Kelly Clarkson Jokes She’s “Retiring” After High Praise from Celine Dion

Kelly Clarkson recently joked that she’s “retiring” now that Celine Dion has commended her performance of “My Heart Will Go On.” A little more than a week ago, Clarkson covered the iconic Titanic theme during a Kellyoke segment on her daytime talk show. Then, Dion herself reacted, showering Clarkson with praises.

Dion posted a heartfelt message, in which she was visibly emotional as she praised Clarkson. “Kelly, when I came back from the Olympics, I got to watch and listen to your reaction to my performance on the Eiffel Tower,” Dion began. “It was so sweet to hear your voice, your voice was breaking and it touched me so tremendously. You were crying and then you made me start crying, what’s up with all this freakin’ crying,” she joked, but her voice was thick with emotion.

Dion continued, “And now I just saw you singing ‘My Heart Will Go On’ and I’m crying again! You were absolutely incredible and fantastic, I loved it so much. I hope we can see each other in person soon, very soon. And I hope I’m not going to start crying.” She concluded with a heartfelt, “I love you so much. Thanks.”

[RELATED: Kelly Clarkson to Help Induct Foreigner Into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame With Tribute Performance]

Kelly Clarkson Reacts to Celine Dion’s Praise

Kelly Clarkson recently posted her own video on Instagram reacting to Celine Dion’s reaction, sharing a story from her American Idol days. “So I got this video sent to me,” she started. “I was working with my musical director here at the show … and we were actually doing stuff for Kellyokes and all of a sudden I get this thing from my manager and I cried because it was Celine Dion saying that she loved my performance and she knows my name, that’s cool.”

Sometimes, the stars are the ones who get starstruck. Such is the case with Kelly Clarkson and Celine Dion, someone who has no doubt inspired Clarkson throughout her life in music. She continued, “It blew me away, but what really hit me was, okay, 22 years ago, on American Idol, I got laryngitis … and I had to sing Celine Dion’s ‘I Surrender All.’

“I bawl that night because I’m mortified that Celine Dion is going to see this performance. I could have cared less about votes at that point,” she admitted, “I just didn’t want Celine Dion [to] see or hear this because it was so bad because I was sick. And cut to 22 years later, and I finally got a Celine Dion performance, and I felt like I sang it all right, you know? I didn’t have laryngitis, I wasn’t sick. And I got to honor someone who is such a hero to me vocally. She is one of my main inspirations for why I’m a singer. And she watched it, and I did good.

“And I feel like I made my 19-year-old self very proud, that’s what I did. I’ve seen the video a dozen times, I might watch it before I go to bed,” Clarkson joked, “because she says my name. She said she loves me.”

Clarkson went on to ask Dion, “Where do you want me to be?” in response to Dion’s hope that they see each other soon. Will we be seeing Dion on The Kelly Clarkson Show in the near future?

“I can quit now, in life,” Clarkson joked. “I’m retiring, goodnight.”

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