Kelly Clarkson has long been known for her famous covers of other artists’ most popular songs, treating viewers of The Kelly Clarkson Show to a performance at the beginning of each episode. Some of her best Kellyoke covers have included hits from Jazmine Sullivan, Florence + the Machine and Chris Stapleton, but she may be adding a new fan favorite to that list. The singer opened her Las Vegas residency on July 28, surprising fans with a rendition of Harry Styles’ Grammy-nominated hit “As It Was,” and concertgoers stormed social media to share their thoughts on the epic musical moment.
Harry Styles recently wrapped his worldwide Love on Tour after nearly two years, giving an emotional final performance in front of a crowd of 100,000-plus in Reggio Emilia, Italy. It turns out that wasn’t music lovers’ last chance to see “As It Was” performed live, however, as Kelly Clarkson covered it on the opening night of Chemistry: An Intimate Night With Kelly Clarkson in Sin City. One fan tried to put herself in the shoes of those in attendance, wondering how she would have reacted when the well-known opening to that song started to play:
please imagine what would have happened to me if i was sitting at a kelly clarkson show minding my own business and then i hear the opening chords to as it was just imagine pic.twitter.com/uIlrXaGhCpJuly 29, 2023
Kelly Clarkson may not be going on tour to promote her new album Chemistry, but the 10-show residency aims to give fans an intimate experience, as she opens up her whole catalog, a la Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. It became clear at the first show that she’ll also bring the Kellyoke vibes, and while fans were excited about the nod to the One Directioner, there was an element of Harry Styles’ performance that the “Since U Been Gone” singer couldn’t quite replicate. One fan noted:
Kelly Clarkson covered 'As It Was' and it sounds so weird hearing it without ‘Leave America’ being shouted back ☹️
Fans at Harry Styles’ overseas shows were known to scream the part of the song where he sang, “Leave America,” allegedly to show their disapproval over how much time the Don’t Worry Darling actor has spent in the United States. Conversely, TikTok videos have shown American crowds going silent when he sang the line in the U.S. So the Las Vegas crowd likely wouldn’t have shouted the lyric, even if it had been Styles singing it, but after seeing so many viral videos of the phenomenon, it still struck many as strange. Another Twitter user wrote:
If we can’t have Harry’s dancing + LEAVE AMERICA then at least we have her incredible vocals.
Kelly Clarkson certainly put her own twist on the hit song, and one fan described it on Twitter as a life-changing experience:
Kelly Clarkson covering ‘As It Was’ at this concert rn changed me as a person.
The former coach of The Voice told the crowd (via People) that “As It Was” had been planned as a Kellyoke segment for The Kelly Clarkson Show. However, when the WGA writer’s strike shut down the show’s production before the end of its season, those plans were scrapped, and the artist promised that her other shows would feature more covers.
That’s probably great news for fans, as TikTok user guynamedwill77 weighed in on Kelly Clarkson’s vocal performance, asking, “Is there anything she can’t sing?!,” while another fan was feeling pretty uncalm with the tweet:
KELLY CLARKSON SINGING AS IT WAS IS GIVING ME LIFE. OMG.
I’m excited to see what other covers she breaks out for the remaining offerings of Chemistry: An Intimate Night With Kelly Clarkson. Hopefully this can hold fans over until The Kelly Clarkson Show returns. Keep an eye on the 2023 TV schedule for that, as well as all of the other upcoming premieres.
