What a great day for the ClayNation on Tuesday. We were lucky enough to see Clay Aiken for almost an hour. As the co-host of The View, Clay was funny, happy, articulate, careful, hoarse, and not afraid to say what he thought.
The following are some screen caps from the show. I am also adding the opening of the show. We were finally able to get the video working.
What was your favorite part of The View while Clay was the co-host?
Each day there seems to be new articles that mention Clay Aiken. Some are excellent, informative articles that report about what he has been doing or, perhaps, what is in his future plans. Then there are the rumor sites that take one sentence and take it out of context and use it as a headline. An example of the latter is the over 100 sites on google that are claiming that Clay wants to replace Simon Cowell on American Idol. It really is crazy, but I guess it means that his name still equals hits!!
The UPI is a legitimate news source. Their web page says the following about their organization:
Since 1907, United Press International (UPI) has been a leading provider of critical information to media outlets, businesses, governments and researchers worldwide. UPI is a global operation with offices in Beirut, Hong Kong, London, Santiago, Seoul and Tokyo. Our headquarters is located in downtown Washington, DC, surrounded by major international policy-making governmental and non-governmental organizations.
Over 2.8 million unique visitors visit our web site every month and the number is rising. In December of 2008 alone, UPI.com received 6.5 million page views.
Each day UPI publishes its content directly to UPI.com, reaching an online audience that is constantly growing.
On Tuesday, Jun 29th, UPI posted the following article about co-hosts on The View.
NEW YORK, June 29 (UPI) — Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Kate Gosselin and Clay Aiken have signed on as guest co-hosts of the U.S. chat show “The View,” ABC said Tuesday
The show’s regular hosts are Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd.
Numerous celebrities, including actor Ferguson, reality TV personality Gosselin and singer Aiken, have agreed to fill in for the regular hosts as they take days off in June and July, Bill Geddie, the show’s executive producer, said.
Also to appear as guest co-hosts are actresses Valerie Bertinelli, Yvette Nicole Brown and Rachael Harris; Jamyce Lee, winner of the “Good Morning America” Living the Dream contest and a 27-year-old mother of three; TV personality Bryant Gumbel; political commentator/talk show host Laura Ingraham; chef Marcella Valladolid; and TV/radio personality Jacque Reid.
Interesting that the one picture they have with the article is one of Clay Aiken. To see the article and the picture visit UPI
Robert W. McDowell is a writer for The Triangle Arts and Entertainment site. According to their site, it is A News Magazine Devoted To Visual and Performing Arts.
On Tuesday, McDowell wrote a nice review of the Bringing Broadway Home concert that was held in Raleigh on June 21st.
IN “BRINGING BROADWAY HOME,” CLAY AIKEN DELIGHTED HIS FANS, BUT LAUREN KENNEDY AND QUIANA PARLER WERE SHOWSTOPPERS, TOO
Last Monday night, the North Carolina Theatre, whose gala home-grown productions of big Broadway musicals compare favorably with many of the bus-and-truck tours that play the Triangle, staged BRINGING BROADWAY HOME: CELEBRATING 27 SEASONS OF BROADWAY, a spectacular benefit concert last Monday night, featuring effervescent performances by NCT alumni Clay Aiken, Lauren Kennedy, Sharon Lawrence, Terrence Mann, and Quiana Parler and a splendid orchestra led by frequent NCT musical director and conductor Edward G. Robinson.
Aiken is the 2003 “American Idol” runner-up and a multi-platinum recording artist who also played Sir Robin in MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT; Kennedy is a rising Broadway star, who has played Betty Schaefer in SUNSET BOULEVARD, Fantine in LES MISÉRABLES, and the Lady of the lake in SPAMALOT; and Lawrence is a television star probably most famous for playing assistant district attorney Sylvia Costas Sipowicz in the ground-breaking crime drama “NYPD Blue.”
Mann created the roles of the irrepressible Rum Tum Tugger and the implacable Inspector Javert in the American versions of CATS and LES MISÉRABLES, respectively, as well as starred as the Beast in the original Broadway production of DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST; and Parler is a superlative African-American actress and singer who gave a career-making performance as troubled diva Effie Melody White in the 2008 North Carolina Theatre production of DREAMGIRLS.
Hometown favorite Clay Aiken opened the show with a rousing rendition of “Home” from THE WIZ, then delighted his legion of local fans with two saucy selections from his new album “Tried and True,” released June 1st on Decca: “Mack the Knife” from THREE PENNY OPERA and “What Kind of Fool Am I?” from STOP THE WORLD I WANT TO GET OFF. Aiken also added crowd-pleasing performances of “This Is the Moment” from JEKYLL & HYDE and “Those Magic Changes” from GREASE, and sang dynamic duets of “Last Night of the World” from MISS SAIGON with Quiana Parler and “In Whatever Time We Have” from CHILDREN OF EDEN with Lauren Kennedy.
Another highlight of the evening was the delightful reprise of “What Do the Simple Folk Do?” from CAMELOT by Terrence Mann and Sharon Lawrence, who played Arthur and Guenevere in NCT’s very first production in May 1984. Mann also reprised his role as Inspector Javert with brio as he sang “Stars” from LES MISÉRABLES, and his vibrant version of “Where’s the Girl?” from THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL also earned applause.
