Katy Perry reacts to Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Wide Awake’ cover

As staunch spectators of The Kelly Clarkson Show I know, no one is safe from the Grammy-winning host covering their hits. But Kellyoke’s latest victim has given the singer his seal of approval.

On Tuesday, Kelly Clarkon shared her powerful yet simple cover of Katy Perry’s “Wide Awake.” Accompanied by her show’s musical director, Jason Halbert, the singer slowed down the ballad from her version of Kellyoke and performed the song acoustically, letting her impressive vocal range take center stage. Her performance quickly gained love on social media and eventually caught the attention of Perry herself, who couldn’t help but praise it.

“It’s okay, I’ll never be able to sing that again.” Perry jokingly commented in a video of the performance published by the official Kelly Clarkson Show Instagram.

The comment received more than 6,000 likes, and many fans chimed in to assure Perry that they would love to continue hearing her sing the song live.

“This is my favorite song of yours and I feel every second when (listening to) your version,” one commenter wrote. “I love Kelly and the cover was amazing, but I could never change your version.”

“Duet?” suggested another.

Clarkson’s version comes nearly 12 years after Perry first released the song as part of Teenage dream: the complete candy. It was written specifically for his 2012 concert film. Katy Perry – Part of meboth with the song and accompanying music video inspired by major changes in her life, including her divorce from Russell Brand.

“It’s like the maze of my life the last two years,” Perry told MTV at the time. “I just wanted to tell a story about myself going through this journey, maybe sometimes trying to get out of the maze. There are good parts, bad parts, and the whole time there’s the younger version of me guiding me through it.”

The track peaked at number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Clarkson regularly covers songs as part of her daytime talk show, a popular conceit that often causes the “Stronger” singer to go viral for reinventing another artist’s song. Clarkson last year drew attention online for her performance of the Eagles’ “Desperado,” and before that their version of “Happier Than Ever” by Billie Eilish.

You can watch Kelly win over fans, and Katy Perry herself, with her “Wide Awake” cover above.

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