USA Today: Former 'Idol' Kelly Clarkson Has All She Ever Wanted (March 2009)

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USA TodayMarch 9, 2009

Former 'Idol' Kelly Clarkson Has All She Ever WantedBy Elysa Gardner

NEW YORK — Kelly Clarkson can't stop sayingshe's sorry. Having shown up 10 minutes late fora morning interview — she had trouble dozingoff the night before, then overslept, she explains— the normally punctual singer spends much of the next 10 minutes apologizing for everythingfrom her tardiness to her appearance.

"Do you know what it's like when you've justwoken up, and your lips are all huge and yourface is swollen?" Clarkson asks. "Every time Italk, I keep licking my lips. They must lookmonstrous. I must look like a platypus."

In truth, sitting in a hotel lounge in jeans and a T-shirt, her wholesomely pretty face free of makeup except for a touch of mascara, Clarksondoesn't resemble a platypus any more than shedoes a pop star. Seven years after rocketing tofame as the first American Idol, the 26-year-old— whose fourth studio album, All I Ever Wanted ,arrives Tuesday — still exudes a disarmingnormalcy. She admits she can be "very self-conscious," if you hadn't already drawn thatconclusion, but that's not to say Clarkson lacksconfidence, or cultivates a more fabulous image.

"I live on a ranch in Texas and do my own thing,"she says. "And I don't care what anyone has tosay about it. My joke is that the only people I'mtrying to please are myself and my fans, because they're the ones buying my records.And I have the best, most loyal fan base ever."

That mix of graciousness, candor and moxie informs All I Ever Wanted , which hasalready racked up a million-plus-selling No. 1 single with the thumping My Life Would Suck Without You. Clarkson co-wrote a number of songs on the album, hercollaborators this time including pop savants such as Ryan Tedder, Sam Watters andLouis Bianciello, and veteran rock producer Howard Benson.

"Variety" is the key factor, Clarkson says, with influences ranging from "British punk toa kind of R&B/hip-hop feel to a colorful '70s rock vibe."

She acknowledges that "a lot of cooks" helped determine the lineup. "There's the teamat my label, my management and me. But for this album, pretty much everyoneagreed on most of the songs."

Dark 'December'

Glow of success: Kelly Clarkson'sfourth album, All I Ever Wanted , isout Tuesday. The first American Idol winner's album has alreadyproduced the hit My Life Would Suck Without You.



By most accounts, including Clarkson's own, the process behind her last album wasmore tortured. In promoting 2007's My December , the singer spoke frankly about thecreative differences that delayed its release.

Her previous outing, 2004's Breakaway , for which Clarkson had helped write about half the songs, was an unqualified success; it has sold 6 million copies. But the singer

suggested that label executives weren't as supportive of her autonomy when it cameto My December 's darker, less overtly commercial fare.

In the August 2007 issue of Blender , Clarkson singled out music industry titan CliveDavis, then CEO of the BMG label group, which at the time oversaw Clarkson's label,RCA. "I get you don't like (My December )," she recalled telling Davis. "You're 80, you'renot supposed to like my album." (He was 75 at the time.)

In the ensuing flap, she issued a statement that read, in part, "I'm well aware that Cliveis one of the great record men of all time. He has been an important force in mysuccess. He has also given me respect by releasing my new album when he was notobligated to do so. … I apologize to those whom I have done disservice."

There was no evidence of hard feelings when Clarkson sang at Davis' pre-Grammysbash this year. When reminded of the episode, Clarkson insists, "I'm really not acontroversial person. I'm too lazy to be controversial." But she also points out that shewasn't "apologizing to anyone in particular at the label. I was apologizing to my fanbase and to the people on my team who had worked so hard on a project we all loved,and who were getting flak" because of her comments.

Though My December has been Clarkson's lowest-selling album to date, she maintainsthat it wasn't a conscious departure from her previous work.

