A completely fuss-free Kelly Clarkson speaks about what music means to her in this candid exclusive interview.

KELLY Clarkson is practically un-Google-able, at least where dishy celebrity gossip is concerned. While her contemporaries are regularly photographed stumbling out of cars drunk or checking in and out of rehab (or relationships), Clarkson prefers to maintain a low profile and keep the ballyhoo all about her music.

"I live in Texas in a house (that's on) acres of land and that's where I am most of the time, working on my music. There are no paparazzi there and, well, I don't go anywhere for (the paparazzi) to want to follow me.

Kelly Clarkson belting out her rocking hits recently at the 'Breakfast in Barbados' gig organised by Toronto-based radio station Chum.FM, Barbados Tourism Authority and Sony Music.

"Really, it's a lot of work to be constantly under the spotlight and in the news and I don't want any of it. Life is difficult enough, you know, and I don't need it to be more difficult," shared Clarkson candidly in an interview with The Star in Barbados recently.

True to her word, Clarkson has not the air of a celebrity about her. In fact, she's disarmingly normal. In the idyllic Caribbean isle to showcase songs from her new album, All I Ever Wanted, the1.6m tall singer chatted easily with fans and reporters at a breakfast meet-and-greet session a day before her scheduled showcase.

Clarkson's decision to stay away from media attention early on in her career didn't go down well with her then manager, Jeff Kwatinez, or the rest of her management team and shortly before the release of her third album, My December in 2007, she decided she needed a manager more in sync with her.

"My previous manager ... well, he had these big hopes about what I should be doing but I did not want to be that person. For me, it was about my music. If you (the public) like my music, great. If not ... well, it doesn't mean that's it," said Clarkson, who is currently managed by Narvel Blackstock, who is the husband and manager of country great Reba McEntire (who Clarkson recently collaborated and toured with).

Breakfast in Barbados is an annual event organised by Toronto-based radio station Chum-FM with the Barbados Tourism Authority and Sony Music. The main draw this year was Grammy award-winning Clarkson, and contest winners (who downloaded the most of Clarkson's mobile content - ringtones, etc) from Canada, Britain, Malaysia, Spain, Germany and Barbados got to not only attend the musical showcase but also meet their Idol in the island paradise.

At the meet-and-greet, fans got to witness Clarkson being interviewed by a Chum.FM deejay which was streamed live. The showcase also featured Canadian pop band Simple Plan and flamboyant say-it-like-it-is singer, Katy Perry.

»All I want is to make music that I am proud of. People find that hard to believe ... they find it hard to wrap their head around it, but that's all I want. I am really very simple« KELLY CLARKSON

Dressed in a knee-length printed summer dress with a light sweater worn loosely over her shoulders, Clarkson was completely fuss-free, even though she did arrive with a small entourage of security and public relations "people".

She may have gotten her start from the juggernaut reality TV programme American Idol after her win in 2002 but Clarkson has proved that she is much more than a manufactured product.

The 27-year-old Texan has demonstrated that she has the chops to steer her own career, from choosing who she wants to manage her to what songs she wants on her album.

In fact, this decisiveness gave rise to reports that she and bigwig producer and RCA chairman Clive Davis clashed over her third studio album, My December.

Davis reportedly did not agree with the "darker" and "harder" sound of Clarkson's self-penned music and the singer refused to compromise.

Asked about the face-off, Clarkson explained that she wasn't "trying to be more rock or less pop"; she just didn't want her albums to all sound alike.

"When you get sent formula songs and tracks, I am like 'Okay I don't want to do the same thing twice'. Who wants every album to sound the same, right?

"Every single album I've done, every song I've done, I've done it my own way. It wasn't just that album ... I think the media just reported it that way for some reason or other," she explained.

All I Ever Wanted is all about variety. While it's still very much a Kelly Clarkson album - ballsy, angry numbers delivered with her signature strong vocals - Clarkson mixes it up and goes a little country, a little punk (Whyyawannabringmedown) and even a little bubblegum pop with I Want You. There are also strong ballads which show a different side of the artiste.

Though she co-wrote some songs on the album, Clarkson collaborated with pop aces like Ryan Tedder (frontman of OneRepublic and has written and produced for Natasha Bedingfield, Jennifer Hudson, Sam Watters and Louis Bianciello), and veteran rock producer Howard Benson.

Clarkson, however, had final say on every song as she shares in an interview with associatedcontent.com.

