20 years after her groundbreaking victory in the first season of “American Idol”: Kelly Clarkson (40) received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday. Just a few meters away from the place where the singer and presenter, as the first winner of the show, started the casting boom in the USA.
“I won here 20 years ago,” she said in her acceptance speech, according to media reports. “I feel very fortunate because I know a lot of talented people who love to sing and write songs,” she said. “A lot of people could do that and I just feel really lucky to have the chance. There are dreams you didn’t know you had and in the end they come true and you feel super blessed .”
Guest speakers at the Stern reveal were “American Idol” season one judges Paula Abdul, 60, Simon Cowell, 62, and Randy Jackson, 60. The American equivalent of the British show “Pop Idol” was the first talent show on US television. The German offshoot “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” started shortly thereafter in November 2002.
In his eulogy, Simon Cowell recalled the moment he first saw – and heard – Kelly Clarkson. On the first days of filming the casting show, he still felt “cheated”. “Everybody sang wrong and it just kept getting worse. I was like, ‘This is an absolute disaster, why did we come here?’ But then came Clarkson. “I remember not only your voice, but also your personality”. Her success gave “American Idol” justification, Cowell said. To date, Kelly Clarkson is the highest-selling talent show contestant.
For Paula Abdul, too, the first season was worth it in the first place because of Clarkson. The singer thanked the younger colleague for “changing the direction of my life and making me believe like a child believes in Santa Claus. That young, talented people can do it – and do it in a big way”. Abdul canceled a flight specifically to attend the ceremony.
Kelly Clarkson was born in Texas on April 24, 2002 and sang in the school choir from an early age. After the first unsuccessful attempts to gain a foothold as a singer, she kept her head above water with various jobs. At the urging of a friend, she took part in “American Idol”. After her victory, her first single “A Moment Like This” hit number one on the US Billboard charts.
Later, the mother of two children was a juror herself on “The Voice USA”. She has hosted her own afternoon talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, since 2019.
