Clay Aiken Dazzles Houston PBS Audience

Clay Aiken: Tried & True ~ LIVE! was the featured program during KUHT-TV's pledge drive Wednesday night. Click to enlarge the Houston PBS web page for 9/8.

Clay Joins KUHT Pledge Drive

Fans Share One 'Special' Evening

Clay Aiken was in Houston's KUHT-TV studios Wednesday to help promote the premiere telecast of his PBS Special -- Clay Aiken: Tried & True ~ LIVE! -- and the evening was a huge success and loads of fun.

For weeks, Houston fans have been counting down to Sept. 8, and they were not disappointed. Several were in the studio answering pledge calls, and others were able to speak with the singer on the telephone. Below is the countdown widget Scarlett created for the occasion.

Countdown widget hits target.
Clay's back in town!!!

From all reports, KUHT-TV raised a lot of money to fund the new season's public television programs. Below are highlights from recaps by fans who spent a very special evening with Clay Aiken in Houston Wednesday night.

Desertrose: Clay was amazing. When he walked in, the first thing he did was to come over and chat with us. He wanted to know if we were all from Houston. We were, with the exception of jtgranny, who came in from Dallas.

It was obvious that the PBS staff really liked him. He answered phones, and at one time leaned over keepingfaith to take a pledge call. He was right next to me. He teased merrrieeee about her English accent and spoke with his Spamalot accent. There were a lot of pictures taken.

When we left, we learned that the night was very successful pledge-wise. We got in the car and simultaneously said, "We've had the time of our lives."

jtgranny: Adding my EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE's along with all the other volunteers from the Houston PBS tonight. It was simply amazing! I talked with so many people tonight; and, wow, those M&G's went fast.

One of the most amazing calls I received was from an older gentleman planning a special Valentine evening. When I asked him how much he wanted to pledge, he said "Well, I guess I'm going to have to pledge $300 so I can go see this Clay Aiken and take my wife".

After I took all of his information, I was informed by him and his wife, who had by this time picked up on the other line, that they had followed Clay when he was on American Idol and thought he was great.

They have been married for 54 years, and "Unchained Melody" is their song. When Clay sang it on the TV special, they both sat on the couch and cried because it was so beautiful. She also told me she thought that was the best version she has ever heard.

By this time I was trying not to get all weepy myself, so I just told them I hoped they had a wonderful evening, thanked them for their donation, told them that I would pass along this information to Clay, and then I wished them a Happy Valentine's Day. Made my night even more special!

Clay Aiken chats with Ernie Manouse during the Houston telecast.

texwriter: OMG, tonight had to be in the top 10 of the most fun I've ever had! Clay was at his phenomenal, fabulous, charismatic, snarky best!

Clay mentioned right before the first pledge break that his back was bothering him, so he wanted to stand rather than sit on the high stools. Then, between the last two pledge breaks, he was lying flat on the carpet off to the side and chatting with the host and several other PBS people.

Many of us had never volunteered at PBS before, so they had to train us. They told us that if anything came up that we didn't know the answer to, we should just wave our hands.

That worked really well during the 7:00 show with the young musician; but after Clay's first pledge appearance, there was not a single soul around to respond to our hand waves. They were ALL on the other side of the studio, surrounding Clay.

I told my husband he is like the flame that draws moths. There's something about him that just draws people in.

My husband took several smoke breaks outside with some of the workers, and they all talked about what a great guy Clay is and how much they were enjoying his visit.

Fountaindawg's graphic captures highlights from the PBS Special.

merrieeee: OMG, the best night evah! Clay was snarky, funny, and gorgeous! He helped answer phones, and he is the nicest man. The PBS peeps said they were very pleased with the amount of money raised tonight.

He was joking with us and in fact made the evening so much fun. He asked me how to answer the phones. I told him and he looked at me and said, "Do you always answer the phones in an English accent or just for tonight?" Then he launched into his Spamalot voice!

Clay had his picture taken with us all, and they will email it to us. There were only 15 M&G's, and they went right away. He did an interview that will be aired later; but if you pledged with a CC tonight, you will receive a copy. I am thrilled about the night!

