Ten years ago: Kelly Clarkson crowned first ‘Idol’ winner
A moment like this only happens once: Kelly Clarkson on Sept. 4, 2002 was crowned the very first “American Idol” winner followed by ridiculous amounts of confetti.
The show had been building over the summer, starting with 10 million viewers but ending with more than 23 million viewers, a summer phenomenon that turned into an annual rite for another 10 seasons. It changed the way we looked at competitive reality TV. It brought us Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell. It made many people very very wealthy – including Clarkson herself.
It has kept me duly employed the past decade (though not very very wealthy.) I bow to the legacy that is “Idol,” even as it struggles to find its footing with too many competitors and a desperate need for “star power.”
And thank you Kelly Clarkson for a decade’s worth of great music. You even made “A Moment Like This” work, in all its treacly glory.
Watch it again. Wow. That stage was small, wasn’t it? And unlike recent years, they gave the runner up (in this case, Justin Guarini) plenty of time to give a speech. The whole thing feels sweet and innocent. ‘Idol” was just a baby learning to walk. Sniff. I remember being at a Dave & Busters for a Star 94 party watching this a decade ago.
In other “Idol” news:
- Scotty McCreery, season 10 winner, is coming out with a Christmas album.
- Pia Toscano parts ways with 19 Entertainment and Interscope. That was quick, eh? Who thought that was a good idea anyway? Her album isn’t even out. This was an exclusive from Hollywood Reporter, which is battling deadline.com for relevancy when it comes to such entertainment business news.
- Four days after I hung out with Phillip Phillips, Kelly Ripa and new co-host Michael Strahan did on ABC this morning. He sang ‘Home,” of course. The song is now up to 34 on the top 40 chart and No. 11 on the Hot AC chart, where Kelly Clarkson’s “Dark Side” has slipped to No. 10 after peaking at No. 7. Carrie Underwood’s “Blown Away” is about to become her 15th consecutive top 10 country hit. In fact, her first 14 singles have gone at least top 2 to date.
- Fox has set up a phone conference Thursday with “X Factor” judges Demi Lovato and Simon Cowell. I’ve RSVPed. I will get a chance to probably ask one single question. What should I ask?
Join my Facebook fan page and Twitter.
By Rodney Ho, Radio & TV Talk
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84 comments Add your comment
Deirdre
September 4th, 2012
2:44 pm
Congrats to Kelly on her 10 year Idol anniversary. Time flies when you’re having fun!
DHD
September 4th, 2012
2:54 pm
I like tuttles
JTesla
September 4th, 2012
3:05 pm
Thanks Rodney. I read too fast and had to stop at “Scotty McCreery, season 10 winner, is coming out…”
Questions for Demi and Simon… hmm I have one that you won’t use so I’ll pass. Ok, fine maybe you will: “Demi, has Simon ever touched you in a place where your bathing suit covers?” Just don’t ask about what it is like to work together, too stale. Perhaps ask what they each hope to bring to the table this season to spark more interest than their competition?
You can see why I’m not a journalist.
Sam-A
September 4th, 2012
3:22 pm
Ask Simon if he thinks he’ll ever find another Kelly Clarkson.
Thanks for the video – still a lovely and exciting moment.
Dum-Bass
September 4th, 2012
3:27 pm
Why is it JTesla always has to take things to the “seedy” side? Think I will just stop even reading those comments when I see that moniker. BTW, guess I am one of the few who did not like Kelly Clarkson when she won it, and still to this day don’t. She is NOT unique, and her voice is rather weak. She even sounds off pitch about half the time to me. She was lucky to be on the first show, IMHO.
JTesla
September 4th, 2012
3:30 pm
Join the club. Wait, your moniker is “Dum-Bass” and you are complaining about a “seedy” comment directed at Simon who has already had an affair with an fellow judge aka employee of his?
I kept it clean there, can’t say the same for your name.
JTesla
September 4th, 2012
3:33 pm
I think that I’ve had this conversation before. Perhaps someone has been here before, now with a different name that is also related to a certain area of the body.
Rickster
September 4th, 2012
3:42 pm
Anyone taking odds that Scotty’s Christmas “album” will include “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer?”
Dum-Bass
September 4th, 2012
4:10 pm
My moniker has to do with my official given name, not as you assumed, of course. Only someone like you would take it there. Are your eyes so bad you missed the hyphen? Even if it did mean what you thought, it wouldn’t be anywhere near what you implied in your post. BTW, have you ever heard of a fish called a “bass”? Guess not on that either.
JTesla
September 4th, 2012
4:22 pm
Cute, I figured you’d go with the “bass” route, but you and I both know why it is used. It has nothing to do with fish. I don’t get why people like you don’t just fess up when you are caught on this stuff, do you really need the cover story? You knew what you were doing when you typed that in, and you probably worked it out in your mind what you would say when you got called on it.
What does all this have to do with Kelly Clarkson, or Simon being inappropriate with his employee’s? Is that a better way to phrase that for you?
