Associated Press ATDW Article

The Associated Press is distrubuting an ATDW article. Very good buzz for week 1 sales since AP stories are syndicated by virtually all major news websites. An abridgement appears below:

Aiken More Comfortable in Spotlight
After a year and a half away from the spotlight, Clay Aiken returns with an edgy new look, a far-from-edgy new album and a newly secure sense of self.

"I know it's a new chapter but it's kind of like a whole new book the sequel to my life before," says a casually dressed and scruffy-faced Aiken, sitting in an office at RCA Records, his label. "It's like we're starting out on something brand new where I'm really getting to be myself."

But not everything is brand new. On his new album, "A Thousand Different Ways," Aiken covers 10 classic love songs and introduces four original tracks. It was a "challenge" issued by music mogul Clive Davis, who oversaw the project and one that Aiken says he was initially reluctant to accept.

But despite his misgivings, he and his team of producers rearranged and reinterpreted each track, from Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is" to Dolly Parton's "Here You Come Again," to make them Aiken's alone.

It's an "odd move" to make a covers album so early in a career, says Craig Marks, editor-in-chief of Blender magazine. Marks describes Aiken's fans as "parents and grandparents who think he's wholesome and adorable and sings songs as though rock 'n' roll never existed."

When the album was completed, Aiken celebrated with a makeover. He's sporting a new shaggy-haired, more stylish look, a marked departure from the college campus look he sported before.

"We took so much time to make this album that we thought, `Let's come back with a bang and do something different,'" he says. "It's really a drastic change, I guess, but it's kind of exciting."

"I feel like maybe (people) think I'm a kid and I'm naive and I'm stupid," he says. "So I'm excited about being able to show my real self."

He says he's grateful for the opportunities the show has given him, but admits that singing isn't his dream job.

"I always thought I'd be a teacher and I still miss that to some extent," says Aiken, who taught kids with disabilities before trying out for "Idol." "I still have friends who teach and when they tell me about kids in their classes, I get kind of jealous."

Fame has its downside, too. Aiken has been the target of speculation about his sexuality. Tabloid reports earlier this year suggested he had a gay affair. Aiken has never directly addressed the rumors.

He doesn't have any grand goals for his career other than to "do stuff that I like singing and other people like hearing," he says. Still, he doesn't know what's next.

"Being open and trying new things has always been the policy for me," he says. "Maybe we'll do an album of all original stuff, maybe we'll find another concept and try to wrap great hit songs around another concept. Maybe we'll do all Bulgarian hymns."

For now, he's concentrating on the new record and his plans to support it with a tour in the new year. But will young fans respond to its slow, crooning style?

Executive producer Jaymes Foster says yes.

"You can't deny great songs," she says. "These songs have already proven to be No. 1 hit songs."

But he's quick to point out that the album wasn't inspired by any personal love affairs: "It was inspired by Clive Davis totally."

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