Singer Clay Aiken [ tickets ], sense of humor intact despite fighting off a cold, facetiously recalls that frustration dominates many of his Christmas memories.

"I have memories of my brother and I going out to dinner, then being told that we were going to come back and have our family Christmas, open presents," Aiken said this week during a telephone press conference. "At 11, 13, I was really pumped and ready to do that.

"But my stepfather wanted to go ride around and look at Christmas lights. This would literally take two to three hours. We would do this every single year. He would drive through neighborhoods that he had never seen before. We'd get lost. My brother and I were in the backseat the whole time pretending we were excited because if we said we weren't happy about it, we'd be in trouble."

This year, Aiken is hoping to create Christmas memories for his fans. On Nov. 16, he is set to release his first Christmas CD, "Merry Christmas with Love." A week later, on Nov. 21, he will kick off his Joyful Noise Tour, during which he will perform Christmas shows backed by orchestras based in the cities in which he is playing.

Aiken talked to the media this week about the Christmas album, his forthcoming book, "Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life," and his tour.

With this new album coming up, is it fair to say maybe you're looking to expand your audience a little bit? Maybe you will get some older fans listening to the music as opposed to more of the screaming kids?

Clay Aiken: I like to think we have a good, eclectic mix. When we go out on tour, we have a good group of youths, teenagers and what not, and we have a good chunk of older adults as well. This time, we're releasing a more traditional product to people who are in an older demographic, as opposed to what the last album did, which was a little more youth oriented.

What can people expect from your show? The hits?

No, we're going to focus only on Christmas stuff--Christmas songs on the album and a few other songs that weren't on the album that I like a lot and enjoy performing. No "Invisible" with the orchestra. Nothing from a previous album or anything like that. It's going to be a very classy and polished show, hopefully. Some production, but little. Mostly just the music. That's kind of what I like to do, is focus on the singing and the music and all of that stuff. That's what our goal is. Make it music oriented and hopefully people will leave feeling in the Christmas spirit.

How did your book, "Learning to Sing," come about?

After the first year of doing all I had done, [I was presented with] option to do a biography. I thought "Goodness, gracious. I'm only 25. There's no reason to do a biography." The opportunity came about first. Then we crafted a way to make it make sense for me, and what I was doing and what I wanted to say. It was less my idea, and more someone else's. It was my idea to make it more of a memoir book. It is an opportunity for me to talk about people and experiences that I've had in the last 25 years; what those experiences meant to me; what those people meant to me; and what I learned from each person. Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, my momma always told me to learn something from everything that happens to you, good or bad.

Who are you targeting with your book?

I think, with the book, there's not a target audience, per se. I don't imagine that everyone who reads it is going to get some sort of a life-changing lesson from it. I don't believe it at all. I think a lot of people will read it, enjoy it and use it as a coaster. [Laughs] I talk a lot about my experience with my stepfather. I think at some point there has to be people out there who have had similar experiences with their stepchildren or step-parent. If one person's able to read it and say, "I'm going through the exact same thing," if one person just learns anything, that's what the target audience is. I'm not trying to teach anybody how to do anything--I don't think I'm smart enough, old enough or wise enough to do that. I just want to share what I've gone through. If it helps someone or if someone could relate, that's what my target audience is.

How did you chose the songs for your Christmas album?

Most of the songs on the album were songs that I've always wanted to sing live. Despite which genre you lean toward in regular music all year, everyone has a favorite Christmas song and everyone has a Christmas song that they remember as they're growing up. I picked the ones that I liked the best and enjoyed singing. The show is going to be beautiful. ... I'm looking forward to the whole orchestra. It's proving to be quite a challenge. We're going to have a different orchestra every evening. We're also going to use local elementary school choirs and high school choirs. It's quite a big undertaking. We're finding it to be interesting. ... We're trying to put something together that's very classy. I'm used to doing arena shows where people are shouting and holding up signs. This time, they're all in auditoriums. We're going to do a more classy show that flows together much more smoothly. Hopefully, we'll have a few less signs and a few less people shouting "Clay, I love you" in the middle of the songs. We're slowly getting it together. I'm sure it will be pulled together.

Since you came in second place on "American Idol," I've talked to ["American Idol" alumni] Diana DeGarmo and JoJo, both of whom look at you as inspiration. What do you think about that and what do you think about always being associated with "American Idol"?

I don't think they should look up to me. I don't think I did anything differently than anyone else that's come in second place, whether they've become more successful or not. I think it's about just continuing to have faith in your ability to do what you do and continuing to work for it. It's not about trying to follow in anybody else's footsteps. As far as being tied to "American Idol," it's a Catch 22. There are many reasons why I want to remain faithful to it. There's no way that this skinny little red-headed geeky dork from the South would have been successful in the way that I have been had it not been for that show. I owe where I am today to the opportunities that I got on that show and people that I met and the relationships that I had on that show. I also want to be around when the show's not around, when the show's had a bad season. I don't want the stigma to follow me.

I think there's a stigma that comes with "American Idol." I think there are people who see "American Idol" as a talent competition that does not produce reputable artists or reputable performers. That's something that all of us would like to kill. The person who won in Australia said there's no stigma that comes from being on "Australian Idol." You come right off the show and everyone accepts you into the community of performers, and nobody mentions the fact that you came off of a reality show. I think if we had that, then none of us would care. In American society, people see it as a reality show because we have such a boon of reality shows going on right now. I think we don't want to be considered reality show contestants. We'd rather be considered singers, the performers that we are. I feel I have to constantly prove that I'm more than a reality contestant.

Do you think the show has run its course?

The producers do an amazing job of keeping it fresh. They'll probably change some things up this year again. [Last season], they put a few people in the studio audience for the top 32, which is something we didn't have. They sang with a band live on stage a couple times. They did their best to keep it fresh and new. How long will the format itself be acceptable? I'm not sure. I can't be psychic and guess how long it will last. I guess as long as it continues to stir up a lot of controversy and keep them talking around the water cooler. The key is finding two people who can bring about the amount of competition that a big black man from Birmingham, AL, and a skinny white guy from North Carolina can bring about. I think that's the key.

What do you have planned for 2005?

A nap. After December, I think were going to take a little bit of time off in January, work a lot with the Bubel Aiken Foundation in February and do some projects for that. I've had so many projects on the burner for the past few months that I haven't had enough time to devote to the foundation. Then, at some point, I'll get back to doing another studio album. I'm not sure when we'll get down to business for that. It's been a busy year. This is my third tour of the year. I'd like to sit down for a moment.