Don't underestimate Kelly Clarkson

Kotb: “One word to describe your movie,’From Justin to Kelly.’”

Clarkson: “One? Okay. Legality – like, I legally had to do it.”

The reviews were pretty bad one paper summed it up best. "Chicago may have revived the movie musical, but ‘From Justin to Kelly’ could bury it again.”

Clarkson: “It wouldn’t have mattered if we would have got the script for ‘Shawshank Redemption,’ nobody was going to like that movie with two TV stars, two kids. It was destined for failure.”

But Kelly's career wasn’t. Right after she wrapped her first album and concert tour, she started working on the second album. This time around, Kelly decided to take a more hands-on approach, co-writing six of the album’s songs and adding a little edge to her sound.

Clarkson: “I knew the people I wanted to work with, I knew the direction I wanted.”
Kotb: “How much pressure was there, when you have a hit first album, to make sure that this one does as well?”

Clarkson: “As long as I’m happy – I’m really that person, as long as I’m making something that I’m proud of, I don’t really care if millions of people like it. You know, I love it.”

As predicted, back came the critics. Was she a one hit wonder?

Barry Jeckell: “I think almost anyone, even at her own label, may have said she's a good singer, she won 'American Idol,' when her second album comes around if she’s not in the headlines anymore, let's see how well she can do. “

Billboard Magazine online editor Barry Jeckell says on her second album Clarkson had to prove herself all over again.

Jeckell: “When Kelly makes this album, it's her record. Its her chance to shine on her own terms.”

And shine she did. "Breakway," released this past November, is currently the top selling album by a female artist this year, with two songs off "Breakaway" already reaching number one on the Billboard singles chart.

Jeckell: “Kelly Clarkson is now Kelly Clarkson, rather than Kelly Clarkson on 'American Idol.' And that’s a big deal.”

But by "Breaking Away" from her "American Idol" past, is Kelly consciously changing her image?

Kotb: “But what about the people who say you know we picked you we loved you because you were girl next door adorable, you weren’t Hollywood glam and now you’re kind of Hollywood glam.”

Clarkson: “I'm not. Everybody says that. I'm so not. I wear like a tank top and a scarf. I wear stuff that’s revealing, but not that revealing. It’s not that I’m a prude or conservative, I just really want people to focus on the music and the more artistry part of it.”

She says she has not ‘celebed’ herself up, no entourage, no crash diets, and you won't see her following the other pop tarts through the tabloid pages.

Kotb: “Is there ever any pressure, like, look you’ve got to grab some headlines. So go make out with someone from ‘The O.C.’?”

Clarkson: “My publicist he knows I’m not like that. I mean, in the beginning he was always like okay, girl, you’re not as flamboyant as I need you to be. That’s just not my bag.

American Idol may have given Kelly Clarkson her start, but the success, she earned herself.

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