Clay Asia Visit in People

Who'll be the next American Idol? To be honest, says Clay Aiken, "I haven't paid much attention to the show this year." Aiken, 26, has been focusing on his new role as UNICEF ambassador. Joining the organization in November, Aiken made his first field mission in March to Indonesia and Malayisa, where he saw tsunami relief efforts and toured camps for displaced survivors. At one stop, he sang with kids in their native Bahasa Indonesia ("a little difficult", he says); at another he toured a makeshift school. "I thought to myself, "I've seen tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes - throw them all together and maybe I could understand the scope of this thing," says Aiken. "But when you finally get on the ground, there's no way to describe it."