Kelly Clarkson return to American Idol

Kelly Clarkson returned to the American Idol stage during Thursday night’s elimination show.

The singer who shot to fame on the smash hit TV talent show sang Don’t You Want to Stay with country singer Jason Aldean.

Ryan Seacrest introduced her as “someone the world knows as the platinum-selling Grammy winner, but to us she’s the girl who started it all.”

Dressed in a fitted black dress, Clarkson belted out the love song with her duet partner and with a smile on her face.

After the song, she teased Seacrest for talking about her Tweets. “You keep rephrasing them,” she said.

Seacrest asked about a Tweet about contestant Casey Abrams. “He’s certainly delicious. He’s cute,” she replied. “But you don’t say the whole thing.”

“It’s a very short results show,” Seacrest said. “I’ve got to get right to it.”

“Just like a man,” Clarkson said, and the crowd, including Jennifer Lopez, went wild.

Kelly recently said she can’t be “pinpointed” because she’s changing all the time.

“I’m changing, ever-changing, so once people think they’ve pinpointed you, you change,” she said. “The one thing my fans love is that variety.

“It keeps them interested, and it keeps me interested, because I love so many genres of music. That’s why I love pop music; if you’re in a category, you get stuck, but with pop you can keep all the influences.”

Still, Kelly doesn’t mind the fans who know everything about her.

“I think those people are awesome!” she insists. “I have no problem with those people. Those are my favorites.”