Kelly Clarkson usually reigns the stage of her daytime talk show solo, but she recruited Tori Kelly to sing a Christmas duet and duke it out over who can finish singing classic carols.
The two Kellys sprinkled some soul into their socially distant rendition of “Silent Night” from Tori Kelly’s first Christmas album, A Tori Kelly Christmas, which she executive-produced alongside Babyface and Scooter Braun. But that’s not the only Christmas song these two performed in front of their virtual audience.
Both American Idol alums put their voices to the test to see who could finish a Christmas song for a festive and aptly named Kelly Clarkson Show segment “From Kelly to Kelly.” Black-ish actor and comedian Deon Cole stepped in as the judge for the friendly competition, which challenged both Grammy-winning artists to sing classic carols, including “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “O Christmas Tree” and “We Three Kings” line-by-line until one of them messed up a lyric.
But both teased each other for hardly remembering the first verses of each song. “These are songs that you sing at church and the words are there, you know what I mean? So you don’t think you gotta know,” the “Should’ve Been Us” singer said at the end.
On Tuesday (Dec. 1), Clarkson returned under a solo spotlight, complemented with blue stage lights, for her dreamy “Kellyoke” cover of Linda Ronstadt’s 1977 hit “Blue Bayou.” Ronstadt’s version is the most notable since its original recording in 1963 by Roy Orbison.
Watch Clarkson and Kelly ring in the Christmas season with their competitive caroling (and find out who won!) as well as Clarkson’s “Blue Bayou” cover below.