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American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken ties his Christmas concerts together with a thematic thread.
Clay Aiken Genre: Pop ShowTime: 8 p.m. Nov. 16 Location: Lecture Hall, Colorado Convention Center Price: $45.50 to $69.50 Ticket Info: 303-830-8497 or www.ticketmaster.comBy Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News November 15, 2005
Clay Aiken figured he could do one of two things. He could do the usual Christmas show - sing the same old songs - or he could turn it into something spectacular. And even though the American Idol runner-up has come off two huge successes - his debut album, Measure of a Man, and last year's Merry Christmas With Love - he figured it might be now or never.
"I may not be doing this for the rest of my life," the singer says from a tour stop in Oakland. "This industry is very fickle. I make people mad when I say that. It's not that I don't have confidence in myself. I don't have confidence in the industry. I just wanna make sure I've done the things I've wanted to do that I enjoy doing."
So rather than string together a bunch of Christmas tunes, Aiken sat down and wrote a script and vignettes to tie all the songs together. He'd dabbled in that last time around, but the entire show he brings to the Convention Center Lecture Hall on Wednesday is tied together with a thematic thread.
"I wanted to make it different from other Christmas shows. People go on the road at Christmastime and do the same songs. They're probably doing Sleigh Ride, Winter Wonderland, Jingle Bells and whatnot themselves," he says. His production is "not a concert necessarily that people are used to," he says. "I don't do much talking. I wouldn't say it's a play, but it's a program. The music comes every 25 or 30 seconds, but it definitely has a story line."
Like on previous tours, Aiken is trying to give fans value for their money.
"It's important to me to try to make sure things are family events as much as possible," Aiken says. "I'd like to think families could come together and enjoy this stuff together. There are people out there nowadays whose music caters to a younger set, and their tickets are $300 apiece. Exactly what 14-year-old girl can afford a $300 ticket?
"We didn't need fireworks and strobe lights and waterworks and whatnot to put on a show. Hopefully, we'd get by making a good show by singing and doing what we do well."
Aiken is at an interesting point in his career, with just one solo album and one holiday album under his belt. Both were big successes, which means he has nowhere to go but down - eventually.
"I don't know if I see myself at a crossroads creatively. Who knows if I'll ever be accepted in the mainstream? I just wanna do things that I wanna do," he says.
"With the first album coming out as it did and then the Christmas album, I'm not gonna lie - I'm nervous. We have a good group of people in position to make (the next album) good. We're working on it now. But that's a lot to live up to. The first album did far better than I thought it would, and the Christmas one did far better than I thought it would, too. If this next album comes out and sells 300,000 in its first week, is that a failure? It's pretty good, but it's only half of what the first one did."
So the answer is to try to trust his instincts.
"I don't know that I'm ever gonna be cool. I'm not necessarily trying to be. I'm trying to be me," he says.
And he appreciates what he's learning. A criticism of American Idol is that it promotes singers over musicians, producers, songwriters, etc. Aiken has renewed respect for those people.
"I have nothing but respect for producers. I could never do what producers do. And, Lord, I wish I could play an instrument besides the spoons. I can't even play a tambourine," he says.
"I'm gonna get in so much trouble here, but I'm gonna say what I think. I don't know that the majority of America buys the producer. My very uneducated self didn't buy the producer. I have a lot more respect for what producers do now, now that I listen to music in a different way."
Mark Brown is the popular music critic. Brownm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2674
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