Friday, November 13, 2009

So Many Experts

We in the ClayNation have been a little bit sad lately. Clay has been largely out of the spotlight and we haven’t had a tour in (it seems like) forever! Christmas without Clay is just a bit less merry.

We have, however, had a little bit of Clay. The Gala this year raised lots of money for the National Inclusion Project. It was well attended by the fans – happily those with money to spend! We should be celebrating that fact. We should feel proud of Clay and of ourselves for our continued support and success.

Overwhelmingly, though, the response to the Gala this year was not celebratory. It was not proud or happy. What I heard and read over and over again was negative!
“Clay looked tired!”
“Clay should get rid of the spikes.”
“Clay’s voice is shot.”
“The tables weren’t set up well.”
“We couldn’t even see.”
“The lighting sucked.”
And then……………
“OMG, he’s singing Moon River!”
“What if that’s on the next album as he hinted?”
“He’s going to do nothing but covers!”
“I am not going to buy the next album!”
“What he needs to do is……………..”
“What Team Clay needs to do is………..”
“What Decca needs to do is………………”

I am amazed that this fandom seems to be full of experts on the music industry!

Then we had the surprise performance at the David Foster and Friends show in San Jose which brought more expert opinions. My favorite one was, “I am sick to death of UM!” (possibly paraphrased a bit)

Now Clay has blogged and what responses have I seen?
“Orchestra? That means more slow songs.”

We had a Tweet saying that Clay and Ruben will be touring together. And…..?
“OMG! I thought he was trying to escape AI. This will bring it all back.”
“Does he want to be the runner up forever?”

Yada, yada, yada……

My response to all of this is a little bit different. After such a long lack of Clay I was thrilled to see all of the Clack from the Gala. Poor lighting? Better than no lighting! Voice cracks? It was his voice! Loved the DF performance! I will never tire of hearing him sing UM and I thought it completely put to rest any concerns about his voice. The blog? He’s excited! He’s recording! There will be a new album and Clay is happy with it! If he’s happy, I’m happy. Oh yeah – the Tweet? Not really feeling any response yet since the rumor is unconfirmed. I will, though, go to any Clay tour regardless of who else is performing. I happen to like Ruben, but I’d go if Clay decided to tour with Kanye West.

I have read lots of concern about whether or not Clay’s fandom is dwindling. It seems to me the negativity that abounds may be a cause of that. I hope that there are still lots of fans like me – I am an expert on nothing about the music industry. I just know that I love Clay Aiken, I love his voice and I can’t wait to hear him again.

9 comments:

Ashes said...

Right on the money with this blog.
I say ignore the complainers, cuz who cares what they think.
The majority of us love Clay and trust him to make his own decisions. He is the best!

MAE said...

I agree and was so excited about the Gala and the surprise UM. I love Clay, the man and his voice. I know he will do exceedingly well! I check everyday just to get to hear him or see him. I pray for him and his family and delight to see him suceed in every good thing he decides to do. He's wonderful! Hope he knows how special he is! MAE

Anonymous said...

Yes!!!! How right you are, Q...

Thank-you!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the Clay Aiken blog. There's always something going on.

invisibleclay said...

I love Clay Aiken, that's all I can say. I'm happy he blogged and I'm happy about his plans for the near future. I will always support him!

deyabird said...

Bravo! The bottom line for me is it's Clay. I will support him because I care for him. He has never disappointed me in anything he has done and I don't expect to be disappointed by any of the future possibilities that he mentioned in his blog, nor by rumored tour with Ruben. If Clay is happy, I am happy.

PaulaBear said...

I'm happy to support Clay Aiken and whatever he chooses to do in the future. If it involves singing on a solo tour, or singing with an orchestra or singing with Ruben, I'm happy just to hear him sing!

jbc4clay said...

Great blog!
Thanks!

stargazer said...

O.M.G., Q, you are in my brain and you have posted just the way I would. Throw PC under the bus and say it like it is. If you were not already my hero, you would be my new hero.

I think those "fans" who post the crap about Clay truly love him but they love more hearing the wind blow threw their swiss cheese brains. They sincerely think we enjoy their critiques and it couldn't be further from the truth. If they would STFU it would please me to no end. Hah!

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