The Future of Kelly

There has been so much news surrounding Kelly Clarkson recently that you can't help but wonder how it's going to affect her and her career. Back in April we got word that Clive Davis didn't like her new album and wanted to scrap the whole thing and get professional writers to write new songs for her (Kelly either wrote or co-wrote her entire album). Then, at the Idol finale Clive takes a dig at her by saying that Carrie and Daughtry were so sucessful because of the professional writers they had for their albums. The Kelly announces that she's going to release the new album regardless of what Clive thinks because it's so personal and it's what she's about right now. Then goes on to say in an interview that she's never been in love, never said "I Love You" to anyone, doesn't give a crap about fame, money or celebrity, and is just all about the music. Then her album leaked and people got a sneak peek at what everyone was talking about. And most recently we get the news that her ticket sales are so low that she's cancelled her summer tour. That's a lot that's been happening in two months. And on the eve of her new album dropping we have to stop and wonder "has everyone suddenly turned against Kelly?"

Well from my perspective, I'm glad that Kelly is actually standing up for what she believes in and is trying to do her own thing. It's so hard to do that in the music industry when it's all about sales. Not to mention that she still has Idol attached to her persona. But, having listened to all the official sneaks (basically anything that is on AOL Music) I think I'm actually agreeing with Clive on this one. I liked Never Again, but I didn't love it (but it has grown on me a lot). And the three other clips from AOL Music didn't really impress me at all. In fact, the three clips were so different from each other that it made me wonder if she really knows what kind of an artist she is yet. The styles are so different from each other. While that's not a bad thing if you do it album to album, it's a little distracting when you do it song to song. The album won't have a cohesive flow to it. When AOL released the full version of the second single Sober I listened to it and wasnt' expecting much but i LOVED it. I think that's the song that could save Kelly from falling into a disaster with this album. The song is very heartfelt and the music is simple and gorgeous. I am very excited to see how that one does.

I am concerned about Kelly's ticket sales. Maybe she just isn't ready to sell out arenas. But that really does surprise me when she's one of the biggest artists on the planet right now. Plus Britney can sell out arenas and she doesn't even sing at her conerts. I'm hoping this whole thing is not some sort of backlash against her because of what Clive said. Maybe she just isn't ready yet but once this album drops and some new songs get released she'll be right back up there.

Even though i'm very skeptical of this new album (and I really hope I'm proven wrong) I will be at Virgin Megastore right at midnite to buy it. I am very excited to hear the full product and see what she has in store for us. I hope that she is able to prove Clive and other critics wrong. Good Luck Kelly!