The former American Idol champion could not stop crying after watching the blind audition of a young woman who performed an incredibly emotional rendition of a song that means so much to her.
Already having risen to superstardom from one of the first viral TV talent competitions, Kelly Clarkson loves to keep up on NBC’s own singing gauntlet and often gives incredible praise to the contestants from her social media accounts.
Watching the very first episode of the latest season of The Voice, Clarkson caught every blind audition that aired last night (February 27th), but there was one in particular that stood out to her more than all the others.
Taking the stage during the new, 12th season, contestant Stephanie Rice delivered an emotional, heart-breaking performance of Clarkson’s chart-topping ballad “Piece By Piece” that had both Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani fighting to have her join their teams.
Rice’s performance came straight from the heart, and as she revealed through talking with the coaches, it held a lot of personal emotion for her. “The way you sing that song…it’s as if you wrote it,” Shelton noted. “What’s the deal?”
She responded with a story about her life that literally brought Clarkson to tears, saying, “When I was 18 I came out to my parents and my dad’s a pastor.” Her voice breaking with more emotion, she added, “They disowned me and I’ve been taking that broken-ness and emotion and channeling that into the only outlet I know how – which is music.”
Her story of such emotional pain and heartbreak is something that Clarkson can relate to – especially when it comes to dealing with parental relationships and that’s exactly why this performance really struck home with her.
Giving Rice a huge shout out on Twitter, Clarkson revealed that her performance left her in tears and she expressed immense support for her.
Can't. Stop. Crying. 😳 Her vulnerability and her story ….just wow. Steph, I hope ur parents open their hearts 2 the beautiful person u r! https://t.co/p6FKPBnvKU
— Kelly Clarkson 🍷💔☀️ (@kellyclarkson) February 28, 2017
The powerful words and story behind the hit, “Piece By Piece” even brought Clarkson to tears in the middle of a live performance on the grand finale of American Idol last February.
Clarkson was scheduled to perform on the 15th season of American Idol for the finale and performed that exact song, but broke down in tears during the middle of the song – pouring so much emotion into the performance that she also brought fellow singer and ‘Idol’ judge Keith Urban to tears as he watched.
Watch both Stephanie Rice’s performance during this season of The Voice and Kelly Clarkson’s tearful American Idol finale performance in the videos below.