Kelly Clarkson Pulls Off Excellent Live Performance Of Whitney Houston's 'I'm Every Woman' For Daytime Variety Show

Apr 06, 2020 by apost team

As part of The Kelly Clarkson Show’s special segment “Kellyoke,” in which the American Idol star covers pop hits, Clarkson took to the stage to give her take on Whitney Houston’s I’m Every Woman earlier this year.

The daytime variety talk show is the perfect destination for Clarkson fans who can not only get to know the artist a bit better, but can also enjoy the award-winning artist’s one-of-a-kind knack for covering pop covers from classics like Patsy Cline’s Walkin’ After Midnight to this Whitney Houston cover. But unlike karaoke, “Kellyoke” also features a live band that is bound to impress viewers, too. With that said, you shouldn’t expect a super polished, choreographed performance — the sort that we all remember from American Idol.

Rather, the show’s “Kellyoke” performances aim for a distinctly casual atmosphere. The audience even joins Clarkson on stage, dancing, clapping and grooving to the music as the singer shows off her dynamic vocal range. That doesn’t mean, however, that the performances are boring or any less well-performed. The studio is filled with bright pink and purple neon lights that flash throughout the “Kellyoke” performances, and it really does feel more like a party than a concert.

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Clarkson’s “Kellyoke” rendition of I’m Every Woman is particularly fun and lively — no matter the mood, it’s hard not to smile. According to AllMusic, the track, which came out in 1978 as part of Chaka Khan’s debut solo studio album, was made famous in the ‘90s by Houston, who turned the bouncy track into a disco-funk hit. Clarkson isn’t exactly known for her disco-funk credentials, but by taking a lot of inspiration from Houston’s version, Clarkson shows that she isn’t bound by genres.

Clarkson begins the live performance in almost complete darkness — the spotlight shines on the Idol star while a pianist plays an understated riff. During the track’s first few moments, the focus is, therefore, entirely on Clarkson’s vocals; she tackles falsettos and vibrattos with relative ease. But around a fourth of the way through the performance, the piece climaxes, suddenly transforming from a smooth, high-school prom ballad into the disco-funk dance hit we know and love. At this point, the crowd can’t help but moving and joining in on the fun as the pink and purple lights go wild across the stage — it almost takes us back to the golden age of disco.

Clarkson, who most recently released her eighth studio album Meaning of Life in 2017, is no stranger to breathing new life into classic tracks with her wonderfully versatile voice, according to AllMusic. In the summer of 2016, she even released a platform for fan-requested covers: kellyclarksonlive.com. During her Piece By Piece tour she would record requested covers — notable hits include Radiohead’s Creep and Coldplay’s Fix You — and upload them to the website. Lest we forget her musical origins, it’s also worth mentioning that Clarkson made a name for herself as the winner of American Idol’s first competition in 2002 — a competition that was almost exclusively judged based on covering other artists.

It’s safe to therefore say that Clarkson — who is now 37 — has a fair bit of experience taking on other artist’s tracks. And if a Whitney Houston cover doesn’t scare her off, then it’s a sure bet that Clarkson can cover almost anything. To see some of her best covers and to get down to the funky, mood-boosting I’m Every Woman cover, it’s worth checking out her “Kellyoke” series in full. Odds are you won’t regret it.

What do you think of Kelly Clarkson's rendition of I'm Every Woman? Would she have made Whitney Houston proud? Let us know and pass this on to all your musically-inclined friends and family members.