Playing a concert in a mall may not be the world's most enviable gig for a pop star, but in the case of Kelly Clarkson, at least it's being televised.

The singer is to appear for a free mini-set at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue on Monday. A portion of the concert, part of the nationwide Summer Krush series sponsored by a major electronics company and a wireless carrier, will be broadcast on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" 

The concert begins at 8 p.m., and fans will be let into the mall courtyard at about 6 p.m. To RSVP for the free event, fans can visit this website. 

Last year, Mariah Carey performed at the Hollywood & Highland complex as part of the series. If Carey's concert is the template, fans can expect about five songs at the event. The "Kimmel" show has staged a few outdoor Hollywood concerts, including performances by Coldplay and Depeche Mode. At the Carey concert inside the Hollywood & Highland complex, a crowd of about 2,000 was considered maximum capacity. 

Clarkson is touring to promote her March release "All I Ever Wanted." The album has sold 694,000 copies to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

--Todd Martens

Photo credit: Associated Press

“Dawg! When you hit that high note -- 'That’s the the way that love’s sup-POSE-ed to be' -- THAT was the Faith we’ve come to know and love throughout this competition. That was hot -- you ARE the next American Idol!!”

Oh, that’s right -- Faith Hill got the jump on "American Idol" long ago. Yet it was tough Friday not to keep watching from the wings during the opening of her two-night stand at the Hollywood Bowl expecting Randy Jackson or Paula Abdul to pop out and give her a standing ovation.

She’s everything “AI” contestants strive to be: outwardly humble, vocally unrestrained, temperamentally not too hot, not too cold. Hill’s the diva for people who don’t like divas, so even-keeled there’s never a hint of the kind of distracting quirk that can come with a Whitney, Celine, Madonna or even a Kelly.

On Friday, that meant despite the added forces of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra behind her six-piece band and three backup singers, there was a striking shortage of musical electricity during the 65 minutes she was onstage.

Not a shortage of volume or sonic density given close to 100 musicians were there with her. But Hill’s music studiously avoids any sort of dynamic tension or thematic ambiguity that might give listeners a second thought. Or at times even a first one.

It’s a day of tie dye and top 40 as the faithful descend upon the two L.A.-area arenas.

Jerry Garcia might have died 15 years ago, but ambling through the parking lot of the Forum on Saturday night, you'd have been hard pressed to know he's gone. Two hours prior to the Dead's first L.A. show in more than a half-a-decade, the sun-scorched asphalt was already swarming with people. The scene was a cross between a Renaissance Faire, a Bedouin crossing and the world's most pot-addled family reunion.

Limousines ferrying baby boomers idled next to withered Winnebagos still following a band that first formed nearly 45 summers ago. Rusting school buses cloaked in rainbow Day-Glo paint were packed to the gills with AARP-aged hippies - the strains of "Scarlet Begonias" mingling with the smoke from dirty windows.

Not so far away, at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, a very different kind of arena show was underway: KIIS-FM's Wango Tango, a top-40 blowout featuring Lady GaGa, Kelly Clarkson and the Black Eyed Peas, in addition to a host of other radio-friendly favorites, attended by hordes of screaming teenage girls.

The weekend concerts illustrated two opposing approaches to being a devoted music fan in today's pop culture landscape: Either embrace every genre and artist with the same open-minded ardor or single-mindedly invest all your energies into the one performer, group or style that defines you.

Kelly Clarkson has flown beyond the horizon with her new album, “All I Ever Wanted,” unseating U2 at the top of the national sales chart. Clarkson’s fourth album sold 255,000 copies in its first week in stores, comfortably ahead of the Irish rock group’s “No Line on the Horizon,” which drops to No. 3 in its second week of release.

