Where many predecessors have failed, Kelly Clarkson is flourishing: the world of daytime syndicated talk. She has been doing so well, “The Kelly Clarkson Show” has been given two more seasons. This means more of her beloved cover songs and cheery interviews with celebrities and heroic people until 2023.
Locally, she is seen in Atlanta daily at 10 a.m. on WSB-TV.
Valari Staab, president of NBCUniversal owned television stations, said the show “is one of the most optimistic success stories in first-run syndication. Kelly is a beloved performer and host with deep roots at NBC, and we are delighted to have her continue to be a very important and treasured part of our stations’ programming.”
She had a solid opening season in 2019-20, averaging 1.6 million viewers and won three Daytime Emmys. Her ratings remain comparably strong this fall.
Clarkson recently did a duet with Garth Brooks of “Shallow.”
She also joins him with his song “The Dance”:
And the video for her new Christmas song “Under the Mistletoe” with Brett Eldredge has been animated, which is a smart way to get around COVID-19 issues:
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Georgia native and season 10 runner-up Lauren Alaina released a video for her song “What Do You Think Of” with a special “Virtual Production” technology that enabled them to look like they were in the same space when they were thousands of miles apart.
This technology has been used in high-budget series like “The Mandalorian” and “Westworld.” Alaina in the video travels through the seasons of her past relationship, revealed in four surreal environments: her bedroom, the Smoky Mountains, a red-door bar, and a backyard campout.
“That song is such an emotional song, and when I wrote it I was hurting so much. I get sad hearing the song,” she said. “I was not gonna release it. The second verse is painful for me. Something about Lukas singing it empowered me to put it on there. It’s now the standout on the EP, (and) I fought that song so hard.”
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Jennifer Hudson joined Ariana Grande and Mariah Carey on Carey’s AppleTV+ Christmas special and released an original Christmas single “Oh Santa!”
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Season 7 runner-up David Archuleta released a sweet song and video addressing 2020 called “What a Wonder Way to End a Crazy Year.”
And for those of us who knew him as a baby-faced teen on the show, he turns 30 later this month.
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Credit: ABC
Credit: ABC
Season 17 spent a lot of time focusing on top 5 finalist Jonny West and his relationship with fellow semifinalist Margie Mays.
But MJ Santelli, who runs MJ’s Big Blog, noted that they don’t appear together anymore, based on their respective social media accounts. And West released a song about a bleak break up called “All the Words.”
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ABC this week is shooting “Hollywood” week, the period after the initial auditions when the contestants are whittled down to the finalists.
The show returns on Feb. 14, 2021. The “Hollywood” week episodes will air in late March.
Instead of shooting the initial auditions in cities in the country, “Idol” this year has done all of them in California.
The show, in its fourth year on ABC, has brought back host Ryan Seacrest and the same judges (Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, Luke Bryan) and same mentor (Bobby Bones).
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