I think Kelly because:
1) American Idol - she is the first WW successful artist who came from these singing competition (Will Young is pretty local tbh) and American Idol started a long era (which continues till today) of such competitions. I'm not saying that if Kelly didn't win it would be all over but I think in such a case American Idol would have had like 2 more seasons and then it would be over because there would have been no succcessful artist. Kelly had a real impact on the success of the show, no one can deny it.
2) she paved the way for Dr. Luke and later Greg Kurstin, both of them some career before (like Greg producing song for Queen Lily etc) but Kelly made them really mainstream. Since the success of Stronger (for Greg) and SUBG and BTHE (for Luke) they've been used a lot by other mainstream artists like Katy Perry, Kesha, Pink etc...
3) Pop rock sound - Despite Pink having Missunderztood (which is an amazing album tbh!) I think that the sound of Breakaway (album) is a little different than Missunderztood's one and I think that it had bigger impact on pop(rock )sound than Pink. I'm not saying that Kelly invented pop-rock but I think that she made it popular in the form it is now (or since Breakaway).
I'm not very good in explaining things but this article from Billboard about Decade-defining songs and artists says pretty much what I mean:
Quote:
Here's what I'd choose for other songs that could serve as time capsule recordings for future generations studying the rock era decade-by-decade:
'00s: Beyonce's "Crazy in Love," featuring Jay-Z, isn't a bad choice, but once "American Idol" blossomed, pure pop music surged in downloads and at top 40 radio. Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" has since become a blueprint for the female power-pop that has blanketed radio since, with Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Pink and others building up resumes featuring comparable hooks and production.
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http://www.billboard.com/articles/co...-artists-songs
