Kelly Clarkson ‘freaks out’ over Idol

Kelly Clarkson recently "freaked out" when she remembered she won American Idol in 2002.

The singer triumphed in the first season of the singing contest and has gone on to achieve worldwide fame. She's grateful to the show for launching her career but admits it feels like it happened in another life.

"Sometimes I wake up and go, 'How the hell do I have a fan base?' I was with my mom the other day in Texas, and [there was a TV recap] on the best of Idol, and it was showing me winning," she laughed. "My mom is like, 'Isn't that weird, you won that?' We're both having this freak-out moment ten years later. Like, what happened? It's really weird sometimes to look back."

The 29-year-old's fifth record Stronger was released this month. She's proud of it, because it's the first album she's felt completely happy with.

Previously she's argued with music bosses about what to include on her LPs, but this time round everything felt right.

"Literally every album, except this album, I've had to really push for songs or say no on certain stuff. It's very easy, obviously, for people when their main goal is to make money. But I don't want to do the same formula as someone else. I want to do my own thing. This album has been a piece of cake. There's no way to describe it. I'm just waiting for the kick in the butt," she told Los Angeles Times.

"This album, I'm getting along with everyone, everyone is loving the same stuff and the stars are aligning."

Earlier this year, a number of tracks by Kelly leaked online. Many of them were songs she'd penned for other people, but she was still angry when it happened.

The star explained while she makes money in a variety of ways a lot of people write songs as their job. When their tracks leak, it can cost them income.

"When somebody leaks the song, they don't get that they are basically stealing that song. Nobody is going to want to sing it after I'm all over it on the Internet. It's upsetting to me because it's the writer's main source of income. Now they are screwed," she said.

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