How about that Clay Aiken???

OK, so there's been a change of plans:

I was able to catch the second half of Clay Aiken and his "Christmas in the Heartland" tour stop here in Poughkeepsie on Saturday, getting to the Mid-Hudson Civic Center right during intermission.


In short, the hour I was there for was an amazing hour of music! In just that hour, I decided Clay has the best voice of anyone I've ever seen in concert. Barry Manilow is the greatest overall performer and showman I've ever seen (you remember my GF and I are seeing him Monday night, right?) and is the total package on stage, and Britney Spears is the most beautiful singer I've ever seen in person, but Clay has the most singing ability of anyone I've seen ... and I've seen a lot!

I'll have more on the Poughkeepsie show later today (technically, it's already Sunday), once I've had some sleep.

I actually made it a point make it to tonight's show 'cause with treacherous weather forecast for the Northeast through Sunday night, I'm not going to be able to attend and review tonight's concert at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

Again, if you made it to the Civic Center tonight, feel free to e-mail me your thoughts and/or pics (along with your first name and hometown so I can give you credit) to journalsean@aol.com and I'll post some of them here on "Sean's Space!"

Say, "Hey!" to Clay for me

Now if you've been here at "Sean's Space" in the past week, you'll know I have a work assignment this evening and won't be able to go to Clay Aiken's show at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center.

Instead, I'll be at John Jay High School covering the Patriot Invitational, one of the largest high-school wrestling tournaments in the area. Good stuff and there should be a lot of action on the mats.


So here's where I need some help: If you're heading to tonight's Poughkeepsie show, feel free to e-mail me at journalsean@aol.com after the concert and share your thoughts! Snap some pics of the concert? E-mail them, too! Just please include your first name and hometown in the body of your e-mail.

Just like when I asked for fans' questions for Clay, I'll pick some of the best reviews and pics, and post them here at "Sean's Space," hopefully before I travel to Mohegan Sun on Sunday for Clay's next show, which I'll be reviewing. Again, please include your first name and hometown when you send your thoughts and pics so I can give you credit on the blog.


For those of you lucky enough to get into tonight's show, have a great time, enjoy the music and say, "Hey!" to Clay for me.

Clay has made his way today

As you can see by the tour buses parked on Market Street, Clay Aiken has arrived in Poughkeepsie, now 12 hours before tonight's show at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center.

It's actually a nice scene, the buses in front of the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel — the frost-covered trees behind them, the wet pavement below.

(Is it me, or does Clay's tour bus look a lot like the one Taylor Hicks pulled up in on the opposite side of Market Street back in August?! Maybe the "Idol" alumni get a good deal from the bus dealer!)

With Clay having played Albany last night, I wasn't sure if he and his entourage would spend the night up in the Capital District and make the 90-minute drive this morning.

But regardless, here's the good news: Clay is in town.

And, uh, here's the so-so news: I heard from several sources, including on the air of a local radio station, ticket sales for tonight's show haven't been so brisk. They're actually running a promotion, selling two tickets for $49 or a pack of four tickets for about $60 or so. (Can't remember the exact price for that one.)

So that's why I call it "so-so news" ... it's good news for Clay's fans who want a cheaper seat, but it's not so good if he doesn't have a big crowd. If you are among the ones inside the Civic Center with tickets tonight, ENJOY THE SHOW!

Either way, I'll be reviewing tomorrow night's show at the Mohegan Sun Arena, so I'll be looking for "Sean's Space" reader!

PS: Just for the record, I'm not a stalker. I live right around the corner from the Civic Center, and was out picking up breakfast when I spotted Clay's caravan.

Stalker? No ... though now I do feel like a dork, having snapped this pic!

Without any further ado: the Clay Aiken/Poughkeepsie Journal story

So after working at a fever pitch for the past week (securing the interview with Clay Aiken, soliciting readers' questions for Clay, actually speaking with him a week ago and then traveling throughout New England earlier this week and finishing the writing), Friday, Dec. 7th is here and my story about the former "American Idol" runner-up and his tour stop here in Poughkeepsie is being read throughout the Hudson Valley.

For all you Claymates from around the country and around the world who've come to "Sean's Space" over the past week and are not in the Journal's coverage area, I give you following ...


"Aiken's Christmas tour arrives Saturday"

By Sean T. McMann
Poughkeepsie Journal

Is standing under the mistletoe with Clay Aiken on your wish list this Christmas?


You might get your chance Saturday night.

That is, if you're on Santa's "Nice" list.

