Carrie Underwood
News (Page 5)

We know she can sing. But looks like Carrie Underwood can play a little ball, as well.

Joining fellow country superstars Vince Gill and Alan Jackson, the American Idol champ proves herself to be an adept athlete, covering all the bases at the 17th annual City of Hope Celebrity Softball Challenge at Greer Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.

Careful, Carrie Underwood fans, your beloved singer may not be the one contacting you via her MySpace page.

A staffer at celebrity gossip blog, TMZ.com, has been receiving messages from "Carrie" herself over the past 24 hours. To his dismay, though, the message wasn't to invite him to lunch or even on tour. Instead, it was a spam message urging him to check out "these amazing free ringtones."

Underwood's people were made aware of the issue earlier this week and the password was changed to stop the hackers, but this is the latest bulletin posted from Carrie's page:

"Hey, this is Carrie Underwood. OK here's the deal, I need EVERY SINGLE myspace friend to stop what he/she's doing and GO HERE RIGHT NOW and put your cell # in. You'll recieve every ringtone from every myspace artist (including MY favorites)... (sic)."

Of course, that wasn't Carrie herself. It was just some loser with too much time on his hands.

Carrie Underwood added to her awards collection last night.

The 2005 American Idol winner, won album of the year for her debut CD, Some Hearts, and was honored as top female vocalist.

"I would not be here if it were not for American Idol," she said as she collected her vocal award. "Thank you, fans. God bless you."

See, Jennifer Hudson? Is it really that hard to thank the show that enabled you to get your foot in the Hollywood door?

American Idol season-4 winner Carrie Underwood helped Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo celebrate his 27th birthday in Dallas over the weekend – and the pair looked very cozy, sources tell People magazine.

Could the romance each has denied be surfacing now?

The two showed up together Saturday night at Dallas's hip Ghostbar, where they were joined by nearly the entire Dallas Cowboys team.

"Carrie and Tony were having a great time in the deejay booth," an insider said. "They were laughing, singing together, holding hands and their arms were around each other all night."

A spokesperson for Underwood, 24, confirms that the Grammy winner was on hand to celebrate Romo's birthday. Asked if they are dating, rep Jessie Schmidt told People: "They have recently been spending a little time together." But, says Schmidt, they are "definitely not boyfriend/girlfriend. It's very casual at this point. It's [in the] really early stages."

At Romo's party, the VIP section of Ghostbar was closed off for the football star's guests, who had their own private bar and seating area. But Underwood and Romo didn't stay in seclusion: They ventured into the deejay booth before midnight, where they played tunes and led the crowd in a loud version of Twisted Sister's hit "We're Not Gonna Take It."

"They sang and everybody joined in – I mean everybody," a rep for Ghostbar says. "It was pretty funny."

Underwood and Romo stayed in the deejay booth for around 45 minutes before returning to the VIP area. "They definitely weren't keeping their relationship a secret," says another insider.

And Underwood put her singing talent to good use when she led the entire club in singing "Happy Birthday" to Romo. The club also had "Happy Birthday Tony Romo" posted on all its video screens.

This weekend was not the first time Underwood and Romo have been spotted together. On Christmas Day, she showed up to watch the Cowboys play the Eagles, and Romo was spotted hugging her before the game.

But in February, the football star told reporters at a pre-Super Bowl press conference that he and the singer weren't an item. "She's a very nice, sweet girl, I care for her and whoever ends up with her will be a very lucky guy," he said at the time.

A call to Romo's rep was not immediately returned.

Carrie Underwood won a pair of country music awards earlier this week.

But some people are more concerned about the fashion choices of various celebrities. With that in mind, let's break down two country crooners from American Idol seasons past.

Carrie appears nice and understated, but Kellie Picker is practically falling out of her dress. Looks like those new "shoes" she bought recently are taking on a life of their own.

But what do you think, readers? Which look is better?

Tonight is country night on American Idol.

So it's fitting that country music sweetheart Carrie Underwood took home two big buckles at Monday’s 2007 Country Music Television Awards last night.

The singer picked up wins in the coveted "CMT Music Awards Video of the Year" and "Female Video of the Year" for her anger-fuel hit single “Before He Cheats.” Underwood’s song also brought home the “Video Director of the Year” award for Roman White.

