You might love American
Idol. You might even think you're the No. 1 fan of American Idol. But you would
be wrong. Kelly Clarkson is the No. 1 fan of American Idol, and she proved it
during her stint as guest judge on the first live show of the singing competition's
farewell season. Plus, she performed at the end of the show, reminding every
one of the season 15 contestants why she won. Then she broke down mid-song and
made tears stream down Keith Urban and Jennifer Lopez's faces. Could this show
have remained such a pop culture force if Kelly hadn't won? The answer is
clearly no, because no one else could make beautiful music superstars like
Keith and J.Lo weep on national television. (You can watch the emotional moment
in the clip above.) Of course, Clarkson has a very good reason to love the
show, considering she was crowned its very first winner and became a superstar
after trying out for some rinky dink reality show that nobody had ever heard
of. But she didn't have to stay a die-hard viewer for the subsequent 14
seasons—which she clearly has.
The O.G. Idol was in
the Idol studio—7 weeks from her due date!—to critique the top 10 of season 15.
The top 10, by the way, are: the judges' Fast Pass recipients Dalton Rappatoni,
Olivia Rox, Trent Harmon and La'Porsha Renae, and America's vote winners Avalon
Young, Gianna Isabella, Lee Jean, MacKenzie Bourg, Sonika Vaid and Tristan
McIntosh. And, as you could tell when she called back to each singer's earlier
performances, Clarkson has not only been watching Idol, she's actually been
paying attention and listening hard to each of the finalists. During each
critique, she compared their first live performance to what they did in earlier
rounds, and had thoughtful words of advice for each of them. Basically we knew
she was the best and she continued to remain the best. The episode also saw
Clarkson look back at some of her most memorable moments from her Idol season,
a.k.a. catnip for her fellow Idol superfans. (Though we probably should've
started a drinking game. Every time they played "the winner is KELLY
CLARKSON," you probably should've taken a sip of your beverage. Nice
knowing you.) Then she performed her
emotional song "Piece By Piece" and caused the aforementioned
sob-fest when everyone became too emotional to handle what was happening,
further cementing her position as the best American Idol winner ever. All hail
Queen Kelly!
