Rested and ready, an exuberant Kelly Clarkson finally made it to the stage of the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Friday night (July 11) for the start of her new residency.

Clarkson is no stranger to Las Vegas stages. She previously had a show at PH Live in Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in 2023, the sold-out engagement “Chemistry,” which ended in 2024.

Starting off Friday night with a bang, she immediately got deep with fans.

“It took us a minute … took me a minute. I’m so sorry if some of y’all had tickets to last weekend’s shows. We can’t help our body sometimes … if we get sick. But thank you all so much for showing up,” Clarkson’s told the audience after opening the show with “Me” and “Walkway,” immediately addressing the elephant in the room: last week’s abrupt cancellation 90 minutes before the scheduled start of “Kelly Clarkson: Studio Sessions.”

“I sound incredible because I canceled last weekend,” the American Idol champ commented after a few songs.

The two-hour-long run through her 23-year career, told through music and stories, proved exactly why the singer, songwriter and talk show host needed to be at full vocal capacity. The setlist accounted for about 80 minutes of music, with Clarkson filling in around 40 more with banter and storytelling. The staging and musical arrangement put the audience inside a Clarkson recording session with more than two dozen studio musicians rotating in and out throughout the production.

Clarkson let loose with major vocal runs, candid emotional moments and even a “glass of tequila” from an audience member. Sixteen performances of “Kelly Clarkson: Studio Sessions” are scheduled through Nov. 15, with new dates for the postponed July 4–5 shows still to be announced.

Here are the eight best moments from night one of Clarkson’s “Studio Sessions” at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on July 11.