Thankful? Sure.

But if there's one thing that original American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson is on this day we chat, it's surprised.

The personable 21-year-old Texas native has just seen her very first release Thankful debut at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart (it dipped slightly to No. 3 this week).

And, after all of the publicity generated by the hit FOX reality show, that wasn't to be expected?

"No," Clarkson says in her charming drawl. "No one expects that. What I expected was that my fan base would like it just because they liked me from the show."

Maybe part of it was the buildup. Clarkson's debut was originally scheduled for a November release, in an attempt to cash in quickly on the runaway success of the show. Clarkson says she was the one who put the brakes on the album, because she wanted it to be a fair representation of what she is as an artist, and something she could be proud of.

"I told everyone from the beginning I don't want to do my record that fast," she says. "We need to do it like a normal artist would do ...

"Luckily Simon Fuller, my manager, he was like, 'Oh, absolutely.' "

NO PUPPET

That news might come as a surprise to those who think Clarkson, as a result of the entire contest aspect of the show as well as Fuller's role

in her career (he created the Spice Girls and the entire American Idol/Canadian Idol phenomenon with the British Pop Idol series), is little more than a puppet with a nice voice.

As to how much control over her aspiring career she has, the Texan terms it "a pretty good chunk."

"I don't do anything I don't want to, by any means," she asserts. "But I'm a smart enough girl to realize that this is my first album and I don't know everything about everything."

That explains why she relented in her wishes that the album contain several of her own compositions and instead recorded songs by an incredible array of writers including Diane Warren, Desmond Child, Rhett Lawrence and Christina Aguilera.

Although she admits the perfectionist in her can still find flaws in the album, Clarkson says it accomplished the one thing she wanted, which was to show her range and not allow her to be pigeonholed as an artist.

DIVA, NO THANKS

Nor does the singer want to be pigeonholed as a diva. Part of her charm and one of the reasons she was crowned Idol was her girl-next-door qualities, which she says she has managed to keep despite the apparent makeovers she's received for photo shoots.

"I can't get that across enough -- I'm just a normal everyday girl. People keep asking me 'What's it like in Hollywood?' and it really does nothing for me. I don't enjoy it at all, if you want me to be honest. I'm not a Hollywood girl at all. I'm such an old soul. I enjoy Blockbuster nights -- hanging out at the house with friends."

And does that group of friends include Justin Guarini, her fellow Idol finalist whom she'll star in a film with this summer -- the beach musical From Justin to Kelly -- and whom she's been rumoured to be dating?

"No," she says quickly with a laugh. "I didn't even hear you, but I heard 'dating.'

"So no we're not. To be honest with you I'm too frickin' busy (to date) and I have been since auditions."

And although she's appeared on it twice already, so, too, has she been too busy to closely follow the new American Idol, which airs Tuesday and Wednesday at 9 p.m. on DE and W.

"I haven't gotten to watch a lot of it," she says, "but I have watched some and I have to say I'm a huge fan of Ruben."