Simon Cowell to Kelly Clarkson and Clive Davis: 'Kiss and make up'

Simon Cowell is apparently sick of the ongoing war of words between Kelly Clarkson and RCA chairman Clive Davis, who reportedly wasn't a big fan of the original American Idol's musical content on her third album "My December."


"They just need to kiss and make up," said the sharp-tongued Idol judge during Thursday night's broadcast of Extra.

Clarkson finished recording "My December" -- the first album in which she either wrote or co-wrote every song -- for RCA in January, however it wasn't released until June 26.  The reasoning behind its delay, according to Entertainment Weekly, was because Davis "sat" on "My December" for four months hoping Clarkson would use the same producers who helped her craft "Breakaway."  

The behind-the-scenes strife eventually spilled over into the media, causing Clarkson to call her label's song suggestions "insulting" and grouse that she "could give a crap about being a star" while Davis' stubbornness reportedly caused internal strife at RCA.  Davis then used his sixth-season American Idol finale speech to champion songwriters and take a not-so-subtle swipe at Clarkson's decision to stand her ground.  

Now, following a brief period in which the spat appeared to be quieting down, Clarkson has revealed new behind-the-scenes details in the August 2007 issue of Blender.


"It was nice," Clarkson told Blender of a "face-to-face" Beverly Hills Hotel meeting she and Davis had to discuss his "My December" issues.  "It was just the two of us, and his dog.  I was like, 'I don't know you very well, and I am not a bulls**tter.  I get you don't like the album. You're 80; you're not supposed to like my album.'  I said, 'Clive, I'm going to make tons of albums.  It doesn't have to be mainstream every time.'"

Clarkson said Davis then began to compare her to other artists he's worked with, specifically Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. 

"First of all, Mariah writes a lot of her stuff.  Secondly, I don't want a career like either one of those singers," Clarkson told Blender as to how she responded to Davis.  "That's why it's hard for us to make an album:  You don't know me!  You don't know what I like, and you don't know what my fans like."

She was apparently right, as "My December" debuted at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 weekly album sales chart, according Nielsen Soundscan figures for the week ending July 1, selling 291,000 copies in its first week of release.  It currently sits at No. 3 on The Billboard 200.

While Cowell originally told reporters that he could "see both sides of the argument" between Clarkson and Davis during a May conference call, he now apparently thinks the original Idol should be less harsh in her criticisms of the RCA chairman. 


"Clive Davis at 80 is better than 99% of the people in the music business," Cowell told Extra.  "And he's not 80... he's less than 80." (Davis is actually 74-years-old.)






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