Kelly Clarkson famously won the first season of “American Idol” and has since become one of its most successful winners, but she did not initially know what she had signed up for.
During a recent interview on Kylie Kelce’s podcast, “Not Gonna Lie,” the 42-year-old singer shared she was not aware that what she was doing was going to be televised until later on in the audition process.
“For all of us in that first season, we literally didn’t … I didn’t even know it was a TV show until my third audition,” she explained. “Like, we were literally trying to pay our bills. We’re like, ‘Oh, this might work. I might meet someone or whatever.’ Nobody knew it was gonna amount to anything.”
She went on to explain that when she was competing as a 19-year-old, the only thing on her mind was to potentially make enough money “to pay my electric bill,” or to be able to “afford the deductible on my car that was bashed in that I couldn’t afford.”
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Although there were other singing competition shows on television at the time, such as “Pop Stars,” Clarkson explained the contestants on the first season of “American Idol” had no idea what could come from being on the show. She said “it was a different thing” from even the second season, because her first single “Miss Independent” had already come out, and the incoming contestants had seen the potential for success.
Following her big win, Clarkson released her debut album, “Thankful,” in 2003. Its success led her to release her second album, “Breakaway,” which included some of her biggest hits, such as “Since U Been Gone,” “Behind These Hazel Eyes” and “Because of You.” She has since won three Grammy Awards and received 17 nominations.
Later in the interview, Kelce brought up the opening segment on her talk show, “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” called “Kellyoke,” during which Clarkson sings covers of other artists’ popular songs. She then defended current artists against people who claim she sings their songs better than they do.
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“If I sang those songs right now that I sang on ‘Idol,’ 20 some years ago, they would sound better now. I was all right, but it’s just like you’re a better singer because you have time and experience, and I’ve been given the time for that,” she said. “They don’t have that anymore for artists. I’m just saying, I sound different than I sounded then.”
When Kelce told her, “You were outstanding then too,” Clarkson responded, “I don’t agree. I’ve seen it, and I was like, ‘How did I win?’ It makes me sweat thinking about it.”
The “Stronger” singer then explained how lonely it was to be the first winner, saying “I had no one…it was hard.” While she didn’t name any names, she shared that people in the industry “were really mean” and “hated talent shows.”
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“They didn’t like it,” she told Kelce. “It took the industry kind of by storm, the talent shows. It was a very unlikable thing in the industry concerning the populous. Now there’s so many.”
Her experiences helped shape her judging style when she signed on to appear on “The Voice” as a coach during its 14th season in 2018, alongside Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Alicia Keys.
“People like us who have been there in that audition process and just being so judged instantaneously, on maybe not your best performance, but you know you can do better … it’s a grueling thing and it’s unforgiving in a lot of ways,” Clarkson said. “And a lot of pressure for these artists that I don’t think a lot of artists that sell tons of records would be able to handle. It’s a different thing.”