Rickster
September 4th, 2012
4:30 pm
The years have been a lot kinder to Kelly than they have Christina A…. here’s a pic of her next to the late Michael Clarke Duncan: http://www.wtov9.com/gallery/ap/entertainment/michael-clarke-duncan-1957-2012/g47Q/#2659674
Sam-A
September 4th, 2012
4:34 pm
JT: I went thru this last week. Have to laff my head off at Kelly “not unique, weak voice and off pitch” – funniest thing I’ve heard in a good long while!
JTesla
September 4th, 2012
4:34 pm
Agreed Rickster, RIP Michael. I really liked that guy.
JTesla
September 4th, 2012
4:39 pm
Last week was a long time ago Sam, I can’t remember back that far. Justin should have won!
DanJ
September 4th, 2012
4:59 pm
Rodney, I would ask Simon & Demi: What in your opinion sets X-Factor apart from The Voice and American Idol? What makes it unique? Maybe even What is their opinions of the other shows?
OldTimer
September 4th, 2012
6:42 pm
MItt Romeny for President!!!
JTesla
September 4th, 2012
7:11 pm
Oh Willard, stop trolling the AJC blogs.
Chris
September 4th, 2012
9:36 pm
I will love American Idol forever for giving us this amazing singer, artist, songwriter, and such a sweetheart! She has stayed true to herself and has never forgotten her fans. She is a class act!!! Congrats to Kelly. She has the best voice on the planet. Love her so much!!!
Chris
September 4th, 2012
9:40 pm
Anyone who says Kelly Clarkson is not unique and cannot sing is out of their mind. You all need a “reality” check.
JTesla
September 5th, 2012
2:50 am
Well, I guess I do need to get political for a second. If Nicki Minaj is to be a judge on Idol then this does apply: she has made a little bit of news by rapping that she will be voting for Romney. She rapped: “I’m a Republican voting for Mitt Romney” followed by some stuff I won’t repeat as I don’t want to “always” take it there. However, I guess that she does rhyme economy with zombie.
She also gave Obama grief in the past over Twitter and wanted free healthcare for all which I don’t recall being part of the Republican platform. That says more about Nicki than anything.
Seth T
September 5th, 2012
3:36 am
The girls/ladies I work with in music all often choose Kelly Clarkson material to work with, and some of the younger ones didn’t even know she was the winner of American Idol. I enjoy most of her work and she is still top-level relevant in today’s music.
Anyway, to get you kids ready for The Voice, here’s a video of Christina’s. —–
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ScjucUV8v0&feature=relmfu
Deirdre
September 5th, 2012
7:51 am
Morning!
The Voice and X-F will be starting soon. I’m interested to see what changes have been made. XF needs a complete overhaul. The Voice needs to find something interesting for us to watch after the blind audition rounds.
Highlander
September 5th, 2012
7:52 am
“My moniker has to do with my official given name, not as you assumed, of course. Only someone like you would take it there.” – Dum-Bass, 9/4, 4:10pm
Not that JT needs anyone to come to his defense, but when I saw your “name”, I thought the exact same thing he did. And I’m betting most folks reading the blog did, too!
BTW, Bass is also the name of a beer and, with a different pronunciation, a musical instrument. But none of us think you were calling yourself Dum-Ale or Dum-Guitar. Are you, by any chance, a Dumb-londe?
Highlander
September 5th, 2012
7:56 am
Sorry, just feeling a bit snarky this morning. Hope a certain someone can take a little slagging!
Kelly certainly set the bar high right from the start. And she still brings it!
Sam-A
September 5th, 2012
8:18 am
Highlander: Love “are you, by any …..” – a blog classic in the making. Just hope our blonde FRIENDS don’t take any offense, as I sure none was meant towards our FRIENDS.
Rickster
September 5th, 2012
8:34 am
Not sure how lucid I’m going to be today. Played a drinking game last night where I took a shot every time one of the DNC speakers said “fair share.”
I passed out early, and now I’m hung over.
Rickster
September 5th, 2012
8:41 am
#soberasTedKennedy
Deirdre
September 5th, 2012
9:01 am
Highlander…LOL! I mean come on! Some calls himself Dum-Bass and then expects us to believe he doesn’t mean what he obviously means? Now that is “dum”!
Harriett
September 5th, 2012
9:11 am
Hey, everyone! Been really, really busy, but I miss y’all.
Rickster
September 5th, 2012
9:12 am
If Dum-Bass thinks that… he is what his moniker states. Not only that… he has no idea of the correct use of a hyphen!
Deirdre
September 5th, 2012
9:25 am
Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood are both nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year on the Country Music Awards.
