Kelly Clarkson
News (Page 5)

Our own Kelly Clarkson walked away with the award for "Best Female Video" at last night's Video Music Awards on MTV. Well, she didn't exactly walk away, since she did not show up. The audience was surely disappointed, but what are you gonna do. Nonetheless, we congratulate Kelly on a job well done!

Interestingly, Shakira and Nelly Furtado were considered the big favorites prior to airing, while Kelly was a major underdog, despite walking away with more moonmen than any other artist at last year's VMAs. We're seeing if we can work any more "Walk Away" puns into this post, but we may have tapped out.

It's amazing that going on two years after the initial release of Kelly's second CD, Breakway, it's impact is still being felt.

In other Kelly news, California Speedway announced that the Grammy Award-winning and multi-platinum artist will serve as the Grand Marshal for the SONY HD 500 this Sunday, September 3, 2006.

According to the Charlotte Observer, Clarkson will give the most famous words in motorsports, "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines," in front of the Southern California crowd and to a national TV audience on NBC during the Labor Day NASCAR weekend event.

The original American Idol winner will also lead the NEXTEL Cup Series field off pit road in the Grand Marshal car prior to the start of the SONY HD 500.

The MTV Video Music Awards tomorrow, which may interest you. Don't look for rocker and new mom Gwen Stefani there, however.

The New York Post reports that she’s boycotting the show, apparently, because she’s mad she spent all of the previous year dressing up, marching around and playing to the cameras for nothing except the "lame" Best Dressed award.

According to the Post's gossip hounds, Stefani received many nominations a year ago and was under the impression she would be taking home at least one award. She didn't, and that's not all that steamed her.

A handful of awards went to our own Kelly Clarkson, and every time the first and most-popular American Idol star won an award, the cameras panned straight over to Gwen. The former No Doubt front-woman felt set up and embarrassed.

Moreover, Stefani also thought she was going to close the show with a live performance, but was stripped of that honor. Her last-minute replacement? You guessed it -- Kelly.

We can't speak to how accurate any of these rumors are, but we sure can say that Kelly deserved each and every honor she received. She rocks!

Who wouldn’t want a chance to date Kelly Clarkson?

MTV is setting out to answer that question. A new show, My Own, will air every weekday at 6 p.m. EDT and PDT. The premise of the show? Helping a freaky fanatic find the [man or woman] who most closely resembles their favorite celebrity heart-throb in every conceivable way!

In the case of the August 30 episode, a fan will get to pick the girl who looks, sounds and even thinks like inaugural American Idol champ Kelly Clarkson.

With the help of two friends, one lucky fan will have the opportunity to question, examine and audition an assorted selection of wannabe pop-stars hand-picked by MTV. According to Kelly's online fan club, the fan will inspect the six pop star wannabes, searching for the one who acts, talks and generally resembles Kelly.

After a series of challenges and eliminations, three finalists will square off, performing some of Kelly's hit songs (in other words, all of Breakaway). In the end, the wannabe that best embodies the look and feel of ultimately will be the one our super-fan calls... My Own.

We're not sure about this whole idea, but MTV has proven adept at cranking out guilty pleasures and reality programs we love to hate, yet can't stop watching. And let's face it -- Kelly is pretty awesome. Sadly for fans, it looks like Yellow Card frontman Ryan Key gets to date the real thing. Lucky. At least you'll have this new show... and Kelly's new calendar.

A highly entertaining video is circulating online, in which the metal rock tribute band Metal Skool is joined by Kelly Clarkson and Ryan Key on stage at an L.A. club. Key is the lead singer of Yellow Card and rumored to be Kelly's love interest. According to reports, the band spotted Kelly and Ryan in the audience partying with her friends, and unabashedly coaxed her up on stage, hoping a little star power would rub off on them.

Impromptu renditions of "Sweet Child Of Mine" and "Don’t Stop Believing" followed. Wearing a school girl-ish white shirt with Peter Pan-style collar and a sweater vest, Clarkson looked totally out of place onstage with all the metal hair and spandex.

But she didn't try to Breakaway (so speak) and was actually a great sport about the whole thing. Not surprisingly, concert goers report that she sounded "awesome," smiling ear to ear as she rocked out.

Interestingly, this is the second surprise cover of "Sweet Child O' Mine" we've heard about in the past week, after Carrie Underwood performed it at a recent show. It's good to see Kelly go out there and let loose a little.

She's such a hard worker and it's not easy living up to everyone else's expectations, which she's had to for years. She certainly deserves to have a bit of fun like most kids her age. We're interested to hear if this alleged romance with Key goes anywhere as well.

The bad news is that Kelly Clarkson's "Addicted" tour has come to an end. But the good news is that new 16-month Kelly Clarkson wall calendars are available on her official online store! Few of us will get to meet her in person, but that doesn't mean she can't keep us company. Members can pre-order theirs starting August 31, so don't hesitate to hook yourself up with 16 awesome months of our first American Idol!

The first time columnist Malcolm Mayhew saw Kelly Clarkson -- whose U.S. tour rolls through Dallas tonight -- was probably the first time most of us did. On American Idol.

The new show was becoming a surprise sensation (hard to imagine that now), with the competition nearing the finals and tearing the country in half like a virtual, musical Civil War. Mayhew, a writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, saw little special about the program or Clarkson, figuring she was just a young girl (left) out to win a TV show.

The next time the reporter saw Clarkson, she was a star with a hit debut record, Thankful. Still, his impression was that after her 15 minutes of fame, she'd fade from the limelight.

Then, the next time he saw Kelly, the paper's music writer gave her follow-up album, Breakaway, a mediocre B-minus review.

But he's finally come around.

