In the 18 months or so since his "American Idol" season ended, Aiken has completed an "American Idol" tour and a tour with first-season winner Kelly Clarkson. He has released a hit solo pop album and, recently, a Christmas album called "Merry Christmas With Love." He will star in his own Christmas show on NBC in early December, he just released a book called Learning to Sing and he is in the midst of a symphony-abetted Christmas tour that stops in Salt Lake City on Monday.

All that activity prompted him to tell reporters listening in to a recent teleconference that the only thing he has planned for 2005 is "a nap."

The hectic pace of Aiken's workload is a blessing and a curse. While he has been able to milk his stint on "American Idol" as well as any of the talent show's winners, the workload can be overwhelming at times, he said. It's a classic Catch-22, much like being affiliated with a reality game show while trying to establish a legitimate career. Aiken realizes the challenges of trying to break free of the "American Idol" label.

"There are many reasons why I want to remain faithful to them," Aiken said. "There's no way this skinny little red-headed, geeky dork from the South would have been successful in the way I have been had it not been for that show. . . .

"But I also want to be around when the show's not around, and when the show has a bad season I don't want to have the stigma follow me."

One could argue that putting out a Christmas album is not necessarily the best way to slay that stigma, but Aiken will surely find an audience for his bombastic vocal style as he takes on traditional holiday fare like "Silent Night" and "Joy to the World."

For the Christmas tour, Aiken is traveling with his own conductor and 20-piece orchestra, joining forces with local symphonies and choirs at each stop. The show will focus solely on his Christmas songs, skipping the songs he performed on "American Idol" or his debut album, but he thinks the new direction will please his fans.

"We picked most of the songs just because they're songs I'd like to sing live," Aiken said. "The show is going to be beautiful. We're trying to do something really classy. I'm used to doing arena shows where people are screaming and holding up signs. We're trying to do something . . . more classy that flows together much more smoothly, and hopefully we'll have a few less signs and a few less people shouting, 'Clay, I love you!' in the middle of a song."

Christmas in Clay-mation

* Clay Aiken performs Monday at Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $43 and $31.50, available at all

ArtTix outlets.