The original “American Idol” champ undoubtedly benefited from a blitz of TV appearances during release week, with appearances on the show that launched her career as well as on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live”  and ABC’s “Good Morning America” (pictured here) and “Live With Regis and Kelly.” She’s also gotten a boost from the success of the album's first single, “My Life Would Suck Without You,” which went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“All I Ever Wanted” outsold her sophomore album, “Breakaway,” which logged sales of 250,000 copies when it came out in 2004, and went only as high as No. 3 on the album chart. Her 2003 debut, “Thankful,” started out with 297,000 copies, and 2007’s “My December” opened with 291,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Three other albums debuted in the Top 10, including “The-Dream” at No. 2 with sales of 151,000 copies, J. Holiday’s “Round 2” at No. 4 (55,000) and Chris Cornell’s “Scream,” entering at No. 10 (26,000).

There was little upbeat news overall, as total sales were down more than 6% over last week, according to Billboard, while year-to-date album sales are down 12% compared to last year.

-- Randy Lewis

Photo by ABC via Getty Images

The former 'American Idol' star is in her purest form on the new album.

The fourth album from pop's most sympathetic rebel girl, Kelly Clarkson, has nearly as many mandates attached to it as a certain economic stimulus plan.

The record label execs who objected to the emotionally loaded, tough-sell hard rock of 2007's "My December" are hoping for a massive, industry-saving hit. The critics who love her spunk but question her sensibility desire artful pop with a little bit of red meat. The "Idol" watchers and Top 40 listeners who made her a star in the first place want the perfect blend of sincerity and catchiness to lift their spirits during a year when nobody needs another breakup album.

Clarkson, ever the overachiever, has delivered on all counts. "All I Ever Wanted" is a masterful rapprochement with the mainstream, full of cheerfully ear-snagging tunes, inventive production, exhilarating vocals and enough inherent Kelly-ness to put aside fears that her label bosses implanted blond electrodes in her brain to make her behave.

"All I Ever Wanted" -- due March 10 but leaked online -- also fulfills the one requirement that makes Clarkson a top-shelf pop star worth loving: It provides her faithful female fans with a solid group of anthems and introspective moments expressing dignity, independence and emotional truthfulness.

The first single, the desperately radio-friendly "My Life Would Suck Without You," wasn't a good sign: Ripping off one's biggest previous hit isn't a path toward self-discovery. But that album opener simply announces a rousing, if slightly overloaded, collection of ballads and barn-burners well serving the needs of Kelly's girls for a big scream and a good cry.

So much for that carefully orchestrated release plan.

Kelly Clarkson's "All I Ever Wanted" has hit the Web in advance of its March 10 release date, and the culprit? Apple's iTunes store, according to this report in Rolling Stone.

The website for the magazine notes that it was the Norway division of Apple's iTunes music service. An Apple spokesperson has yet to respond, but Rolling Stone provided this screen grab of the Norwegian iTunes store as proof, and reported that the file was encoded via iTunes.

Once serviced to retailers, keeping an album under wraps is a near impossibility. While "All I Ever Wanted" is not yet available to preview via any U.S. retailers or officially sanctioned sites, Rolling Stone notes that the Norwegian site was hosting 30-second audio clips when fans realized the album could be purchased.

Idolator has already posted a one-listen verdict, noting: "It's a fun collection of pop tracks that's carried in large part by Clarkson's endlessly rootable personality and (slightly sweetened, but still undeniable) pipes." But the RIAA would be pleased to know that download restrictions here at Pop & Hiss HQ prevent the album from being obtained.

The leak comes near the end of what has been a drawn-out marketing plan, even by major label standards. Begining in late December, trinkets regarding "All I Ever Wanted" have been gradually making it out to the media. Over the next few weeks, the unveiling of Clarkson's single, title, art and lyrics were all treated as mini events.

If the iTunes leak is indeed true, it appears to be the second semi-legit leak of a major album this week. Earlier today, news spread that the leak of U2's "No Line on the Horizon" was the result of the Australian arm of the Universal Music Group.

Forbes posted a detailed story, and wondered if the move would ultimately be a "colossal blunder" or a "marketing ploy." The band took advantage of the Web chatter on the album and today made it officially available for streaming via MySpace. Look for Clarkson's "All I Ever Wanted" to appear on some sort of official channel soon.