There's no denying Kelly's star status now, as Breakaway still floats in and out of the top 50 on Billboard’s albums chart, 85 weeks after its release. It has become an equivalent of Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill, even Nirvana’s Nevermind in terms of chart-topping staying power. Like all three of those records, it has struck a chord with kids and adults, local fans and people all around the country, even people across the world and of all ages.

The reason? Breakaway speaks our language.

It mirrors our emotions. It knows how we feel, whether it’s the relief we feel after we end a disastrous relationship, the devastation of loss, the optimism of rebuilding a broken life, the freedom of getting in your car and just driving away... everything.

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A representative for Glacéau derided a July 7 story in the New York Post claiming the company ordered Vitamin Water spokesperson Kelly Clarkson to shed some pounds.

"[It's] absurd and totally untrue. Kelly is beautiful and healthy and has looked to Vitamin Water for years because it provides her with the nutrients she needs to lead a healthy lifestyle," the company's consumer rep said in a statement.

Glacéau will kick off an ad campaign starring Kelly next month. Clarkson recently began her summer tour, celebrating the continuing success of her 2004 album, Breakaway, which has sold more than five million copies, the New York Times reports.

As her tour gets underway, the first winner of American Idol is displaying the guileless approach -- and refusal to cultivate any mystique or semblance of controversy -- that has made her a superstar. She smiles a lot, dances as if no one were watching, and entertains crowds with cheery banter in between songs.

For instance, even as Clarkson tries to introduce fans to songs from her next album, she assures them that the karaoke favorites are on the way. Some performers try to build suspense in their shows, but Kelly would rather cut the B.S. and announce them casually in advance.

“We’re gonna be doing the ‘Since U Been Gone’ ’s, the ‘Breakway’ ’s, the ‘Because of You’ ’s [in a little bit],” she said.

That's about the only way in which the Kelly Clarkson tour is predictable. It includes a risky, but successful run of acoustic songs, reports the Times, performed against a swampy backdrop. Clarkson proved flexible, sounding just as good singing her old hit “Miss Independent” as she did on an acoustic version of the ballad “Breakaway” or romping through her rock smash “Since U Been Gone.”

Her most popular new song? “Go,” the theme, as she readily admits, from a commercial for Ford, her tour sponsor. She sang it while the screens showed a Ford Mustang ad starring... who else, Clarkson. While some pop stars might be embarrassed to sing a four-minute commercial, but Kelly is her typical unabashed self.

No wonder Ford loves her. They get what they pay for.

A reporter for The Buffalo News is grateful for one fact not many people know about Kelly Clarkson: America's Singing Sweetheart talks quickly.

That's a good thing when there are only 15 minutes available for an interview. Clarkson, who will perform Monday at Six Flags Darien Lake Peforming Arts Center, covered many topics during the allotted time.

Personable, polite and poised on her cellphone, it's apparent why the inaugural winner of American Idol has become such a breakout star. As she answered questions for this piece, she was zipping around in a car with her brother, Jason.

The American Idol song controversy: First and foremost, Clarkson did NOT make her songs unavailable to Idol, despite tabloid reports. Country cutie Kellie Pickler even impressed the judges with her take on Clarkson's pop smash "Since U Been Gone" in January and easily made it to the top-five as a result.

Clarkson is closer to incredulous than angry about the incident:

"People are saying I didn't want my songs used, but people are always singing my songs. I didn't say anything."

Unfortunately, Clarksondidn't actually see Kellie covering her tune; she's been too busy to catch subsequent seasons of the show.

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As lingerie manufacturer Victoria's Secret rolls out its new "Pink" line of underwear, Kelly Clarkson was reportedly in the running as the line's new face (and body). But the original American Idol lost out to another singer, one with no talent, and who isn't even the best-looking girl in her own family. Ashlee Simpson.

Victoria's Secret determined that Simpson, 21, is perfect for the product, which the company is marketing to a younger, cuter audience.

Personally, we find this to be a joke, because Ashlee Simpson is not only laughable as an artist, but not even that attractive. There's only so much that bad plastic surgery can fix when you reach a certain point. One would think that a cute, genuine, sexy, girl-next-door type like Kelly would be ideal for a campaign like this, but alas. We'll have to use our imagination.

In a world full of Mariahs and Beyonces, Britneys and Jessicas, and even nasty, sickly Paris-ites, Kelly Clarkson is the anti-diva.

For that reason, the inaugural American Idol winner is on the Entertainment Weekly "Must List" -- people in the entertainment world we must know more about -- she's nowhere to be found in the tabloids, due in large part to the fact that she's always working. With concerts, award shows, and even a Navy flight, she's powered her way to the top of pop.

This week, she embarks on a 24-city tour, and Kelly was kind enough to share some thoughts on that and other pressing issues with EW...

On her least favorite part of fame:
"Photo shoots are the least favorite part of my job. Photographers ask me if I want to look at pictures of myself and I'm like, 'Dude, why would I want to look at these photos? I'm not that vain.'"

On some of her new tunes:
"I have 40 songs for my next record. I don't stop writing. There is one called 'Yeah.' It's very tour friendly and has an easy hook. It's kind of Prince-ish and Sly & the Family Stone."

On her favorite parts of Kelly Clarkson shows:
"The Bridge of 'Addicted.' It sounds like a scary part of a horror movie, when you know something bad is going to happen. The first part of it is real intense and then I just full-on belt it out. I live for that!"

On her own American idols:
"Oh my God, you know no idea. I'm in love with Patti Griffith. I got to meet her and acted like an idiot. I was like, 'You are so great, but I'm not going to stay very long because otherwise I'm going to say something stupid."

Kelly will be back in the studio starting in August, after her tour winds down, to record her new album, tentatively slated for a February 2007 release.