Idol friend and rival, going double platinum with his debut, “Measure of a Man,” which not only was No. 1 on the Billboard 200, but still stands as the highest debut of any Idol winner (take that Kelly Clarkson!)…

…Looking ahead, Aiken is considering writing another book, working on another Christmas album and is open to other TV, stage and music projects.

“For now, we just want to kick start the holiday season off for people and I want it to get people into the spirit,” he says. “There’s something magical that happens this time of year.”…

You can read the entire article at THEHOUR

Today, the Atlantic City Weekly posted a great article about Clay and The Joyful Noise Tour.

Holiday Greetings from Clay

Singer Clay Aiken rides his sleigh full of Christmas cheer to the Trump Taj Mahal

By Ed Condran

Christmas apparently isn’t as cool as it once was with recording artists. There are considerably less holiday albums released these days as there were a generation ago.

But Clay Aiken reaches for Christmas music at this time of year. The pop artist doesn’t care if Christmas isn’t cool.

“That doesn’t matter to me because I’m not cool either,” Aiken tells Atlantic City Weekly while calling fromNew York where he is taping a segment for the Dr. Oz show. “I can see why Christmas isn’t cool. It can be schmaltzy and cheesy but that’s fine for my personality. That’s why I’m out on another Christmas tour. I love it.

”The American Idol alum (class of 2003, runner-up to A.I. champ Ruben Studdard), will perform Saturday, Dec. 1, at the Trump Taj Mahal….

Be sure and check out the entire article at ATLANTICCITYWEEKLY

It looks like Clay will be very busy on Saturday, December 1^st.  He is scheduled to perform his Joyful Noise Tour in the evening at the Trump Taj Mahal inAtlantic City.  But, now he has added a performance on the Atlantic City Boardwalk.

According to The Associated Press:

For Saturday’s 5:30 p.m. show, singer Clay Aiken will appear, before his evening show at the Trump Taj Mahal.

Called “Winter Sweet”, the show is a 3-D light and musical show which is performed every half-hour that will illuminate the exterior of Boardwalk Hall.  The free outdoor event was created to draw visitors to the Boardwalk after the Superstorm Sandy.  Atlantic City plans on a great day which will include a Holiday Parade, a tree lighting and many other special events.

What a fun day to visit Atlantic City.  If you are there, be sure and take some pictures to share with us!

The Associated Press article is published in many places.  You can read it at Asbury Park Press

Did you have a chance to watch Clay on the Dr. Oz Show?  It certainly covered a controversial subject.  GLSEN and GLAAD were very upset with the show.  GLSEN posted:

GLAAD, the nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy and anti-defamation organization, The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students and PFLAG National, the nation’s largest family and ally organization for LGBT people, today released a joint statement denouncing the Dr. Oz Show for airing an episode debating the merits of so-called reparative therapy, and positioning a representative of the discredited National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) as an “expert.” The groups are calling on Dr. Oz to stand with the entire medical community against this so-called therapy, and to tell his LGBT viewers that he does not support the idea that their sexual orientation should be “repaired.”…

To see the entire article, read it HERE

I watched the entire 60 minute show and it was hard to control my temper.  Those in my family found the show biased towards the Reparative therapy.  Although Clay wasn’t given the chance to talk a lot or argue, what he had to say was important. He mentioned that he was upset that the topic was being given any time on National television….said he was heart broken. He also said that just the title of the therapy makes people think there is something wrong with themselves and that is not true. The quiet sincerity of Clay’s words will be remembered by many and became an important part of the discussion.

The following are some of the tweets(thank you, Scorpionlady45) that mentioned the show:

Tracey Levine ‏@TJNeonLimelight
Clay Aiken is on Dr Oz talking about the dangers of this so-called “reparative therapy.”

Kat ‏@kittehthederp
Clay Aiken said he was born gay, and he did not make the choice to be gay <3

Roy Lee Taylor ‏@Fool_4_Twitt_r
Clay Aiken is on Dr. Oz letting these bitches have it!!!

