What's All That Kelly Ever Wanted?

HONG KONG — Of course, there was no mention about, hmmmm, “weight” when I had a one-on-one with Kelly Clarkson, the first ever American Idol who won the now-coveted title seven years ago when the show conceptualized by Simon Cowell was not as super-hot as it is today.

You see, her detractors have been “bullying” Kelly about her weight, which she dismisses in an Internet interview with a shrug, “For seven years it’s been happening. It’s like, OK cool, the fat joke...All I can say is that I love my body. I’m very much OK with it. I don’t think artists are ever the ones who have the problem with their weight, it is other people.”

Very true! Instead, I asked Kelly about her fourth album, All I Ever Wanted (released by SonyBMG), which was exactly what she came here for — the album promo which, who knows, one of these days might bring Kelly to the Philippines. Keep your fingers crossed, Kelly-lovers!

Take your pick of the 12 songs on the album, three of which Kelly performed during a showcase the night before the following Conversation: My Life Would Suck Without You, I Do Not Hook Up, Cry, Don’t Let Me Stop You, All I Ever Wanted, Already Gone, If I Can’t Have You, Save You, Whyyawannabringmedown, Long Shot, Impossible and Ready.

“I just want to be able to look back at this album and be proud, and to think, ‘Man, that was awesome!’”

With All I Ever Wanted, Kelly demonstrates her eagerness to continue branching out, and to push her music in new and unexpected directions. Though she has sold over 20 million records around the world; landed eight singles in the Top 10; and won Grammys, MTV Video Music Awards, American Music Awards, and even been nominated for a CMA Award, she maintains that she’s far more interested in challenging than in repeating herself.

In person, Kelly is warm; she easily connected to people. A minute into the Conversation and you felt as if you’ve known each other for years. When you asked her if you could have your photo with her, she obliged with a smile, nodding at you to sit beside her. Pretty cool, as her favorite expression would put it.

How has it been being American Idol these past seven years?

“Hmmmm. It’s been pretty cool. I’ve gotten to travel a lot and make some albums. So it’s been...yeah, pretty cool.”

I’m sure a lot of things in your life have changed.

“Yeah. For one thing, I can pay my bills.” (Laughs)  

How was the transition from being an unknown to being a superstar? What were the trials along the way?

“I think mine was so severe. It’s been quite surreal; everything happened pretty much overnight. But fame hasn’t changed the real me at all. I still live in Texas and I’m still ‘normal,’ surrounded by my family and the same friends. When I’m at work, I really work so much and so hard.”

So you keep old friends...

“Yeah, same old friends and some really new great ones.”

Any pre-American Idol activities that you miss, maybe going to the mall?

“Hmmmm. I still do that — go to the mall. I don’t know. I’m not really the type of person who misses something; if I do miss something I just do it. Come to think of it, I don’t really miss anything. I still go to the grocery which can be harder now because people stop to talk to me all the time. But it’s pretty cool, especially when they say, ‘I like your album!’ Pretty cool. Hahahaha!”    

How do you deal with the lack of privacy?

“I live in Texas, in the middle of nowhere, pretty isolated. It’s definitely not living in New York. When I go home, I spend time with my family. We are a pretty tight group.”

You won American Idol seven years ago. Do you still remember the night-before feeling? You must have been on pins and needles, you know.

“I mean, the night before I remember being so tired because some of the other finalists and I have been going back and forth between L.A. and New York. We were soooo tired that the only thing we wanted was to sleep; we just wanted the competition night to be over. We were the first season AI and we didn’t really know what to do and what to expect. We were running rugged.”

How was your group different from the succeeding ones, like that of the two Davids, Cook and Archuleta, who were in Manila recently for a back-to-back concert?

“Well, being the first batch, not many people followed the competition the way millions of people do now. We were just a bunch of kids in a choir camp...as if we were at play and not in a competition. No one expected the show to blow up, no one knew that anyone could be successful from it. We had a different perspective. Now, people know what could and what would happen, so (the contestants) are much more competitive now.”

Have you been following AI, maybe on TV, since you won?

“I mean, I try to but they always seem to have a show right when I’m on tour or when I’m overseas. I can catch portions of it but never the full season. I watch when I can. I love it.”

In the recent AI when the contest was between Adam Lambert and Kris Allen (the winner), did you ever vote...for whom?

“You know, I never voted for myself...I never voted for anyone. I’ve never voted at all! I don’t know why. It takes a lot of commitment. Hehehe!”

What about the morning-after feeling? You must have been euphoric.

“Honestly? I was not. I was really tired, I was so exhausted that, again, all I wanted was to sleep. As I said, it was an overnight thing and it was so surreal. I didn’t even feel it until the next week.”

Is there any trick to or secret in winning AI?

“Hmmmm. I simply rehearsed. I looked at the whole experience as fun. I didn’t think of winning; I thought only of enjoying the whole thing. Maybe that’s the trick — just enjoy it.”

Your album is titled All I Ever Wanted. What’s all that you ever wanted?

“Hmmmm. It sounds cheesy but all I ever wanted to do is make music and that’s really my core focus. The fame part is only incidental. I just love music, I love singing and writing, so...”

Which song on the album is closest to your heart...which speaks of the essence of Kelly Clarkson?

“Ready or Cry. Not that either of them speaks of the essence of me.

I love songs when they are like super-vulnerable, whether I’m writing them or somebody else has written them. I’m just really into the vulnerable side of a human being.”

Do you cry over love songs or sad movies?
“Oh yes, I do. I even cry over a Kodak commercial; I cry over anything. I think most girls are like that. Very sentimental.”

Didn’t you want to be somebody else, not a singer?

“Hmmmm. I wanted to dance when I was a little girl and changed my mind as I grew up, and I started wanting to be a singer. So that’s it — all I ever wanted was to be a singer.”

Who are your musical influences?

“Bette Midler. Aerosmith. Aretha Franklin. I like different styles of music.”

Do you still get starstruck when you are face-to-face with your idols?

“Oh yes, yes, I do! All the time. Either I get extremely quiet, tongue-tied; or I keep on talking about just anything.”

What’s your most embarrassing moment so far?

“When I met Mariah Carey. I was with Randy Jackson, one of the judges of American Idol, and we were on a radio show. I didn’t know I was gonna meet Mariah, so I was speechless as soon as I saw her walk into the room and couldn’t say a word when she was in front of me. But she was very nice; she just laughed. She was very cool.”

You’ve been pretty busy. How do you spend your free time?

“When I’m home, I hang out with my family because I seldom see them since I’m on the road a lot. We do everything we normally do. We play golf. Yes, I play golf now.”

Did you come from a musical family?

“Nobody else in my family sings but my whole family loves music. I come from a colorful family; some of us are conservative and some are like way-out. I have an older sister and an older brother, and two younger brothers on my dad’s side.”

Quite a big family. How do they react to your being a superstar?

“Oh, my brothers love it. My sister loves it, too, because she loves traveling and she sometimes travels with me.”

What’s the best lesson that you learned from American Idol?

“It was a good preparation for life.... keeping things honest and straightforward.”

My favorite parting shot: Describe Kelly Clarkson in three words.

“Crazy. Super-passionate. Super-driven.”

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