By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Monday, September 7, 2015
Kelly Clarkson is coming to Atlanta's Aaron's Amphitheatre for the first time. I will be there Thursday. It's not my favorite venue but that tells you how dedicated I am to her that I'm willing to grind it out in that shed.
Over the years, I've seen her at Gwinnett Arena, Cobb Energy, Centennial Olympic Park (a Coke promotion), Philips Arena, the Fox Theatre and a radio promotion concert at the Loft.
In advance, here are a sampling of some of the covers she has done so far no tour. She has paid homage to everyone from Rihanna or Imagine Dragons to Wynonna Judd to Pink.
Here is a sampling of some of her "fan request" cover songs:
This is her Bonnie Raitt cover "Love Me Like a Man" from her Nashville date on Saturday:
Here's here cover of Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" in Toronto:
This is Nick Jonas' "Jealous" from New York City:
And Robert Flack's "Killing Me Softly:
At Mohegan Sun, she tackles Elvis' "Can't Help Falling in Love"
In Indiana, she tried out Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball"
Her St. Louis cover: Amy Winehouse's "Valerie"
And Ellie Goulding gets her love in Jersey with "Love Me Like You Do"
Finally, here's Rihanna's "Stay" in Pittsburgh:
In Detroit, Josh's request of Tove Lo's "Habits"
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And if you want to see Carrie Underwood showing what a bad*** she is, well just look at her Instagram:
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MJ looked over the "Idol" press release and how they name checked folks:
FOX released their 2015-2016 press package today, providing a glimpse into how the network is pitching the last season of American Idol. Note the alumni they namecheck–despite the recent legal wrangling, Idol is still pimping Phillip Phillips. He's even mentioned in the same breath as Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson. Several others are mentioned, but in a second tier of shoutouts. ETA: The incredible success of Phillip's coronation song, "Home" would make it difficult to pretend he doesn't exist. Let's see if he appears on the finale.
I will be at the "Idol" auditions with the judges on Sunday, Sept. 13 here in Atlanta. Although the initial auditions were done in Savannah, based on the press release, "Idol" will promote the city as Atlanta, not Savannah. Perhaps, this is a concession to Ryan Seacrest and give him an excuse to hang out at home with his parents in Dunwoody?
But next Monday, I will have video and photos from my time whereever they are planning to hold it. (This is not a public event so I won't reveal the location until after the fact. I don't know yet where they are doing it. For the past three times they've come to Atlanta, they've used the W Hotel in Midtown. Curiously, the last time they were here two years ago, they used a backdrop of downtown although they were in Midtown.)
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