"It was a shock to me when the album came out and people were like, 'Oh, she'sdeparting from pop.' I think How I Feel, which is on that album, is the most poppy songI've ever written. It was a different album than Breakaway , but when I came out withBreakaway , people also thought I was moving away from pop. 'Oh, she's doing rock.'And there was some backlash there, too."

RCA Music Group general manager Tom Corson says he views My December as "part of (Clarkson's) creative process as an artist and a human being. We're pleased with how itdid, and we supported it, even though there was some drama behind it."

Artistic vision That drama was beneficial for All I Ever Wanted , says Blender editor in chief Joe Levy."The thing you love about great pop music is that friction between the artistic impulseand the commercial impulse, and Kelly's new album has that in spades."

Levy allows that female pop artists "like Kelly and Beyoncé often don't get the creditthey deserve. No matter how many writers and producers they work with, they have a

sound of their own. When Kelly pushes dance songs in a rock direction and rock songsin a dance/pop direction, that's her artistic vision."

Clarkson accepts, to a point, that any young artist — particularly one whose vehicle tofame was a reality TV show — must fight to relay and control that vision. "I got a lot of flak when I didn't want to pump an album out right after (winning) Idol. They didn'tknow what I wanted to do. In fairness, I didn't even know what I wanted to do."



She still recalls, dryly, having to "really fight" for the breakthrough single MissIndependent . "Then it ended up being No. 1 for seven weeks, and everyone else tookcredit. That's why on Breakaway they were willing to let me do stuff like Since U BeenGone. It's like taking baby steps. Now, four albums in, people understand that I loveand can sing different kinds of music."

Clarkson remains grateful for the crucial role that Idol played in her career; she'llperform her single on Wednesday's results show. "There is no artist development (atrecord labels) anymore, and what's cool about the show is that you get to go on TV —which doesn't usually happen when you're a beginning artist — and decide what yousing, what you wear, how you talk. People appreciate the chance to vote for someonewho may not get a record deal because they don't fit a certain prototype."

The corporate clashes and changes of management that have marked Clarkson's post-Idol tenure "have taught me that, one, I can't control everything, and, two, what I cancontrol should be positive." Hence her switch from bigwig manager Jeff Kwatinetz toNarvel Blackstock, whose other clients include his wife, and Clarkson's sometime duetpartner, Reba McEntire.

"Jeff was a great manager, but we continued to disagree on one thing: He wanted tomanage the biggest pop star in the world, and that has never been and will never be agoal of mine. That's way too much pressure. At the end of the day, I want to do thingsthat will make me happy, and Narvel gets that."

Not into dating right nowHappiness, for Clarkson, will not necessarily require marriage. "I'm not against it. If Ifound a guy who could handle my job, that would be cool. But I've dated a couple of guys who were awesome, and the celebrity part of my life and the travelling part arehard to get around. You never get to see each other, especially if you're bothmusicians." (Clarkson's former beaus include singer/songwriter Graham Colton, whotoured with her.)

For the time being, she's content not to be in a relationship. "I went to see He's Just Not That Into You the other night, and honestly, you walk away from that movie feelingso glad that you're single. I went with friends who are my backup singers on the road,and have their own group, and we were like, where do we even meet people whenyou're working so much? I mean, we travel with a bunch of married men! And I loveworking; I can't see myself not doing this."

Clarkson is even more adamant about not wanting children. "Oh, my God, I have nodesire. I would not be a good mother. I mean, I love being an aunt to my niece andnephew. And I used to want to, like, adopt 10 kids — because I had friends who wereadopted, and I thought that was the coolest thing, to be chosen. But again, my job istoo selfish."

That said, Clarkson is keen that stardom not distort her ideals. "It would be easy for me

to go, 'Whatever, I'll be a fembot.' But I have a big fear of change, or negative change,anyway. I'm basically the same person I was when I won Idol, or when I was 10.

"Maybe it sounds cheesy, but in a world that is not normal, my goal is to continuedoing what I love and feeling good about it. That's it."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2009-03-08-clarkson-album_N.htm



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USA Today: Former 'Idol' Kelly Clarkson Has All She Ever Wanted (March 2009)