The man just charmed the socks off everyone. He came across as real and genuine to everyone who was there. Not a star but just a nice person who you would like to hang around with and I guess we did!

Cookie0: I called Houston to purchase two tickets to the T&T 2011 Concert at Jones Hall. I wasn't aware that the person answering the phone was merrieeee; so, of course, I started selling Clay to her until I realized she was already a fan.

After she took all of the pertinent information, I thought she said someone wants to talk to you. If she said a name, I couldn't hear it. It really sounded as though they were busy because there was much talking and laughter.

Someone got on the phone and said, "Hello." I also said "hello" but didn't think the other person heard me. He asked who I was. "Cookie; who's this?" And the answer was Clay Aiken!!!

That was my pleasant surprise for the evening. I heard everyone close to him laughing. We started to converse, and he said, "Oh they're pulling me and taking my headphones off, and I have to go."

We didn't talk long, but it was unexpected, fun, and really worth the price of my concert tickets since it included a phone call with Clay.

He thanked me for watching, which was a little tough to do since I am in Arizona and the special was being televised in Texas; but what the heck!

HoustonPBS has uploaded photos from Wednesday's pledge drive to its Facebook site. Below are four clickables from the set and a graphic of the photos by Fountaindawg.

Scarlett, who is bound to be among the world's best multi-taskers, posted a play-by-play on Facebook with her mobile phone while recording pledge call data on her laptop. For Clay Aiken fans, Scarlett's wall was the place to be where there are a total of 73 posts and comments, many of which were transcribed to message boards "live." Here are some of her reports:

OMG, he sat at the empty computer next to me and started typing! I was on a call, so I couldn't talk.

Brown shirt , tie, jeans, hair is spiky in front, converse shoes. He's lying on the cold cement floor because his back's hurting. (Maybe he could use a back rub.)

He's answering phones; just took a call from me -- talked to the customer while I typed. Talking to yet another one; but this person had already pledged, and he informed her that she needed to make a second donation.

As we were leaving, Clay signed CD covers for those who brought theirs. The lady at the PBS station who'd been taking pictures all night said that she would e-mail her entire set with us.

KUHT said the station did very well tonight in $@@s. It was a GOOD night. (I need to learn how to retain spelling and grammar skills while deep in the fog.)

I'm home, but I don't know how I got here. Thank goodness for angels because I really can't recall anything between getting on the freeway and seeing my exit (while in the wrong lane). Thank you all for joining me in this pledge break tonight! We did good!!!

Additional KUHT-TV airings of the Clay Aiken: Tried & True ~ LIVE! special are slated for 2:30 a.m. Friday and 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15.

The National Inclusion Project serves to bridge the gap between young people with disabilities and the world around them. Vote in September's Pepsi Refresh Challenge and help supporters secure a $50,000 grant for the foundation.

Fans Tweak Pepsi Refresh Strategy

National Inclusion Project supporters have tweaked their campaign strategy to secure $50,000 for the foundation during September's Pepsi Refresh Challenge. The outline below has been shared on several Clay Aiken message boards where members are assigned to vote specific groups.

In this blog, eligible voters (legal US citizens at least 13 years old) should include the "Everyone" list and choose one of the other groups to best distribute each day's 10 votes. One Internet vote and one text vote are allowed each organization.

Below is the plan designed by SueReu to include charities reciprocating votes with the National Inclusion Project. The lists change daily, so check back for updates.

Everyone Vote For:

National Inclusion Project - Text 102308 to 73774 (Pepsi)
National Federation of the Blind - Text 101913 to 73774 (Pepsi)

Group A

Tree House for Disabled Kids - Text 102672 to 73774 (Pepsi)
SWOOP (wheelchair ramps/Triangle area) - Text 102191 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Courageous Disabled Kids - Text 100058 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Foxroad Elementary - Text 102179 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Mckemy Middle School - Text 100283 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Saving Shelter Pets - Text 102190 to 73774 (Pepsi)
St. Joseph's School - Text 100242 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Screamfest Film Festival - Text #100848 to 73774 (Pepsi)

