What a gift her friends gave to the world when they made sure she auditioned for AI. If we had missed out on her talent, the world would be a much less richly adorned place. Go Kelly!!!! Keep making the music that gives us that great pleasure.
Kelly was giving Celine/Mariah/Whitney type performance WEEKLY when she was on Idol. Literally, the judges couldn't say one bad thing-- they tried to downplay Kelly so Tamyra could win, but it backfired. This is perfection
Yes! Especially “The Dog” who’s not even a singer but calls every other singer’s performance pitchy. And how many times did we have to hear him go “Yo!” and “Dog.”
I like how Simon didn’t have anything negative to say...he just said “Thank GOD you entered this competition”...Damn straight, because if she didn’t win, they still wouldn’t be on the air today!!
Kelly is the only AI contestant to show confidence and deliver a performance with such star presence.from the way she moves & glides on stage, to her facial expressions, and how she interacts with the audience. from day 1 she already acted like a star, proving she was a PRO. all other contestants that i seen, til this day perform on the show like AMATURES, not knowing what to do or stand on stage, or have blank expressions. She was so confident. every other winner never performed like this!!!
Wow Watching this all years later I can see how much of a strategist Kelly was. Obviously, she is a genuine person but she also took the competition very seriously with her song selections and it paid off!
Kelly Clarkson nailed every single performance on AI. She was consistent throughout and a true performer. AI can only dream to see talent like this again on the show.
See how receptive she is to constructive criticism? She's there to learn and grow!See how much thought she put into the quick change of choice? Smart lady. Now look at her on her own huge show of positivity! Much love 🤩 💕
And now nearly 20 years later---everyone can see that...Kelly is the one who has more musical talent-- than ANY of the judges---by FAR.... Kelly is so versatile and can sing all musical styles---she is easily the BEST AMERICAN IDOL---of ALL-----
I don't know how well she can perform the other song, but this Walk on by performance showcase her talent so well, powerful and in control! seem like yesterday
and i believe kellys choice for changing the song to "walk on by" was a GREAT decision..the other song wasnt as soulful, this is amazing!! Kelly knows whats best for her, and it totally worked! she nailed this song, she needs to sing it concert like she did with "stuff like that there"
Great version of this classic Burt Bacharach & Hal David tune. With hope this will get the younger generation to listen to the classic tunes that Dionne Warwick recorded, and while they're at it maybe they'll get hip to the bossa nova classics as well.
Yeah, but Simon wanted her out at the start, he said "I just don't like this girl" when she sang Save the Best for Last. Simon has totally taken credit for Kelly's success when in fact it was Randy and Paula who supported her from the start.
I wish I could hear the whole version of this on an album! I hate when they really do "redo" this on a cd then the producers water it down and make Kelly and the other singers "water it down" leaving out the conviction, urgency and excitement from these live performances!
idk what was wrong with Paula & Randy, but this is my favorite american idol performance of Kelly.. its so soulful and she showcased her voice so well! she made it her own and sounded so beautiful!! so powerful and great control. she is even better nowadays, but damn this is one amazing performance. the original doesnt even sound like this, she makes every cover sound even better, she puts her own style into it.... Randy must have been high to say "it wasnt your greatest", she needed more credit
Same. It shows off a lot of her range. Sometimes I forget that Dione Warwick originally sang it because I've listened to this version soooooo many times.
AI got EXTREMELY lucky with Kelly being in the first season!! I truly feel like if she weren't there, the show wouldn't have gotten nearly the amount of popularity and credibility that it did, and even Simon said that later too!! The most ironic thing about it all is that they didn't even give Kelly air time until they HAD TO in the top 30!! Yes, Simon was right here in predicting she'd become a huge star by the end, but towards the beginning, Simon wanted to let her go by the Hollywood rounds and she got to the top 30 pretty much because of Paula and Randy...
For everyone bitching about how Kelly sang the song: are you all forgetting that the contestants that week were personally coached by Burt Bacharach himself? If he had an issue with how she sang the song, he most like would have coached her into singing it a different way, but alas, he did not. So if her rendition of the song is good enough for the man who WROTE the damn thing, then the rest of us can have a seat.
Wow! This was the first performance I saw of her when IDOL was on TV, and I knew she would win. I had no idea how HUGE she would be, but hearing SIMON predict she will be huge should be a testiment to simons knowledge of the music industry...Kelly to this day is better than any other winner of Idol...and yes, Carrie Underwood is overrated...
LOVE this bluesy version. Definitely one of my favorites from her! Don't think she's oversinging--she was competing after all! (How prophetic were Simon's comments?)
@s3kfan I agree. It's bittersweet for me tho cuz this was my grandma's favorite song. But this truly is the one performance of kelly's that stands out.
@Israel85324 exactly. There is no doubt about Kelly's vocal talent. But this song is not meant to be performed in this way. She took the meaning and vulnerability out of it. This how you might sing Respect or I Will Survive. And her vocals are very brash and not smooth. Not that I don't think Kelly can deliver that kind of vocal as well. She can. But this performance to me didn't sound good. Definitely oversang. Aretha is an example of a more powerful version that isn't so "Yelly".
wow!!! she's pretty amazing!!! if i hadnt see this vid.. i wouldnt hv known shes a belter.. & the stage presence.. wow!!! shell be on the ranks of tamyra gray, carrie underwood, melinda doolittle..
