“Please Welcome The Fantastic Clay Aiken”
The River Rock Show Theatre at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, BC was the setting of a two-day event that featured Clay Aiken.
On September 9th, 2006, David Foster sponsored the Star Search Finals. Clay was a judge at this event. Although he did not sing, Clay was very involved in his job as a judge. Besides providing critiques of each performance, Clay also gave each contestant advice on what they could do to improve. He attended the rehearsal in the afternoon and worked with the contestants, giving them advice on everything from their songs to their vocal performance to their stage presence.
The next night, there was a special fund raising Gala Event in support of the David Foster Foundation, a unique charity assisting families with children requiring life saving organ transplants. The exclusive, private function was limited to a 1000 benefactors, with all the proceeds going directly to the Foundation.
The evening started with a Pre Show Cocktail Party and was followed by a Live Auction and then a star-studded concert by David Foster and his friends. Michael Buble was the headliner. Other performers included “Babyface”, Olivia Newton John, George Lopez and, of course, Clay Aiken.
Part of the auction was a piano that David had used in many performances. There were two bidders who were interested in the piano.. When the bidding stalled at $280,000, David came out to sign the piano and say that he would give a private concert to the winning bid. The bidding stalled again at $310,000, and Clay came to say he would sing. David says, “What a bargain, this guy gets $250,000 per show”. The bidding went right to $500,000.
David Foster was very complimentary when he introduced Clay in the concert. He reminded the audience that Clay had sold over 600,000 copies of his first CD in the first week of sales. He said:
What an amazing singer. What an amazing story. He’ll tell you some of it; he used to be a school teacher, this kid. Please welcome the FANTASTIC… CLAY… AIKEN!
Clay performed three songs that evening; Right Here Waiting For You, Unchained Melody and Without You. He was accompanied by David Foster on the piano and some back-up musicians. Clay enjoyed a standing ovation after each song.
The two events were fun-filled and wonderful for Clay Aiken fans.
There are two videos posted with this article. They are wonderful.
Fun, wasn’t it?
