EVERYONE JUST CALM DOWN

Kelly Clarkson is getting lairy again because 'Already Gone' (amazing) is going to be the third single released from the All I Ever Wanted album.

'The story goes':

- Clarkson... we'll call her Kelly... claims to have worked on her Ryan Tedder collaborations during 2008, before the release of I Am... Sasha Fierce, the latest offering from Beyoncé. Beyoncé's album was released and on it was the glorious Tedder-penned 'Halo', rumoured to be originally for Leona Lewis, cue Simon Cowell waterworks blablabla.. separate story entirely.

- Reports vary, but a general jist floating around is that Kelly told interviewers on a Canadian something-or-other that upon hearing 'Halo' she fought to get 'Already Gone' removed from the tracklisting for All I Ever Wanted, because the songs sound remarkably similar and she knew that people would accuse her of stealing Beyoncé's sound.

- The New York Something (making notes when researching these things gets tedious, you'll understand) then reports that upon hearing the record label's plans to release 'Already Gone' as an actual single, Kelly kicked up a fuss and asked for something else (apparently 'Cry') to be released instead. Alas, Operation 'Already Gone' is going ahead as planned.

- Ryan Tedder has responded by saying he finds such comments "hurtful and absurd", and that... tada... 'Already Gone' is his favourite creation since 'Bleeding Love'. He noted that Kelly Clarkson is one of the most talented vocalists in the world etc etc, Beyoncé is awesome too etc etc... basically he was Very Nice About It and didn't throw all his toys out the pram. Ryan Tedder can therefore be assumed to be some form of hybrid Musical Genius and Very Nice Person. What a legend.

'The thing is':

- 'Already Gone' is BRILLIANT.

- Yes, it does sound alot like 'Halo', but then so does every other Ryan Tedder power ballad of recent times. Line both of them up with 'Battlefield' and 'Bleeding Love' and you realise that, brilliant as he is, Tedder likes to stick to what he knows. ALL OF HIS SONGS SOUND SIMILAR.

- 'Already Gone' makes a much better choice of single than 'Cry'.

- But given the fact that 'I Do Not Hook Up' stalled at No35 here and scraped the Top 20 in the US, there's a strong chance that any new single will tank.

- ... So really, when you think about it, this great big fuss is probably big publicity.

- ... So really, everybody wins.

While we're on it, the video for 'Already Gone' premiered a couple of weeks ago and appears, like some form of twisted magic, below. It's nice and glamorous and the soft focus shots give it a Certain Something. The string instruments playing themselves are a bit hilarious but other than that, the video lands somewhere between the YAYAH of 'My Life Would Suck Without You' and the MEH of 'I Do Not Hook Up'.

Also, owners of the original nearly-five-minute-long album cut will note that for the radio edit, instead of making a few clever and subtle cuts, they have simply sliced off the last minute or so and ended the song at the end of the middle-8. A bit silly.