6 Times Kelly Clarkson Kept It Real AF Hosting the Billboard Music Awards

The first-ever "American Idol" winner did everything her way, keeping it real AF from beginning to end, starting with straight-up ignoring producers requests to have a moment of silence in honor of the Santa Fe High School shooting victims. Instead, she had a better idea, and everyone was on board with her teary-eyed plea for "a moment of action."

"They wanted me to do a moment of silence and I'm so sick of moments of silence," Clarkson said during the cold open of the ceremony. "It's not working, obviously, so why don't we not do a moment of silence. Why don't we do a moment of action? Why don't we do a moment of change? Why don't we change what's happening? Because it's horrible."

"We need to do better," she continued while venting about the shooting which claimed 10 lives and injured 13 others. "We're failing our children. We're failing their families. I have four children. I cannot imagine getting that phone call or knock on the door. So instead of a moment of silence, I want to respect them and honor them, tonight y'all, in your community where you live, let's have a moment of action, let's have a moment of change."

Considering the Santa Fe shooting was the 22nd school shooting of 2018, we're so with her on this one. Silence is the last thing we need right now.

Like we said earlier, Clarkson is not a comedian and she didn't try to be. At the point of the evening when a traditional award show host would tell jokes about the celebrities attending the event, she just expressed her excitement to be there and made it clear she'd be supporting her fellow artists, not making fun of them.

"I'm gonna try not to cry anymore," she said at the top of her warm welcome. "What am I doing here, you're asking. Me too. Someone is getting fired, y'all."

"But it ain't me, because I'm under contract," she joked. "I get it, people who host are usually comedians, but tonight you're just getting me."

And she knew she'd be a target for criticism. "If you're gonna be mean, at least be funny," she advised Twitter trolls watching at home.

"I'm a big fan. I love all of these artists," she said while wrapping up her loose monologue. "I'm keeping my role super simple."

But what we got was better than jokes. She performed a medley of the most popular songs of the last year, even squeezing in a quick cover of Kendrick Lamar's "Humble," which delighted the star-studded audience.

Most award show hosts keep their cool after killer performances, but Kelly was not afraid to rush the stage immediately after John Legend finished performing "A Good Night."

"You're so sexy, I love you," Clarkson told the singer and wouldn't let him leave the stage without a hug as the show cut to commercial break.

Legend's wife, Chrissy Teigen, did not tweet about it, but we're sure she was loving it while she watched from home days after giving birth to her second child.

"And now it's time to introduce our next presenter," Clarkson began while introducing T.I. to the stage, but immediately pivoted back toward praising Jennifer Lopez's previous performance.

“Seriously, she's ridiculous, and I don't even know what to say after that," she said before finishing up her T.I. introduction.

Nobody was more pumped for Janet Jackson to perform her greatest hits and accept the Billboard Icon Award. After the '90s superstar left the stage, the camera cut to Clarkson in the crowd jumping up and down in excitement in a gold-sequined suit.

"Janet! Janet! Ayyyy," she squealed in delight. "That was crazy, that was so good!"

Clarkson heard the BTS fan army screaming at the top of their lungs all night long any time the cameras cut to the boy band, so when it was finally time to introduce them to the stage, she came prepared with pink earmuffs so she could hear herself speak to introduce the K-Pop group. We doubt they worked, though.

"Y'all are crazy, I love it," she said over the screams of BTS' fan army.

She said other stuff, but the screams were so loud, we really couldn't hear another word that left Clarkson's mouth, but it was an absolute delight to watch her try to compete.

Despite making it clear she's not a comedian and viewers shouldn't expect jokes, she did have a few up her sleeve. After the performance wrapped up, she announced that the award for Top Artist was on the way, then adorably added, "I thought I was the top artist, it's fine."