Kelly Clarkson
News (Page 4)

Football on Thanksgiving.

It's as traditional as a turkey in the oven.

This year, however, viewers that turned in to the Dallas Cowboys/Tampa Bay Buccaneers game were treated to a surprise far more welcome than any Terrell Owens outburst: a double dose of American Idol beauty and talent.

First, Dallas-area native Kelly Clarkson (decked out in an Emmitt Smith jersey) sang the national anthem. She did a wonderful job.

Then, the halftime ceremony featured yet another winner from the FOX reality smash: Carrie Underwood, a native of nearby Oklahoma.

Dallas may have won big, 38-10, but fans of these singers also walked away as winners. We hope positive news like this takes away from the tired Clay Aiken/Kelly Ripa feud.

"I'm here because she's awesome."

That was the explanation offered by Kelly Clarkson for her appearance at the CMT Giants Honoring Reba McEntire Show, which will air on November 18 at 8:00. Last week we showed you a picture from the event, and now, by popular demand, we bring you some more Kelly Clarkson pictures. Enjoy!

Isn't Kelly Clarkson great? We always enjoy seeing her perform, even at events where you might not expect her. She makes American Idol fans happy each and every day.

We just talked about Elliott Yamin participating in a tennis event that will raise money for Virginia charities. It turns out he's not the only American Idol star in the news for such a reason today.

Kelly Clarkson will be performing this Thursday, November 9, at 7:30 pm at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood for a benefit to honor legendary singer Tony Bennett, who will be celebrating his 80th birthday.

Also appearing at the event will be Hollywood stars George Clooney, Billy Crystal, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Willis and others.

Proceeds of the benefit will go to Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Camps charity.

She'll be a hit, there's no doubt about that. It's always great to see the amazing Kelly Clarkson and her American Idol counterparts performing for good causes.

Here's some information we've come across from around the world of American Idol. There's certainly a lot going on with our favorite stars, and we try our best to keep you updated! Below is our breakdown...

CARRIE UNDERWOOD

As you’ve probably heard, Carrie Underwood will perform at the Charleston Municipal Auditorium December 9. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m.

Speaking of Carrie, we caught her video for "Before He Cheats" the other day. Though she’s come a long way from her simpler American Idol days, it is still not easy to believe she's the kind of girl who would bash her boyfriend’s headlights in with a baseball bat.

Look at her! She's just too sweet! We don't buy the vengeful angle... we will, however, buy her music!

KELLIE PICKLER

Kellie Pickler’s CD, Small Town Girl, is in stores as of today! Be sure to check out our review in a separate post, coming very soon. Kellie will perform her first single, "Red High Heels" on The Tonight Show Friday.

BUCKY COVINGTON

Bucky Covington and his wife are moving to Nashville today. We hear he plans to go straight to the studio to record some tunes. Good luck, Bucky!

ACE YOUNG

The new single from Ace Young, “Scattered,” is officialy available for download on iTunes. We thought it was a little cheesy, to be sure, but it grows on you. And yes, his falsetto is on full display. As far as we know, though, Ace has not signed with any record label.

KATHARINE MCPHEE

Looks like Katharine McPhee’s a little gutsier than I gave her credit for. Katharine was scheduled to sing “Over the Rainbow” at the Carousel of Hope Gala, but when she saw Whitney Houston in the audience, she changed to “I Have Nothing.”

Considering the performance of that song that she gave on American Idol, it was certainly a testament to McPhee's courage to get up there and try it a second time. It paid off, though, as Whitney nodded her head in approval at the performance.

You might remember that Katharine (seen here with beau Nick Cokas, right, at the event in Beverly Hills) was roundly criticized by the judges after performing "I Have Nothing" On American Idol. The viewing audience, however, disagreed and voted her into the Top 2. Simon Cowell apologized to her on that week's results show.

TAYLOR HICKS

Taylor Hicks’ CD release date has been moved to December 5, which means he will be after Katharine (November 28) and on the same date as Fantasia. According to GrayCharles.com, he continues to work on his upcoming album, 75 percent of which is complete.

The producers are beginning to mix some of the songs. If you, like many of his fans, are eagerly looking forward to seeing Taylor Hicks in concert, the Soul Man will start a three-month tour in February and plans to "play lots of different size towns, even smaller ones."

Hopefully, that's going to be a town near you.

CHRIS DAUGHTRY

Chris Daughtry’s release date is still set for November 21, but he's ditching the first name thing... the release will come from Daughtry -- the Bon Jovi-esque name of his new band. Howard Benson, who worked with All-American Rejects and My Chemical Romance, is the producer. Chris says he realizes not winning Idol was better for him.

According to a blurb posted on puretonemusic.com, here are all 12 confirmed song titles (in sequence): It's Not Over, Used To, Home, Over You, Crashed, Feels Like Tonight, What I Want (featuring Slash), Breakdown, Gone, There And Back Again, All These Lives, and What About Now.

The site also reported that the song, "Sorry" will be exclusive to iTunes and the newly recorded acoustic versions of "Home" and "Crashed" will be exclusive to WalMart.

JOSH GRACIN

Josh Gracin’s next CD, All About Y’all will be released in early 2007. I was a little worried about Josh since his original release date came and went and his website had not been updated in months. His new single, "I Keep Coming Back" is from the same songwriting team that wrote "What Hurts the Most."

