Getting up at 5.30am isn’t the easiest of jobs. But when you know you’re going to meet one of the world’s best female vocalists, you really don’t mind the early start! And besides, we owe it to you, our readers, to get you the first pictures of Kelly on local soil!

We weren’t sure what time Kelly Clarkson’s plane would be landing, or even which flight she’d be on… And despite begging for her flight deets, no-one would help us. Turns out her record label is being very protective of the Texan while she’s here!

So we made a plan to be at OR Tambo to see the first flight from Europe touch down. Kelly’s just finished the European leg of her All I Ever Wanted tour, so this seemed like the logical thing to do. And we were spot on, despite speculation that she had actually arrived in South Africa a day ago...

We saw the casually dressed singer walking through the terminal just after 10am – and hardly recognised her with her new red hair. Some big-ass bodyguards immediately told us to stop taking photos and put our cameras away. Kelly, on the other hand, was as sweet as sugar and told them it was okay. She even said how excited she is to finally be in SA. And we bet everyone is just as excited as we are to see her in concert!

Here's the video heat took when we met Kelly Clarkson at OR Tambo...



And here are the first photos of Kelly coming through the airport...

Photos: Oupa Bopape