Clay Aiken [ tickets ] will offer up another round of Christmas merrymaking this winter, landing his sleigh in selected areas around the country to perform one-night only engagements of holiday music.

The outing differs a bit from the Joyful Noise tours the singer has put on the last two Christmas seasons in that instead of traveling with a full backing outfit, Aiken will enlist the aid of local orchestras in each city for the special seasonal performances.

Aiken's holiday trek will kick off Dec. 2 in Merrillville, IN. The 17-city tour will run through Dec. 23, and tickets for most of the shows have already gone on sale to the public. Specific ticketing information for each performance can be found at Aiken's official website.

Aiken has also announced he will launch a major tour in early 2007 to back his latest album, "A Thousand Different Ways," which hit stores Sept. 19.

On the disc--which follows Aiken's 2003 debut, "Measure of a Man," as well as his 2004 holiday album, "Merry Christmas with Love"--the former "American Idol" runner-up presents his versions of 10 well-known songs from the past, as well as four new originals.

"This is an album of love songs," Aiken said in a press release, "but they are about all different kinds of love. Romantic love, friendship, unconditional love. There are a thousand different kinds of love; a thousand different ways to tell someone you love them. And, on top of that, since so many of these songs are covers, it's realistic to say that many of them have been or could be sung a thousand different ways."