Kelly Clarkson took center field Sunday night (Feb 5) in Indianapolis, Indiana and performed the National Anthem (“The Star Spangled Banner”) during the opening game ceremony for Super Bowl XLVI.

“Just finished rehearsing the anthem in Indy … wow, I’m actually really nervous about singing at the Super Bowl ha!” Clarkson wrote on her WhoSay account before her big performance. “Here’s hoping I nail it and don’t screw it up!”

Fortunately for Clarkson, a two-time Grammy winner and the first American Idol winner, she didn’t screw it up, and in fact did a great job, tackling the song after “The Voice” host Blake Shelton and his wife, country singer Miranda Lambert‘s performance of “America the Beautiful.”

After the game, Kelly checked in with her fans again, writing:

“Guess what ….I’ve never been more nervous in my life than singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl tonight ….wow that was almost not fun I was so nervous! Fun night overall though! Thank you everybody for all of the nice things you’re saying about my performance! I really appreciate it :)”

Kelly Clarkson’s spot on performance comes a year after Christina Aguilera faced criticism after she flubbed the words to the “Star Spangled Banner” at last year’s Super Bowl.

Watch Kelly sing the “Star Spangled Banner” below:

What did you think of Kelly Clarkson’s rendition of the National Anthem?

Donning a long, elegant red dress, Kelly Clarkson added a touch of class to the 2011 American Music Awards Sunday night (Nov 20) in Los Angeles when she performed a jazzy rendition of her single “Mr. Know It All.”

Watch the performance below:

Bruno Mars, the Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay and Kelly Clarkson were a few of the acts who took the stage and performed in front of thousands of fans over the weekend at the first ever iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Check out the pics below!

Kelly Clarkson returned to the “American Idol” stage Thursday night (Apr 14) during the talent competition series’ elimination show. Introduced by host Ryan Seacrest as “the girl who started it all,” Kelly performed “Don’t You Want to Stay” with country singer Jason Aldean.

Check out the performance below:

Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta came to Taylor Swift‘s defense earlier regarding her very pitchy performance at the Grammys this past Sunday. While doing so, he also took a shot at American Idol saying:

“This is not ‘American Idol.’ This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It’s not about that technically perfect performance.

Maybe she’s not the best technical singer, but she’s probably the best emotional singer because everybody else who gets up there and is technically perfect, people don’t seem to want more of it.”

Seems that the first American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson took an offense to his remarks and responded in an open letter to him on her blog:

Wow …..Dear Scott Borchetta,

I understand defending your artist obviously because I have done the same in the past for artists I like, including Taylor, so you might see why its upsetting to read you attacking American Idol  for producing simply vocalists that hit ‘the high notes’. Thank you for that ‘Captain Obvious’ sense of humor because you know what, we not only hit the high notes, you forgot to mention we generally hit the ‘right’ notes as well. Every artist has a bad performance or two and that is understandable, but throwing blame will not make the situation at hand any better. I have been criticized left and right for having shaky performances before (and they were shaky) and what my manager or label executives say to me and the public is “I’ll kick butt next time” or “every performance isn’t going to be perfect” ……I bring this up because you should take a lesson from these people and instead of lashing out at other artists (that in your ‘humble’ opinion lack true artistry), you should simply take a breath and realize that sometimes things won’t go according to plan or work out and that’s okay.

Sincerely,

One of those contestants from American Idol who only made it because of her high notes 

We completely agree with Kelly on this one. And was Mr. Borchetta serious in calling Taylor the “best emotional singer?” *side eye* How emotional can you get when singing about fairy tales and being fifteen? He must have not watched the same Grammy performance we did because no one seemed to “want more of it.”

Check out the videos of the performances from Sunday night’s (Nov 22) American Music Awards: Lady Gaga, Janet Jackson, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Black Eyed Peas, Timbaland, Mary J. Blige and more! All in all, the show was “okay” but nothing really to write home about. It could have been much better but it basically served its purpose, which was to gear everyone up for the upcoming Grammy nominations and the actual Grammy Awards (Feb 2010).

Continue reading for the videos from Sunday night’s show!

LADY GAGA – BAD ROMANCE/SPEECHLESS

JANET JACKSON – OPENING MEDLEY

RIHANNA – THE WAIT IS OVA/HARD

JAY-Z & ALICIA KEYS – EMPIRE STATE OF MIND

ALICIA KEYS – TRY SLEEPING WITH A BROKEN HEART

BLACK EYED PEAS – MEET ME HALFWAY/BOOM BOOM POW

JENNIFER LOPEZ – LOUBOUTINS]

SHAKIRA – GIVE IT UP TO ME

KELLY CLARKSON – ALREADY GONE

WHITNEY HOUSTON – I DIDN’T KNOW MY OWN STRENGTH

MARY J. BLIGE – I AM

TIMBALAND F/ NELLY FURTADO & SOSHY – MORNING AFTER DARK

EMINEM F/ 50 CENT – CRACK A BOTTLE/FOREVER

ADAM LAMBERT – FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT

CARRIE UNDERWOOD – COWBOY CASANOVA

The Black Eyed Peas took the stage last night at the 2009 American Music Awards, held at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. The highly successful “hip-pop” group managed to take over the Billboard charts for the majority of the year and Will.i.am let it be known at the end of their their performance medley of two of their chart-topping singles, “Meet Me Halfway” and “Boom Boom Pow,” when he shouted “Six months #1! The new kings!

Legendary R&B singer Whitney Houston performed “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength,” from her new album I Look To You. Her vocals weren’t all that great, but it was her “comeback performance” (as far as awards shows are concerned) and at least she wasn’t high on drugs or anything. So we definitely give her an A for effort, keeping in mind that she’s gotten older now (and she used to smoke rocks back in the day) so her voice isn’t EVER going to be like it used to be. At the end of her performance, which was met with a standing ovation from the audience, actor Samuel L. Jackson presented her with the “International Award of Excellence.”

R&B singer/songwriter Mary J. Blige flawlessly performed her new single “I Am” and hit every single note perfectly. Her new album Stronger withEach Tear (originally titled simply “Stronger”) is due to be released on December 22nd.

And pop-rock singer Kelly Clarkson‘s performance of “Already Gone” was also good, even if the song sounds like Halo Part 2. We’ll even give her a pass on her rapid weight gain (homegirl must like to eat!) because we all know she can blow!

The 2009 American Music Awards were held last night (Sun Nov 22) at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, CA. And big name stars like Rihanna, LeonaLewis , Drake, Shakira, Ne-Yo, Adam Lambert, 50 Cent, Toni Braxton, Day 26 and more all walked down the red carpet before making their way into the building for the big show. Continue reading for lots of red carpet pics and make sure you check back frequently for pics and videos from inside the show!

VH1′s Divas 2009 aired live from the Brooklyn Academy of Music Thursday night (Sep 17) in New York City and was hosted by former American Idol judge Paula Abdul. The “divas” for this year’s concert were Jennifer Hudson, Miley Cyrus, Leona Lewis, Adele, Jordin Sparks and Kelly Clarkson.

Other celebrities at the show who either performed or presented included India.Arie, Stevie Wonder, Toni Braxton, Sheryl Crow and more.

For a full recap of the ceremony, check out our friends over at Tha Feedback! And continue reading for the rest of the pictures from the Red Carpet and inside of the show.

Below is a list of the top 20 new artists that emerged this decade. These artists have sold the most albums and as sales in the music industry have been decreasing, artists who emerged early in the decade stood a better chance. Sales peaked in 2000 and have been on the decline since 2004. So below are the names of the top 20, accompanied by the total number of albums the artist has sold as of this week, the year of their debut, the title of their best selling album, and their rank on the Nielsen/SoundScan running list of the 200 best selling artists in its history, which includes Nelly, 50 Cent, Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson, Pink and more!

1. Linkin Park – 21,223,000
Debut: 2000
Best Selling Album: Hybrid Theory
Top 200 rank: #52

2. Nelly – 21,215,000
Debut: 2000
Best Selling Album: Country Grammar
Top 200 rank: #53

3. Nickelback – 19,414,000
Debut: 2000
Best Selling Album: All The Right Reasons
Top 200 rank: #63

4. Josh Groban – 19,147,000
Debut: 2001
Best Selling Album: Closer
Top 200 rank: #67

5. Rascal Flatts – 19,083,000
Debut: 2000
Best Selling Album: Feels Like Today
Top 200 rank: #69

6. Norah Jones – 16,728,000
Debut: 2002
Best Selling Album: Come Away With Me
Top 200 rank: #88

7. 50 Cent – 15,589,000
Debut: 2003
Best Selling Album: Get Rich Or Die Tryin’
Top 200 rank: #102

8. Alicia Keys – 15,520,000
Debut: 2001
Best Selling Album: Songs In A Minor
Top 200 rank: #105

9. Coldplay – 14,426,000
Debut: 2000
Best Selling Album: A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Top 200 rank: #113

10. Ludacris – 13,411,000
Debut: 2000
Best Selling Album: Word of Mouf
Top 200 rank: #120

11. 3 Doors Down – 12,472,000
Debut: 2000
Best Selling Album: The Better Life
Top 200 rank: #135

12. John Mayer – 11,467,000
Debut: 2001
Best Selling Album: Room For Squares
Top 200 rank: #149

13. Avril Lavigne – 11,404,000
Debut: 2002
Best Selling Album: Let Go
Top 200 rank: #152

14. Keith Urban – 10,858,000
Debut: 2000
Best Selling Album: Be Here
Top 200 rank: #159

15. Beyonce – 10,565,000
Debut: 2003
Best Selling Album: Dangerously In Love
Top 200 rank: #168

16. Kelly Clarkson – 10,276,000
Debut: 2003
Best Selling Album: Breakaway
Top 200 rank: #178

17. Pink – 9,998,000
Debut: 2000
Best Selling Album: M!ssundaztood
Top 200 rank: #184

18. Evanescence – 9,965,000
Debut: 2003
Best Selling Album: Fallen
Top 200 rank: #186

19. Kanye West – 9,922,000
Debut: 2004
Best Selling Album: The College Dropout
Top 200 rank: #187

20. Carrie Underwood – 9,748,000
Debut: 2005
Best Selling Album: Some Hearts
Top 200 rank: #192

American Idol pioneer Kelly Clarkson has just premiered the music video for her new third single “Already Gone” off her newest album All I Ever Wanted. Peep the video after the break!