That's because the former "American Idol" finalist brings his "Christmas in the Heartland" tour to the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in the City of Poughkeepsie at 8. Aiken's concert will be the 10th show in a 22-city circuit, coming between stops in Albany tonight and Connecticut's Mohegan Sun Arena Sunday.


"It has gone really well," Aiken told the Poughkeepsie Journal last week, the morning after a show in South Bend, Ind., the third on this Christmas swing. "It's been a lot of fun."

Beginning in Wichita, Kan., Nov. 26, "Christmas in the Heartland" is Aiken's fourth such holiday tour. In all, it's his eighth time across the country since spring 2004, when he shared the stage with original "Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson.

Even for a veteran of the road, things can get hectic night after night, town after town. The holiday season is no different.

"Sometimes the first week of a tour, we all hold our breath," said Aiken, who turned 29 a week ago today. "Usually by the end of the first week, we have a rough night. For us, that came last night."

Aiken said he looked to change things up a bit this time, making this year's show interactive.

"It's a challenge to change the show every Christmas, to make it something different," he said. "The challenge became not giving people the same show every year."

Aiken solicited fans' favorite memories of Christmases past, providing the singer with inspiration, if not segues, in between tunes.

"I needed something to say in between songs," said Aiken, who released his "Merry Christmas with Love" CD in 2004. "I thought I'd share some of my own favorite Christmas stories, but then I realized: I don't really have any Christmas stories!

"This year, I've asked fans to share their favorite Christmas memory. I thought, 'Let's have the fans do it.' It's kind of neat to hear the way people celebrate their holidays."

It's kind of tiring, too.

Receiving more than 1,600 memories from fans, he spent his time leading up to that Wichita show, reading each one individually.

"During Thanksgiving day, right before I left for the tour," Aiken said, "about every hour, I had to sneak away into my office and read some. Then I got about 400 more. I'm almost done."

He said the night of Christmas music promises to be a treat for his fans, some of whom are headed to Dutchess County from New England and beyond.

Unlike the jolly guy making his yearly trek Dec. 24, though, this wish-maker will arrive in town on tour bus, not a reindeer-drawn sleigh.

Adding to the festivities, Aiken has again joined forces with local orchestras and choirs on each stop of the tour.

For the Poughkeepsie concert, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic will share the stage with the "Idol" season two runner-up.

"I think it's great for Clay's audience to be exposed to the Hudson valley Philharmonic and vice versa," said Chris Silva, executive director of the Bardavon 1869 Opera House (seen below), the home of the orchestra.

Following the tour, Aiken will head overseas for UNICEF goodwill appearances before starring as Sir Robin in the Broadway production of Monty Python's "Spamalot."

Between the hectic schedule of touring and now the New York City stage production, one might think Aiken longs for his home in North Carolina. The performer said this is the longest stretch he's been away that he can remember.

"It'll be my first time being away for Christmas; UNICEF doesn't take a break," he said. "I won't be back at my home for five months straight. That's a bit weird. The last night I was at my home before the tour, I was in my bed and I was like, 'This is the last night I'm going to sleep in this bed. I'm not going to see my house for five months.' "

Clay is "in the can"

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. — Greetings from Rhode Island, which is not only the smallest state in the union, but apparently also the slowest-moving!

I swear to you, the trip from Poughkeepsie seemed to take forever once I left the three-lane, 65 mph highways of New York and Connecticut for the one-lane, 40 mph roads of Rhode Island.

It's all good, though, for once I arrived here at the Days Inn, I pulled out my trusty laptop and I finished writing my story about Clay Aiken (feel free to applaud here) and then I filed it with my editor back at the Poughkeepsie Journal newsroom.

In the newspaper biz, we say that the story is "in the can" until it runs; see ... "Sean's Space" isn't just entertaining, it's educational, too! You just learned what "in the can" means! What did you think I meant in the title?! (Oh, that's nasty!)

In the case of the Clay story, it's "in the can" til Friday (12/7) as it's running the day before he brings his "Christmas in the Heartland" tour to the Mid-Hudson Civic Center. (You've heard he's coming to town, no?!)

Then I jaunted over to the Thomas M. Ryan Center on the campus of the University of Rhode Island to watch our hometown star, Will Daniels, lead all scorers with 18 points as he led the Rams to a victory against intrastate rival Providence.

As always, Will (No. 25, seen here blocking a shot in an AP pic from tonight's game) and his family were a pleasure to deal with. I've been covering him since he was a freshman in high school, and talking to him and his parents is always a treat.

