Knowing Your Target Audience: NHL Tabs Clay Aiken To Perform At All-Star Game
By
Whenever I participate in word association exercises – which I do quite frequently (it’s part of my court-ordered psychotherapy) – the phrase “ice hockey” comes up often (my therapist is Don Cherry, for some unknown reason – he’s not even a licensed psychoanalyst, for Pete’s sake! ).
Parenthetical pauses and hyphenated side thoughts aside, when the term “ice hockey” is mentioned during word association exercises, I always reply in the same fashion: 1) Ice; 2) Hockey. Then Cherry tells me I must be some kind of Eurotrash punk because I keep using words that are in the phrase and that’s not how good boys from Canada play word association. So, once I stop crying, my reply to what word the phrase “ice hockey” reminds me of, I invariably respond, “Clay Aiken.”
So you can imagine my excitement when I learned that none other than 2003 American Idol runner-up and Raliegh’s very own Clay Aiken will be singing the National Anthem before the 2011 NHL All-Star Game on Sunday at Carolina Hurricane’s RBC Center in his hometown.
Via USA Today:
“We all rally behind the home team,” says Aiken, a native of Raleigh, N.C., where the game will be held. Raleigh got the team, which had been the Hartford Whalers in 1997, and the team won the Stanley Cup in 2006. “I don’t think anybody in Raleigh knew much about hockey until the Hurricanes came to town, but now everybody has learned to love it.”
Sounds grand. And from what I can gather, this won’t be Aiken’s first rodeo, as I am deducing that he was singing the National Anthem in the above photo prior to a Carolina Hurricanes game. And what Aiken says is true about Hurricanes fans and the town of Raliegh at large: they love their hockey. So much so, in fact, that the city is so excited about the 2011 NHL All-Star Game being in Raleigh that it has spurned new growth and construction in the North Carolina town:
“We built a brand-new airport [terminal],” he says. “It specifically opened Sunday to be ready for the all-star game. They’ve put as much energy as they can into this event.”
A new terminal, you say? Wow, that is huge. Good for you, Raliegh-ians. And good for the fine city of Raliegh. Oh, and Clay Aiken. Don’t blow it, Clay, and let down that huge cross section that exists within the subset of fans who are NHL fans as well as Claymates! Oh, and in case you are wondering, The Canadian Tenors will perform the Canadian national anthem and 3 Doors Down will “perform” during the first period intermission. Killer, dude.
Clay Aiken to sing national anthem at NHL All-Star Game [USA Today]
Thanks for this blog. I’ve loved hockey for decades (and I live in LA!! – not a great hockey town). Clay will do a fine job. He’s a pro and former anthem singer for the Hurricanes back in the day (for a couple of years I think). Looking forward to the game, the music and all of it really.
PS I fly to Raleigh all the time – new terminal? I’m almost more thrilled about this than anything else!
Love your blog and Clay is a veteran singing the National Anthem. Very knowledgeable about hockey and loves the Hurricanes and Raleigh. He is going to do a great job. Excited about the music and the game.
Clay will be just fine, we know he has sung this before at the hockey games, and he does an original version of SSB, without all the changeups that other singers incorporate for added flair. Good choice.
Great article. I am excited that Clay will be singing the National Anthem a the All Star game. He has a great voice, loves and supports hockey and is a Raleigh native.
He will be awesome!
Clay will sing the NA as it was written and should be sung. Powerfully and without the trills so many want to do. Think it’s great the NHL asked him.
Clay Aiken is the perfect choice to sing before the game since he is a native of the area and has a wonderful voice. He won’t ruin our national athem with unnecessary vocal gymnastics like so many other singers do.
Clay Aiken is a fitting choice to sing the National Anthem at the NHL All-Star Game or anywhere else, for that matter. He has sung the anthem many times before and has always done a great job.
I loved your blog! Big day for Raleigh and the NFL made a great choice. Clay won’t butcher the SSB or change it so much nobody would recognise it. He loves his home town and says so every chance he gets, he also loves hockey! And he is a pretty good skater too! It should be a great game!
Clay Aiken is the perfect choice! He does such a beautiful rendition of the SSB. So glad he’s getting to do this for his hometown. Wouldn’t be surprised if a few “nonhockey” fans ended up there just to hear him sing.
