Posted by Andrew Unterberger on 04/06/2011 at 5:32 PM Videos

The Popdust Files: ellen degeneres, kelly clarkson

One of the good things about being a musician on a talk show without anything new to promote is that you can play pretty much anything you damn well please. With All I Ever Wanted now several years in the rearview, and her new album still at least a good half-year off, Kelly Clarkson found herself in this enviable position on The Ellen DeGeneres Show earlier today, and ended up going with a medley of old favorites.

Though Kelly might be a bit young to be entering the medley stage of her career, she pulled it off well, stringing together three of her more rocking numbers—Thankful‘s “Miss Independent,” and Breakaway‘s “Walk Away” and “Since U Been Gone,” with the latter taking up the majority of the performance’s run time. Seven years after briefly unifying the pop world with its punchy awesomeness, SUBG still sounds great, and Kelly even hams it up a bit at the end, finishing it with a “now that that loser is GONE!!” kiss-off.

Even if it sort of comes out of nowhere—”Miss Independent” still, really?—the medley ends up being a fine reminder of Kelly’s indomitability. Here’s hoping the hits off the new one will stay in the vein of these three.