KIMBERLEY LOCKE

The second CD released by Kimberley Locke, Based on a True Story, will hit the shelves of record stores in March 2007. It will be great to hear what the Supawoman has in store for us then!

CLAY AIKEN

The one and only Clay Aiken is scheduled to appear on The Megan Mullally Show this Thursday, November 2.

And, as we reported last week, Clay will also appear on Days of Our Lives as himself December 22, serenading Steve and Kayla with “Everything I Have.” Clay’s version of “O, Holy Night” will also be featured in the episode.

FANTASIA BARRINO

Fantasia Barrino's single, "Hood Boy" is being released to radio. Her album is set to be released on December 12. You can listen to a stream at her MySpace. Lastly, Season 5 semi-finalist Patrick Hall releases his single "One For the Ages" tomorrow. The album, One For the Ages, will be available February 2007.

Who's that southern belle? Typically, that title belongs to Carrie Underwood, but in this case, it's the original American Idol who takes the honor.

Native Texan Kelly Clarkson plays up her Southern roots in her ruffled dress Thursday at the CMT Giants event at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood honoring country crooner Reba McEntire. She looks beautiful! The inaugural American Idol winner and its most successful artist later took the stage to raise her voice in tribute.

NOTE: We won't necessarily be able to come up with one this good every day, but if we do, you'll see it. American Idol Picture of the Day will be a regular, if not a daily, feature. The images we find for this feature may be timely, classic, touching, funny, or just plain strange. We feel this one falls under the latter.

It would be pretty hard to top our first-ever edition. In this pic, taken earlier this year at a Grammys on the Hill dinner in Washington, D.C., we have, from left to right: Embattled Congressman (and "sexually-charged IM" author) Mark Foley, Lou Gossett, Jr., our own Kelly Clarkson, producer Terry Likona, and American Idol judge Randy Jackson.

This collection of characters alone makes for a good head scratching, but what's really funny is that Foley and Likona look thrilled to be there, Gossett and Clarkson look utterly confused, and Jackson looks like he wants to be anywhere but there at that moment.

What's your American Idol memory like?

If you've been following it since its debut season, you may remember the top two competitors (who doesn't), but what about the other finalists? As the show enters its sixth season this winter, the number of American Idol stars to enter (and fade from) the limelight grows.

Here's a little trivia for you. Try to remember the finalists from the first season. They're listed below, so no cheating. Here's are some small hints -- and a little bit of trivia at the same time -- there were only 10, not the show's now-standard dozen, and there are a lot of "J's."

We will list them in alphabetical order, in case anyone's watching the Idol recaps and wants to preserve some sense of suspense...

1. Christina Christian
2. Kelly Clarkson
3. E Jay Day
4. A.J. Gil
5. Tamyra Gray
6. Justin Guarini
7. RJ Helton
8. Nikki McKibbin (right)
9. Ryan Starr
10. Jim Verraros

Note that Ryan Starr is not the same person, or even the same gender, as this year's Rock Star: Supernova contestant. How did you do? We admit to having looked a few of these people up, too.

What a great show!

Congratulations to our own Kelly Clarkson on securing a pair of nominations for the upcoming American Music Awards. The inaugural American Idol winner will be up for both Pop/Rock Favorite Female Artist and Adult Contemporary Favorite Artist!

For the second straight year, Mariah Carey is up for the Favorite Female Artist honor in both the Pop/Rock and Soul/Rhythm & Blues categories, as well as for Favorite Album in the latter category.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers, who also led the nominations for last month's MTV VMAs, are competing for Favorite Artist in the Alternative Music category, and Favorite Band, Duo or Group and Favorite Album for their new release Stadium Arcadium in the Pop/Rock field. Their primary challenger in all three categories seems to be Nickelback.

The Black Eyed Peas, meanwhile, are nominated for favorite rap/hip-hop group, while their album Monkey Business earned nominations in the rap/hip-hop and soul/R&B categories.

Besides Clarkson, eight other artists received two nominations each: Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kanye West, Jamie Foxx, T.I., Rascal Flatts, Pussycat Dolls and our own Carrie Underwood!

Congrats to all. In other Kelly news, AIW has learned that her song "Where Is Your Heart" is going to be featured on tonight's episode of Laguna Beach: The Real O.C., tonight at 10 p.m. on MTV. Don't miss it!

Now that they've been properly introduced, we can tell you what Kelly Clarkson was doing with this highly-respeced democrat from Illinois.

Turns out Clarkson wasn't the only person to win an MTV Video Music Award, but fail to attend the ceremony. Obama actually won, as well, for Best Spoken Album.

We're not entirely sure why Kelly handed the award over, but we do know her and her band debuted the new song, "Believe" once they were there.

Kelly Clarkson is doing many surprising things these days. Aside from joining heavy metal groups in videos, the occasional dare devil is giving NASCAR a try. Sort of.

The first-ever champion of American Idol served as grand marshal of the Nextel Cup Series at the Calfornia Speedway on Sunday. She's seen here posing next to Jeff Gordon (top, right) and then taking a break like a seasoned racing veteran: