Original American Idol Kelly Clarkson Fires Manager, Cancels Tour

The past few months have not necessarily been good ones for the first American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson. This should have been an exciting time for her as she prepared a follow-up album to her smash success, Breakaway. Instead, she has reportedly battled RCA chairman Clive Davis for control of the new album, My December, the album has apparently been delayed, she fired her manager, and now she is calling off her summer concert tour.

Davis had reportedly been upset that Clarkson wouldn’t work with producers and songwriters with whom she’d had success in the past. This point was brought home when, at the American Idol finale last month, Davis pointedly talked about how great songwriters and producers have helped other contestants and winners score huge hits, and left Clarkson out of his praise.

Clarkson did an interview with Entertainment Weekly, indicating that the record company management doesn’t take her seriously as far as songwriting and choosing her own material, but at the same time claiming the tiff with Davis was exaggerated.

However, in the July issue of Elle magazine, Clarkson said Davis offered her $10 million to replace five of the songs she picked for My December with songs he felt were more likely to be hits. She said she knows they could all be making a lot of money, but she’s “just not comfortable doing things that don’t feel like me.”

This, of course, raises the question of what she really thought of her first album and, indeed, her time on Idol, since neither of those feel anything like it seems her third album will be. But perhaps she’s just changed over the years, as she told MTV, “I’ve never once compromised myself. … I think you definitely need to keep doing what you love, because I’m the one who needs to sing it every night.”

Within the past two days, however, things have gone from bad to worse for Clarkson. This week, she fired her manager, Jeff Kwatinetz of The Firm. And now she has announced the cancellation of her 40-date North American arena concert tour.

It is said that Kwatinetz, who is listed on My December as the executive producer, was the one who encouraged Clarkson to write her own material for the album, so this raises questions of whether Clarkson is admitting an error or just looking for a new direction. So far, Kwatinetz does not seem to have anything to say publicly, with a statement from The Firm simply stating, “Kelly Clarkson is an enormously talented artist, and we are pleased to have served as her managers in her well-deserved rise to stardom. We have only the best wishes and hopes for her in the future.”

As for the tour, Clarkson (or whoever does her writing for the site) says on her website:

“I can’t tell you how much I’ve been looking forward to getting out there to perform for y’all. In the craziness of the music business, performing is what I look forward to doing the most, so it really is disappointing for me to have to tell you that I won’t be coming out to tour this summer. The fact is that touring is just too much too soon.

But I promise you that we’re going to get back out there as soon as is humanly possible to give you a show that will be even better.

Thanks for all your love and continued support.”

Concert organizers and promoters have been straightforward about the reason for the cancellation: “Ticket sales have not been what we anticipated,” said Michael Rapino, the CEO of Live Nation, the tour promoter.

There are hints that the big tour may be replaced by a smaller one. Clarkson’s new representative, Paul Freundlich, has said that a smaller-venue tour would be announced soon. In the meantime, Clarkson is still scheduled to perform at the July 7th Live Earth concert in New Jersey, at Giants Stadium.

As for her new album, My December, it’s unclear if it will be released this month or not. Some media outlets are reporting that it will, while others are indicating a delay. There does not seem to be any official word on it yet.

Foxes On Idol will keep you up to date on any new developments!

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David Bloomberg is the Editor of Foxes On Idol, and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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