USA Weekend Interviews Clay: No Tour In The Works After All

USA Weekend interviewed Clay for the second time in as many months, and Clay burst the bubble, so to speak, when he confirmed that contrary to press reports, there is currently no plan for a summer tour. "I'm taking a break," Clay said.

Here is an abridged version of the interview. Please head to the USA Weekend website to read it in its entirety. A shorter version of the interview will appear in the May 11 print issue of USA Weekend.

Clay Aiken talks music, acting and talk

ACTING: "I enjoy being myself more than I enjoy being somebody else." In other words, he has enjoyed working in Spamalot but he's not looking for another Broadway role, nor is he looking to do movies, as some of you wanted to know.

TOURING OTHER COUNTRIES: Those of you who want him to come to Australia, Norway, Singapore and more are out of luck. Why? Clay says his record label doesn't release his albums in those places.

TOURING IN GENERAL: "I'm taking a break," Clay said. He knows that you all want to see him again, and acknowledged that there were some press reports that he would tour this summer but "we never said we were planning on touring this summer. Do we plan on touring for this (new) album? Yes. But not this summer."

TALK SHOW: Now, here is something he clearly would like to do. "We put feelers out for this, that or the other...we make known what we think we're interested in doing," Clay says, using We meaning He. And he says they've made it known that talk is something he's interested in doing. But, like Spamalot, he says, sometimes it's a matter of ideas and opportunities coming together at the right time. Bottom line: nothing in the works right now.

THE NEW ALBUM: "I know a lot (of the fans) like to like everything I do," Clay says, but on the new album there will be something everyone won't like, but also something everyone WILL like. A lot of you want Clay to rock out, or as he calls it "do rockin' songs" — and he says on the new album he does — but it's hard for him to find such songs. "I can't find one I'm comfortable with." He was reluctant to pick a favorite or signature song from this album but eventually said the song Something About Us could be it.

Look for my shorter print piece on Clay in the May 11 issue of the magazine, and you can read about my previous interview with Clay here.