Deirdre
September 5th, 2012
9:37 am
Scotty McCreery is nominated for New Artist of the Year
Sam-A
September 5th, 2012
9:46 am
Deirdre: back to yesterday, is “Lawless” the one with Shia LeBoeuf? You said you liked it, I think. I’m looking forward to Ben Afleck’s film about the 5 Americans who took refuge in the Canadian Embassy during the Iran crisis years ago. Looks really good.l
Deirdre
September 5th, 2012
9:52 am
Yes, Sam, Shia is in Lawless but it’s Tom Hardy who steals the film, imo. I enjoyed Lawless very much but, fair warning, it gets pretty violent at times.
DanJ
September 5th, 2012
10:08 am
It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since Kelly first graced us on Idol! Where has the time gone? While I have the few dvds released which actually show her during season one I still wonder WHY none of the singing competition shows ESPECIALLY Idol have never released the entire season on dvd. I understand it might be pricy but I’d love to own the complete seasons. I think they would sell well and honestly I don’t understand why they were never released.
Deirdre
September 5th, 2012
10:54 am
A complete season of Idol on dvd. I’ll bet it will be in the works at some point.
Rickster
September 5th, 2012
11:21 am
“My moniker has to do with my official given name, not as you assumed, of course. Only someone like you would take it there.” – Dum-Bass, 9/4,
“’cause I’m the sonofa______ that named you Sue!” Johnny Cash, 1969
Some parents just don’t like their kids, do they?
Dum-Bass
September 5th, 2012
11:59 am
Glad of all you (well, most of the social club) are having fun “making fun” of my chosen moniker today. I grew up in South GA which is loaded(check the phone books) with the last name of “BASS”. I can’t help it if that was my familiy’s paternal name and it was passed on to me. In honesty, I thought it would be cute to do that, since by the way the word “dumbass” is used all over the place, and even on TV in primetime. The (-) hyphen was placed exactly where I intended to place it. “Ass” is even a donkey(therefore the dumb part) and is used in the Bible. If some want to make an issue of it, that’s somewhat immature and your problem, not mine. Still does not equate to a certain poster who consistently goes over the line, and into the “gutter” on here. Surprised really they get away with it. Maybe we should all do that and see how long it lasts before we are kicked off. Guess some people have “special perks”.
DanJ
September 5th, 2012
12:04 pm
@Deirdre, I hope they do release the complete seasons but I wouldn’t have thought they would have started years ago. I’m sure a lot more folks other than myself would love to go back at look at the early season especially season 1.
JTesla
September 5th, 2012
12:14 pm
There we go! I knew we’d been down this road before and that we’d hear the same old gripe. Same old same old. Since I had this conversation a few weeks ago I don’t think there is a reason to bore everyone with repeating myself.
Rickster
September 5th, 2012
12:15 pm
Trying to steer the converstaion back from the cliffs of irrelevancy…
tough call as to who to vote for as CMA Female Vocalist of the Year:
Nominees include (but are not limited to):
Miranda Lambert
Carrie Underwood
Martina McBride
Carrie Underwood
Rickster
September 5th, 2012
12:17 pm
Dum-Bass… my dad grew up in South Georgia., and grew up with several folks named Bass.
But I wouldn’t make light of my name like this.
Sam-A
September 5th, 2012
12:18 pm
Just the uber-over-religious checking in – at least looks that way. And, maybe not so much the “Nom de Plume” as the remarks causing the ill wind!
Sam-A
September 5th, 2012
12:20 pm
Thought Deirdre said Kelly was nom’d for Female Vocalist
JTesla
September 5th, 2012
12:23 pm
I think Rickster nominated Carrie twice. Maybe he is leaning towards her, I know I am.
DanJ
September 5th, 2012
12:24 pm
Sam-A, I think Rickster meant Kelly for the second Carrie Underwood listing. Carrie’s great but I don’t think she’d get nominated twice!
Dum-Bass
September 5th, 2012
12:48 pm
“Rickster”, ……The “Basses” have always heard everything from A to Z about the name, so it really doesn’t bother me. Heard it all before, and therefore I just join in. That’s why none of these comments bother me. I have a sense of humor and even self-direct it at times. I make “fun” of myself, just to stay sane.
Deirdre
September 5th, 2012
12:49 pm
Dum-Bass….there’s a lot of leeway on this blog when something is implied or suggested without saying it outright. Sort of like Clint Eastwood saying “He can’t do that to himself” It was accepted because the implication wasn’t said directly. No one here is making fun of the name Bass. Our problem is that you call out a blogger for “implying” something when you are doing it yourself. It’s a pot/kettle situation despite your insistance that your moniker should not be taken that way.
Deirdre
September 5th, 2012
12:59 pm
That being said, since this is a blog and the blog writer has the final say in what we get to say and what we don’t, maybe you should address your complaints to Rodney. OR, just don’t read JT’s posts if they offend you.
DanJ
September 5th, 2012
1:24 pm
Did anyone read about Kellie Pickler shaving her head because her close friend was diagnosed with breast cancer and was starting chemo? Here’s the link! Really touching!
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/kellie-pickler-shaves-head-support-cancer-stricken-best-friend-summer-holt-miller-article-1.1152412?localLinksEnabled=false