The wins on Monday further cemented Underwood’s credibility in country music. The singer won the Female Vocalist of the Year award and the Horizon award at the Country Music Association show in 2006.

American Idol winner and country phenom Carrie Underwood says that she's "horrible around guys," and that since splitting with her college boyfriend Drake Clark in 2005 the phone hasn't exactly been ringing off the hook with new prospects.

Underwood told Cosmopolitan magazine that:

"Guys who would never look at me twice before might ask me out now, so I guess I have better opportunities," she says. "But when I do meet a guy, there's this 'Does he just want his picture in a magazine?' factor."

Underwood has been linked to both fellow Idol-er Anthony Federov and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, but denies both relationships.

We don't mean to pick on past American Idol finalists who perform on this season's results show. But it's hard not to see some differences in these singers.

Last week, for example, we mentioned a certain enhancement in the chest region of Kellie Pickler. So did Ryan Seacrest. It was difficult to miss.

Now - we hope we're mistaken - but compare the following Carrie Underwood photos. She's lost a lot of weight, hasn't she?

You're beautiful just the way you are, Carrie. Now go back for seconds at that breakfast buffet please!

Will Melinda Doolittle or Chris Sligh one day be on this list? It's possible.

According to the March 10 issue of Billboard, here are how various Idols are doing on national airwaves:

• Daughtry: "It's Not Over" is down from No. 9 to No. 10 on the broadest Billboard chart, Hot 100 Airplay, but it retains the bullet that denotes it's still gaining airplay. It's up 5-3 on the Pop 100 Airplay chart (which takes out some of the harder R&B and rap titles). And he reigns at No. 1 for the second week on the Adult Top 40 chart.

• Carrie Underwood: Two songs moving up on the Hot 100 Airplay chart: the older "Before He Cheats," 47-40, regaining a bullet, and "Wasted," climbing 54-50.

• Ruben Studdard: He has two songs on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart:. The aging "Change Me" drops 22-27 after 30 weeks, a very solid hit; while the new "Make Ya Feel Beautiful" inches up 74-72 after three weeks on the 75-title chart.

• Jennifer Hudson: Her Dreamgirls showcase, a cover of Lakisha's "And I Am Telling You I Am Not Going," stays at No. 60 (with a bullet) on the Hot 100 Airplay chart;  it's thriving on the Idol-friendly Adult R&B chart, moving 6-4.

• Katharine McPhee: Not on the Hot 100 Airplay chart yet with "Over It," but it does move 38-35 on the Pop 100 Airplay list and takes a nice jump in digital song sales (59-46).

• Taylor Hicks: If Taylor's album sales fate depends on his current single, "Just to Feel That Way," we can just about measure the coffin. The only place the song is showing up is a fairly feeble 26-26 (with a bullet) showing on the 30-position AC chart, which airplay is clearly not selling records and is unlikely to do so.

• Kellie Pickler: Second single "I Wonder" is off to a slowish start, 43-42 on the country chart in its fourth week. But "Red High Heels" had a similar start and ended up hitting the top 20.

• Bucky Covington: "A Different World" is striving to beak into the top 30, inching up 35-34 after seven weeks.

• Kimberley Locke: "Change" is doing pretty well on the AC chart, moving 18-19 with a bullet.

• Josh Gracin: The first Country Idol moves 28-28, with a bullet, with the self-prophetic "I Keep Coming Back."

We'll get back to reviewing various American Idol contestants, such as Rudy Cardenas and Lakisha Jones, from this season in a moment.

But let's talk about Katharine McPhee album sales first. Unfortunately for last season's runner-up, the second week of sales for her debut CD didn't fare as well as her first.

The album was at number-two a week ago - but fell to number-11 this week. McPhee sold 48,000 discs, down 58% from her debut week of 116,000; her rounded total is 163,000.

Kat really needs a boost from the single; if not, her current pace would suggest an album that would top out at somewhere in the 300,000 range. That's safely ahead of Diana DeGarmo/Justin Guarini territory, but would fall behind every other top-two finisher.

Then there's Carrie Underwood.

Thanks to her pre-Grammys hype, Underwood saw sales jump from No. 24 to 19, selling 38,000, an 18% increase. (Next week, after two wins, she could jump a lot higher.) Her total is now 4.86 million.