Kelly Clarkson Shares How She Celebrated Her 40th Birthday (Exclusive)

ET spoke with Clarkson about her big birthday and her new singing competition series, 'American Song Contest.'

Kelly Clarkson is stepping into the big 4-0 in style. ET's Kevin Frazier spoke with Clarkson and Snoop Dogg, backstage at their new signing competition series, American Song Contest, about the American Idol alum's big birthday and teaming up for the one-of-a-kind show.

"He sent me flowers," Clarkson said of Snoop's birthday present to her. "I got home, and my daughter was like, 'Ooh who are these from?' And I was like, "That’s from Snoop.'"  

Clarkson, who celebrated her 40th birthday on April 24, continued, "I was very excited -- I literally went hiking and I chilled out the whole day. I had such a chill [day]."

That's not the only thing the rapper got his co-host. Snoop also shared a sweet birthday message for Clarkson on Instagram.

"I've always loved her," Snoop gushed. "I don't know if she told you, the first time I ever met her, she was walking at an awards show and I was like, she was walking like this and I said, 'Kelly Clarkson, it's Snoop Dogg.' And she was walking like, 'Oh my god.' I'm like, 'Yeah, it's me.' Because I recognize -- I loved her voice, and I didn't get a chance to, like, shake her hand or give her a hug, but from far, when I see her, first time I laid eyes on her, I called her name and told her, 'I'm a fan of your music.'"

As for American Song Contest, the show has artists from all 50 states, five U.S. territories and the nation's capital performing original songs across different genres as they compete for America's votes in an eight-week live event that will crown one grand prize winner.

With so many songs to choose from, Snoop told ET that it's going to be hard for America pick just one winner.

"It’s too much, it’s too much heat on this show," Snoop shared. "It's gonna be hard for America to pick, but this is what we love about the show. Is that there's so many songwriters from different walks of life that write great songs and this is the show to bring them out."

"It’s such a hard thing, we were just literally talking about this -- there are so many different songs in this competition, like, styles, that it’s very hard," Clarkson added.

While the show has everyone from newcomers to a few famous faces, Snoop says the series "levels out the playing field."

"It’s like whoever has the best song, or the best music, is gonna win," Snoop explained. "It’s not about your accolades, what you've done. It’s about what have you done lately."

"It's like radio," Clarkson continued. "You have people that have been around forever, new people, you have people that have been around for just for a minute. We're all competing on the same stage regardless. You're all in the same award shows, you're all in the same radio environment, like that’s how it is, so that’s what I think is cool about it. It doesn’t matter if people know you or don’t."

See next week's round of singers when American Song Contest airs Mondays at 8:00 p.m. on NBC.

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