Kelly Clarkson is many things, American Idol, pop singer, and daytime TV show host. One of the most fun segments on her show is called Kellyoke Encore. In this portion of her show, she takes a song request from a member of the audience, and covers anything they request. During an episode of her show where Jay Leno was covering hosting duties for her, she got the chance to show off her blues and country chops with an old classic song.
A member in the audience got the chance to pick a song.
Annika, a young woman sitting in the crowd was selected to stand up and share what song she wanted to listen to.
She asked to hear the song “Blue Bayou”, made famous by Linda Rondstadt.
She had some emotional reasoning behind this choice. She told the crowd and viewers at home:
“It makes me so emotional everytime I listen to it because it reminds me of my dad, who left his home country, left the Philippines, and saved every dime and nickel so he could make a better life for me. And Blue Bayou’s like the Philippines, so he’ll always go back home.”
With reasoning like that, it’s hard to deny her request, so Kelly Clarkson and her backing band gave the famous song a shot.
The scene changes to a prerecorded video featuring Kelly Clarkson singing on a dark stage. Her voice scours the depths of her range in a commanding presence to really get at the emotions of the song. She continues to sing in a somber way that makes this an emotional performance.
With no choreography, and a very understated set, it’s her voice that completely steals the show.
The whole performance is pared down in a way that suits the tone and message of the song. Blue Bayou is song of longing to return to a special place, like home. Kelly really inhabits the song in her performance of it, with blue lighting all around the stage and dark clothes.
But by the last chorus, she changes things up.
Kelly Clarkson is one of those people with an electric voice. Even with not much else on stage, her voice can change quickly and get any audience excited and amazed when she starts singing in her upper register.
Still communicating a tone of wistfulness, she sings in higher octaves for the chorus, and it emphasizes her incredible range. She also goes from belting emotional lines and notes, to singing more softly, making this performance as dynamic as anything you would have seen on American Idol.
Kelly Clarkson has a rare talent that most people can’t match, except for Linda Ronstadt herself.
The comments on YouTube are filled with praise for her singing, and many compare her to Linda Ronstadt herself. One person writes:
“One of the few who can match Linda on this song. Feel like we all got Linda’s voice back for a little bit.”
Someone else commented:
“Beautiful! I’ve been in love with Linda forever and Kelly does her justice. ❤️🙏☘️”
The audience’s applause reveals how impressed they were and how talented she is.
Jay Leno wraps up the segment by thanking Kelly’s backing band and crediting Kelly for her performance once more. The woman who initially requested the song, Annika, is beaming and clapping. All in all, Kelly Clarkson yet again proved that she has the vocal chops to sing just about anything.
Check her performance out for yourself down below!
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