Clive Davis Quashes Clarkson Beef

Clive Davis accepted the Music Visionary Award at a UJA-Federation of New York luncheon for the Music for Youth initiative, and as pop music's reigning arch-duke of divas, he was received with reverence, flattery, and, inevitably, rumor-mongering. Enter Kelly Clarkson, the former American Idol turned ingrate turned apologist.
Davis, the 75-year-old chairman and CEO of the BMG Label Group, fielded reporters' questions with characteristic aplomb, dismissing ever-so-wryly Clarkson's very public tantrum and disses as non-issues: "Kelly's been an ... important artist from the very beginning, so I'm delighted to take her back on track, and we'll be gettin' to work on her next album real soon." Onward and upward!

How about current projects, Clive? "Whitney [Houston] and I are in the studio. Jennifer Hudson, who's performing in my honor today, is in the studio." He drove it home, to the room's clear delight: "Jennifer's gonna sing. That's my way of saying thanks today." The Oscar-winning siren's performance included renditions of Davis-guided classics by Barry Manilow ("When Will I See You Again?) and Houston ("One Moment in Time"), both of which drew raucous applause from the industry-heavy crowd.

Davis, who played a critical role in making Idol the success it is, was toasted by Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, CEO of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, who contextualized Davis's influence: "Millions of appearances on American Idol are watched by more people than the presidential [presidential] State of the Union address," to audience laughter. It was suggested that the event would earn a record $1 million in donations for the youth charity.