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Kelly Clarkson was the first winner of then-Fox’s “American Idol.” She has now gone on to become a superstar singer-songwriter, TV host, and coach on NBC’s “The Voice.”
The first season of “American Idol” premiered on June 11, 2002. The official title at the time was “American Idol: The Search For a Superstar,” and the show aired up until September.
At the season finale, Clarkson was announced to be the winner, and she received a recording contract before immediately releasing her first single “A Moment Like This,” which was first performed at the finale. The song, according to Billboard, broke a 38-year record held by The Beatles for a song’s biggest jump to number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Clarkson later went on to break that record once again with her single “My Life Would Suck Without You.” She has won three Grammy awards and two Daytime Emmy Awards for her talk show “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
Watch Kelly Clarkson’s Original “American Idol” Audition
Clarkson auditioned for “American Idol” when she was just 20 years old, and she told co-hosts Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman that she made her own outfit for the audition.
“I’m gonna be a fashion designer if this doesn’t work out,” she told them before being called into the room with judges Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell.
For her audition song, she sang “Express Yourself” by Madonna. Jackson told her that she worked on that song with Madonna, and when the other judges laughed at him he told them he couldn’t help that he was famous.
“You should be a star! You should try out!” Clarkson told him before running over to take his place on the judging panel so he could “try out” for the show.
The judges then joked with him, telling him that he was going to Hollywood though Cowell said “not in a trillion, million years!”
When it was time to tell Clarkson if she was going to make it, all three of the judges gave her a “yes” to Hollywood, though Cowell told her she had to tell Seacrest he needed to fix his highlights.
Clarkson Still Performs Covers of Songs
Now, Clarkson performs covers of songs on her “Kellyoke” segment of “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
She took on teen sensation Olivia Rodrigo’s hit song “Drivers License.”
She stayed generally faithful to the original version of the song, adding some signature big notes during the bridge and chorus before getting quiet for the line “’cause you said forever/now I drive alone past your street.”
As is usually the case with Clarkson’s covers, fans took to the comments on the YouTube video to tell her how impressed they were.
“She keeps this up on her show and in a few years she can market a few volumes of covers… I’d buy them… MANY of them are as good or BETTER than the originals.. she’s such a strong talent,” one person commented.
One person also commented to say that “This is why she won ‘American Idol.'”
Clarkson is also a judge on NBC’s “The Voice” where she still sings and helps up-and-coming artists find their voice.
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