Word: clarksons
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When that something better did come along, Clarkson did something unusual for a reality-show contestant--she let her 15 minutes elapse. Thankful wasn't released until seven months after her big TV moment, giving her and RCA records chief Clive Davis time to figure out how to balance the expectations of people who wanted an Idol souvenir with those who demanded signs of artistic growth. The finished product was a pleasant trifle that alienated no one and produced a deserving hit, Miss Independent, but it didn't earn Clarkson much capital with RCA or her management firm...
...encourage people to write their own songs, but in the pop arena, where the career is totally dependent on hits, you get skeptical. Artists with great voices like Melissa Manchester and Taylor Dayne could have had much longer careers if they didn't insist on writing their own material." Clarkson doesn't think of herself as a pop singer--"Rock is what I love," she says--and she's been writing songs since her teens, but rather than argue over labels or abilities, she and Davis, 72, reached a détente. Clarkson wrote or co-wrote six Breakaway tracks, including...
...month after Breakaway's release, Clarkson decided she needed backup for any future conflicts. She and 19 amicably agreed to sever ties--"I love Simon Fuller, but how can somebody you've seen five times in three years really look out for you?"--and Clarkson signed with the Firm, a Hollywood management company whose clients include Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lopez. "A lot of artists tell their managers not to think short term, not to think about the next big check," says Firm CEO Jeffrey Kwatinetz, who handles Clarkson personally. "But when push comes to shove, they want that check...
...Firm rejiggered Clarkson's media strategy, keeping her profile low so that audiences won't tire of her. (She didn't need to be cautioned to stay out of the tabloids; a big night out for her is Chili's and a movie with friends.) The Firm fought to make sure that RCA promoted Clarkson's music at radio stations and in stores and removed American Idol from her official bio. (A recent controversy in which Idol judge Simon Cowell alleged Clarkson had not authorized her songs for use on the show appears to have been a misunderstanding; Clarkson says...
...that end, Clarkson has written 35 new songs, which she hopes will ease her transition from pop singer reliant on other people's hits into rocker who sings from her point of view. Davis is doing his best to keep an open mind. "Kelly has shown writing ability, and I think she's probably going to want to try her hand at writing all her material in the future," says Davis. "I don't want to dismiss it, I'm rooting for her, but we'll see." Clarkson agrees that her songs should only make the cut when "they...