Archive through December 17, 2002
TV ClubHouse: Archive: American Idol (FOX):
Uh! Oh! Kelly:
Archive through December 17, 2002
Grooch | Thursday, December 12, 2002 - 07:34 pm     From the NY Post Link December 12, 2002 -- KELLY Clarkson may not be the doe-eyed amateur she appeared to be when she won "American Idol" last summer. Clarkson may have already had a recording contract - and was in the middle of making a record for someone else - when she showed up to audition for the show, Star magazine is reporting. If true, that means Clarkson may have violated the show's rule about being an amateur with no prior professional singing experience. According to Star, Clarkson - who got a $1 million recording contract that spawned her No. 1 song "A Moment Like This" when she won the talent show - was already recording an album with three producers (including Carole King's ex-husband, Gerry Goffin) before appearing on the show. "She knew what she was doing, but it's coming back to haunt her in a big, big way," a source tells Star. "She's trying to make herself out as this innocent American sweetheart - now it's coming out she's a phony and a liar." According to the show's rules, contestants had to be complete amateurs and each of them signed releases stating they had never recorded anything. Noted songwriters Michael Blum, Barry Goldberg and Goffin now claim they had Clarkson under contract a month before the "Idol" auditions began, the magazine says. "She signed a production agreement with us in early March to record a full slate of 12 songs for an album, but after doing five wonderful songs, she walked out," Goldberg tells Star. "The next time I saw her was on TV a couple of months later competing on ‘American Idol.' It came as quite a shock." Blum, Goldberg and Goffin have hired hotshot Hollywood lawyer Jay Cooper in an effort to get three of the songs released. Officials for Fox and 19 Productions, the management company behind "American Idol," declined to comment yesterday on the allegations. Clarkson, a 20-year-old cocktail waitress from Texas, beat out Justin Guarini to snare the "American Idol" crown and signed a two-year deal with 19 Entertainment. Her shot to the top of the Billboard charts in record time, and she'll star in the "Idol" movie, "From Justin to Kelly," which begins filming next month. |
Fluff | Thursday, December 12, 2002 - 07:54 pm     I KNOW! If this is true, she had it coming! She had to have known that she couldn't already have a record deal. Poor thang. I heard that it was on two other shows this morning about this mess. |
Fluff | Thursday, December 12, 2002 - 07:56 pm     Wait.......so is Justin the real American Idol????????? If so..........HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA! |
Seamonkey | Thursday, December 12, 2002 - 11:16 pm     Interesting that they didn't call her on it until now.. now that she won, recorded, had a hit.. so THEIR songs are now worth way more.. Don't ANY of these shows check out the people they have on??? Sheesh.. |
Grooch | Friday, December 13, 2002 - 12:08 pm     Names in the news BY GAYLE RONAN SIMS Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) - So did she or didn't she? That's the question Fox and recording company 19 Entertainment might be considering after the New York Post and Star magazine reported that Kelly Clarkson, who won ``American Idol'' this summer, was in the middle of making a record for someone else when she showed up to audition for the show. If the reports are true, that means Clarkson may have violated the show's rule about being an amateur with no prior professional singing experience. Each contestant signed releases stating they had never recorded anything. Before auditioning for "Idol," "Kelly had a contract to record five songs for the purpose of getting a recording agreement and nothing came of this," Hollywood attorney Jay Cooper, who represents the producers who contracted with Clarkson, said. Michael Blum, Barry Goldberg and Gerry Goffin (singer Carole King's ex-husband) had hired Cooper when they went out attempting to get a recording deal. Cooper, however, said the Texas waitress-turned-singer did "nothing wrong." Clarkson's representative Dvora Vener, in Los Angeles, was not available for comment Thursday. According to Star, Clarkson - who got a $1 million recording contract that spawned her No. 1 song "A Moment Like This" when she won the talent show - was already recording an album with the songwriters before appearing on the show. "She signed a production agreement with us in early March to record a full slate of 12 songs for an album, but after doing five wonderful songs, she walked out," Goldberg told Star. "The next time I saw her was on TV a couple of months later competing on `American Idol.' It came as quite a shock," Goldberg said. Cooper said Thursday, that Star "got it wrong." "She didn't have a recording deal," he said. Officials for Fox and 19 Entertainment, the management company behind "American Idol,'' declined to comment on the allegations. Clarkson, a 20-year-old cocktail waitress from Texas, snared the crown and signed a two-year deal with 19 Entertainment. Her single shot to the top of the Billboard charts in record time, and she'll star in the movie, "From Justin to Kelly,'' which begins filming next month. |
Kitt | Friday, December 13, 2002 - 01:48 pm     Kelly will (apparently) be talking live to Connie Chung on CNN tonight... I think it's at 8 eastern, 5 pacific, but you might want to check. I wondered what was going on for her to be on there! |
Kady | Friday, December 13, 2002 - 03:42 pm     Thanks Kitt!!!!! |
Ryn | Friday, December 13, 2002 - 08:14 pm     Hmm - was she on? I am sitting here watching Connie now (its 11 Eastern now) and not a mention of it - did I miss it earlier??) |
Seamonkey | Friday, December 13, 2002 - 09:14 pm     Confusing.. the cnn website only had Cardinal Law listed under Connie Chung.. I missed the early 5pm show before I read here that Kelly would be on. I saw a promo for the later edition that did mention Kelly. We have half hour of Connie Chung at 8.. I didn't see it all by any means but when I flipped there, she was heavy into Trent Lott, so, I dunno. But, the several places I found articles, it sounds like it isn't as much of a problem as the Star had reported. We may get a third showing.. (I'm not fond of Connie tho) |
Hermione69 | Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 07:55 am     This is disappointing. Part of her charm was her fresh-scrubbed innocence and her whole "I'm just a little girl from Texas and I can't believe this is happening to me and I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for my friends" attitude. You got the feeling she had no idea how talented she is and that she never quite believed she was anything special. This definitely knocks that image off the pedastal. I do feel a little duped by her "girl next door who just got incredibly lucky" persona and it does seem to have bent or broken the rules. I wonder why they didn't find out about it beforehand. They found out about that one guy's age. At this stage, however, I think that they should just let it go and be more careful with the screening process for the next set, especially those that make the final 30. Kelly is still incredibly talented; it doesn't take away from that at all. |
Webkitty | Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 08:01 am     This is hard to believe, I hope it's wrong. I agree, let it go and screen the next batch more carefully. |
Azriel | Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 03:23 pm     It doesn't take away from Kelly's talent, but it appears she already had her foot in the door somewhere and that doesn't seem to be allowed in the contract she signed. I don't think the rules should be bent for her because of her talent, but I'm sure AI is busy sweeping this under the rug because she is their little golden child. Would Justin have been the winner if Kelly was never in the mix? I think the dynamics would have been changed and other people who were judged in comparison to Kelly would have been viewed differently by the judges and the public. We might have had a completely different batch of finalists. |
Ketchuplover | Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 06:54 pm     If I ever met Kelly I would tell her she has a beautiful voice. Then I would slap her so hard her grandchildren would feel it. |
Webkitty | Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 09:04 am     Gee Ketchup, that's a little harsh, I'm surprised at you! I will wait until all the facts come in to pass judgement. These things are always complicated, the truth probably lies in the middle somewhere, like it usually does. I agree with Azriel, if Kelly had not been in the mix it doesn't necessarily mean Justin would have been in the number two spot, the dynamics would not have been the same. I am fairly certain that Tamyra would have still gone far. |
Hermione69 | Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 10:57 am     I'm saying this as a Justin fan (which I've admitted to being all along, even after it became cool to put him down, LOL)... I actually think if Kelly had not been in the mix, Tamyra would have won. I think they drew their fan bases from the similar groups of people and had Kelly not been around, Tamyra would have gotten the numbers from Kelly's fan base. I don't think that much else would have changed, even with a different person rounding out the final 10. I don't think there was anyone left in the final 30 that I think would have changed the dynamics of the group that much. I would guess that Justin still would have finished second and Nikki third as they had a fan base pretty unique to them. I still think that at this point they should just let it go and be more careful in AI2. I'm not, of course, familiar with the exact wording of the agreement between contestants and producers, but the article said, "each contestant signed releases stating they had never recorded anything," and there also seemed to be an huge emphasis on the contestants being amateurs. Maybe Kelly thought that since her stint in the studio was never finished or released, she was still an amateur. She never put out a finished product, after all, and could have thought that absolved her. It's still disappointing, but that's more because I feel like her persona was fake and not so much because I feel like she deliberately broke the AI contract. I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt, is all. But Fox needs to screen their next batch more carefully, especially the final 30. |
Ketchuplover | Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 06:14 pm     How bout if I just kick her in the ankle? |
Bryan | Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 06:26 pm     Ketchup buddy, that is still in the category of abusive when in a group of females. It may work on the football field, but take a look around you. Those are not guys. |
Kitt | Monday, December 16, 2002 - 03:54 pm     The section on her was right at the end of Connie Chung. I guess she refused to talk to them as they said she "declined to comment herself". They spoke to one of the three guys who she was meant to have a recording contract with (before American Idol started). He said the story was rubbish, with their help she had recorded several songs on a demo tape, to be used when she was trying to get a recording deal. He said all people who want a recording contract have to do that (same as potential models have a collection of photos made up), it was the normal thing for someone who wants to be a star to do. He said she definitely didn't have a recording contract with them. I don't know if that means she broke the rules or not, as she had recorded some songs, but not under contract. It doesn't sound like the story was anything like as bad as the headlines suggested though. Damn, and I wanted to see Justin hailed king!  |