From the moment she sashayed onstage to sing “Popular” from WICKED, wearing a rhinestone tiara and a purple boa over her little black sequined and fringed dress, with a white sash emblazoned with “Raleigh’s Own” printed on it tied diagonally across her chest, Raleigh’s own Lauren Kennedy OWNED the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium audience lock, stock, and barrel. Her perky performance continued with vivacious versions of Jason Robert Brown’s sassy “I Can Do Better Than That” from THE LAST 5 YEARS, Fantine’s (and Susan Boyle’s) showstopper “I Dreamed a Dream” from LES MISÉRABLES, the wistful “Send in the Clowns” from A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, and “Hold On” from THE SECRET GARDEN.
Sharon Lawrence served as an informal mistress of ceremonies and contributed a charming version of “Shy” from ONCE UPON A MATTRESS, and Quiana Parler’s solo on “What I Did for Love” from A CHORUS LINE sparkled. But even if Clay Aiken was the evening’s most flamboyant showman, his erstwhile singing partner Quiana Parler one-upped Aiken and the rest of this stellar cast with her simply fab-u-lous rendition of “(And I Am Telling You) I’m Not Going” from DREAMGIRLS. After that next-to-last number, the company’s grand finale of “Imagine” by ex-Beatle John Lennon seemed anti-climactic.
All in all, BRINGING BROADWAY HOME was a bracing program of music and reminiscences in which backstage tales were told and North Carolina Theatre founder and head honcho De Ann Jones and her son and successor, Wally Jones, were given their due. NCT is a shining jewel in this state’s cultural crown and, for one magical evening, a fabulous quintet of NCT alumni, emphatically demonstrated how excellent this critically acclaimed regional theater is as a springboard to show business fame and fortune.
Please take a moment and give the site a visit and leave a positive comment. It is important for the publication and Mr. McDowell to know that we support Clay and enjoy news and reports about him on their site. You can see the article at TRIANGLE ARTS
On Tuesday evening, the following was posted on Facebook by Universal Music Singapore:
It looks like the International Promo for Tried & True is starting. Of course, sales outside the United States do not show on the Billboard sales charts, but they do count towards total album sales statistics. RIAA recently awarded Clay a sales plaque for 6 million sales internationally.
Today is the last day of the month. We can only hope that the buzz around Clay Aiken continues in July. Are you ready?
It was announced by NBC today that there will be seven guest stars on the finale of 30 Rock this season. The following stars will make their appearance on May 14, 2009.
Information on each star is from Wikipedia, the free, on-line encyclopedia.
Alan Alda (born January 28, 1936) is an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy award-winning actor, director and screenwriter. He is well-known for his role as “Hawkeye Pierce” in the television series M*A*S*H. During the 1970s and ’80s, he was viewed as the archetypal sympathetic male, though in recent years, he has appeared in roles that counter that image.
Sherri Shepherd worked a day job as a legal secretary while doing stand-up comedy at night. Her first TV role was on the show, Cleghorne!, starring former Saturday Night Live cast member, Ellen Cleghorne. Three years later, Shepherd pursued acting and stand-up comedy full-time, working again as a legal secretary for a day job. Perhaps her most successful role prior to The View, was playing the main character of Ramona Platt (2002-2006) on the comedy Less Than Perfect (Seasons 1-4, 81 episodes) as a co-worker friend.
Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Her music blends rock, country, pop and folk, into one mainstream sound, and she has won nine Grammy Awards. Crow is also a political activist.
Mary Jane Blige (born January 11, 1971), more commonly known as Mary J. Blige, is an American recording artist, record producer and actress. She has sold more than forty eight million albums worldwide. She has received over twenty-six Grammy Award nominations for her work, winning nine, and has been awarded the World Music Legends Award for combining hip hop and soul together.
Elvis Costello is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London’s pub rock scene in the mid-1970s, and later became associated with the punk rock and New Wave musical genres, before establishing his own unique voice in the 1980s. Steeped in wordplay, the vocabulary of Costello’s lyrics is broader than that of most popular songs. His work has drawn on many diverse musical genres.
Adam Noah Levine (born March 18, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is the frontman for the pop rock band Maroon 5.
Levine has stated in various interviews that he does not plan on continuing in Maroon 5 forever, and may stop after the tour for Maroon 5′s probable third album.
Clay Aiken (born Clayton Holmes Grissom on November 30, 1978) is an American pop singer who began his rise to fame on the second season of the television programAmerican Idol in 2003. RCA Records offered him a recording contract, and his multi-platinum debut album Measure of a Man was released in October 2003. He released four more albums on the RCA label: Merry Christmas with Love, A Thousand Different Ways, and the Christmas EP, All is Well. His fourth studio album (the first album of original material since 2003′s Measure of a Man), On My Way Here was released on May 6, 2008.
In the years following his American Idol appearance, Aiken has launched eight tours, authored a New York Times best-selling book Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your LifeA Clay Aiken Christmas. He has been a frequent talk show guest, particularly on The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live. He appeared as a guest star on Scrubs and participated in comedy skits on Kimmel and Saturday Night Live. with Allison Glock, and was the executive producer for a 2004 televised Christmas special,
Aiken created the Bubel/Aiken Foundation in 2003, accepted a UNICEF ambassadorship in 2004, and in 2006 was appointed for a two-year term to the Presidential Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities.
Aiken made his Broadway debut playing the role of Sir Robin in Monty Python’s Spamalot in January 2008. His run ended in May but he rejoined the cast as Sir Robin in September and remained through January 4, 2009.
It is exciting to see the wonderful stars that have been picked for the 30 Rock finale. Clay is in good company.
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