NI☪OLE ‏@_NickelAndDime
You go Clay Aiken

Bethany Leigh ‏@the_mayqueen
Clay Aiken, you sassy bitch. You tell these bigots how it is.

Kat ‏@kittehthederp
@79Shiv97 these americans are upsetting but now clay aiken is on the show too telling them the therapy is wrong \^-^/

☯ ‏@jacobbailes
I agree with what @clayaiken said on #DrOz 100%.

 ‏@1outback

The voice of reason @clayaiken. Loved U on Dr Oz, heartfelt, intelligent, and informed. Down with Quackery #Reperative Therapy

So proud of @clayaiken on @droz today. There’s not a damn thing that needs fixing about you! You rock Mr. Aiken!

I would love to hear your opinion of the show.

I wanted to add a “feel good” story that was told by a friend of mine.  I ask 2old4Clay if I could share it with you.  This was posted on November 27th.  The following  is what she posted:

Good morning all…will attempt a little recap of my amazing adventures with Clay. As mentioned before I won the ebay auction for Lakeland, and decided to ask my son to share it with me. It worked out well as I needed a ride anyway from home to Lakeland to meet up with travel friends. The other night in Sarasota, I was the one who drove Lucia (Brazil) and kyoko from Japan over to the M&G since Clay had asked Lucia to be there in addition to the winners. The tour manager let us all go in, but kyoko and I sat a few seats away from the rest of the group as we didn’t belong with them. When Clay came up to do the M&G he came up our side of the theatre and saw me and said hello. He then said ‘we put your story in the show’, and I said noooo, not my story. He responded ‘that’s right…I had it in the show and then pulled it because it didn’t fit. Then he asked me if I wanted to read my story at one of the concerts, so I told him I would be with him through Staten Island, and that I had won the M&G for Lakeland and Mike and I would be there. He said that’s great, we will do it in Lakeland, but I want you to record it… so stay after this is over and Ben will record you and will use it in Lakeland. So that is what we did, me, Lucia and kyoko were allowed to stay for the rest of the sound check (Clay was not there) until Ben was ready. We had quite a lot of fun waiting around as Mariah took us through the venue and downstairs into the Green Room, where they had the food services. We were there a short time and then they took us into another room with Ben and he set up the laptop for recording. Clay told Mariah (tour manager) to go out to the bus and get the story book for me to read from. I was a bit nervous, but it was a heck of a lot easier than the first time on stage. When I was finished, we were led out, and stopped by to say good bye and thanks to Clay.

When today came we went to our M&G, and he did his usual introduction to all and signed whatever anyone brought. When he was talking to Mike I heard my recording…the part about him moving to Florida..as the band was working on the timing of bringing the story into the song. I looked up at Clay and he looked at me and proceeded to tell the sound man to stop what was on. Mike had no clue what was going on. I never told him about the reading, because what if Clay decided it still didn’t fit, and I did want him to be surprised. It was a wonderful moment for the both of us, Mike was really touched and for a minute the 3 of us had a special moment, as I could see that Clay was looking at us while he sang Merry Christmas With Love. The other personal touch that meant the world to me…was the song MCWL, since my husband died Christmas Day, the first time I heard Clay sing that song was on 12/2 in Merrillville in ’06…I felt a connection to it right away, so tonight was made so very special to me in more ways than I can ever explain.

During the picture taking, we took a picture of the 3 of us, then he asked if we wanted individual ones, and I said that would be nice if it was ok with him.
When he took the picture with Mike, he said ‘this one is for the refrigerator’.

Thank you, Georgene, for sharing this touching story with us.  It is always wonderful to see the love that Clay shows his fans!

I will start the Day 5 –  Joyful Noise Thread in the afternoon Thursday.  Please stop by and check for updates.  Remember, I am on the west coast so sometimes it might seem late to you.  I hope you will all share your wonderful experiences in Durham, North Carolina.  I am sure it will be very special.

Welcome Home, Clay!