Car54 | Monday, December 16, 2002 - 04:09 pm     From Zap2It.com: Clarkson Fends Off 'Idol' Accusations Mon, Dec 16, 2002 04:29 PM PDT LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - There was nothing shady about Kelly Clarkson's participation on "American Idol," its producers say, despite a tabloid story alleging there was. A story in the current issue of the Star supermarket tabloid claims that Clarkson, 20, had signed a recording contract a few months before she appeared on FOX's summer hit. She went on to win the talent search, landing a record deal with music-biz giant BMG. The show's rules state that anyone who has a recording contract is ineligible to take part. FOX and the show's producers, 19 Entertainment and Fremantle Media, issued a statement backing Clarkson late last week, the New York Post reports. "Kelly Clarkson did not breach any rules of the competition. She won the 'American Idol' competition fairly and was rightfully chosen by the American public as their American Idol. We are proud of our winner." The Star story claims Clarkson recorded several tunes with songwriters Gerry Goffin, Michael Blum and Barry Goldberg, and was, in fact, under contract with them. The writers' lawyer, however, says that wasn't the case. While she did record songs for the writers, attorney Jay Cooper says, it was only "for the purpose of trying to get a record deal." "There will be no legal action and no contemplation of legal action. That's not what this is about," Cooper says. Instead, the three songwriters were simply looking for BMG's approval to release the songs Clarkson recorded, or to have BMG itself buy and release them. A new edition of "American Idol" premieres Tuesday, Jan. 21 on FOX. |
Hermione69 | Monday, December 16, 2002 - 04:56 pm     Okay, yeah, time to take a page out of Webkitty's book and just wait and see how this plays out. First one thing is reported, then another and who the heck knows the truth? I'd like to think that even if she did something wrong, she wasn't aware of it. It sounds fuzzy. I'm definitely giving her the benefit of the doubt! |
Fruitbat | Monday, December 16, 2002 - 05:08 pm     <<fingers in ears humming>> I love this young woman and whatever it takes for her to make it big is hunky dory with me. She has talent and I don't care how she got there. The product is the answer. She is phenonimal. Great voice and cute as can be. |
Fluff | Monday, December 16, 2002 - 09:33 pm     I'm with you Ketchup. I ain't believing nobody! Especially since she declined to comment. |
Djgirl5235 | Tuesday, December 17, 2002 - 06:01 am     Being a singer myself, I can understand exactly what's happening here. I have made a demo myself, and it's what you shop around to potentially get a contract with. What's going on is the company that she recorded her demo with is now trying to get those tracks published on an actual CD, knowing the amount of money they can possibly get due to her fame right now. Kelly herself has done nothing wrong, and I'm also sure that had Tamyra or Justin won, Heck, any of them, this exact same story would be coming out about them as well. EVERY singer that I know that has any talent has a demo recorded and if they ever hit it big, the same thing would happen there, under the same circumstances. I'm sorry if I sound like I'm ranting, but this really gets my dander up - she's an extremely talented, gracious girl, who totally deserved to win, and unfortunatly has to put up with the crap that comes along with stardom. When you're in love with your craft, and you see someone like Kelly with her talent and personality being spit on, it just P*I*S*S*E*S me off to no end!!!!!!!! |
Seamonkey | Tuesday, December 17, 2002 - 09:06 am     I totally agree.. I think I said, upthread, that the timing of this "information" was interesting.. they didn't step forward at the beginning of the season and say "hey! we have her under contract!", they waited until there was success and now they want to get money from the demo tracks. I don't understand the gleeful jumping on the bandwagon before the whole story could come out.. |
Hermione69 | Tuesday, December 17, 2002 - 09:52 am     DJ, I don't think most of us here were trying to spit on Kelly. I know nothing about being a singer or making demos or anything like that and I bet most of the posters here don't. It certainly sounded like she broke a rule according to the articles. I think we can all agree that it takes nothing away from her talent, but I personally was disappointed because her whole aura was that of innocence and naivete and of someone who had no idea she was so talented. That she was ever in a recording studio at all indicates to me that she is not the babe in the words that we all fell in love with. That takes nothing away from her talent or her future, it was just a little deceptive in my eyes. I know RJ had a demo tape made as well which also raised some questions and he was cleared of wrongdoing. Such questions are fair to me because of the nature of the contest being what it is. It was fair to question RJ and it was fair to question Kelly. What are the boards here for if not to comment on stories as they break with our reactions at the time? Emotions and opinions are fluid. As more facts come out, we can adjust accordingly. To sit there and not have any reaction at all takes a superhuman. Personally I am very relieved that she did nothing wrong and even if she had, I think it should have been forgiven and forgotten at this stage. This is probably going to end up being a valuable lesson for her. She seems like a tough little girl and she will come through this fine. Most of us haven't even heard what she is up to lately. I even wondered about the source of this story. Didn't someone once say "There is no such thing as bad publicity"? |
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