-- Todd Martens

Photo credit: Getty Images

Suddenly there she was, after all this time.

Whitney Houston walked onstage at the end of Clive Davis’ annual pre-Grammy gala at the Beverly Hilton on Saturday in a leopard-print corset dress and a coat that made her look a bit like a big cat -- her hair a nimbus of curls, her smile a tolerant mask.

She didn’t waste time warming up with a minor hit. The big band’s flourishes signaled the start of her signature ballad, “I Will Always Love You.”

Everyone -- the entertainment business moguls schmoozing their way through this Grammy weekend; the stars for whom this annual fete is a way of renewing their membership in the glamour club, including Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia and Jamie Foxx; and even the servers still filling wine and water glasses -- stopped to listen. But Houston did not milk the moment. She simply sang, strongly but without melodrama. And before the high notes could challenge her, she moved on, switching to her 1983 hit “I Believe in You and Me,” the scariest part of the night behind her.

The rumor that the singer would appear at Davis’ party had solidified during rehearsals for the event, when Davis himself confirmed it to MTV. It was the latest scene in the story of pop’s most famous Henry Higgins and his wayward protégée, a woman who’s struggled with drugs and a disastrous marriage to the singer Bobby Brown, but who is finally back and ready to fight for her spot at center stage.

Houston’s short set, which also included her hip-hop-flavored “It’s Not Right but It’s Okay” and “I’m Every Woman,” a cover song that’s been part of her repertoire forever, enraptured the crowd. Hudson and Fantasia hugged the stage, waving their arms in testifying fashion. Foxx caught the whole thing on his camcorder.

Was Houston’s appearance worthy of the crowd’s joyous reception? On one crucial level, yes, though the voice that once seemed able to topple mountains had grown more subdued, and the high notes just weren’t there.

Houston, who had grown disturbingly thin in recent years, looked healthy. Most of her recent performances have happened outside the U.S., and the press reports haven't always been kind. Last night, she hit her cues and delivered the songs with confidence. This felt like the beginning of something, not its climax: a tentative though friendly rapprochement with the diva role Houston once defined.

Now in her 40s, she may simply never regain the astonishing range and power of her youth. Onstage, she seemed to be working on ways  to sing distinctively though those natural gifts have slightly dimmed. The performance was enough to inspire hope that her next step won’t be disastrous.

Comebacks formed a defining arc within the long show.

Never underestimate the power of "Idol." Or, more accurately, rarely underestimate the power of an "Idol" -- the show hasn't been a bounty of success on all of those who have touched its multi-platform powers.

But former "Idol" star Kelly Clarkson has made a powerful return to the charts. Billboard reports that her "My Life Would Suck Without You" will make history Thursday, bolting from No. 97 on the U.S. singles chart to the pole position. The song, according to the story, sold 280,000 digital downloads in its first week of release. Billboard reports that "My Life Would Suck Without You" is her seventh top-10 hit since 2005.

File this one under "predictable": Kelly Clarkson has returned from her Persephone-like journey across the pop-goth River Styx on the excellent but commercially disappointing album "My December" with a shiny, streamlined new cut meant to break the speed limit up the charts. Hear it for yourself on her YouTube page. 

There's no reason this song won't be huge. "My Life Would Suck Without You," co-written and produced by absolute hit makers Dr. Luke and Max Martin, zooms forward from its guitar-plucky intro toward a cymbal-crashing climax without ever slowing down. There's no time to question the empty calories delivered within those compressed, subtly Auto-Tuned vocals, which ride some sneakily accelerating high-fructose beats.

You will be singing this song by your third listen, and that third listen will be unavoidable, because without a bridge or even one blue note, it's perfectly suited to the formats that support 21st century pop -- especially YouTube parodies and singing toothbrushes.

But is Kelly in there, amid the syn-drums and keyboard bleeps? To paraphrase Bill Clinton, that depends on the meaning of "in."