The crowd was smaller and more reserved than the previous evening's mob in Seattle, yet more partisan. Bedecked in red shirts, shoes, and glowsticks, a Clay Aiken crowd it was. This largely female audience-in-love needed little inducement to scream maniacally when Clay rose up out of the stage in a cloud of smoke to sing his first solo of the evening, his #1 hit single, This is the Night. Vocally impeccable on this difficult song, which features multiple transitions between his delicate head voice and deeper chest voice, Clay was resplendent in black suit and violet tie, almost seeming to preen as he delivered the notes. In contrast to his performance in Seattle, where he suffered from an allergic reaction and sore leg that made him limp, Clay's Portland turn was uncontrollably energetic--he was busting to dance, looked VERY happy, and had that can't-keep-me-down spring back in his step. His second half duet with Ruben on The Girl is Mine featured good-natured joshing with his best buddy as well as a few passages that let his high tenor soar, provoking the crowd to erupt in cheers. Another highlight was Clay's restrained and sincere delivery of Elton John's Can You Feel the Love Tonight. Perhaps growing weary of this serious stuff and wanting to play with the crowd, Clay paused for close to 30 seconds at song's end and waited, smirking, for the applause and cheers to grow to thunderous proportions before he delivered the last note. Scores of blissful females could have screamed all night. Near the show's conclusion, Clay introduced a song from his upcoming CD, Invisible. Bounding from one side of the stage to the other, swaying his hips, clutching and ripping at his shirt, Clay drove the girls wild. Oh, yeah, and the song was good too. Thousands joyfully sang along with him in a communal lovefest, somehow already knowing the words to this unreleased song that is sure to be a hit.

Set: This is the Night, The Girl is Mine, To Love Somebody, Can You Feel the Love Tonight, Invisible

last updated 9/09/03