Clay Doesn't Mind Being Called A Nerd

Fantastic pre-concert article from the Cincinnati Post. Clay plays the Cincinnati Music Hall November 26.

Aiken here for Christmas show
By Rick Bird
Post staff reporter

Clay Aiken brings his holiday show to Music Hall on Saturday.

Go ahead. Call Clay Aiken a nerd. He won't mind.

"I'm not trying to be cool, and I don't expect to be any time soon," Aiken says with a laugh that can only be described as, well, nerdy.

The issue came up in a recent interview with the "American Idol" star, because a newspaper headline this month dubbed him a "Pop Nerd."

"I've always wanted to just be myself. So it's not an insult at all," he said about the reference. "It's a label I carry proudly."

Aiken may be the most famous second place finisher of any competition. And his geekiness obviously helped drive his fame.

On "American Idol" he narrowly lost out to Ruben Studdard in 2003, but his boyish grin, lack of pretense and choirboy voice earned the Raleigh, N.C., native millions of teen fans who launched Web sites and gobbled up a few million copies of his debut album becoming part of "Clay Nation." It was the overnight success story for the boy next door.

Aiken, 26, likes to think his self-deprecating demeanor has been the secret to his success.

"I think that's a mistake a lot of people do whether it's performing on 'Idol,' or just life - try to be something they are not, try to fool the world and make people think they are not a nerd or a geek."

For the second year in a row Aiken is out with a Christmas tour that comes to Music Hall Saturday. Called "Joyful Noise," it is more than just a concert. There are actors, dancers and special effects in a loose holiday story.

Aiken wrote the show himself.

"It became a favorite (last year) and we wanted to do it again, but the issue was how do we make it different? How do we keep it from being just a bunch of holiday songs? I wanted to try to string all the songs together with some sort of connective tissue. I thought, let's get someone to write a story line. Then I sat down one day and said, 'Wait a minute. I can do this.'"

Aiken even hired his high school choir teacher to come out and perform in the production.

Aiken and the singers play guardian angels, sort of a Greek chorus, that comment on the story through holiday songs. Aiken says it's a reverent show with part of it set in a church.

But that raises another small problem for the "Idol" star. Girls often do scream through it.

"Of course on a regular tour that's what you kind of want. When they come to this show and scream I kind of get a little bothered by it. This is a theme, where we are in church. It's like, 'Please don't scream in church,'" Aiken said.

"But some nights when they don't scream I get upset, too."

Aiken may be the perfect post 9-11 star. He's non-threatening, a true family act that parents can enjoy and don't mind if their young daughters scream at. Aiken says he's the last person to ask to explain the phenomenon.

"I hope the public is growing tired of negativity and trashiness. I am," he said. I can't say why people like me. It's flattering, but I can't really comment on that question."

Aiken released his multi-platinum selling "Measure of a Man" months after the "Idol" competition and has been almost constantly touring ever since. He also cranked out a best-selling autobiography, hosted his own Christmas TV special last year and raises money for his Bubel/Aiken Foundation, which benefits children with disabilities.

He says he's taking his time working on a new CD, carefully selecting the right songs. He acknowledges the first album came out pretty fast.

"That's the nature of the beast. There is a lot of push to get it done quickly, to get product out after the show," he said. "But I don't think it was done poorly. Had we spent more time on it maybe we could have found (material) we were happier with."

Aiken doesn't buy the argument some make that the "Idol" pop stars are rushed onto the scene, winners of a contrived event who haven't paid their "dues" in the music business.

"I felt prepared to record," he said. "I would venture to say that those of us who have been through the beast, been through that machine, have paid plenty of dues. Different dues. It was quite a boot camp really."

Aiken says he's learned what his strength is and that is as a vocal stylist, not a songwriter.

"Again, it's go with what you got and don't try to be something that your not. There is a lot of motivation these days to try and be a songwriter because it may look good or you make a lot more money that way. To be honest there are a lot of artists out there today who have their name written on the song. And the truth is they've maybe written two or three words of it. I'm not going to say I wrote a song if I didn't."

Clay Aiken brings his "Joyful Noise 2005" tour to Music Hall at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets, $69.75, $62.75, $49.75, $29.75. Ticket-master.