Interview With Oregon Live - Recording For Sophomore Album Done

Deck the halls: Clay's on his way
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
ED CONDRAN
Oregon Live

Clay Aiken had so much fun on last year's tour for his holiday album, "Merry Christmas With Love," that "American Idol's" most famous loser is on another Christmas jaunt, which jingle-jangles its way to the Rose Garden Theater of the Clouds on Thursday.

Why another Christmas tour?

Because I love it. Last year was my favorite tour ever. I decided to do a Christmas tour to support the disc, and the tour did very well. I loved that it was in auditoriums. It's a lot more intimate of an environment than the amphitheaters I did when I went out with Kelly (Clarkson).

How will it be different?

Last year I performed with local orchestras. This year I'm working with local actors. There is a dramatic story line which runs throughout the show. The music and my performance is a soundtrack to that story line.

Have you almost completed your next album?

Not quite. We're in an interesting quandary. A number of songs have been recorded. It's a matter of what we should keep. There are a couple of different ways we can go. I've recorded some traditional Top 40, minus the hip-hop, some adult contemporary and some covers. If it's going to be a theme, do I want it to be favorite love songs? The good thing is that the songs are recorded. The only way I'll record more is if our theme is Mongolian polka. Then I'll have to record some new songs.

"A.I." arbiter of taste Simon Cowell recently noted that 2005 "American Idol" winner Carrie Underwood had the most commercial potential of any "A.I." alum.

I think you should go back and listen to that again. Simon's remark was that she had the most commercial potential of any "American Idol" winner. I'm fine with that, since I didn't win (laughs). I think Carrie is very talented. She's great. I picked her from the beginning of last year's "American Idol." I'm not threatened by her. She's obviously in a different area as far as music goes.

Will your name always be associated with "American Idol"?

When the show is over, probably not. The show has a potential to last a while, so I expect to be tied to it for the time being.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that you berated a New Jersey high school choir you hired for a show. The story also claimed that you didn't give the kids meal breaks or pay them. True or false?

I don't comment on that story often since I don't like to give credence to anybody's made-up stories. . . . For the record, what was in that article was fabricated to the extent that we laughed very loudly when we read it. We were very surprised. You can't get mad about something that's not true. There's no reason for me to fight and bring it up. We didn't try to defend ourselves against anything so preposterous. I spent a number of years as a teacher. I have a feeling they wouldn't let me teach if I was the kind of person who would do such things to children.

Speaking of teaching, you've said in past interviews that you wish that you were molding young minds. Any chance you'll take a hiatus from singing for teaching?

I do hear about friends' classrooms, and I get sentimental about teaching. But I'm combining the best of both worlds for this tour. On this tour we have an actor, a young boy. The child has to be tutored. We opted to hire out of North Carolina, since I can tutor him. I'm still a teacher in North Carolina. I'm able to teach on the road. So I'm up teaching every morning at 8:30 a.m. I'm fixing up lesson plans. I couldn't be happier.