Tags: #zeitgeist, #pop-culture-narratives, #sing-your-heart-out, #notes-app [[0002. idolize no one]] | [[0004. conversation games and developing an opinion]] Lately I've gone down a rabbit hole studying Kelly Clarkson's rise to fame. There's something about her story that resonates with me, and this is my attempt to work through it and clarify **what** exactly resonates with me. --- Kelly Clarkson was the winner of the first season of American Idol, back in the days when American Idol was a novel concept to US audiences. After becoming the first American Idol, she went on to win several Grammys and sell a bunch of albums. Today, she still makes music, but is also a judge on The Voice and hosts a talk show. Somewhat randomly, I’ve been thinking about her a good amount lately for the following reasons: 1. I’ve been seeing tiktoks of The Voice pop up in my For You page (thank you, magical algorithm). This season, Ariana Grande (who I'm a big fan of) is on it, and Ariana and Kelly have great TV chemistry. 2. I've also been seeing tiktoks and random clips of Kelly Clarkson's talk show. 3. I went to karaoke for my birthday a little over a month ago and Because of You, amongst other Kelly Clarkson songs is a classic for those of us that grew up in the 00s. 4. As for the catalyst that pushed me to go down the rabbit hole for tonight -> I saw a tiktok of her final performance of A Moment Like This on American Idol, right after she was declared the winner. Overwhelmed by emotion, her voice cracks a bit throughout the song, and was overall emotional throughout. It was beautiful and endearing! this is the performance -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC21yoI8Di8 I don't know anything about TV editing, but when I watch this performance, knowing that ultimately her career takes off, I can't help but appreciate the storytelling here. You literally see a star being born. Some thoughts: 1. lol at the early 00s fashion. afaik they allowed the contestants to select their own clothing with little to no oversigh, which is a stark contrast to the very intentionally crafted image produced for each contestant in today's Idol. all part of the charm of the show still having no clue what they are doing 2. building on that, the lack of production is fascinating. in those days, Idol was an unproven concept and therefore probably had a shit budget, so it makes sense, but it's so different from the Idol we know today. it’s so raw, unproduced. like....what do you mean all the contestants have to do is get up there and sing? sometimes I catch episodes of the newer seasons and there’s so much production around the performances now. lights, action, choreography, backup dancers, entire bands. I appreciate the early days. there’s beauty in just getting up there, no bells and whistles, and singing your heart out on stage. 3. "some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this" couldn't stage that moment better if i tried. after watching some of Kelly's interviews I learned that prior to Idol she had been in LA trying to make it as an artist for a while. her apartment (?) had burned down and she had just returned home to Texas, got a job as a waitress, shortly before her audition for the show in Texas. She was just looking for something to pay the bills. but she wowed them, she kept wowing us, and the rest is history. 4. "oooh I can't believe it's happening to me" + the crack in her voice due to overwhelming emotion...*chef's kiss*. I fucking love that. I enjoy lots of genres of music, but I particularly gravitate to the “woman sings her heart out about all her feelings and everyone who’s ever wronged her” genre. whitney houston, kelly clarkson, taylor swift, adele, olivia rodrigo. give me my power pop icons all day any day. 5. the camera cutting to her mom and stepdad as her mom cries...because she's watching her baby girl's wildest dreams come true on stage 6. the fucking heavens aka ceiling opening up with a waterfall of light and confetti...it's all very 00s budget "a star is born" 7. the ppl singing with her at the end, kinda cringe but endearing. very unlikely you would see that on any similar show today. if you did, I'd be very suspicious it was scripted. Reminder that at the time of this performance, all Kelly has done is win American Idol. While a great accomplishment, it doesn't prove that the show works, that the show can create an artist that sells records. After this show, Kelly Clarkson goes on to become a huge friggin star, and, with the proof that the show works, American Idol goes on to 20+ more seasons. Idol is not as relevant today as it used to be, but there was a good decade where it drove a not-insignificant amount of American pop culture, turning out stars (with varying degrees of popularity) like Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Adam Lambert, Jordin Sparks, Katharine McPhee. After seeing these tiktoks lately, I'm recalling a ton of memories of Kelly, and watching American Idol in general. I remember sitting down with my parents every week to watch the Idol episode. I remember us rooting for her. (I don’t remember any of the other contestants). I remember using our bulky landline phone to dial in and attempt to vote for her (and contestants in later seasons) almost every week! I remember the voting lines being slammed and having to try again and again to get my vote through. I remember discussing Idol with my friends at school. And I remember singing along to Kelly Clarkson's songs on the radio whenever my parents put on 106.7 light FM on the radio. It's fascinating to dig into the effect that Idol and Kelly have had on my life, when these experiences have mostly been forgotten. In this [tiktok](https://www.tiktok.com/@kellyclarksonshow/video/7009123658115435782?sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6923633876397065733&is_from_webapp=v1&is_copy_url=0) Ariana guests on Kelly's talk show, and they discuss Ariana joining the voice as a judge for her first episode. The way Kelly describes it, the crowd was cheering wildly for Ariana, and Kelly and the other 2 judges were thinking…we have absolutely no chance. Ariana disagrees, she says I don’t think that’s true, Kelly’s like c’mon you’re a huge star, Ariana’s like WDYM KELLY CLARKSON!!!! Cue audience cheers and laughter. Obviously I completely understand where kelly is coming from, right, like Ariana is in her prime, at the height of her fame, Kelly is not. But watching this tiktok, with Kelly and Ariana discussing the Voice, and Ariana alluding to Kelly's fame post-Idol, it feels meta to me, because there's a nonzero chance that The Voice would not exist at all if it weren't for Kelly Clarkson. After American Idol's popularity was proven in the US, similar shows in the talent competition reality tv genre were produced in the US in subsequent years---X-Factor, America's Got Talent, and of course, The Voice. *Would there even be The Voice, if American Idol had not gained the popularity that it did in the 2000s?* *Would American Idol have been as popular as it was, and utterly gripped the American psyche, if Kelly had not joined the show and won? * *Would there be The Voice, if American Idol and Kelly Clarkson hadn’t mutually propelled one another to top ratings and stardom, trailblazing the whole reality tv talent competition show genre?* Maybe, maybe not. But the original Idol judges seem to think no. Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW_BUOvWVNo The original Idol judges - Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson, join Kelly's talk show as guests, and discuss how they don't believe Idol would have caught on as it did if they hadn't found her. I mean, that's the whole premise of the show. Create a new American Idol. Create a star that sells records. And Kelly delivered. Now of course, it's entirely possible, maybe even probable, that if Kelly hadn't won, someone else would have, and I'd be writing a pop culture essay about that person right now. But Kelly won, and the way the story is told today, American Idol's success is her success. --- So, what am I getting at? To summarize, let's clarify what resonates with me about all of this 1. I love the narrative of how the stars align here to mint a new pop icon, popularize a new show, create a whole new genre of show, and change American pop culture. the little details, the butterfly effects, the story the show tells, the fact that the public is ready to receive it, the zeitgeist of the early 00s it all swelled into a perfect storm. I find these stories fascinating. 2. Today, with the amount of production that goes into music, it is refreshing (to me!) to straight up just watch someone sing their heart out by themselves on a stage. In watching back Kelly's performances, and when I think about music performances that I love the most, it's the sheer vulnerability on stage, taking your lived experiences and transforming it into art. the act of singing your heart out. I want to see more of that. I want to do more of that. --- Created: Nov 07, 2021 Last Modified: Nov 08, 2021