The Kelly Clarkson Show “Kellyoke” contest held it’s “finale” on Friday (September 23), and it was full of ringers! As part of promoting season 4, Kelly Clarkson’s “tour bus” travelled from New York City (where she taped a week of shows) to Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles. In each city, fans could stop by the bus and sing a “virtual” duet with Kelly on “Since U Been Gone.”
A The Voice Team Kelly Member Represented Chicago
While hundreds of fans likely showed up, the folks who wound up on TV already have deep connections to show business. Most ringery, is the Chicago winner. SandyRedd (Instagram). That name should be familiar to The Voice fans, Sandy was a 4-chair turn on Season 15 and picked Team Kelly. The singer lost her battle, at which point Jennifer Hudson snatched her up, eliminated/saved her in the Knockouts, then saved her AGAIN in the Live Playoffs. Sandy left the competition at Top 13.
In a clip posted to Instagram, Kelly listens to Chicago auditioners and is “OH WOW I KNOW THAT GIRL’ as her virtual duet plays. The show pulls her aside for another performance, where Sandy reveals she just got off a tour of Jesus Christ Superstar. I mean, there is NO HECKIN WAY production didn’t set that up. Before the group performance with Kelly, the singers are treated to a day pf wardrobe fittings with stylist Lawrence Zarian. Over lunch the singers share their backstories. Sandy shares that she lost her mother around the same time she was getting divorced (she also has a son). After that, she became homeless.
The New York City winner competed on The Sing-Off and appeared in CODA
The New York City winner, Kyana Fanene (Instagram), is a Berklee College of Music grad. She was a member of the school’s acappella group, Pitch Slapped, which competed on the NBC a’cappella competition show, The Sing-Off. Most recently, she had a small role in the academy award winning film, CODA as a choir member.
The Los Angeles winner wishing Kelly Clarkson a “good day” on Tik Tok probably got the producers attention
John Battagliese (Instagram), is the Los Angeles winner Originally from the east coast, his background is mostly in theater. He recently appeared in Jersey Boys and in a National Tour of Cruel Intentions. But what seemed to bring him to the attention of Kelly’s people are daily Tik Tok videos over the course of 10 weeks, wishing Kelly a good day. His “Since U Been Gone” duet was pretty terrible, so that could not have been the deciding factor. His version of Elton John’s “Your Song” was better.
The Dallas winner is also a pole dancer (and NSFW)
The Dallas stop brought Jade Massentoff (Instagram), who also excelled in sports, which she pursued until an injury brought her back to music. Sadly Jade lost her brother to suicide in 2017, and she also struggled with mental health issues. Discovering pole dancing helped her state of mind tremendously. According to official bio, Jade has made a name for herself in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Also, by the looks of her Instagram, her work, including her singles, are all body positive (and not safe for work).
The Tik Tok champ only has 250 followers
The Tik Tok winner, Pershard Owens (Instagram) only has about 250 followers on the platform, which is a little surprising. He’s the winner with the least experience. Other than winning a showcase sponsored by Lady Gaga’s record label, and dropping a few local singles, he doesn’t have much of an entertainment industry footprint.
Last names please?
But appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show should help, right? Oddly, the show never refers to the singers by anything other than their first names and don’t get much into their backgrounds, accomplishments OR promote their socials. I had to dig to find out who these people are. I found their socials, finally, on a post from the talk show’s Instagram account.
The tour was really about Kelly promoting season 4, and schmoozing it up with local affiliates. It’s a cool idea, but they could do a better job of actually promoting the winning singers.
Watch Kelly take the stage with the winners for a performance of The Beatles’ “With a Little Help from My Friends.”
