Saturday morning, I read an e-mail from Clay's fan club saying that I won a meet and greet with Clay for his concert on December 2, 2007 at the Warner theater in DC. I never in a million years thought that I would get to be within 10 feet of him, much less be able to sit in a room for 20 minutes and get to talk with him. I almost didn't get in though because when I went to the window to get my pass, they only had an envelope for an "Adam" with my last name...there are no Adam's in my family at all and the lady didn't really want to give it to me. I showed her the printout of the e-mail I received and my ID card, and she said that since it's a unique last name she would give it to me, but if Adam came in, she'd come looking for me!

After waiting around in the lobby for a long time with the four other winners, Jerome (Clay's bodyguard) finally came and got us. He brought us to a small room downstairs with a table and three chairs. He then went searching for three more chairs so everyone could sit. He went over the rules and gave us some advice, such as asking interesting questions so we could keep Clay talking for as long as we could. He said once the questions get boring such as "What is your favorite color?", Clay will answer it, but will then wind down the meet and greet quickly. Jerome said that the meet and greets are only supposed to last for 10 minutes, but Clay doesn't care and will stay as long as he wants. Jerome then left and said he would be back with Clay in 5-10 minutes.

We were all really nervous and excited by this point and decided to arrange our chairs in a semi-circle facing Clay's chair.  One of the other winners wanted to stand up when she shook Clay's hand and didn't want to be the only one, so we all decided to stand up. Not 20 seconds later, Clay came into the room and said "Why are y'all standin' up? Sit down!" As soon as he walked in the room, all of my nervousness went away to my surprise! He was wearing a brown patterned sweater, jeans, Nike shoes with a purple swish, a purple shirt under the sweater, and glasses. His hair looked red and it was kind of messy. Jerome, Jamie (Clay's cousin), and Sean (Clay's drummer) were with him. Clay actually teased us right away saying that he wouldn't be able to do the meet and greet, so Sean would be taking over. He made to leave the room, but came back quickly. Sean is so tiny!

Clay then came over to each of us and shook our hands and asked our full names. He then sat down and asked where we were from. He asked who the troublemaker would be and we all pointed to the woman in the middle, who was from North Carolina. He said that Jerome warned him about her and said that the one in the middle would be trouble, but he was teasing. Clay did say that he thought one of the women from NC would be trouble though because "Whenever there's someone from North Carolina, they think we have some kind of bond". He teased her for the rest of the night about the troublemaker thing, but always said "I'm just kiddin'" after it. It was all in good fun and he was having a great time with her. I think at this point a phone rang and he looked at all of us trying to figure out who was guilty, but it wasn't any of our phones, there were offices nearby. He asked that all the doors be closed to the room we were in.

He asked if we had any questions and the first one was about whether he would like to have a part in a really good movie or have a recurring role on a good tv show. He said that it was a tough question and wanted her to define a "good" movie. He then wanted to know if he could be a bad guy because that's what he would want to be. "How many episodes would I get?" she said 3-4, and he said "3 no, 4 YES!". I think he decided on the movie as long as there was an awards show involved and he would get to go, but wouldn't be opposed to the tv show as long as he could be a bad guy and it wasn't on something like Law and Order "Because nobody watches those anymore".

The next question was a "personal" question from the "troublemaker" about oil diffusers and how his mother sells them. She wanted to know what his favorite scent was even though she already knew. He was like "How do you know that?" and told the "troublemaker" to tell everyone else "since she already knew the answer". She started to explain what a diffuser was and he was like "Oh! I thought you were talking about something else! My mom does sell those!" He said that he gives them away as gifts all the time and asked Jaime what his favorite scent was. I think it was Orange-Honey. She then asked why he didn't give one to Quiana (his back-up singer) and he was like "She already has one, why does she need another one?"

The third question was from the other girl around my age, and she asked if he had any regrets from his whole journey from AI to now and if he would change anything that he did. He said something to the effect of that he believed that everything happens for a reason and even if he changed one decision in the past, he would end up making that same decision somewhere down the line anyway, so he wouldn't change anything.

