Kelly Clarkson: PR Idol?

Five years ago, a very special person appeared in my life, someone who I have kept in the back of my thoughts ever since and who I have only gained more and more respect for as time has passed. Our love has not always been understood – let alone accepted, but in the past week I have witnessed a shift in public perception that may one day allow our love to be shouted from the rooftops.

Between her debut, Thankful, and her guitar-infused sophomore album Breakaway, my ultimate celebrity crush has sold over 15 million albums and won two Grammy awards. But as of Tuesday, June 26 – the day my dear Kelly Clarkson released her third album, My December – Ms. Clarkson has shot straight out of the American Idol stigmas and has landed into a circle of accepted, credible, and respectable artists.

How has this happened? Well, she did write or cowrite all the songs on her bitter rock album (“You’ll die together but alone!” -Never Again. Yikes.) but what’s really happening here is not the production of greatness, but her blatant show of artistic integrity in the face of censorship and commercialism. Why yes, I CAN find a public relations angle to just about anything! Bear with me and read on.

Music-mogul Clive Davis publicly expressed that he didn’t hear any hits on Kelly’s new album and offered her $10 million to swap five of her own songs for more radio-friendly tunes penned by Since U Been Gone hitmaker Max Martin. This lead to the Kelly soundbites expressing her disinterest in being famous, popular, or even loved; the cancellation of her summer tour; and, of course, the public dismissal of her management team. In an interview with MTV, Clarkson spoke candidly about her experience:

This time everybody made a big deal about the label and I disagreeing with the record, but that's happened every record. This is just the only one people know about, so there's nothing new. I've never once compromised myself. I don't think you should; that's when you start to lose fans and credibility. I think you definitely need to keep doing what you love, because I'm the one that needs to sing it every night.

Now, Kelly is well within her rights to use her 15 million in sales to leverage a bit of control over her own career but I couldn’t help but be nervous for her. Another public rant came about when her label tried to convince her to plug her new single on the Idol Gives Back charity special:

My label wanted me to sing 'Never Again,' and I was like, to promote yourself on a charity event is beyond crass. People are starving and dying and I'm up there singing some bitter pop song? And believe me, everyone wanted me to sing it. Because they are jaded and they have no soul. Imagine sitting in a room full of people totally against you. Can't they hear themselves speaking? Capitalize on AIDS? Are you kidding? Insulting an entire nation of people? I just refused.

So Kelly ventures onward sans management. My December carries too much of a rock-edge to garner as much mainstream radio play as her pop-diluted big seller, Breakaway, yet rock channels are less likely to play her record simply because she’s a woman. Almost everything is against this album, however, her future as an artist is looking awfully bright.

When faced with a choice between Clive Davis, the multi-millionaire puppet master behind Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keys, to name but a few, and girl-next-door Kelly Clarkson, the media chose the underdog. Starting with a blowout in Elle magazine, Ms. Clarkson seems to have accidentally created a public relations phenomenon out of herself. Her honesty comes across through magnificently crafted quotes that make the My December battle about so much more than artistry:

I am a good singer, so I can't possibly be a good writer. Women can't possibly be good at two things. I haven't lost my temper about it. It only drives me more. If your thing is to bring me down, cool. I'll just work harder. I've sold more than 15 million records worldwide, and still nobody listens to what I have to say. I could give a crap about being a star. I've always just wanted to sing and write.

Clive, I wish you the best of luck in trying to look like less of an asshole at the end of all of this. No seriously, I’d love to see a rebuttal here.

As for the album itself, it’s taken me a couple days but I’m getting into it the same way I’ve loved her since the Idol days. The songs are far from what anyone would expect of a Kelly album and reviewers are loving it. Rather than refer to her as the best American Idol, she is being compared directly to Alanis Morrissette, Pat Benatar, and Sarah McLachlin. Her second single, Sober (a tribute to Annie Lennox at her best), is absolutely phenomenal, How I Feel is going to be a fan-favorite, and the hidden track Chivas is pure genius (think Corinne Bailey Rae lamenting a pathetic ex). Yes the album is a little harsh if you go into it with memories of Breakaway, but once you get used to the new Kelly, it’s raw, honest, creative and fresh.

Do artistic integrity a favour and pick up the album, or download a couple tracks (on iTunes, of course). If that’s too much for you, at least prepare yourself for the fast-approaching days where Kelly Clarkson is a completely respectable member of the music industry rather than commercial fodder (ahem, have you SEEN Avril Lavigne’s dance routine in her latest video?).

Sir, yes sir!

Since mid-January, I've managed to drag myself through four public relations courses, two marketing classes, and two intense English summer sessions - in poetry no less! Add to that, the inevitable job search that really takes the fun out of a graduating year, two volunteer initiatives, and trying to resuscitate a social life, and you've got a seven-month blur of activity. I handled the majority of the pressure quite well despite a paper-filled weekend or two that probably took a few years off my life.

That having been said, today is officially my second full day of vacation and I can honestly say that the first one was more than enough. By the afternoon, I was pacing around my house like a lost puppy waiting for someone - ANYONE - to come home and play. I had no classes to work on, no pressing plans to draft for Play in a Day, and no upcoming events on my All Rights Reserved plate. It would seem that seven months of nonstop has created a monster. I may just be a workaholic in training. That, or I'm simply allergic to downtime. Either way, this week is not going to be pretty.

On the plus side, I've heard a rumor that free time is good for the blogger's soul so maybe I'll be able to breathe some life back into this ole thing again. Also, I do have some rather exciting news. Within 24-hours of finishing my last class at MSVU, I received two job offers which, let me tell you, is a wonderful reward for years of toil that only fellow PR students can understand. By the end of this week, the papers will be signed and I will officially be a Regional Communications Officer. Yes, you heard me right: OFFICER! I am no longer an assistant! I plan to take the GoC by storm and insist everyone call me 'Sir!' and drop and give me 20 every time I get bored.

Bring on the afterwork cocktails!