Kelly Clarkson Shares Her Surprisingly "Low-Key" 40th Birthday Plans

Paige Strout
·2 min read
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Catch your breath, Kelly Clarkson fans, because she is turning 40 years old!

Before she rings in her special day on April 24, the Grammy Award-winning singer exclusively shared her birthday plans with E! News after the April 18 episode of NBC's American Song Contest.

"I am literally so low-key," she said. "I know it's my big 4-0, but I've had a crazy two years, so I just wanted a chill birthday."

A lot has happened within those two years, from working on her daytime talk show—The Kelly Clarkson Show— to releasing new music to her recent divorce from ex-husband Brandon Blackstock. So when it comes to her birthday, she simply wants to have a good time with the people she loves.

"I'm going hiking with my friends, and that's it y'all," she shared. "And we're doing a dinner with my band, so that's it."

Following her birthday festivities, the "Since You've Been Gone" singer will host the first round of American Song Contest semi-finals on April 25 with Snoop Dogg. And With the fates of week five's contestants up in the air, Clarkson shared which acts she hopes will make it through.

Kelly Clarkson's Best Candid Moments

"I loved [American Samoa representative] Tenelle. I thought that was so cool, so beautiful. The whole performance was beautiful," she revealed. "I love [North Carolina's] John Morgan. I thought that was a really cool song."

Kelly Clarkson, The Kelly Clarkson Show
Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal

Another of the artist's favorites was Michigan singer and week five jury pick Ada LeAnn, who wowed viewers with her original song "Natalie."

"I know she was compared to Taylor Swift, but she's got a different tone than Taylor, though," she said about the young competitor. "Her head voice and her chest is very different, but her songwriting—I can see how Tom, one of the jurors, said that. But, it's a really good song, and it was really well done."

American Song Contest airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on NBC

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