15 of Kelly Clarkson’s American Idol looks, ranked by ’00s-ness

Kelly Clarkson performed twice during the top four and managed to pull off two awesomely different looks that night. The other performance of the evening was “It’s Raining Men” where Kelly wore a wine colored top and dark pants.

When she took the stage to belt out her intense version of “I Surrender,” Kelly was dressed much more formally in a one sleeved black evening dress that boasted a popular asymmetrical hem. Instead of her typical pendant necklace, Kelly wore a thick choker that was covered in glittery crystals. Her hair was done in the typical messy updo in the back. She showed off her thick blonde streaks in front by partying and smoothing down the front of her hair.

Someone must have warned Kelly against recycling those chunky black sandals that she seemed to love. For “I Surrender,” even though they would have matched her asymmetrical dress, Kelly opted to wear a pair of neutral colored thong-heels. Remember those “dressier” flip flops that we all wore at some point? They still had the feel of a flip flop but they were heels and were much dressier than their beachwear cousin.

Even though she had been pulling off amazing performances of some of the hardest songs to sing, this was the first time that Kelly took on a Celine Dion song. It wasn’t her last.