After coming close to the title of American Idol in its second season, Aiken successfully released a couple of albums with sales that went above the roof. In fact, his fan base is largely composed of the older, more mature crowd, thus enabling him to have a pretty successful post-Idol career, compared to other runner-ups on the reality competition.



"People always come up to me and say, 'My grandmother's your biggest fan," Aiken said in a conversation with the Houston Chronicle. "There's a misconception among these ladies that I'm cool and hip and now. And they think that by liking me, it makes them cool and hip and now."

"But shhh. We aren't going to tell them that I'm not cool and hip at all'I'm never going to be, and I'm fine with that. We all must embrace our inner dork," he added.

His odd style seems to please the crowds, as the former American Idol still manages to create his own path in his singing career, with a lot of supporters behind him.

When asked about his third album entitled A Thousand Different Ways and which songs didn't make it into the CD, he said that suggestions about doing an album of covers was given to him, since artists such as Rod Stewart and Barry Manilow were successful in doing covers. Aiken rejected the idea, however, due to the fact that he admits he does not have the reputation or the credibility to do covers.

Today, Aiken looks forward to doing an album that would bring out the real artist within him.

"The goal for the next album is to go with one producer. The person we picked is very credible, has won Grammys and has really done an eclectic mix of stuff. The hope is that we'll be able to find really great songs that suit me and produce them in a way that ... makes me hip without trying too hard," Aiken told the Houston Chronicle.

Fans can watch Clay Aiken's performance with an orchestra at 8pm on Saturday at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. Tickets are priced at $10 to $100.