Kelly Clarkson moves way above and beyond 'American Idol'

IT'S LOOKING increasingly like Kelly Clarkson might be the only "American Idol" who will still matter five years down the road.
Ruben Studdard, the winner of the second season of the reality TV show, came and went. Clay Aiken, runner-up on season two, is apparently lost in "Winter Wonderland," banking on his annual holiday show and headed for a premature career on the county fair circuit.
Fantasia, the 2004 champ, became the first "Idol" winner not to hit No. 1 with a debut record and then turned in a spotty performance as an opener on Kanye West's Bay Area show earlier this month. And, really, it's too early to make a forecast on 2005 "Idol" Carrie Underwood.
On the other hand, the 23-year-old Clarkson — crowned the first "Idol" back in 2002 — is watching as her popularity explodes. Her sophomore effort, "Breakaway," is a runaway hit that features a staggering four hit singles.
But she's not just getting more popular; she's getting better, as well. In doing so, she's accomplishing something no other "Idol" contestant has even been close to managing: beginning to transcend the show.
That's exactly what the crowd witnessed Wednesday night at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. Clarkson came across every bit like a legitimate pop star with a long future in front of her, not some novelty act watching as the clock ticks on her 15 minutes of fame.
The star nearly packed the mammoth hockey arena, drawing a bigger crowd than those turning out to see the Keith Urban and Kanye West concerts earlier this month there. Of course, it didn't hurt that the singer had given away many of the tickets.
Clarkson didn't believe that fans got their money's worth at her September show at the UC Berkeley Greek Theatre, the last gig she played before being diagnosed with bronchitis and was forced to postpone many dates on her tour. She decided to admit those folks for free to Wednesday's concert.
That was nice of her, especially given that the promoter of both shows — the East Bay-based Another Planet — says that fans didn't complain about the Berkeley concert. But, apparently, Clarkson is a little less biased than most fans.
"If you were here at the last show," Clarkson told the San Jose crowd early in the concert, "I owe you a formal apology for the crap you had to listen to."
All apologies should be as enjoyable as the amends the vocalist made Wednesday. In all, it was a much more enjoyable show than the last time Clarkson played the HP Pavilion, when she blew away the headliner, Aiken, back in 2004.
The concert opened in appropriate fashion with a recorded version of AC/DC's "Shook Me All Night Long" — because you just can't think of Clarkson without drawing obvious comparisons to Angus Young — and thousands of young girls wearing Clarkson sweatbands, clutching Clarkson programs and waving Clarkson glow sticks rose from their seats to greet their "Idol." (Note to teenage boys: The girl-to-guy ratio at this show seemed to be roughly 10-to-1.)
Although she has covered all kinds of musical styles, from rowdy country to stylish soul, she obviously wants to be thought of primarily as a rocker, thus the AC/DC intro and the Aerosmith tank-top that she wore at the start of the show. Likewise, she came out rocking and tore through the new album's "Walk Away" and "Miss Independent,'" from 2003's "Thankful."
It was the last night of the tour, and in front of the biggest crowd she has performed for in the United States, Clarkson certainly rose to the occasion. Backed by a solid six-piece rock band, the vocalist mourned her way through the "Breakaway"-track "I Hate Myself for Losing You" and 10,000 young girls sang along like they'd all been there themselves.
She then hit the crowd with a fiery take on the "Thankful"-tune "Low," which is exactly the type of Cher-iffic '80s-rock power ballad that could be huge on country radio these days. Showing her versatility, she turned to her more soulful side for "The Trouble With Love Is," the lead track on her debut album, and returned with the Evanescence-style "Breakaway"-rocker "Addicted."
The main set closed with a revved-up version of the smash-hit "Since U Been Gone," during which Clarkson's road crew came out dressed in San Jose Sharks jerseys and proceeded to have a hockey-style brawl on the stage. Clarkson had to stop singing a few times and laugh at her crew's antics during the song.
Fortunately, these fans knew all the words to the tune and could pick up the slack. And, fortunately, there really wasn't much slack to pick up. Clarkson proved once again with this concert that the first "American Idol" is still the best.