A representative for Glacéau derided a July 7 story in the New York Post claiming the company ordered Vitamin Water spokesperson Kelly Clarkson to shed some pounds.

"[It's] absurd and totally untrue. Kelly is beautiful and healthy and has looked to Vitamin Water for years because it provides her with the nutrients she needs to lead a healthy lifestyle," the company's consumer rep said in a statement.

Glacéau will kick off an ad campaign starring Kelly next month. Clarkson recently began her summer tour, celebrating the continuing success of her 2004 album, Breakaway, which has sold more than five million copies, the New York Times reports.

As her tour gets underway, the first winner of American Idol is displaying the guileless approach -- and refusal to cultivate any mystique or semblance of controversy -- that has made her a superstar. She smiles a lot, dances as if no one were watching, and entertains crowds with cheery banter in between songs.

For instance, even as Clarkson tries to introduce fans to songs from her next album, she assures them that the karaoke favorites are on the way. Some performers try to build suspense in their shows, but Kelly would rather cut the B.S. and announce them casually in advance.

“We’re gonna be doing the ‘Since U Been Gone’ ’s, the ‘Breakway’ ’s, the ‘Because of You’ ’s [in a little bit],” she said.

That's about the only way in which the Kelly Clarkson tour is predictable. It includes a risky, but successful run of acoustic songs, reports the Times, performed against a swampy backdrop. Clarkson proved flexible, sounding just as good singing her old hit “Miss Independent” as she did on an acoustic version of the ballad “Breakaway” or romping through her rock smash “Since U Been Gone.”

Her most popular new song? “Go,” the theme, as she readily admits, from a commercial for Ford, her tour sponsor. She sang it while the screens showed a Ford Mustang ad starring... who else, Clarkson. While some pop stars might be embarrassed to sing a four-minute commercial, but Kelly is her typical unabashed self.

No wonder Ford loves her. They get what they pay for.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.