Clay is the perfect choice to sing our national anthem at the NHL All-Star game!
He is a STAR and a Hurricane hockey fan and lives in the Raleigh area. He will do a great job! I will be watching proudly as a Hurricane fan and a Clay Aiken fan.
Clay is a great choice to sing the National Anthem and nobody can sing it better. He will knock it out of the stadium. Great spokesperson for Raleigh and loves the Hurricanes. Way to go Clay.
however you may feel (I’m so glad to see you are going to a therapist – and getting help in finding the root of all that pent up sarcasm) the association of ice hockey and Clay Aiken should really be irrelevant. Seriously, it is the National Anthem, all that should matter is that the person who sings it, sings it well and with respect. And, whatever you may think of Clay Aiken, that man can SING! and he has a lot of respect for that song and for his country. But, if you want to put together the association of Ice Hockey and Clay Aiken, the Hurricanes apparently find that they are a perfect match, because Clay has sung the SBB at their games quite a few times after he became famous and for about two years in the late 90’s he was the person who sang the anthem at every game.
So you Go Clay!
Booooooooo … Being from Raleigh this is a horrible choice. Sure, he has a decent voice, but he is not well liked around here. I would have much rather hear the Canes regular anthem singer, Katherine Fritchie …THIS girl has some pipes on her!!! And someone tell Molly it is the NHL, not NFL …..
And why is that Chuck? I’m sure you no problem with him singing at the hockey games before he became famous and loved his voice. Why the change of heart now? hmmm
He was the regular singer before Katherine. Give the guy a break he has a great voice and nails the NA.
Hmmmmmm…Odd reply. I have lots of friends in the Raleigh area and guess what, they think Clay is an OK guy. Some don’t like his style of music, but they respect him for the wonderful things he does for people all over the world.
Maybe you are on of those people that believe everything you read in the gossip magazines………or are you just homophobic? If not……..please explain.
oh and by the way, since you are Canadian and are the wealth of knowledge of ice hockey association..I guess all Canadians think of the Canadian Tenors when they think of ice hockey??
oh my, where is my therapist, need to check out where that sarcasm came from.
LOL Good point. I am Canadian and the Canadian Tenors are the last ones I’d expect at a hockey game. I’d be quite happy to have Clay sing it as well as he has the chops to do us Canadians proud and his son is half Canadian.
The NHL made a good choice in picking both Clay Aiken and the Canadian Tenors for their respective Anthems. Clay is a long time Hurricane fan and Raleigh native. Unlike some other artists, Mr. Aiken sings the SSB as it should be sung with no over the top antics.
Thanks for the supportive Blog.
Surprising choice, being Aiken is irrelevant in the music biz these days. Sure, 6 or so years ago he was, but these days, he is hardly a draw or of much importance.
He’s nobody and if he sings it like a show tune, he’ll probably get booed. Sorry.
How wonderful that the NHL wanted Clay to sing in his hometown. Great choice. Show Clay the love Raleigh… He loves his hometown and is so proud of it.
Hugs, Judy
I am Clays biggest fan just like you Judy, we are like, one in the same we both like Clay so much! Go Clay bring it home to Raleigh!
Sorry, but I wouldn’t say a surprising choice. Clay is very relevant and still out there making music. Right now he has a new CD out called “Tried and True.” and is getting ready to start on his T&T Tour. Wonderful singer and man. Cannot wait to hear him singing the National Anthem at the All Star NHL Game.
it seems as though quite a few of the posts to this article were written by the same person. They are all basically saying the same thing..
like the blog, Aiken is a great choice, won’t add unnecessary notes to National Anthem, and is from Raleigh and has a great voice. Very strange.
Woohoo … Canadian Tenors and Clay. Cant wait for some good singing! Never have I been so excited about National Anthems. lol!
OK, we’re from Raleigh and not excited about the Clay Aiken choice. Before the game, he was on a local radio station and basically slammed hockey fans as being drunks and wouldn’t even hear him singing.
Why not pick Daughtery or Pickler? Both from NC and from American Idol. I seriously doubt that most hockey fans listen to Clay, especially since he’s washed up. We went to the game and did not hear a big roar when Clay was announced.
Maybe because Clay Aiken and hockey don’t match.