Clarkson, 'Idol' take their hits
Miss Independent and the show that launched her are struggling. Is it time to break away?
By Sean Daly, Times Pop Music Critic
Published July 7, 2007
CD review
Kelly Clarkson
My December (RCA)
Grade: C
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Idols Live! tour
American Idols Live! Tour 2007, with the Top 10 finalists from Season 6. (Please note: At press time, organizers had not confirmed whether Kelly Clarkson would appear.) 7 p.m. today, St. Pete Times Forum, 401 Channelside Drive, Tampa. (813) 301-6600; www.stpetetimesforum. com. $39.50-$70.
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George W. Bush, Steve Jobs, the dudes who invented Google, Kelly Clarkson. You ask me who's the most influential person of the first half of the 21st century, and I'm going with the girl.
Think about it: Clarkson, the 25-year-old Texan with the hazel eyes and whopper voice, is the No. 1 reason American Idol has dominated popular culture for the last six years. Not only was she the show's inaugural winner, but she also went on to sell 15-million records and, perhaps even more important, win prestigious Grammys. Not only did she single-handedly legitimize Idol as a genuine purveyor of pop talent, but she also gave the show unstoppable, world-turning momentum.
Without Clarkson, there'd be no Idol magazines, Idol ice cream, Idol video games, Idol watercooler obsession. Without Clarkson, Paula Abdul would be working riverboat shows in Biloxi, and Chris Daughtry would be working at Best Buy. Without Clarkson, we'd have a cure for cancer by now. Or at least flying cars and robot butlers. Instead, scientists have taken off Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the last six years, just so they could vote 400 times for Elliott Yamin.
Clarkson and Idol are inextricably linked, a symbiotic relationship that is finally showing signs of stress. That's right: The bloom is off the rose. It's no coincidence that Idol, whose concert tour comes to Tampa tonight, and Clarkson, whose new album, My December, was just released, are suffering their first setbacks at the same time.
Down goes Idol, down goes Clarkson.
Last season, save for one kid's unfortunate coif, Idol just wasn't much fun. Ratings dipped, the story lines were thin and fans were bored with the scantly talented contestants. Jordin Sparks was a likable winner and beat-boxer Blake Lewis a curious find, but neither will be a star five years from now. As a result, sales for tonight's show have been tepid at best. The show's future stranglehold on our lives is suddenly in question.
Clarkson has had it even worse. After two multiplatinum albums, Clarkson decided she was tired of taking orders from Clive Davis, her legendary label head and a key component in the Idol machine. She wanted My December to be entirely her creation; she didn't want Davis' hitmaking songwriters helping her out. In retaliation, Davis allegedly put the whammy on Clarkson, stating publicly that the album was dull.
Clarkson tried to do some PR repair, appearing on an Idol charity show and the season finale, her first appearances since she was crowned champ. But instead of boosting her rep, her appearances came off as cold and desperate. The show was lame, and so was she. Clarkson had picked the absolute worst time to come back.
Then things got worse. Clarkson recently scrapped plans for a major American concert tour. Her handlers openly admitted that ticket sales were too anemic for the big venues including the St. Pete Times Forum they'd booked.
And the final insult? My December turns out to be just what Clive Davis said it is: not much fun. Clarkson wanted to make the anti-American Idol album, something serious, something hard, something independent. Well, she has done that.
My December is the sound of a woman more interested in making a brooding Evanescence album than a feisty Kelly Clarkson album. The hooks don't go up, they go down. She sounds jaded, bitter. She's so far inside her own head, it's unnerving. She repeatedly rages about ex-lovers with "trophy wives." When did Kelly Clarkson become an aging divorcee?
The kiss-off song has always been Clarkson's strength. Since U Been Gone (2004) was a ubiquitous sing-along that Idol fans and detractors alike hummed in group harmony. She played up the bravado but also knew that her biggest hit was supposed to be a good time.
On the new single Never Again - essentially Since U Been Gone drained of life - the hook is about as seductive as a knuckle sandwich. Never Again sets a smileless pace followed by the vaguely metallic Hole ("I've given up on faith, on everything") and overwrought ballad Sober ("So here I go with all my thoughts I've been saving / So here I go with all my fears weighing on me"). Clarkson has something to prove: that she needs to lighten up.
Clarkson certainly has a fine voice, soulful and strong enough to stand up to a fleet of raging guitars. But she sounds so intense, so serious, so one-note angry most of the time, it all blurs together. The rare time she has fun is on Don't Waste Your Time, yet another kiss-off special, but this one is infused with gritty uplift and a summer-fun chorus. It's such a breath of fresh air, I want to say it's her best song yet.
Rumors have been swirling that American Idol producers have invited Clarkson to join the show's concert tour. She could do a few songs each night, giving the show and her fan base a boost. As a fan of both American Idol and Kelly Clarkson, I think that's a really bad idea. Clarkson cozying up to Sanjaya? That's not good for anybody.
Sean Daly can be reached at sdaly@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8467. His Pop Life blog is at blogs.tampabay.com/popmusic.