"A good song is a good song whether I write it or not. For this record ... I went in and said 'Okay I don't care who wrote what - I want this certain sound.' Anything that didn't work out completely we made more Kelly Clarkson, something I would say," she said, referring more to My Life Would Suck Without You which was lyrically modified to sound like her.

The end product, says Clarkson, is an album she is completely happy with and one she can't wait to go on the road with.

"It's all different flavours of my personality. I grew up listening to lots of different types of music ... from Aerosmith to Pat Benatar and Reba (McEntire) to classical music. My music taste is all over the place and you see these influences in my music," she said.

The album is off to a promising start. Her first single, My Life Would Suck Without You made the biggest leap to number one in the Billboard Hot 100 charts' 50-year history when it debuted at No. 97 and leapt to the top spot within a week. The single has also conquered the British charts making Clarkson the only Idol alumnus to top the Brit charts.

Naturally, Clarkson is ecstatic about the success of her single. But what she's really thankful for is that she's able to do what she loves.

"All I want is to make music that I am proud of. That's really 'all I ever wanted'. People find it hard to believe ... they find it hard to wrap their head around it but that's all I want. I am really very simple."

While she enjoys the creative process of recording songs in the studio, Clarkson says that it's touring that really gets her going.

"Touring is really the fun part of the job when it's just about me, my band and my fans. The creative process is great but when singing in front of your fans ... singing the songs over and over, they just become a part of me.

"I am really looking forward to performing here (in Barbados). I've never been here before ... it's beautiful and they tell me the stage is going to be on the beach ... wow. And it's my birthday tomorrow ... I mean I get on stage at about 11 (pm) and by the time I'm done it'll be my birthday and I'm having everybody come over to my suite to party. They've given me this crazy suite that's so big. There's going to be plenty of alcohol," she said.

Before I can arch an eyebrow, she continued: "And I'm glad that I get to fly home tomorrow so I can spend the day with my family."

Having come into the spotlight in front of millions of Idol viewers, Clarkson is comfortable that she is somewhat "public property" - the votes won her the title, after all. She understands that public expectation and criticism is all part of the game. All this however does become a little uncomfortable, at times.

"What is difficult about it (coming from American Idol) is that people put me on a pedestal and it's always about the ranking ... whether you are first or second or third. I don't want to be put on a pedestal or compared to another," she said.

This, however, is a small price to pay for the opportunities the show accorded her.

"What's cool about shows like Idol is that it allows you to develop yourself as an artiste ... the kind of artiste you want to be on TV. You have, every week, an audience to sing in front of which does not happen if you are starting off as a struggling artiste.

"The record industry is a really very scary place at the moment because there is no artiste development going on. No one knows what's happening or what's going to happen and so a show like Idol is really fantastic," said Clarkson.

So who's she rooting for this season?

"I've been working a lot and I think I've only managed to catch a few episodes but I like the really young girl with the red hair ... Allison, I think is her name. I think she's really cool," said Clarkson.

Strangely enough, the judges have compared 17-year-old Allison Iraheta to Clarkson more than once on the show. (Iraheta was voted off the show this week, much to the chagrin of Idol fans the world over.)

"What I would like to tell these kids is that it doesn't really matter if you win it. Just make the most of the opportunity you get on Idol and know who you are," she said.

At the Barbados showcase, it was clear that Clarkson was the main draw.

While opening acts Simple Plan and Katy Perry both received huge welcomes, it was the birthday girl who got the party started.

Dressed in a pair of fitted hip-hugging black pants, a studded belt and asymmetrical moss-green T-shirt, Clarkson filled her 45-minute set with old favourites like Walk Away, Behind These Hazel Eyes and Since You've Been Gone (from the album Breakaway), Never Again (My December) and Miss Independant (Thankful) interspersed with songs from her latest album like If I Can't Have You and I Do Not Hook Up and, of course, the current hit single My Life Would Suck Without You.

Clarkson was in her element performing, apart from a minor wardrobe malfunction (nothing major - her T-shirt kept slipping off her shoulder, revealing her pink bra straps).

"This was my one attempt at being fashionable," she said pulling her T-shirt back in place. "And it sucks."

The crowd - from 20-something pop-rock junkies to thirtysomething females singing passionately along to Clarkson's break-up songs to head-banging retirees (yeah, what a mix) - was forgiving, because, let's face it, you don't come to a Kelly Clarkson gig for the outrageous costumes or fancy sets but for the singer's powerful vocals and rocking songs. And on that count, she delivered.