[Fom]

Kelly Clarkson, "Masquerade," (RCA) March.

The "American Idol" winner's last album, "My December" in 2007, was supposed to be the singer's big personal artistic statement, filled with raw rock songs that Ms. Clarkson wrote largely on her own, without input from the hitmeisters whose tunes made her a star. The album yielded only middling sales, however, along with a canceled concert tour and a humiliating fight with label head Clive Davis over the direction of her music. For her fourth album, Ms. Clarkson is "in a period where she wants to take on the pop world again," says RCA general manager Tom Corson. "She's ready, and she's got all the right support." That includes the input of writer-producers like Max Martin, Howard Benson and Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald, who were behind some of Ms. Clarkson's biggest pop hits.

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