All We Ever Wanted: Five Songs Kelly Clarkson Must Sing at The Patriot Center

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OH, KELLY CLARKSON. Since you've been back in the pop world, we can breathe for the first time. In fact, thanks to you, now we get what we want — in the form of you back on the top of the pop charts with singles like "My Life Would Suck Without You" and "I Do Not Hook Up" and with The All I Ever Wanted tour, which stops by the Patriot Center on Oct. 9.

Clarkson has weathered her share of controversy since her crowning as the first winner of "American Idol" in 2002. She was almost dropped from her label with her 2007 album, "My December," and fluctuations in her weight have been frequent fodder for bloggers — as has that recently altered cover on Self magazine, when editor in chief Lucy Danziger admitted that "of course" the publication Photoshopped her body.

But no matter whether she's wearing a size 4 or 14 or admitting how awful her movie "From Justin to Kelly" was (she told People in 2003, "I knew when I read the script it was going to be real, real bad, but when I won ['Idol'], I signed that piece of paper and I could not get out of it"), what we respect most about Clarkson is her ability to straddle pop music's genre lines. She caught Simon's, Paula's and Randy's eyes on "American Idol" by belting out classics like "Respect" and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" from Aretha Franklin and has since transitioned her career into one that mixes straightforward pop, harder rock and a touch of soul in a way that gets audiences around the world buzzing with excitement.

Count us among them. As the anticipation builds, here are five genre-bending tracks we hope Clarkson performs this week at the Patriot Center. Unlike the VH1 Divas concert last month, though, we don't expect Melissa Etheridge to pop up out of nowhere. We'd bring her some water if she did, though.

"MISS INDEPENDENT"

"Miss Independent" was originally offered to Destiny's Child and Christina Aguilera before Clarkson settled with the funk-tinged track, but we're happy it ended up with her and not Beyonce and Co. or Xtina — when Clarkson belts that chorus, we couldn't imagine it any other way.

The song, which describes a woman who transitions from being "Miss Independent" to one who can accept love and companionship in her life, highlights Clarkson's powerful voice and great range, and although she flirts with idea of shrieking through the whole thing (especially during the lines "What is this feeling taking over?/ Thinking no one could open the door/ Surprise, it's time/ To feel what's real"), she never fully goes Mariah Carey on us. Instead, the song stays safely in the realm of sanity — and proves to listeners that Clarkson's ability to channel Aretha wasn't just a fluke for the cameras of "American Idol."

"NEVER AGAIN"

Clarkson is one of pop music's best at doing that whole snarky-breakup-song thing, and "Never Again," her first single from the darkly dramatic "My December," is a prime display of her talent.

From the opening line ("I hope the ring you gave to her/ Turns her finger green") to the sarcastic chorus ("Bet it sucks/ To see my face everywhere," she suggests to her ex), Clarkson's husky voice carries the anger well, and the song displayed a more mature, controlled rock sound that would become synonymous with Clarkson's new style. It's as if Clarkson put her own spin on Weezer's angst-filled "Pinkerton," but with more estrogen-fueled lyrics about trophy wives.

"BEHIND THESE HAZEL EYES"

As one of Clarkson's most popular ballads — the song reached No. 2 on the U.S. Top 40, topped only by Mariah Carey's unstoppable "We Belong Together" — "Behind These Hazel Eyes" is one of those tracks that uses concentrated blasts of energetic ruckus to jazz up an otherwise run-of-the-mill break-up track.

Although Clarkson's lyrics are somewhat ho-hum (let's be real, "Your arms around me tight/ Everything, it felt so right" isn't anything phenomenal), the instrumental frenzy on the chorus and the mid-song breakdown elevate her soaring vocals to something else entirely, effectively jettisoning the song from mid-tempo boringness.

When she spits, "For hating you, I blame myself/ Seeing you, it kills me now/ No, I don't cry on the outside/ Anymore," "Behind These Hazel Eyes" becomes one of her hardest-rocking sad songs — and one of our favorites.

"ALREADY GONE"

Although Clarkson is particularly good at spewing vitriol, she's not half bad at putting a soft touch on things, either — as audiences can see with her latest single, "Already Gone." The slower song sounds a lot like tracks producer and OneRepublic singer Ryan Tedder has written for other artists — like Leona Lewis's "Bleeding Love" and Beyonce's "Halo" — but while Clarkson called Tedder out in public for giving her too-similar-sounding music and battled with her studio to stop them from releasing it, we don't get what the fuss is about.

Clarkson's smooth-as-butter vocals carry the song, pair well with the strings and piano and display a gentler side to the singer; although she told CBS News in July that she finds the controversy over the track "a shitty situation," hopefully that won't taint her view of the song forever. Simply put, it's one of her most timeless, talent-displaying works.

"SINCE U BEEN GONE"

If you are an 18- to 24-year-old female who has not had a dance party for one set to this song, then we don't know what to say to you. Clarkson's best song is a fine example of how impossibly catchy hooks and punk rock flair can help create memorable, melodic rants against men everywhere. Avril Lavigne could never compare.

Written by Express Contributor Roxana Hadadi
Photos by Christopher Polk, Jason Kempin/Getty Images