Group B

Charlotte Peace (domestic violence) - Text 100011 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Add iPad - Text 100053 to 73774 ( Pepsi)
Ella's Hope for Autism - Text 100288 to 73774 (Pepsi)
The Bag Ladies - Text 101126 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Family fun Events - Text 102684 to 73773 (Pepsi)
BRIDGES (special needs/Triangle) - Text 101364 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Little Tree Preschool (autism) - Text 101735 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Blind Cat Rescue - Text 102422 to 73774 (Pepsi)

Group C

Boise Bicycle Project - Text 102464 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Health Shots Reminder - Text 102084 to Pepsi 73774 (Pepsi)
Wild and Wonderful Pet Pantry - Text 100040 to 73774 ( Pepsi)
Mentored Chem-Bio Tech Lab - Text 101997 to 73774 (Pepsi)
RATCO - Text 100570 to 73774 (Pepsi)

Once voting is completed, return to each charity and copy/paste a message similar to the one below so the organization will know the Inclusion Project is supporting its cause:

A vote from the National Inclusion Project! Help us help kids with disabilities experience life with their peers. We're going for $50K. http://www.refresheverything.com/nationalinclusionproject Text 102308. Thank you for your support!

Non-US citizens have discovered ways to help by encouraging Facebook contacts and American friends to cast votes for them. For more details, check the previous Carolina entry.

Have an awesome week, Clay Nation!

Caro

Thank you for your blog comments and props for contributing artists. To leave a remark, scroll to the bottom of that section, click on the "Post a Comment" link, and write in the box provided. Many thnx for stopping by today! - Caro

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Beauty and the Beast Pillowcases

Okay, so I saw these in an email I received and had a small giggle.  Nothing fancy, but fun for those who read this blog, I thought.  They are currently on clearance with Acorn Catalog at this link.  And, no, I have no affiliation with Acorn, I'm just sharing because I was amused and thought you might be, too.  And really, I think of how the pillowcases could be interchangeable in my marriage, depending on our moods.  :)

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Transformations: How Fairy Tales Cast Their Spell

Well, the holiday weekend is over here in the states and almost all of academia is headed back to the classroom by now.  (Yes, I know a few lingering term systems have a few more weeks left.)  To get us all in the mindset of a new wave of teaching and learning, I wanted to share a link to Transformations: How Fairy Tales Cast Their Spell.  You can choose to listen to an audio version, watch a video or simply read a transcript of the event  that took place in 2007.  No, this is not new, but I haven't linked to it before so it may be new to some of you.

Here's more information about it:

Transformations: How Fairy Tales Cast Their Spell
Roundtable
Participants: Anne Cattaneo, Mark Lamos, Donna Jo Napoli, Roger Rahtz, Maria Tatar, Jack Zipes (moderator)

In a recent article in Time, entitled "The End of Fairy Tales?" James Poniewozik refers to Shrek and other recent fairy-tale films and writes, "This is a new world of fairy tales: parodied, ironized, meta-fictionalized, politically adjusted and pop-culture saturated. . . . What these stories are reacting against is not so much fairy tales in general as the specific, saccharine Disney kind, which sanitized the far darker originals." This may, indeed, be true, as a reaction to Disney, but the new forms are really not new. Fairy tales have been transformed in diverse ways and have been transforming themselves ever since they originated in an oral tradition. What is fascinating about the fairy tale genre is precisely its transformative quality and capacity to capture our imaginations. However, it is not clear why we are so addicted to fairy tales and why we continually return to them, change them, and use them in such innovative ways in the theater, opera, cinema, school, at home and, of course, on the Internet. Fairy tales touch our lives from birth to death. As a genre they were never developed or cultivated for children until late in their development, and adults are largely the writers and creators of fairy tales in practically every country in the world. The tales continue to speak to us and call out, it seems, for transformation. This panel will set out to discover the sources of this tradition and how it infuses and is infused by imaginative processes, including indigenous myth, religion, art, dream-life and morality.

The discussion begins with a discussion of "The Story of the Fairy Tale" by Carl Ewald which you can read on SurLaLune. 

And there are so many other fairy tales and works discussed from Shakespeare to Napoli's The Magic Circle and more.  (Which, really, if you haven't read The Magic Circle yet, you really, really should.  It's a short masterpiece.)

