Minneapolis St. Paul Star Tribune Interview Reveals Clay's Christmas and Post-Christmas Plans

Clay will be playing two concerts in the twin cities, Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, next week and the Minneapolis St. Paul Star Tribune has published a pre-concert interview for the two shows.

This is probably one of the most insightful interviews I've read recently, with Clay talking about his UNICEF trip to Mexico, his Christmas plans, how he got his new role in "Spamalot" and his close friendship with Ruben Studdard.

Clay Aiken is performing two holiday shows with the Minnesota Orchestra -- and taking his mom to the Mall of America.

Clay Aiken, the most famous "American Idol" runner-up, returns to the Twin Cities this week on his annual Christmas tour. We talked to him about his holiday plans, his Broadway debut in "Spamalot" in January and his "Idol" buddy, Ruben Studdard.

Q Minneapolis is the only city where you are doing two shows. Why are we so lucky?

A We couldn't stuff enough love into one day for Minneapolis. Hee-hee-hee. I really don't know. I don't make the tour; I go where they tell me to go. I like it up there. We're lucky enough to have a day off in Minneapolis on the 18th, and I think my mother's coming up from Raleigh [N.C.] and she's going to be at the Mall of America for the very first time.

Q What are your plans for Christmas?

A My mother and I are going to do a UNICEF trip to Mexico in the aftermath of the flood. I've done UNICEF trips to Uganda, Indonesia and Afghanistan. Possibly my brother, too. We may all spend our family holiday on a UNICEF field visit in Mexico this year. It'll be the first time that we've not done the same old thing for the holidays.

Q How did your role as Sir Robin in "Spamalot" on Broadway come about?

A They started asking me last year if I'd consider "Spamalot," and I didn't know anything about it. So I got tickets to see it in November of last year, and I thought this is the stupidest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. We were busy at the time so I didn't have the ability to do anything with them. So they asked again this summer, and I went and saw it again and I thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever seen in my life. It's not traditional Broadway at all, which is why I think people enjoy it. That's why we decided to give it a shot; it's something completely different than anything that I've done or people would expect us to do. We're excited about it

Q When was the last time you talked with Ruben Studdard?

A Last week. We keep in touch quite a bit. He's one of my best friends. Just last night, he did me a favor and performed at the UNICEF Snowflake Ball fundraiser in Los Angeles. I was on tour this year and couldn't perform so I called him up and asked him if he would.