We all had such a good time talking after the game, we were literally the last people to leave the Ryan Center. I mean, we could've turned the lights off and locked the doors.


Welcome to my world, where empty arenas are my office; where I'm surrounded by thousands and thousands of fans, all of whom go home long before my grunt work has concluded.

It's actually pretty cool 'cause how many people get to see all those empty seats before and after they've been filled? I mean, have you ever stood in the middle of 56,000+ empty seats at Yankee Stadium just hours before covering the World Series? Didn't think so. Seeing the proverbial calm before the storm is one of the perks of the jobs, I suppose.

I'm sure, though, there won't be a single empty seat when Clay comes to the Civic Center and Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday and Sunday, respectively; not to mention when my GF and I (and our pal, Corinne) see the incomparable Barry Manilow at the Izod Center in NJ on Monday.

Signing off from Rhode Island. Next stop: home!

Taking "Sean's Space" on the road

So this morning begins a whirlwind of travel and activity for me, and I'm bringing "Sean's Space" with me!

In minutes, I'll be embarking to Kingston, R.I., where I'll be covering the men's basketball team from the University of Rhode Island host Providence tonight. I'll be writing a story about former Franklin D. Roosevelt High School star Will Daniels (seen here when he was still at FDR), who is now one of the top 30 players in the country. The best part? He's an ever better person than a player, always a treat to talk to and write about.

After coming back from the smallest state in the union tomorrow evening, I'll have a few days to rest before heading back to New England when I head over to Connecticut's Mohegan Sun Arena on Sunday to review the Dec. 9 Clay Aiken concert.

While we're on the topic of Clay, I couldn't help but snap this pic of the marquee at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center, where he'll be performing on Saturday...

What do they think is going to happen at this concert that we're all going to need flu shots?!

And then ... the next night (that would me Monday, Dec. 10), my GF and I are heading to New Jersey to see the one and only Barry Manilow at the Izod Center; you might know it as the Meadowlands.

It'll be my 10th Barry show since October 1995, and I thought it was time to share Barry with my GF, who's never seen him. I told her: You're in for an amazing show, Hun! BARRY RULES! This will be my second time seeing him at the Meadowlands, my third time seeing him in NJ (went to the "Music and Passion" show in Atlantic City in Oct. '06) and my 10th Barry show in all, spanning four states from Connecticut to Florida.

Here's the cover of his "Greatest Songs of the Seventies" PBS special DVD. The special just began airing on WNET Ch. 13 this morning at midnight; there's also a 1:30 p.m. airing planned for this afternoon. I watched an advanced airing of the special last month, and looks like Barry might earn another Emmy for this one just as he did for his last PBS event.

So, here I go. On the run, on the road. I'm wrapping up my story about Clay for Friday's edition of "ENJOY!" found exclusively for the Poughkeepsie Journal, so be sure to check out either our print product or online at the Journal's Web site.

Never underestimate a Claymate

Or is or it Clay-mate? Either way...

I've got to give a big thanks to all the Clay Aiken fans who have responded to "Sean's Space" since Wednesday night, shattering the single-day record for hits to the blog!

When I found at (at the last minute) around 10 p.m. EST on Wednesday night that I'd be interviewing Clay, I posted here asking for his fans to e-mail me with a question for Clay, and I'd pick the best one. Now, being late here on the East Coast, I thought maybe a few e-mails would trickle in. Nope! In the first two hours, I got 32 e-mails from Clay's fans, each asking a question!

Set to talk to Clay at 11 a.m. Thursday morning, I had to stop taking readers' questions at 10:45 to pick a few to ask him. I had more than 134 questions e-mailed to me in less than 12 hours!

Amazing, Claymates! Absolutely incredible! Thanks for the help!

Oh, but it gets better...

Having posted Clay's answers to your questions right at midnight Thursday night, I waited to see who'd come back to read the post. The response was amazing! Between midnight 12 a.m. Friday morning and 11:59 p.m., you devoted Claymates jammed "Sean's Space," breaking my previous one-day total for visitors to the blog by 225 percent!

(BTW, the previous record came back in August when I interviewed "American Idol" champ Taylor Hicks and included a few of his fans' questions, and then wrote a review of his Poughkeepsie show.)

So, again Claymates (or Clay-mates), I give you a heartfelt thanks for your interest and for coming back in droves. Tell your friends and keep coming back throughout the next week, as I'll keep updating you on his Poughkeepsie show here in town on Dec. 8th.

With fans like you, it's no wonder Clay is always so happy and laughing!