Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Season two American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken performed Friday night at a special one-night only concert in Raleigh, N.C.

The show was designed for Clay to unveil music from his upcoming fifth studio album, “Tried and True,” due for a late May release on Decca Records.

The concert was also taped for PBS and is supposed to air this summer.

As for Clay’s artistic direction, he’s apparently decided he’d rather be a balladeer than pop star.

His new album will feature his renditions of classic songs, he told the Raleigh News & Observer in an article posted Friday morning.

The new album will include Clay’s take on songs like “Moon River,” “Mack, the Knife,” “Unchained Melody,” “What Kind of Fool Am I?” and others.

Here’s a link to the article. It’s an interesting read. Clay raises the possibility of a tour with fellow season two finalist Ruben Studdard, though there are no firm plans for any type of tour at this point.

Clay’s last album was “On My Way Here,” released in 2008. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200, but failed to yield a major hit.

As part of the concert in Raleigh, Clay auctioned off five VIP packages, with proceeds going to the National Inclusion Project, which works on behalf of children with disabilities. One of those packages sold for more than $9,000.

Of course, Clay’s had success with covers in the past. His second album, “A Thousand Different Ways” was basically a cover album.

Including songs like “Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Words,” it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and went gold.