Day 111: A song from your all time favorite American Idol contestant.
“Since U Been Gone” – Kelly Clarkson
Oops. I’m out of order. Ah well, it was bound to happen.
So, I’m not a fan of “American Idol.” I don’t watch it and never did. You see, I’m a big believer in working for what you get and learning how to do it right, not winning it in a contest.
And yes, I know there is some work involved in the competition, but still…
I agree with Dave Grohl on the subject:
“When I think about kids watching a TV show like ‘American Idol’ or ‘The Voice,’ then they think, ‘Oh, OK, that’s how you become a musician, you stand in line for eight f***ing hours with 800 people at a convention center and… then you sing your heart out for someone and then they tell you it’s not f***in’ good enough.’ Can you imagine?
“It’s destroying the next generation of musicians! Musicians should go to a yard sale and buy and old f***ing drum set and get in their garage and just suck. And get their friends to come in and they’ll suck, too. And then they’ll f***ing start playing and they’ll have the best time they’ve ever had in their lives and then all of a sudden they’ll become Nirvana. Because that’s exactly what happened with Nirvana. Just a bunch of guys that had some shitty old instruments and they got together and started playing some noisy-ass shit, and they became the biggest band in the world. That can happen again! You don’t need a f***ing computer or the Internet or ‘The Voice’ or ‘American Idol’.”
Not familiar with a song I’ve mentioned?
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That said, “American Idol” winners exist. Their albums are out there. In general, I couldn’t care less. I couldn’t tell you who was on “American Idol,” who the winners were (mostly) or where they are now.
With one exception.
I like Kelly Clarkson.
There. I said it. I admit it before God and country and my small but loyal handful of readers (who should tell two friends, and they’ll tell two friends, and so on, and so on…).
There’s no question that my opinion is not the universal sentiment. (But what is?) Heck, her name was used as curse words in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. You know when that happens there’s a good chunk of the populace that don’t agree with me.
But I think Kelly Clarkson has a good voice, and I respect her for standing up to “the suits” and saying “This is my career and I should decide what musical direction I want to follow.” (Or something along those lines.)
“Since U Been Gone” was a step in that direction, and was the gateway drug to my fandom. I was aware of her first album through someone I used to know well. (Let’s leave it at that.) And that first album is okay. But “Since U Been Gone” rocks, and the sheer surprise and kick-ass vibe of it was a real eye-opener for me. So I listened. And, as it turns out, her Breakaway album, on which “Since U Been Gone” appears, has its fair share of rockers, but also has a nice variety of songs on it.
“Behind These Hazel Eyes” and “Gone” and a number of others are in a similar vein to “Since U Been Gone,” while the title track, and “Where Is Your Heart” are the requisite ballads. But the album is pretty good all the way through.
And she’s managed to keep things going, which, if I’m not mistaken, is more than 90% of winners can say. I think because he had the guts to stand up for herself, she picked up a lot of fans like me who stick around, instead of being the “flavor of the week” and falling off the collective radar (which I suspect has happened to more than one subsequent winner).
Even her “bad” album, My December has some good things on it, like “Never Again” and “Judas” (not to be confused with the Lady Gaga song of the same name).
So yeah. I like her. I’ll take the heat for it.
And let’s be frank, it’s probably no more or less embarrassing than Jim Reeves or Anne Murray.
Right? Maybe? Please?