11:06 AM EDT on Tuesday, July 13, 2004

By AMY LEHTONEN / WCNC.com

‘American Idol’ runner-up and UNC-Charlotte graduate Clay Aiken will return to the Charlotte area in October for a concert at Carowinds.

Aiken will perform at Paramount’s Carowinds Paladium Amphitheatre Saturday, October 16 at 8 p.m. Ticket prices are $39.50 and $29.50. Advance tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster by calling 704-522-6500.

Aiken will appear at Carowinds two days before his solo tour ends, which began in Bismarck, North Dakota, July 6. The 42-date tour is to promote Aiken's album Measure of a Man, which has already sold nearly three million copies. Eight of his concerts are at state fairs.

Aiken has concerts scheduled in Greenville, S.C. and North Charleston, S.C. He wraps up the tour at the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh October 18.