And, finally, if you're still debating whether or not to follow the link, here's an excerpt:

Napoli: I’ve been thinking about this, and I think the difference between a myth and a fairy tale and a religious story is just what kind of term we want to call it. Because I can think of myths and religious stories and fairy tales that deal with a whole range of things, all of them, and I think we call it a myth when we know that it used to be somebody’s religion and we don’t believe anybody is believing that today, or we think it would be absurd if they believed it. I think we’d call it a religion if we are trying to show at least lip service to some deference for what they might believe. And I think we call it a fairy tale if there aren’t gods in it. But they’re all the same kind of stories, I think.


Zipes: Yeah, I tend to agree. I think that most of these stories come out of very basic experiences that we’ve had in nature, in our environment, and depending on the modality in which we want to convey our experience, we tell it in one metaphorical way using certain conventions, and these conventions and motifs and narrative structures and plots have changed and developed over thousands of years, so that even when we tell fairy tales, we use other media, like film and the radio, now the Internet, and of course plays and musicals and operas. I think that why we choose or continue to come back to certain canonical tales is that they are unresolved. Even though they are resolved, they’re still unresolved.

For instance, I’ve written on Cinderella recently in which I’ve tried to understand—I’ve always looked to a sort of feminist critique talking about the passivity of Cinderella, but really what the story is about is what happens to a child when a mother dies and a non-biological mother comes and maltreats a daughter that’s not of her own making, and favors her own children. Now that’s very common today, with broken families and single parents or new parents, or sometimes there are third marriages and so on. If you do a study of recent children’s books, plays, and so on, Cinderella is probably the most popular tale in the world right now in terms of redoing it, reexamining it, exploring it. So these are deep-rooted problems that come out of our drives, our instincts, that we store in our memories and work through and keep trying to work through. Because a particular tale is so artistically well done, at a certain point it becomes sort of the focal point that we continue to pass on and disseminate and revisit to try to continue to deal with these problems. As long as the problems remain, we will continue to tell the same tales, I think.

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Clay Aiken, Fans To Party Down with UNC-TV

Clay Aiken: Tried & True ~ LIVE! Preview
View video full screen at YouTube.

For 'Tried & True' Telecast

UNC-TV Plans Special Shindig

Clay Aiken and his fans will party down Saturday night when the singer's celebrated special kicks off the UNC-TV SeptemberFest pledge drive.

Premiere telecasts of Clay Aiken: Tried & True ~ LIVE! are slated for 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Several members of the Clay Nation have volunteered to answer pledge drive phones, but two lucky fans will be there as a special guests of UNC-TV on Facebook.

To celebrate Clay Aiken and all the FB fans who love him, we're offering a Sept. 11, UNC-TV tour and "meet and greet" with Clay for our 4000th fan and the person who recommended them.

Those who can't be in the studio can watch the concert on television and keep track of the fun at the "Tried & True Twitter Party" planned from 8 - 11 p.m. Follow @UNCTV on the Twitter social network.

Among the activities planned are live tweeting of Clay photos, videos, and trivia. Fans from around the globe can join the fun by logging into Twitter with the hashtag #unctvclay.

Click to view September scans of centerPIECE.

Clay Fans Become UNC 'Likers'

If you haven't already become a "liker" of UNC-TV on Facebook, you need to do so right now. The 4,000th fan will win a tour of the studio and have a Meet & Greet with Clay.

If the station doesn't reach 4,000 fans by the Friday deadline, the UNC-TV fan with the most mutual friends who are also UNC-TV fans will win. If the 4,000th fan cannot be present at Saturday's telecast, he or she can gift the prize to a friend who can.

The Clay Aiken: Tried & True - LIVE! concert special has been airing on PBS stations throughout the nation since July 31. In the concert, Clay performs iconic songs, including "Mack The Knife," "Unchained Melody," "Moon River," "Crying," and "Build Me Up Buttercup." Guest stars are Linda Eder and Ruben Studdard.

As you can see in the Carolina sidebar, Houston, TX, is another city in countdown mode to Clay Aiken's PBS Special this week.

Because the singer is scheduled to be in the KUHT-TV studios for Wednesday's 8:30 p.m. telecast, several Houston area fans have volunteered to answer pledge phones for the PBS station. Future airings are slated for 2:30 a.m. Friday and 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15.

