Kelly Clarkson has a clear memory of standing outside an American Idol audition room in Dallas, 16 years ago, and seeing ominous portents. “Everybody was walking out crying,” she recalls. “And they were like, ‘There’s this British man, and he’s awful!’” One popular-vote victory and eight hit albums later, Clarkson is now a not-quite-so-scary singing judge (and coach) in her own right, wielding one of those giant red buttons on The Voice.
