Kelly Clarkson posted a blog entry on Thursday (Feb. 4) in response to Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta, who defended his artist Taylor Swift's off-key performance at Sunday's Grammy Awards by taking a swipe at singers who never miss a note.
"This is not 'American Idol,'" Borchetta said, in response to mounting criticism over Swift's less-than-stellar vocals during her duet with Stevie Nicks. "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."
Needless to say, the original "American Idol" winner-turned-pop ingénue went on the defensive. "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,'" Clarkson wrote. "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," the "My Life Would Suck Without You" singer continued. "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."
Clarkson sarcastically signed off on the note to Borchetta as, "One of those contestants from American Idol who only made it because of her high notes."
from Billboard.com
