What does Kelly Clarkson have to do with Microsoft?

On first look, nothing really, except she seems at peace singing when a shiny Microsoft store opens its doors to the public. One such store opened Thursday at The Galleria, making this retail techie Garden of Eden the 10th Microsoft store in the world and the first in Texas. That means Clarkson will belt some vocals at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Houston mall's ice rink.

This appearance marks a complete shift in her paradigm from her modus operandi prior to releasing her 2007 album, My December. At the time, the fading pop celeb told Elle magazine, "I could give a crap about being a star ... My resistance upsets a lot of people, because we could make a lot of money ... I'm just not comfortable doing things that don't feel like me."

It's easy to make statements like that coming from the heels of the successful Grammy-winning release of Breakaway.

Now, the attention-starved 29-year old singer from Fort Worth and the runner-up to Apple techie brand are partnering in a second attempt to raise the roof. They previously collaborated for the opening of another store at the Mall of America outside of Minneapolis in November.

Did the two second fiddles succeed?

Though the Twittersphere may have been quiet, fans began lining up Wednesday night — and camped out at the Galleria overnight — in hopes of being in the first 100. The reward? Two balcony tickets to the concert and one VIP pass to meet Clarkson right after the show. After that, Microsoft promised two tickets to the next 1,100 customers in line.

Most Clarkson devotees were nowhere to be found by 11:30 a.m. — except a couple of high school students who had no qualms with sharing their intentions. Microsoft? They weren't interested.

But that didn't mean the excitement died down. After a dramatic banner release, the store was buzzing with good energy with people exploring all things new and electronic.

Sporting an Apple product, shopper Danielle Saadia was also excited to see what was hot in Windows land.

"My family goes both ways," she joked. "I love Windows and Outlook, but will never abandon my iPhone."

In an attempt to compete with its arch nemesis, Microsoft pulled out all the stops. With walls of 50-inch LCD screens, practically everything in the new store is interactive.

After being greeted by a swarm of green shirts, it is easy to get distracted by one of the many demo stations or gaming areas. Want to try an Xbox 360 game prior to making that financial commitment? Sure. Curious how the Windows 7 phone operates? The larger-than-life model can easily do that while projecting its screen anywhere in the store.

Beaming from ear to ear, store manager and native Houstonian Jennifer Martinsen welcomed everyone with warm Southern hospitality — all that was missing was milk and cookies. She's open to hosting happy hours, chamber meetings, events at the store, doing almost anything to become a part of the community.

The store even has a community development specialist dedicated exclusively to making that happen.

As part of the opening fete, Microsoft gave $250,000 each to community-based organization Neighborhood Centers Inc., education nonprofit Reasoning Mind and the Houston Public Library. The Houston ISD Foundation got a whopping $300,000.

On my way out, I took a couple of video pans of the store. Jokingly, one of the green shirts informed me that my iPhone wasn't welcome.

It's obvious Microsoft is attempting to change its image. Do you think the company is on the right track?

My iPhone created this: