Kaito "Go"

What a good band they were.

Also, by request, here's that Clive Davis interview with the snippet of "Suck" buried in the background:

More on Kelly Clarkson's new single! [MJ's Big Blog]
Kaito - Go [MySpace]

Guess this means you're sorry
You're standing at my door
Guess this means you take back
What you said before
Like how much you wanted
Anyone but me
Said you'd never come back
But here you are again

Cuz we belong together now
Forever united here somehow
You got a piece of me
And honestly
My life would suck without you

Maybe I was stupid for telling you goodbye
Maybe I was wrong for tryin' to pick a fight
I know that I've got issues
But you're pretty messed up too
Anyway, I found out I'm nothing without you

Cuz we belong together now
Forever united here somehow
You got a piece of me
And honestly
My life would suck without you

Being with you is so dysfunctional
I really shouldn't miss you, but I can't let go
Oh yeah

Cuz we belong together now
Forever united here somehow
You got a piece of me
And honestly
My life would suck without you

Kelly Clarkson Shares New Single's Lyrics [PopEater; HT Reed Fischer]

The cover from Kelly Clarkson's "comeback" single was discussed a bit in the comments for yesterday's 2009 predictions post, but I figured it deserved a thread of its own, since reactions have been pretty polarizing. Is it a sign that Kelly is really, really being punished for the flop of My December by being forced into a Katy Perry-like makeover, complete with crappy oral sex jokes (note the lollipop)? Is the title "ironic"? (I'd guess the answer to that one is "probably.") Where do you find a font that has a "K" with a devil tail? What does this mean for the pyro-to-vocals ratio of her inevitable American Idol appearance? (Also, what's that shade of lipstick she's wearing? I think it would look pretty good on me, to be honest.)

Not everyone is as wary of the cover as I am, of course: Reactions from commenters yesterday that were positive included "looks like an album cover from 1977" and "I love the kinda Annie-ish tone to it. " And British pop omnivore Tom Ewing thinks that it looks like a Pulp single. Maybe I'm just scarred by the last year of American pop—particularly "Suck" writer Max Martin's credit on "I Kissed A Girl"—to think of these much better antecedents for the above imagery.

[HT: Nunya B, scrollr]

1. New albums by Franz Ferdinand, Bruce Springsteen, Roger Manning Jr., Lily Allen, Erykah Badu (!), Neko Case, Kelly Clarkson, etc., etc. And those are just the bands who a) have sorta-set release dates (although we all know how they can change) and b) I'm familiar with.

2. And, OK, the U2 record. If nothing else, it'll be a useful benchmark for just how big pop music can still be in the face of plunging record sales and ever-diminishing interest on the part of anyone who can be described as a casual music fan, what with music getting ever less airtime from the corners of the earth that confer any sort of cultural influence.

3. And wait, more Prince! In an interview with Ann Powers previewed on the Los Angeles Times' site yesterday, the Purple One said he's planning to release three albums in 2009, and that he wants to bring back the Quiet Storm sound via his latest protege, Bria Valente. Why? Because he "got sick of waiting for Sade to make a new album." Sure, the surfeit of material probably means there'll be hits and misses, but there'll probably at least one diamond and/or pearl in the rough. (Plus maybe he'll tour!)

4.. Springsteen at the Super Bowl. C'mon, this is a gimme.

5. Ida Maria is coming to the States. Her album will be legit-released on iTunes imminently, according to her American label head, although her live dates over here are just scheduled for NYC and LA for now. I'm pretty sure that my pattern of loving Scandinavian artists who are cruelly ignored by 99.9% of the American populace will hold steady with her, but I'm still excited. (See also Alphabeat. Yes, they're opening for the human jar of itching powder that is Katy Perry, but it's not like I'll be locked into the venue and forced to watch her set at dildo-point. At least, uh, I hope not.)

6. Maybe the recession will cause at least some of the dopey "music should be free" Web 2.0 pundits to take their heads out of the tag cloud and be OK with, you know, paying artists and realizing that silly ideas like "1,000 True Fans" are sort of dependent on said "True Fans" having "True Sources Of Income"? I know, I know, I'm hoping that people who love to hear themselves talk will realize their irrelevance and dopiness and maybe realize that they should devote their hours to helping people instead of talking out of their collective Twitterholes. A tall order. But it's New Year's Day—what better time to dream, right?

7. The end of "credit bubblegum." Having reached its nadir with Fergie's shrill, Sex And The City-shilling "Labels Or Love," this subgenre of pop—in which barked-out brand names fill in for lyrics, and the music's quality is judged by how "hot" it sounds over a booming sound system at one of those shitty bottle-service clubs—will seem even more gauche as the world gobbles aspirins for its debt-fueled hangover. Just pray that Barack Obama's economic stimulus package doesn't involve a "Flo Rida provision" for any musician who wants to help kickstart the economy by endorsing American-made designer products.

8. More opportunities for 50 Centenfreude. See above for the reasoning, and note that his MTV competitive-reality show about power and money and not being here to make friends was scuttled because it "typified the kind of ethos MTV is trying to move away from," according to Variety. (Yeah, so it got replaced by the inanely scripted, yet curiously dialogue-free adventures of bubbleheaded socialities, but any setback for Curtis is a good thing.) Will Before I Self-Destruct—which, recall, was originally going to come out last February—be the Her Name Is Nicole of late-'00s hip-hop? God that would be so awesome.

9. Hey, you never know. If you had told me a year ago today what my favorite albums and songs and concerts of the year would have been, I probably wouldn't have believed you. Beyonce's sister? The Gym Class Heroes? Billy Freaking Joel? That's the great thing about music, though; it can hit you in the best, most unexpected ways, even in this era when it's seemingly lost all its value and afforded about as much cultural capital as 15th-century epic poetry. That's ultimately the reason I'm excited for the next clutch of days: Hope. Maybe it's corny, but it's true.

Platinum Weird - "Taking Chances"

That's DioGuardi on lead vocals.

Kelly Clarkson - "Walk Away"

This video perfectly captures my reaction to this track.

Hilary Duff - With Love

Ashlee Simpson - La La

Time has not been kind to this track. (Christ, her voice.)

Katharine McPhee - "Love Story"

A song that deserved better. At least McPhee's Idol appearance helped kickstart her acting career, right?

Lindsay Lohan - "Confessions Of A Broken Heart"

I wonder if this means this year will have "Inappropriate Overshare Week."

Celine Dion - "Taking Chances"

Does this mean we're going to have a Celine Dion mentor week? Dare to dream.

GRAMMY-NOMINATED SONGWRITER KARA DIOGUARDI JOINS PAULA ABDUL, SIMON COWELL AND RANDY JACKSON AS JUDGE ON "AMERICAN IDOL" [Press release via The Futon Critic]

Kelly Clarkson, 25, a pop singer who gained national attention by winning the inaugural "American Idol" competition in 2002, will sing several of her standards for the youths awaiting the pope in Yonkers April 19.

When the pope arrives, she will sing "Ave Maria" by Franz Schubert. Through her publicist, she said, "I was so excited to be asked to sing for the pope! I grew up singing church music, and it's always been a dream of mine to perform 'Ave Maria.' To have that dream come true on such a special occasion is truly a blessing."

Clarkson, who was raised Baptist, will return from a European performance tour as the pope arrives in the United States.

"Several of her standards" for the pre-Papal audience? Why do I have a feeling nothing from My December will be on the bill?

Singers who will perform for pope consider it a singular experience [Catholic News Service via MJ's Big Blog]

1. Axl Rose
Just saying.

2. Any pop-metal singer that can still shriek
Sebastian Bach. Tom Kiefer. Taime Downe. Steve Whiteman. Ian Astbury. Vince Neil. Ronnie James Dio. Jack Russell. Melissa Etheridge. Just not that dude from Tesla. Did you see that Station Family Fund benefit? That voice is gone. Ouch. I'm talking "DuckTales, ooh-ooh."

3. Rod Stewart
Velvet Revolver needs somebody who can sing. Rod Stewart needs someone who can get him off the "Great Clive Davis Songbook" train and back on a Faces trip. I used to say Rod The Mod should lead Audioslave (DID I BLOW YOUR MIND? GOOD.), but it looks like that band has got its Rage on again, so seize the opportunity to work with a legend, Slash. Duff. Matt. The guy with the skullcap.

4. Courtney Love
Think of the publicity!

5. Kelly Clarkson

Failing this, they could always call up Amanda Overmeyer. Doubt she's busy.

Slash: 'Velvet Revolver might continue without Scott Weiland' [NME
[Photo: WENN]

Davis, chairman and chief executive officer of the BMG Label Group, said he has seen many entertainers lose their careers by not concentrating on finding hit songs — no matter who they are written by..."I don't care how many No. 1's you have written in the past, have you written a new No. 1?" When [Whitney] Houston came to him after her second or third album and asked if she should start writing songs, he said: "Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra didn't write, and they are among Time magazine's greatest artists of the century."

Let's break down the numerous ways Davis is wrong, shall we?

First, if you need any more proof that Clive has as little concern for music as he does for his morning cup of coffee, it does not even cross his mind that a singer might be more interested in pursuing a particular artistic vision than in getting a hit, or that ideally you should be able to do the two things simultaneously. Now, look, I understand that Clive's a businessman. He's the chairman, after all, and when he's hearing from the stockholders, they're not going to ask about compression quality. But if he's going to represent himself as someone who matters for music, as the boy with the golden ear, then he has to acknowledge that his job is to get between the artist and the moneymen to let the artist do what they want to do. The article invokes the Kelly Clarkson affair, and apparently Davis still thinks that an agressively underpromoted album that he publicly bad-mouthed sold a mere 700k units because the artist co-wrote some of the songs.

More importantly, though, it highlights just how behind the times Clive is. Besides the fact that singers co-writing with hit producers account for some of the biggest hits of the day, singers have been writing their own songs for some time now. For almost anyone getting into pop music, having the option to write your own songs goes without saying. So if you were a hot new artist, why would you want to sign with a label whose boss comes out and says your artistic ambitions are stupid and unprofitable?

I love pop songs written by professional songwriters. But surely there's room for both in this rapidly shrinking music business, right, Clive? I know you sit at that big old desk and every afternoon around three the shakes really start, and you can see the future laid before you, and it looks kinda like the post-apacolyptic scenes in the Terminator movies. But that's no reason to badmouth art, is it, Clive?

Clive Davis urges singers to stop writing songs [Reuters]

Videos consisting solely of live performance and publicity clips are on thin ice to begin with, as they basically have only editing to save them from total banality. And unfortunately, it seems that nobody at KC Express HQ read the Windows Media Maker help guide. There are a few meek dissolves toward the beginning of the video, but other than that the clip is an uninspired series of nondescript clips (Kelly posing for a photo shoot, doing a touchdown dance, etc.), most of which are inexplicably in black and white. Not even the classic tribute video sepia treatment! It's disheartening, to say the least.

All that being said, this is not by any means an assault on the Kelly Clarkson Express, who obviously have their hearts in the right place, but simply lack the resources to edit together a decent video. The real culprit in this tragedy is Clive Davis and his refusal to promote a song with as much potential as "How I Feel." While My December may not have been the hit machine that Davis was hoping for, he could have, at the very least, given this song a try on the radio. It's not stop-you-dead-in-your-tracks pop gold like "Since U Been Gone"—so few things are, really—but it's a better-than-decent song, and it's got something that so many other songs of its ilk lack: lyrics.

Obviously, most pop songs have articulations that form words, but "How I Feel" is like a good old-fashioned song where the singer actually says something of personal importance to him or her. I like that grating Colbie Caillat song as much as the next sucker, but the lyrics—despite their ostensibly very personal nature—are still high-sheen and empty. Not that Kelly Clarkson is all of a sudden Joni Mitchell these days, but there's certainly a heftier element to "How I Feel," and that comes in part from its less conventional, more specific lyrics. It's a solid pop song with just the slightest hint of integrity, and it's a real shame that its marketing has been left to enthusiastic but ultimately powerless fan clubs.

Maybe the solution here is a call to the tribute-video community, who tend to be unfailingly strange, yet occasionally successful in their music video adventures. After all, look what they did for "Breakaway."

The swanky black and gold square-shaped invitation has four pages of past dinner performers. The book opens with Alicia Keys, and continues with such Davis stalwarts as Whitney Houston, Rod Stewart, Annie Lennox, Barry Manilow, Fantasia and Jennifer Hudson.

But it's the fourth page that's most interesting. Diana Ross in the upper left hand corner. Rob Thomas and Carlos Santana are next to her. Below that pair is Clarkson, by herself. And to Clarkson's left is the duo of Usher and Kanye West.

Clarkson should be thrilled, and relieved. Her inclusion in the book is a telltale sign that Davis is ready to work with her again after that unfortunate mess. "She should be so lucky" is an expression that comes to mind.

Or, you know, perhaps Davis realized that this sort misstep was kind of normal for an artist who's still trying to grow past the 19 Entertainment-supplied box she was given, and low on the totem pole compared to other proteges of his who went astray.

Kelly Clarkson: All Is Forgiven [Fox 411]

"Survivor" by Destiny's Child
Pro: Very motivational; encourages you not to give up on your brushing, and maybe work harder to floss.
Con: You'll probably be forced to ask yourself every morning, "Hey, what ever happened to Kelly Rowland?"

"We're All in This Together" from High School Musical
Pro: Reminds you that people all over the world have to brush their teeth, too; you are not alone.
Con: You have to hear the lyric "All our dreams have no limitations" twice a day, every day, reminding you that your dreams do have limitations, and that the only reason you're up so early brushing your damn teeth is because you tried to follow your dreams and it just didn't work out. Bummer!

"Walk Away" by Kelly Clarkson
Pro: Nice brushing tempo; catchy, but innocuous enough for a daily ritual.
Con: May inspire you to walk away before your two minutes of dentist-recommended brushing are done.

"Pumpin' Up the Party" by Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus
Pro: Might convince you that you're on the way to a party every morning.
Con: Reminds you of how Hannah Montana is single-handedly taking down Western Civilization.

Theme from Rocky
Pro: Gets you pumped!
Con: Maybe too pumped?

"Rock & Roll All Night" by KISS
Pro: Novelty conversation piece.
Con: Wait... you can't rock & roll all night! You just brushed your teeth!

Tooth Tunes [hasbro.com]

It's not on the "wildly inappropriate" level of Missy Elliott dedicating "One Minute Man" to Aaliyah at the 2001 Video Music Awards, but Kelly Clarkson's halftime performance at yesterday's Cowboys-Jets game was certainly full of curious messages. A screamy run-through of the "see ya" troika of "Since U Been Gone," "Walk Away," and "Never Again"—in honor of raising awareness of one's fellow woman? While she's backed by skimpily clad cheerleaders, which only called more attention to Kelly's black shroud? Kelly, Kelly. I thought hiring Reba McEntire's manager would help you not make these sorts of bad decisions, but now I'm starting to worry. Also, really, isn't there another song off My December that you can pretty up for these sorts of appearances? I know that you're allegedly working on your big pop comeback, but you could at least try to keep flogging it around town.

Kelly Clarkson - Never Again [YouTube via ONTD]

From: *redacted*
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 09:50:00 -0400
Subject: this video rocks

Kelly Clarkson filmed the most amazing new video.
Get it before it comes out. Click on the link to pull it off my server:
[link to page that I stupidly clicked on for "research" purposes and that doesn't have video, but does have a link to an executable file and a really scary-looking script in its source, deleted]

From American Idol to the seediest corners of the Internet (non-porn variety): Oh, how the mighty have fallen. But take heart, Kelly: As someone who's been blacklisted from many a mailserver through no fault of her own (don't ask), just remember, these scumbags are using your name because they know that it inspires goodwill. Maybe you should get one step ahead of their next missive and work some sort of endorsement deal out with Symantec? At the very least, it'd vault you into pinup status among the geeks.

Toward the tail end of a rant about the death of the art movie—wherein she claims that the only U.S. flick of the last few decades that can stand with the works of the recently deceased Bergman and Antonioni is the Godfather (sure, why not) and that only all six parts of Star Wars can be considered a modern classic (uh, even the Jar Jar one?)—and her favorite bugbear, the narcisscism and plastic vacuity of post-boomer America, the cantankerous old coot claims that Kelly C's "Irvine," which she heard thanks to that patron of the arts Matt Drudge, has redeemed her faith in rock music. "The spare live production, with its ascending changes and haunting ornamental guitar slides, is gorgeous," she writes. "As long as music of this quality is being made, the American fine arts will revive." Whoa, not just rock, but all of American fine arts, right up there with Winslow Homer and Vincent Gallo. Kelly might want to print this out for the next time she has a meeting with Clive Davis.

Art Movies: R.I.P. [Salon via Wired]

It would be extremely charitable to consider what Davis does a form of artistic patronage, but even still, who is going to think more favorably of the Medici family than Michaelangelo, Raphael, or other artists who may share names with Ninja Turtles? I suppose the easy answer is "unhinged capitalists who only think in numbers and resent all forms of artistic ambition or expression," but maybe I'm being old-fashioned, and Friedman et al are on the same wavelength as those who insist that DJs and other people who manipulate and contextualize pop culture are the truly important artists in this Web 2.0 world.

Perhaps Clive Davis isn't just "the record industry's most astute executive maybe of all time, " but in fact the most important artist maybe of all time.

Y'know, maybe.

Kelly Clarkson Gets the Message, Returns to Pop [Fox News]

"There has been quite a bit of controversy surrounding the release of "My December," much of which has focused on a supposed feud with my record label, in particular, Clive Davis. I want to set the record straight on this by saying that I want my band, my advisors, those close to me and my record label to be one big, tightly knit family. Like any family we will disagree and argue sometimes but, in the end, it's respect and admiration that will keep us together. A lot has been made in the press about my relationship with Clive. Much of this has been blown way out of proportion and taken out of context. Contrary to recent characterizations in the press, I'm well aware that Clive is one of the great record men of all time. He has been a key advisor and has been an important force in my success to date. He has also given me respect by releasing my new album when he was not obligated to do so. I really regret how this has turned out and I apologize to those whom I have done disservice. I would never intentionally hurt anyone. I love music, and I love the people I am blessed to work with. I am happy that my team is behind me and I look forward to the future."

KELLY CLARKSON // Special Announcement [kellyclarkson.com]

A common argument for why critics should beat up on mainstream pop music was the fact that it didn't need the help. Pop music had achieved such omnipresent dominance that championing it would be as individually insignificant an act as voting for a major-party Presidential candidate. But nowadays mainstream acts do seem to need the help, as major labels lack the funds to make them ubiquitous and the public cares more about voting for them than listening to them. Music's cultural importance has perhaps never been lower in America: while a TV show with a million viewers is considered a failure, you get a platinum plaque for selling a million albums. Sure, it costs more money and time to buy a CD than to watch a TV show—but that fact is precisely why we find ourselves in the present state of affairs.

And so as the record industry floats gently toward rock bottom, maybe critics are realizing that it's not just that things are changing, but that something has been lost, that a creative method is slowly ceasing to exist. Sure, the means were and are deplorable. But check out those ends! Without the supposedly artistically bankrupt major-label system of songwriters and producers for hire creating an artist's sound and style for—and/or with—them, we wouldn't have "Heartbreak Hotel," or "Like a Prayer," or "Since U Been Gone." And without the products of pop's manufacturing line, the music made by all those small, artistically respectable artists critics are supposed to champion might be very different—or might not even exist at all.

My December and Kelly Clarkson here represent the last change for the system to function at peak capacity, to match a hungry, adventurous, golden-eared young phenom with the best talent money can buy, and to produce an album like Off the Wall or a single like "Heart of Glass." Instead, in the view of most critics, it's just another crappy self-written rock album, and worse, one that doesn't even do the one thing rock albums can still uniquely do: exude bland authenticity (to confused white people). With Kelly going her own way, the era has perhaps officially ended for big-budget rock albums, and for all the sins of such gilded enterprises, a method's just a method, and this one produced some classics. In the end, its erasure means new rock bands' possibilities are circumscribed. Nevermore will a guitar act with members younger than 30 find itself in a $30,000-a-day studio with Desmond Child and the London Philharmonic. Even if that scenario doesn't sound too desirable to you, in a genre ossifying itself out of options, it's understandable that critics of all inclinations might lament its passing.

Because really, we can't fathom any other explanation for the seventeen ways that this cover is completely unflattering to Kelly Clarkson. (Her eyes! Her phantom right hand!) Please, Narvel Blackstock—make sure this never happens again.

New Magazine Covers! [Kevipod Music]

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

- "Instead of soaring, Ms. Clarkson digs in, singing melodies that sometimes sound cramped and repetitive; perhaps the music echoes the obstinate lyrics too well. Let's not get carried away, though: Ms. Clarkson's voice still sounds great, and there are a few songs that conjure the old giddiness, like 'How I Feel,' a new-wavey lament. And all the controversy has made Ms. Clarkson even easier to admire. But as Mr. Davis (who seems happy to play the villain) knows better than anyone, support and sympathy don't turn an album into a blockbuster; big hits do. Everyone's rooting for Ms. Clarkson, but that's no guarantee she'll win." [NYT]
- "But just when you think Miss Independent has morphed into Miss Misery, Clarkson unleashes some lighter pleasures that (take note, Team Clive!) would make dandy warm-weather singles — much more than 'Never Again' or 'Sober,' the moody second release. 'One Minute' percolates with electro-pop energy; 'How I Feel' is a one-woman new-wave revival; and the funk-rock 'Yeah' suggests that she's an R&B sex bomb waiting to happen. Still, basking in the winter of My December's greater discontent isn't such a bad way to chill this summer, either." B+ [EW]
- " It's a smartly accomplished pop album, nothing more, nothing less, and it shows Clarkson is going to be around a bit longer than the 15 minutes allotted to even the most celebrated "Idols" contestants. Like the Dixie Chicks, she's probably going to take a hit at the box office. But like her fellow Texans, she's starting to earn something she once lacked: credibility. The key question then becomes: If sales dive, will Clarkson still insist on taking the high road? Or will she even have that choice?" [Chicago Tribune]

The [Idol tour] report says that Kelly's response to the offer is "still up in the air," but Clarkson's rep tells Access Hollywood that the report is "not true." Furthermore, a Publicist for the "Idol" tour tells Access that this is the first she has heard of this, and that she has no idea where it is coming from. The "Idol" tour rumor comes on the heels of Kelly's announcement last week that her own summer tour has been canceled, with plans to embark on another tour in the future in a more "intimate concert environment."

It's a shame that we won't get to see Kelly sing with Chris Sligh—who, by the way, is blogging about the tour's rehearsals—but we're really hoping that she plays it smart with these "intimate" shows—smaller venues, multiple nights, and, for the love of Simon Cowell, lower ticket prices. Please?

ROLL CALL: Justin's Madonna Work & Kelly's 'Idol' Return? [Access Hollywood]
Earlier: Is Kelly Clarkson Going To Head Back To Her Roots This Summer?

The Leak: Kelly Clarkson [MTV.com]

A source in the industry tells Geno's World that Clarkson is going to be offered "special cameo" appearances on the upcoming American Idol tour that begins on July 6 and runs through September 22.

The execs are hoping that Kelly will take this opportunity to "save face" and be able to take advantage of the Idol built in fan base and allow her to promote her struggling "My December" CD. Pre-sales figures have not hit expectations. Whether Clarkson accepts the offer is still up in the air, but there are dozens of people working behind the scenes to put a good spin on Clarkson's recent PR troubles. Her battle over the song selection on her CD and the cancellation of her tour have been a marketing nightmare.

It's a plausible theory, made even moreso because Clarkson performed on Idol twice this season, and as long as she isn't roped into duetting with Haley Scarnato the downgrade shouldn't be too embarrassing. But we were really hoping that she'd try and work out her recent woes with a stripped-down tour of smaller venues around the States. After all, she has someone in her band who knows a thing or two about jamming econo.

EXCLUSIVE: Kelly Clarkson to appear on upcoming American Idol Tour? [Geno's World]

"Plans for Kelly Clarkson's summer tour have been shelved for now as the singer and her team re-evaluate her show's size and scope - a decision made even more difficult by the impending release of her album, My December," Paul Freundlich said in a statement.

In the same statement, LiveNation CEO Michael Rapino said: "[T]icket sales have not been what we anticipated and we came to the realization that we had bit off more than we could chew.

Pollstar lists nearly 40 dates for the tour, which was scheduled to kick off July 11th in Portland, Oregon. No word on whether this will affect the release date of My December, or, for that matter, the release date of Clive Davis' next anti-Kelly tirade.

UPDATE: Kelly has posted a statement where she calls touring "too much too soon" on her Web site—we've reprinted it in total after the jump.

Kelly Clarkson Tour Shelved - For Now [People]

"I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to getting out there to perform for y'all. In the craziness of the music business, performing is what I look forward to doing the most, so it really is disappointing for me to have to tell you that I won't be coming out to tour this summer. The fact is that touring is just too much too soon.

But I promise you that we're going to get back out there as soon as is humanly possible to give you a show that will be even better.

Thanks for all of your love and continued support."

— Kelly

Kelly Clarkson is free this morning, ladies and gents. She dumped her manager, Jeff Kwatinetz of The Firm — the man who allegedly got her into all this trouble with Clive Davis. Kwatinetz, you see, is now singing "Since U Been Gone" for real.

It was Kwatinetz, as I told you last week, who convinced Kelly she was a miserable, unhappy singer-songwriter and not a shiny pop star whom everyone loved. The result was a forthcoming album, "My December," that would be perfect if it had a hum-able song on it.

Push came to shove, Clarkson saw the light and Kwatinetz —- who was briefly the fiancé of movie star Brittany Murphy — is out. Clive Davis wins, as usual, but not completely. (This is why he's Clive, and we're not.) He still has the album, which has been mastered and printed and is ready to go. Davis and his team will do the best they can to get a hit out of it.

I do think that the ever-astute Davis will convince Kelly to record a couple of extras for "My December" that he can reissue on a "special edition" version of the CD, perhaps in the early fall. This would not be unusual, and, that way, BMG won't be throwing out the baby with the bath water.

Of course, that special edition depends on whether or not My December sells well out of the box—if it has Linkin Park first-week numbers, talk of this special edition will likely be scuttled. (Let's just hope that if it doesn't have LP-like numbers, the bonus tracks don't include any collaborations with the still-selling band.)

An American Idol Free at Last [FOXNews, second item]
Earlier: The whole My December saga

A source confirms to Usmagazine.com that Clarkson has fired LA-based Jeff Kwatinetz, of the management company The Firm. "It is true. It just happened. It is a total shock but she wasn't happy," says the source, who adds that Clarkson has not yet decided on a new manager. Another source adds, "They majorly disagreed over the album and the direction and Kelly had enough."

Those reports of friction are intriguing to us, since Kwatinetz has an executive producer credit on the album, which Kelly has been defending to every interviewer she's sit down with recently. We're honestly stumped as to what this might mean for December's June 26 release date. Thoughts?

Kelly Clarkson Fires Manager [Us]

The skirmish continued last week, the New York Post ran a piece claiming that Davis was out of touch and cramping Clarkson's style; today, in a sorta-surprising show of corporate dissonance, Fox 411 columnist Roger Friedman ran an item that opened with a comparison between Clarkson and Courtney Love (!), and went on to blame Clarkson's manager, Jeff Kwatinetz, for a good portion of the friction:

It was only this past weekend that RCA learned Kwatinetz is being listed by Clarkson as "executive producer" of the album. This indicates a new role for Kwatinetz, who is not the most popular member of the recording industry. Managers generally do not receive "EP" credits on albums. They are listed as managers.

In this case, though, Kwatinetz may regret what he's wished for. "My December" has already spawned one non-starter single in "Never Again," a kind of tough-chick rock song that failed to penetrate radio or video. After six weeks, it's already being pulled from rotations after not catching on.

Even though "My December" isn't ready for press copies, three of its songs can be heard on AOL (all of its lyrics are available, too). None of them has the bright catchy pop hooks of Clarkson's previous hits like "Since U Been Gone." One of them, "Sober," is kind of a rock dirge that boasts the refrain, "Three months ... and I'm still sober!"

Now, you'd think that someone with such "inside connections" would at least be able to get his hands on an advance copy of the album—or at least a copy of last week's Billboard, in which the charts show that "Never Again" was up from No. 17 to No. 9. Sure, that bounce is probably attributable to Clarkson's performance of the song on the American Idol finale, but the rush to bury "Never Again" after six weeks on the charts seems a bit premature—look at Pink's "U & Ur Hand," which possesses a similar chick-rock ferocity and had its own yo-yo ride up and down the charts.

Obviously, December is a big release for Sony BMG, although their expectations may be a bit too high in the current climate of depressed record sales. Breakaway, Clarkson's previous album, sold 5.7 million copies; an anonymous exec quoted in the piece is fretting that "Kelly will not sell anywhere near her previous numbers" with December, but then again, Norah Jones hasn't hit her previous-sold target, either. Is this fight really one between Kwatinetz and Davis, and Kelly is just caught in the middle? The piece's final anonymous quote—"Even if [December] fails, he'll work with Kelly again if she's ready to listen."—makes us wonder if the struggle here isn't executive-artist as much as it is executive-manager.

FOX 411: Kelly Clarkson: 'My December' Trouble [foxnews.com]

Our insider said, "She wrote all of the second album herself - including the hits 'Because of You,' 'Behind These Hazel Eyes' and 'Walk Away.' Clive hated 'Because of You' so much, he would routinely mock it in meetings. It was one of her most successful singles..."

Clarkson is not only one of Sony BMG's most profitable artists, having sold close to 15 million albums - she is also not a diva.

She hasn't demanded to renegotiate her deal with the label, our source said, even though "she only gets like $250,000 an album when she could get millions. She refuses to take more money because she wants artistic control. And she has always turned out to be right. If Clive had had his way, she wouldn't have sold nearly as many albums as she did.

As with all such anonymously sourced gossip-page tirades, this is all to be taken with a grain of salt. But could that $250,000-per-album rate be correct? We know those Idol contracts are cheap, but dang—that guy who used to get up and skank with the Mighty Mighty Bosstones was pulling down at least that much back in 1993!

MUSIC MOGUL CRAMPING KELLY [Page Six]

"Everybody always wants me to go in different directions. Obviously they're a record label so they need to sell records.They want the formula writers and the formula producers that do everybody else's stuff, and while I love some of those people... and I don't mind working with that...I just don't like working with someone that gives you a song and is like, 'Oh, I wrote this for you.' But you find out that they've given it to every other artist and they turned it down, you know?"

Kelly might've been feeling pressure from her label, but she didn't back down.

"My label literally sent me a Lindsay Lohan track from her last album and wanted me to record it for my new album. And while I like Lindsay Lohan, like I'm cool with her and I think she sings the song well... it's already been on an album. I don't care what pop star it is."

Well, she might want to care, actually. After all, the Lohan album in question was a huge stinker that allegedy had not one, but two of its singles canceled—which makes the reported complaining about the lack of a "hit" on My December even more curious, unless the executives in question actually sent Clarkson Lohan's take on "Edge Of Seventeen" by accident.

Kelly Clarkson Makes A Stands [MTV.tv]
Earlier: Track Marks: How The "Kelly Clarkson's Album To Be Revamped" Rumor Became Today's Biggest Rumor In The World
[Photo: AP]