Clay Aiken doing it his "Way" with new album

By Chuck Taylor

NEW YORK (Billboard) - During its six previous seasons, TV juggernaut "American Idol" has launched countless music careers -- but the caveat is maintaining staying power.

Season-two runner-up continues to beat the odds. He is gearing up for the May 6 release of "On My Way Here" (RCA), his first album of original material since his 2003 double-platinum debut, "Measure of a Man."

In between, he released the platinum-certified "Merry Christmas With Love" in 2004, and the gold-certified covers album "A Thousand Different Ways" in 2006.

In May, he'll wrap a five-month Broadway stint in the Tony Award-lauded musical comedy "Spamalot."

On the new album, Aiken worked with Grammy Award-winning British producer Kipper (Sting, Chris Botti). The singer talks about the road ahead and his journey to this point.

1. YOU CALL "ON MY WAY HERE" A THEMATIC REFLECTION ON LIFE

LESSONS, A SORT OF ROAD MAP OF YOUR LAST FIVE YEARS. WHAT DO

YOU HOPE LISTENERS WILL TAKE FROM THE COLLECTION?

When (executive producer) Jaymes Foster and I came across the song "On My Way Here," written by OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder, I really connected to it lyrically. It sums up how the experiences we go through make us who we are. As I'm knocking on the door to 30 -- and it's knocking hard -- this decade has been about figuring out who I am. That set the tone for the album; they're all about things I've learned or universal lessons.

Once we had that road map and knew what we were looking for, the songs started falling in our laps. In the past, I'd sing about dog food and sunshine, as long as it was catchy and had a great melody, so it's the first time I've paid close attention to lyrics. I'm not Alicia Keys or Norah Jones when it comes to artistic lyrics, but I like what these songs are saying -- and they're still pretty.

Knowing that we probably weren't going to get radio made the process even easier, so we just made an album that is me -- songs written for me or whose meaning I connected with, and songs that I sing well.

2. "THE REAL ME" WAS WRITTEN BY NATALIE GRANT, WHO COMES

FROM THE CHRISTIAN WORLD BUT IS POPULAR AT AC (ADULT

CONTEMPORARY). HER SONGS TEND TO EXPLORE LIFE'S CHALLENGES AND

OFFER A POSITIVE SPIN.