Season 1 "American Idol" winner and breakout star Kelly Clarkson returned to the stage that made her famous Thursday night to mark the first live broadcast of "Idol's" final season.
Performing "Piece by Piece," a song about an absentee parent, the pregnant singer touched the crowd and judges with heartbreaking lyrics and an emotionally bare performance.
Toward the end of the song, Clarkson's voice broke with emotion, and she apologized as "Idol" judges Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr. watch in awe.
The crowd loved her raw performance, chanting, "Kelly, Kelly, Kelly!"
Clarkson explained that she wrote the song when she was pregnant with her little girl, River Rose.