Stream It Or Skip It?

What if Kelly Clarkson did Kellyoke, but the popular Kelly Clarkson Show segment was with the artists themselves? And it was also an interview? That’s kind of the setup for Songs & Stories with Kelly Clarkson, a new series of NBC specials airing in prime time, where musical guests join Clarkson in conversation in between truncated performances of their material. Aired weekly, the specials will feature Gloria Estefan, Lizzo, Teddy Swims, and in the first Songs & Stories, the Jonas Brothers.    

Opening Shot: “Hey what’s up everybody, welcome to Songs & Stories.” Kelly Clarkson is her typically approachable self as she introduces her new special to a live audience. “Over the next few weeks, we’re celebrating how music links us to moments throughout our lives.”

The Gist: Music, memories, melody. As Clarkson tells the crowd in her intro, It’s the connections between these three prompts that have inspired her latest NBC show. “And just as a song is a story, there’s a story behind every song, which brings us to our guests this hour. Please welcome the Jonas Brothers!” 

Songs & Stories is shot on the Kelly Clarkson Show stage, in Studio 6-B at NBC Studios in Manhattan, and features her house band, My Band Y’all. So it can easily be seen as a kind of little treat for regular fans. But it’s also promotion for her daytime show in that it airs in the evening, as well as for the upcoming 28th season of The Voice, which is heavily advertised in the breaks. Notably however, the format is shifted, as we see the three Jonases join Clarkson on the front section of the stage with acoustic guitars in hand. 

The mood is light and chatty as Kelly asks Nick, 32, Joe, 36, and Kevin, 37, about growing up Jonas: their musical family, singing along with the car radio as kids, and working on songwriting with their dad. And once the conversation sets up the music, we hear seated, abbreviated, largely acoustic performances of Jonas stuff like “When You Look Me in the Eyes,” “Leave Before You Love Me,” and “Love Me to Heaven,” the single from their new record Greetings from Your Hometown.

As the Jonases describe how fatherhood has changed their view of the world and songwriting, and share some anecdotes about their career as a band, we also get a Kellyoke-style cover, the Bee Gees classic “Stayin’ Alive.” Clarkson sings with the Jonas Brothers on all the songs, mostly in harmony; she also jokes about getting to yell her own name during a rendition of “Year 3000” from It’s About Time.         

“We’re just getting started – more Songs & Stories when we get back, y’all!” 

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Kelly Clarkson Show won its most recent Daytime Emmy in 2024. If it’s more Jonas you crave, Chasing Happiness is a Prime Video documentary that fills in the brotherly band’s backstory. And the new season of NBC’s reality singing hit The Voice will feature returning hosts Reba McEntire, Michael Bublé, Niall Horan, and Snoop Dogg.   

Our Take: Kelly Clarkson’s nonprofessional interview style has always suited her, and by now she’s honed it in so well, it’s become something like a professional version of naturalism. It’s kind of incredible how many times she can say “Y’all,” and in as many contexts, without it sounding forced. (It’s like a superpower – her “Y’alls” don’t even sound forced when she does those Wayfair spots.) Clarkson brings that energy to Songs & Stories in the conversation segments, and even tweaks it to center the music. It’s obvious she has a regular rapport with the Jonas Brothers, but it also feels organic when she says stuff like “I vibed out to this song so hard at your show.” In these moments, Clarkson being onstage as host is a full extension of her fans and audience members.

In the same vein, nobody’s tuning into Songs & Stories for deeply-felt examination. The interviews are driven by softball questions that set up easy bits of banter, which further set up the song-shortened performances. Clarkson’s flair for cover songs is a feature of her show and its generation of memes and viral content, so it’s predictable and totally acceptable that she’ll join the musical guests. We actually would like to see at least one full song performance, maybe even on the other stage with more of her band contributing, just because we think it’s cool when artists collaborate on existing material. And who knows, maybe that’ll be a thing on these Songs & Stories specials going forward. In the meantime, what does occur in the fast-moving hour goes down easy like a daytime TV channel surf.

Sex and Skin: Get out of here with that.

Parting Shot: More y’alling from Kelly, this time as a farewell affirmation: “Have a great evening, y’all – and if it’s not, well, change it!”

Sleeper Star: Is Kevin Jonas low-key the funniest Jonas Bro? He has a couple of throwback asides in the lead ep of Songs & Stories that make us think he himself could host something like this. After all, Kevin’s been his own meme, and came off well on the Jonas Brothers Family Roast. 

Most Pilot-y Line: “And all of a sudden we have a song with Steve Martin!” Kelly has a nice moment with Nick Jonas in Songs & Stories as they share a memory about a wrinkle in the professional songwriting process.

Our Call: Stream It. In Songs & Stories with Kelly Clarkson, the entertainer and daytime host brings her approachable style to prime time with a little bit of chatting, a little bit of singing, and a whole lot of y’alling. 

Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.