He then looked at me and the only thing I could think of was the question that dad told me to ask earlier that day. I asked if he would attempt a British accent for Spamalot, and he broke out into the most perfect British accent and said "Of course I'll talk with a British accent, why wouldn't I?" We were all floored, I think my jaw actually dropped when he started talking! It was so amazing how he did that and he sounded awesome. It was so unexpected, but it seemed to flow so easily from him. It made my night and it made me even more excited to see Spamalot. He said that when the producers contacted him, that was one of the things they were wondering about. Clay asked that we keep the answer a secret, and if it got out, he would know which five to blame because we were the only ones who knew.  It ended up getting leaked just a few hours after the concert ended by one of the other ladies in the meet and greet though, which was kind of disappointing.  Clay wanted everyone to be surprised!

The fifth question was from the nice lady sitting to my left about how he kept so neat now since people who knew him before said that he used to be a slob. He said that it's only his kitchen that's neat, and even that isn't working so well anymore. The whole blue and silver theme isn't as strict as it used to be.  I think around this point, Jaime came over and asked what we wanted to get signed. I brought my copy of his book "Learning to Sing" to get signed. You can see a picture of it here. He told us to keep asking questions and signed while talking. Jaime had the pens, and he got mad at her for walking away when he was trying to grab one from her hand.

Someone asked who his favorite Broadway artists were and he said "Do I count? Cause I'm the only one I really know" He then asked if Sean counted and mentioned that Sean was the drummer in Spamalot and won a Grammy. He then asked Sean if he actually won a Grammy and Sean said that he didn't actually have one. Clay said that he would be really mad if Sean had a Grammy. He was trying to figure out who his favorite Broadway artist was still and was trying to remember someone from Wicked. I asked if it was Kristin Chenoweth and he said no, he knows her more from tv and the West Wing, "But she can SIIIING!" and he actually sang the word sing which was incredibly adorable.

It was then time for pictures and no one in the room had the order for the pictures, so they called Mary (the tour director) on a walkie talkie. She relayed the list to us and Clay was counting off on his fingers and pointing to us when she said our names. When she got to Adam, he went "Adam!?" and got a really funny look on his face. I said that was me and that they messed up my name. I was third. The "troublemaker" went first and was going to ask for a hug, she went over and Clay said "You were talkin' and you missed your picture!" so they had to take another one and she just went with the pose he wanted. When my turn came, I know that I walked over to him, I think his arm was around me, I think I put my hand on his back, I know that his head came into contact with mine, and I was back in my seat. I don't know if I smiled or anything, I seriously blanked out! I hope it comes out okay!

Someone then asked him about the Lover All Alone lyrics and what David Foster's reaction to them were, and Clay didn't really say much about that. I think he said that they were not changed at all from how he originally wrote them.  There was then a question about why he chose border terriers for his dogs and he said something about how he wanted small dogs, but not ugly ones. He then went on about how "he" was good and how "he" was with them, and we all wondered about Raleigh. He said that Durham was a good dog and only barked and bit people that he didn't know, Raleigh was too smart. He said that Durham owned Raleigh, and Raleigh owned Clay, so it was "like a little triangle".

I think that was pretty much it and after that question he said "see you in 45 minutes!" and left all smiles. He didn't just up and leave, but it there were no more questions after that one. Jerome said that he would meet us at the top of the stairs and closed the door. A few minutes later, we heard a knock on the door and I opened it. Jerome was there and he said "I thought you all got lost!". We were just taking awhile because we were getting all of our stuff together. Jerome walked us out to the stairs and we all thanked him. He was such a nice guy and looked great in his suit!

We all then just stood around talking for another 10 minutes regrouping and trying to remember everything that happened. Clay was the most down to earth guy, so sweet but snarky too. He was so quick on his feet when he was answering our questions. I was not star struck in the slightest and I actually felt like I had known him personally for years. It was a wonderful experience and December 2, 2007 is one night that I will never forget!

- Jen