As the first championed crowned by the phenomenally popular TV talent competition "American Idol," Kelly Clarkson sang herself into the hearts of a nation in 2002 as she routinely out-belted her young singing competitors. Performing live on television for a viewership that grew in ten weeks to create ratings history, the then-twenty-year-old Texan outshone 10,000 other contestants to be voted one of the top ten. Despite never having had a formal singing lesson, she went on to earn 57% of the vote in the final head-to-head to become the first "American Idol."At age 13 – a late bloomer by
