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Kelly Clarkson's Album Cover Photoshopped

March 12th, 2009

Remember when I got all indignant that Jennifer Hudson’s album cover had been photoshopped? And like two posts ago when I said Kelly Clarkson was hot? I think you see where I’m going with this.

Kelly Kelly Kelly Kelly
Kelly Kelly Kelly Kelly
Originally uploaded by mo pie

But not only did they photoshop the album cover, she doesn’t mind. She even says so on her blog:

we decided the cover of the album and just in case you haven’t seen it i’ll post it! it’s very colorful and they have definitely photo-shopped the crap out of me but i don’t care haha! whoever she is, she looks great ha!

Oh dear. I mean it’s nice that she’s saying “hey, this isn’t me” but at the same time, I wish she wasn’t being put in that position in the first place. mamaVISION points out one of the other downsides:

Wouldn’t you feel weird cruising around town having people see you in real life and think ing”Wow, she doesn’t look like that cover? She sure as hell is not as pretty.”

Allowing this fake-ery (if that is even a word) is just asking for it. Asking for criticism. Inviting public analysis. And generally just, well, an unwise move.

I lived this crap and it sucks. As a model, you have these amazing pictures produced of yourself. It made me feel like an impostor. The model version becomes your evil twin. The one everyone thinks you are…but are then disappointed when they see the real you.

I mean don’t get me wrong, I love Kelly and am going to buy the hell out of this album immediately. And a certain degree of photoshopping is of course inevitable. But my god people, can we let a gorgeous and curvy girl be gorgeously curvy for once?

Posted by mo pie

Filed under: American Idol, Celebrities, Kelly Clarkson, Media, Music, Photoshop, TV

15 Responses to “Kelly Clarkson's Album Cover Photoshopped”

  1. Tangerina, on March 12th, 2009 at 12:44 pm Said:

    OMG in the first picture she has the exact same figure as I do (yeah, I’m an inbetweenie). Just paste my head on there. I get SO HAPPY when I see people the same size and shape as me being famous and visible, not least because it helps me figure out fashions that would look awesome on me. That album cover does not help me at all. Maybe the ladies who have skin made out of latex and walk around behind a fan can relate to it or something.

    PS Does anyone else love the inbetweenie neighbor girl on Dollhouse? She is adorable!

  2. devil, on March 12th, 2009 at 1:28 pm Said:

    Kelly’s album cover just looks like a Glamour Shot. Nothing original and even non-celebs get them. And all celebrities have their publicity photos airbrushed, so I’d be surprised if anyone would think that Kelly looks that way all the time.

    I find the cover pic boring…like a real estate agent’s business card photo. The pic on the left is much more interesting and Kelly still looks lovely (and she looks like KELLY, not a plastic doll).

  3. Nan, on March 12th, 2009 at 1:59 pm Said:

    I saw her on one of the morning shows not long ago, and she joked about the photoshopping there, too.

  4. Godless Heathen, on March 12th, 2009 at 2:25 pm Said:

    You know, I like when they retouch hair in pictures, I’ll admit to that. I like when they boost things like background colors, I don’t mind when they do obviously stylistic things to eye color and makeup. Still, if people think that nobody would buy a Kelly Clarkson album if they saw the real Kelly, they’re kind of out of touch. I don’t like a lot of her song choices (or I guess, her label’s?), but she can definitely sing. Who the hell cares what she looks like, the better question is, is anything on that album good?

  5. Luis E, on March 12th, 2009 at 3:53 pm Said:

    I’m a graphic designer and use Photoshop all the time and I really don’t see that she has been changed that much. Her face has not been altered aside from an added contrast and evening out of the skin tone. Her figure has not been changed either (and I assume that’s what anger fat activists), since we see her from the waist up with her real figure.
    Other Photoshop additions: sparkly highlights and alterations in hair color to make it look brighter. That’s it. Kelly’s remark that they “Photoshoped the hell out of her” is an exageration.

  6. rachel catherine, on March 12th, 2009 at 7:04 pm Said:

    hi there! just wanted to say thanks for this fabulous blog. There need to be more ladies out there speaking up about body positivity, and I’m thrilled you’re doin’ it! Keep up the good work!

    As far as the album cover- blerg! Though I think the worst tragedy is when these marketing jocks think someone’s too fat to even photoshop, so they use some ambiguous shot, like the Adele album cover. Adele is so beautiful, and they keep her hidden. Sad!

  7. Alyssa, on March 12th, 2009 at 7:15 pm Said:

    OK, photoshopping for taking out the odd pimple, undereye circle, fine. But I hatehateHATE when they make a person look totally unlike themselves!!!!!
    Kelly is gorgeous, just as she is. Enough already!

  8. mo pie, on March 12th, 2009 at 7:19 pm Said:

    Here is a great blog post about the Adele thing; thanks, Rachel Catherine!

  9. Sarah, on March 12th, 2009 at 9:06 pm Said:

    Luis, I think Kelly knows her own looks better than you would.

  10. Addish, on March 12th, 2009 at 11:16 pm Said:

    I don’t really think she looks any thinner in the photo album then in her picture. From what I can see anyway, the arms look the same, a lot of her is obscured with words.

    I do really like it when Mo posts about photoshopping pictures though, I’ve never actually realized how much differently the original pictures look from the after pictures until I started reading this blog.

  11. kat, on March 13th, 2009 at 8:57 am Said:

    The other day, I was reading a magazine, and there was a perfume ad. I looked at it and thought, “That model looks kinda like Britney Spears…except wrong eye colour…and face shape…and her mouth is wider than Brit’s”. Then I looked at the perfume, and it was Britney’s new fragance, and I realised the model who ‘looked a bit like britney’ was the real Brit, only photoshopped to hell!

    Loving your work!

  12. Silly, on March 13th, 2009 at 5:18 pm Said:

    Her cover is the way I picture Kelly anyways. In the interviews I see she looks good. I agree with the other posters. This is just a glamor shot. I don’t think this is a big deal at all. I have seen other magazine covers where I can’t even recognize the person they made so many changes. If I had a picture that was going to be distributed to everyone I wouldn’t mind a little touch up!

    I remember when Shania Twain was all the rage a coworker told me he saw her. His opinion: she looks much older in real life. Ouch! I’m still not sure what I think of that.

    One thing about Kelly is that she has an awesome voice. Her songs on albums sound similar to hearing her live. I have been to more then one concert where it was extremely obvious that they had a lot of electronic help in the studio to make their album. At least Kelly sounds like Kelly!

  13. Liza, on March 14th, 2009 at 7:42 am Said:

    On a moderately unrelated note, I love that dress in the picture on the left.

  14. Hey Kelly Clarkson: Your Real Self isn’t Good Enough For SELF Magazine « Kiss My Assets: The Body Image Resource Blog, on October 3rd, 2009 at 6:25 pm Said:

    [...]  after the buzz of the Kelly Clarkson cover of Self has been scrutinized, dissected, and discussed on many [...]

  15. Hey Kelly Clarkson: Your Real Self isn’t Good Enough For SELF Magazine « Kiss My Assets: The Body Image Resource Blog, on October 3rd, 2009 at 6:25 pm Said:

    [...]  after the buzz of the Kelly Clarkson cover of Self has been scrutinized, dissected, and discussed on many [...]

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