I hope this happens to all the Idol idiots!
Kelly Clarkson's Summer Retreat
06/14/2007 8:55 AM, E! Online
Just two days after breaking away from her management, Kelly Clarkson is walking away from her summer tour.
Plans for the original American Idol winner's road trip in support of her upcoming album, My December, have been shelved due in part to disappointing ticket sales.
"I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to getting out there to perform for y'all," Clarkson said in a statement posted on her official Website. "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."
Clarkson's rep said the singer and her team would be "reevaluating her show's size and scope," before moving forward with any touring plans.
LiveNation CEO Michael Rapino issued a statement praising Clarkson's talent, but acknowledging that calling off the tour was the only logical option.
"Ticket sales have not been what we anticipated and we came to the realization that we had bit off more than we could chew," Rapino said.
Grammy winner though she may be, Clarkson apparently hasn't quite reached the point where she can be relied upon to pack a stadium, as promoters have now realized.
"The day when she will play in sold-out arenas is, no doubt, coming, but for now her fans should look forward to seeing her in a more intimate concert environment," said Gregg Perloff, CEO of Another Planet Entertainment.
Tickets can be refunded at the point of purchase.
Clarkson assured her fans that she plans to get out on the road as soon as she can.
"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," she said.
In the meantime, My December is due to be released in the U.S. on June 26.
The album is Clarkson's third, but the first on which she wrote or cowrote all of the songs. It is decidedly darker in tone than either her debut album, Thankful, or its multiplatinum successor, Breakaway, which has been a sticking point with her label and others trying to guide her career.
Though their parting was deemed amicable, Clarkson's split with her manager, Jeff Kwatinetz of The Firm, was said to be directly linked to a difference of opinion over the creative direction of the album.
As far as Clarkson's concerned, the album may be less mainstream, but "it's more intense, it's more raw, it's more emotional," which is exactly the way she wanted it to be.
And though she doesn't expect it to rack up the sales she enjoyed with Breakaway, she's okay with that.
"Even if it does tank—who cares? It's one album!" the singer told Entertainment Weekly.
