Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini reunited on her talk show, which aired on Jan 4. The two reminisced about their time on American Idol over 20 years ago. While Kelly won the inaugural season, Justin finished in second place. Right after the season wrapped, the two filmed the movie “From Justin to Kelly” which Kelly famously hates.
“We got shot out of a cannon,” said Justin about the experience. Nevertheless, Justin loves the fact that they were at the “beginning of things…nobody knew what was up.” Kelly agreed, “We didn’t know.” Justin continued, “The stakes weren’t super high for us.” Kelly added, “That was pretty cool for us, actually.”
Don’t play cards with Kelly, Justin warns
Justin shared that Kelly is an ace card game player. “If you ever have the chance to see Kelly, and she ever says, ‘Hey, do you want to play a card game?’ Don’t!” Justin warned. “I’ve always been competitive,” Kelly admitted.
“She’s a killer,” Justin stated when he mentioned they played the card game speed.
“We would hang out, and we would play speed because there were these huge swaths of time [on the American Idol set]. And we would play speed, and I think I may have won twice in the hundred times that we played together,” Justin said.
Kelly, who admitted to an adrenaline rush when she played said that Speed is “really my game.” Justin added, “It was ridiculous!’
Justin loves mentoring young artists
Later, Justin talked about how he loves mentoring young artists. He remembers seeing a reunited Jackson 5 when he was 8 years old. The singing, choreography and stagecraft inspired him to say at the time, “I want to do that!” And it was during the American Idol tour, while he and Kelly performed in front of screaming fans that he had fulfilled the promise he made to himself back then.
His hope is that “someone looked at us up there, or someone looks at you here…and says ‘I wanna do that’.” By mentoring young artists he hopes to help them “avoid the pitfalls that I fell into.” He realizes they will have their own ups and downs. But he’d like to help make the road at least a little bit easier for aspiring talent.
Kelly added, “I think it’s always important to look behind you.”
Justin voiced a villain character in a new Disney Jr. animated series
Coming up for Justin: He voices a villain character for a new Disney Jr. animated show for children called SuperKitties. The show takes place in the town of Kittydale, Justin explained. The cat citizens are just normal cats until they get the SuperKitty call from their animal friends. Then they transform into SUPERKITTIES!
Justin plays a villain whom the Super Kitties battle against. He’s “Cat Burglar” who “likes to steal all the right things for the wrong reasons.” In the end, Cat Burglar learns his lessons and apologizes. The show is for children, so there are always lessons to learn. Justin also gets to sing in the music filled animated series. Check out the trailer HERE.