The National Inclusion Project serves to bridge the gap between young people with disabilities and the world around them. Supporters are voting to secure a $50,000 grant during September's Pepsi Refresh Challenge.

Fans Tweak Pepsi Refresh Strategy

National Inclusion Project supporters have tweaked their campaign strategy to secure $50,000 for the foundation during September's Pepsi Refresh Challenge. The outline below has been shared on several Clay Aiken message boards where members sign up to vote the various groups.

In this blog, eligible voters (legal US citizens at least 13 years old) should include the "Everyone" list and choose one of the other groups to best distribute each day's 10 votes. One Internet vote and one text vote are allowed the organization.

Below is the plan designed by SueReu to include charities reciprocating votes with the National Inclusion Project. Check back daily for possible variations.

Everyone Vote For:

National Inclusion Project - Text 102308 to 73774 (Pepsi)
National Federation of the Blind - Text 101913 to 73774 (Pepsi)

Group A

Tree House for Disabled Kids - Text 102672 to 73774 (Pepsi)
SWOOP (wheelchair ramps/Triangle area) - Text 102191 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Courageous Disabled Kids - Text 100058 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Foxroad Elementary - Text 102179 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Mckemy Middle School - Text 100283 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Saving Shelter Pets - Text 102190 to 73774 (Pepsi)
St. Joseph's School - Text 100242 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Screamfest Film Festival - Text #100848 to 73774 (Pepsi)

Group B

Charlotte Peace (domestic violence) - Text 100011 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Add iPad - Text 100053 to 73774 ( Pepsi)
Ella's Hope for Autism - Text 100288 to 73774 (Pepsi)
The Bag Ladies - Text 101126 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Family fun Events - Text 102684 to 73773 (Pepsi)
BRIDGES (special needs/Triangle) - Text 101364 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Little Tree Preschool (autism) - Text 101735 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Blind Cat Rescue - Text 102422 to 73774 (Pepsi)

Group C

Boise Bicycle Project - Text 102464 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Health Shots Reminder - Text 102084 to Pepsi 73774 (Pepsi)
Wild and Wonderful Pet Pantry - Text 100040 to 73774 ( Pepsi)
Mentored Chem-Bio Tech Lab - Text 101997 to 73774 (Pepsi)
RATCO - Text 100570 to 73774 (Pepsi)

Once voting is completed, return to each charity and copy/paste a message similar to the one below:

A vote from the National Inclusion Project! Help us help kids with disabilities experience life with their peers. We're going for $50K. http://www.refresheverything.com/nationalinclusionproject Thank you for your support!

Canadian Finds Way To Help

Throughout the Pepsi campaign, Clay Aiken fans from other countries have been left out. Monday From Claygary posted ways that non-US citizens can help with the project:

Last night I went through my "liked" pages on Facebook. (Profile/Info/Likes and Interests).

Lots of them are pages where I can post a note on their wall. On an intermittent basis, I will post a note asking for their help as well. Probably a weekly post with the necessary voting link, info. Among the "likes" on my list are:

1. Christie Cookie -- they helped us last year, and I'm sure some of the staff would be happy to vote for the National Inclusion Project.

2. The Voice - Linda Eder's newsletter. Maybe they would include the information?

3. Casey Thompson Music - definitely!

4. Quiana Parler and Friends - definitely!

5. Ornamentea.com, a local Raleigh store.

6. ground ctrl ... why not?

7. Morgan's Wonderland, an entertainment facility in Texas for children with disabilities. Wouldn't they be interested?

The Sparkle Effect, teen cheerleader organization awarded a grant by the National Inclusion Project in 2009 for their work with young people with disabilities, has also been suggested as a group to contact. No doubt they would be willing to help, and teen texting skills are through the roof!

Hopefully, these suggestions spark several more ideas of people and organizations to contact for voting assistance in the National Inclusion Project's September campaign for $50,000.

Have a wonderful week, Clay Nation!

Caro

Thank you for your blog comments and props for the contributing artists. To leave a remark, scroll to the bottom of that section, click on the "Post a Comment" link, and write in the box provided. Many thnx for stopping by today! - Caro

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