Unbelievable News!!!

Fellow Singaporean Clay Aiken fans, news of our package has arrived -- I'm trying to type coherently but failing miserably right now :D

Let me break this into parts:

1. The sweet lady in Raleigh who helped forward our gifts emailed me just a while ago. She met Clay's mom, Faye, IN PERSON, at the CD release party in his hometown, and passed her the parcel personally. Can't get better than that! :) Mrs. Parker said "Thank you", but didn't open it at the party itself. We expect that she will open it soon, and of course, we hope to hear from her as well. :D

2. This same lady from Raleigh has established direct email contact with one of Clay's close friends from the YMCA, and she has been kindly forwarding fanmail from myself and the other fans to Clay. She confirms that the emails do get through to him, including a very recent MP3 file I sent containing the world premiere of Measure Of A Man over the Perfect 10 just last week. DJ Jamie Yeo's glowing comments and a mention of the core group of Claymates' names is in that file. Clay's friend is very sure he has it in his inbox, and may have already heard it as well. He may or may not contact me directly, but I think he'll forward a message through his friend. Many thanks for doing us this favour! :)

3. I have now forwarded the New Paper feature article too. It's very nicely written, and I'm very relieved! Any guesses as to who the "doctor" is? :P Our main spokespersons, Fynn and Katherine, did a great job of putting the main points across in a very graceful manner. Kudos to the reporter for showing that Clay's appeal extends far and wide, and that his fans share his beliefs and values.

I've posted the article on www.claytonaiken.com. You can see the responses here.

I'm post-night and need to get some shuteye soon 'cos I have choir practice tonight and will need to drive quite a bit. But this is indeed amazing news, and we're all so grateful to our friends in Raleigh for helping us out. Watch this space for more updates!

Will leave you with the transcript of the article from The New Paper.

Front Page headline:

"S'pore docs, lawyers, bankers go ga ga over this guy. WHY?"

Inside Story:

IDOL NO. 2 WORSHIP
American Idol 2 runner-up Clay Aiken already has a fan club here which includes professionals

By JeanMarie Tan

Clay Aiken may have lost American Idol 2, but he is idolised by many women right here in Singapore.

Pale, lanky and geeky, the 24-year-old runner-up of the TV series is more popularly known for being The Voice than The Heartthrob.

Yet, a fan club is being set up for the singer, a fan website is up and running ( www.clayaiken.com.sg ), and a party will be thrown at the end of this month to celebrate the launch of his debut album, Measure Of A Man, which is to be released in Singapore today.

But it isn't a bunch of crazy, screaming teenage groupies who are devoting time, effort and money to Claymania.
Rather, the bulk of the 40 members on the official mailing list are professionals in their mid- to late 20s who met on Internet chat boards.
The comprise doctors, lawyers, bankers, accountants and, of course, the usual suspects -- 12-year-old students and middle-aged mums.

But even adults are capable of the occasional bursts of fanatic behaviour.
Some bought around 10 copies of the Oct 8 issue of The New Paper just because Aiken's promotional advertisement was in it.
And all of them are each intending to buy 7 copies of his album -- all because Aiken once joked in an interview that it was the best thing fans could do for him.
They meet once a week and each spends a couple of hours on the Internet downloading his latest performance clips or reading message boards.

FANS WENT TO NEW YORK

Two lucky fans even travelled as far as NewYork -- to watch him at the American Idol concert tour in July.
Even the winner of AI2, Ruben Studdard, hasn't been receiving the kind of adulation from fans here.
Studdard's debut CD, Souldful, will be released here on November 11.

Ms. Fynn Cheng, 25, one of the original organizers of the club, only watched the last episode of the series -- but his vocal talent was enough to wow her.
Said the risk analyst at a bank, who also helps to maintain the website: "After finding out more about his background, I was very impressed with the things he stood for. He's not the run-of-the-mill, snooty celebrity."

Aiken was a special education teacher who worked with disabled and autistic children at the YMCA before he joined the series. He has since started the Bubel-Aiken Foundation in aid of kids with mental disabilities.

But why does Aiken attract such a sophisticated crowd here?
Ms. Cheng said: "Teenyboppers are always chasing the latest fad, but for us, Clay reminds us of the dorky, high-school first love. Older women also like to mother him. He's a smart chap, and I think intellectual women connect with him on that level."

Which is why these women don't spend their executive dollars on a landslide of merchandise like posters, T-shirts or other assorted collectibles.
Their only Clay-related extravagances? Magazines -- but only if they contain a cover story or feature on Aiken.

CLAYING IT FORWARD
Lawyer Katherine Teo, 29. who has never followed any other pop star's career as fervently as Aiken's, added: "What excites me about being a Clay fan is that we've reached this point where you have the money to do something about it.
We're planning to give awa the extra copies of the albums we buy to people who can't afford it -- we call it Claying It Forward!"

So you see, it's not exactly idol worship -- charity is their real motivation.
According to Ms. Teo, she wants the club to unofficially "adopt" the Autism Association of Singapore.
Ms. Cheng added: "That's why we're working hard on the activities and the website which contains links to various organizations, to raise awareness of autism here. We see Clay as a kind of vehicle, a platform."