She looks pretty in the video but that’s about it. It’s very bland and boring and has no story line. We also noticed that they cut out 1:16 from the original version on the cd. Maybe they didn’t see the point of having her just walk around for almost five minutes.

VH1 is finally bringing back its famed “VH1 Divas” after a four-year hiatus. For its first broadcast, the network will have performances from Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis, and… Miley Cyrus.

Past Divas have included Aretha Franklin, Cher, Celine Dion and Mary J. Blige. The only difference is that these singers have been around for decades while this new set of singers have only been around for a few years. Kelly Clarkson has sold over 20 million albums since being the first ever American Idol while Leona Lewis climbed to fame after winning the British reality competition The X Factor. British soul singer Adele won two Grammys earlier this year for Best New Artist and Best Vocal Performance for her single “Chasing Pavements,” While Miley Cyrus is best known for her role on the Disney Channel as Hannah Montana and has scored three chart topping albums with the Hannah Montana soundtracks.

There is seriously something wrong with this picture. Kelly Clarkson is understandable and we would even turn a blind eye to Leona. Adele is a wonderful artist but she hasn’t been around long enough. But Miley Cyrus? What happened to artists like Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Brandy, Monica, Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys … the list goes on. Do you think Miley deserves this honor and will you be watching the concert on September 17th?

Here hip-hop newcomer Drake can be seen on the red carpet as he arrives for the 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards, held Sunday (Jun 21) in his hometown of Toronto, Ontario (Canada). Word is he’ll be making that big announcement on what label he’s signed to pretty soon, so definitely be on the look-out for that. In the meantime, peep some pics of the Black Eyed Peas, Kim Kardashian, Reggie Bush, Tila Tequila and others at the 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards, which will air this Saturday (Jun 27) in the U.S. at 8 PM ET/PT on TV Guide Network. Continue reading for the rest of the photos!

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES // WIRE IMAGE

The remaining CEO, Stephen Duggan, said in a company memo that the company was closing Blender with great sadness. “Since 2001, Blender has provided unmatched music coverage and entertainment news in its unique voice to a profoundly dedicated audience of music enthusiasts,” Mr. Duggan wrote. “We are particularly grateful to the sales team and to the tremendously talented editorial staff for their hard work and commitment to Blender.”

Joe Levy, who was editor in chief at Blender, was named editor in chief of the combined Maxim editorial operation. Jim Kaminsky, Maxim magazine’s editor in chief, is leaving the company. Ben Madden continues as group publisher. Jay Woodruff, editor in chief of Maxim Digital, was named chief content officer at Maxim. After the changes, Alpha will continue to employ 134 staffers.

Alpha, the former Dennis Publishing, has endured a series of difficulties and hard choices since its acquisition by Quadrangle Capital Partners and magazine-industry veteran Kent Brownridge in August 2007. The new owners punctuated the $240 million deal by immediately closing Stuff magazine, a sort of laddie shopping title.

But the recession and other factors complicated their plans. Mr. Brownridge, who’d come back from retirement after a long career at Wenner Media, lasted only a year as CEO before the co-CEOs took over. “It was a company that needed tremendous restructuring, which quite frankly took a little longer than I anticipated,” Mr. Brownridge said as he gave up the CEO post.

By the end of last year, Quadrangle was seen negotiating with its lenders, including Cerberus Capital Management, as it struggled to make debt payments.

Alpha tried to build Blender’s circulation, pushing its paid-circulation guarantee to 1 million from 800,000 at purchase. But copies distributed to public places such as waiting rooms grew the fastest, from 13,000 copies in the second half of 2007 to 100,000 a year later, according to company reports with the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Paid subscriptions fell 8% to 768,000, while newsstand sales declined 18% to 44,233.

Ad pages at Blender also plunged 31% last year and another 57% from January through April, according to the Publishers Information Bureau and Media Industry Newsletter. Monthlies as a whole, by comparison, sank 12% last year and another 22% through April. Ad pages at Maxim fell 11% in 2008 and 37% from January through April.

Mr. Duggan’s memo to staff blamed the global financial crisis but said the company would persevere. “Alpha Media Group is weathering the current economic difficulties, and we are confident that with the changes we are implementing, the company is in the strongest position possible to continue moving forward,” he said.

SOURCE