Carrie Underwood
News (Page 8)

“I never, ever had my heart set on being a singer,” says Carrie Underwood. “That was something I thought I would like to do, but I always knew most likely it would never happen.”

But, oh, how it happened.

It was only two years ago that Underwood took her very first airplane trip — to fly to the American Idol tryouts in L.A. She showed the world she was a singer and won the TV contest, turning instantly from small-town girl into a star.

On the strength of the American Idol win, Underwood’s debut album, Some Hearts, went triple platinum, launching her into the forefront of country music. At the 40th annual Country Music Association Awards, to be held in Nashville on November 6, Underwood will be looking to win in no less than four categories:

1. Female Vocalist of the Year
2. Single of the Year (for “Jesus, Take the Wheel”)
3. Music Video of the Year
4. The Horizon Award for breakthrough artist.

“I always told my mom, ‘If I am supposed to sing, then the doors will open,’” Carrie said. “I feel like God totally stepped in and opened these doors for me.”

And they have opened fast and wide.

“I’ve started out in a place that new artists just don’t start out in,” Underwood tells Parade magazine in an interview in Pennsylvania. “Hardly any people actually have a fan base before they have an album.”

For her wide and possessive public, Underwood has become something more than a music star. Radiating sincerity, simplicity and accessibility, the petite blonde with the big voice is a surrogate best friend, sister or daughter. Underwood is the real deal -- a girl next door, a little goofy around the edges.

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The wonderful Kellie Picker seems to be gaining credibility these days, as she is set to storm the most hallowed bastion of country music, the Grand Ole Opry, on October 27, playing on a bill that includes Glen Campbell and bluegrass great Del McCoury.

A North Carolina native, Pickler was a finalist on last season's American Idol. The previous season's champion, Carrie Underwood, is currently one of country music's brightest stars. Carrie performed, and was well received, on the Opry, so the precedent is there for Kellie.

Underwood, by the way, returns to the Opry stage herself on November 7. Pickler's debut album is due to be released later that month. Good to see these country cuties making names for themselves!

While sales of physical CDs have plummeted in 2006, big increases in the demand for digital tracks and albums have kept the overall music business in line with 2005 totals.

According to estimates for the week ending October 1, marking the end of the third quarter, physical album sales so far this year totaled 370.5 million units, down 8.3 percent from the 404.2 million racked up during the same period a year ago.

However, digital album sales climbed 115 percent, with 22.6 million sold through September. Downloaded tracks soared 72 percent, to 418.6 million.

Adding digital albums and track equivalent albums (with 10 digital tracks equaling one album) to physical sales, a total of 434.9 million albums have been sold in 2006. The comparable year-ago figure was 439.2 million.

Walt Disney Records' High School Musical soundtrack remains the top-selling release so far this year, with 3.1 million copies sold to date. Second is country act Rascal Flatts' Me and My Gang, accumulating 2.5 million sales.

Three '05 holdovers have remained in the top five throughout this year. The No. 3 title, U.K. singer-songwriter James Blunt's Back to Bedlam, has sold 1.9 million of its 2.2 million-unit total, while Some Hearts, the first album from our own Carrie Underwood, has reaped sales of 1.8 million in '06, giving the fourth season American Idol winner's debut album an impressive 3.5 million sales overall.

Coming in at No. 5 was The Breakthrough by Mary J. Blige, which has sold an impressive 1.6 million of its 2.6 million-unit total this year.

It will be interesting to see how digital sales impact the figures of other American Idol favorites once more data is gathered. Clay Aiken released his second album two weeks ago, and a number of new Idol stars, including last season's winner Taylor Hicks and runner-up Katharine McPhee, are due to put out their debut efforts this November.

The third-season champion of American Idol, Carrie Underwood is the poster child for many young girls. Now she's literally the poster child for the Oklahoma Library Association's "Read Y'all" literacy campaign, as well.

Posters featuring the country singer from Checotah, Oklahoma, will be distributed free to every academic, public, school and special library in the state, according to Buffy Edwards, the official coordinator of the campaign.

The rising country star attended Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, where she graduated magna cum laude in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in mass communication and an emphasis in journalism.

Other Oklahoma natives to appear on the posters include country star Toby Keith, actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth, actor James Garner, author Dana Dunbar and New Orleans Hornets star Desmond Mason. Governor Brad Henry and first lady Kim Henry were featured on the first poster in 2003.

"I think Carrie Underwood just represents Oklahoma in such a positive manner. She's grounded in her upbringing. She's proud of her state. She appeals to a very wide age range," Edwards said.

"I think America fell in love with Carrie Underwood on American Idol, and we're very lucky she's from our state."

Free is a very good word!

I was abroad when tickets for Carrie Underwood at the Clark County Amphitheater in Ridgefield, Wash., went on sale in mid-July, and missed out on great, up-close and personal seats.

But I procrastinated on a ticket purchase due to post-vacation catch-up, and by the time that the concert was just a week away, I still had nobody to go with, so I decided to peruse Ticketmaster and see what was left.

A decent ticket was $91, and that was a bit rich for what I knew to be a one hour set. I had no interest in any of the other acts, so it wasn't worth it to me to spend that much. Then, my local venue sent me an e-alert offering free lawn seats.

Since I hadn't come up with anything decent on Ticketmaster, I decided to go for the gratis lawn seats, and hopefully meet somebody wanting to unload better ones at the venue.

Imagine my surprise when I was told that the venue offered free upgrades to those that came when it opened. This was sounding better all the time! I hauled up the freeway for 45 minutes, and was offered a center section ticket in Row T!

In line, I met up with a fellow Clay Aiken fan, and we promised to meet up when I returned for Carrie's evening show. Later that afternoon, she called to tell me that she and her husband had just WON fifth row seats from a local country station, and would I want to join them so I could photograph?

Well, I didn't have to be asked twice, so from originally sitting on the lawn, I ended up just 15 feet from the stage! Unfortunately, the Security Guard right in front was none too pleased with my long telephoto lens, so I was forced to shoot with a 50mm lens.

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The 15th annual Cumberland County, N.C., Fair kicked off last Thursday, with the sweet taste of cotton candy on the midway and the even weeter sounds of Carrie Underwood at the Crown Coliseum.

Fair fans flocked to tilt-a-whirls and bumper cars and tossed rings to win stuffed bears and live rabbits. They were rocked by “Pharaoh’s Fury” and dropped by the “1001 Nights” ride. They ate cake, hot dogs and even exotic alligator tail.

Inside the Coliseum, the 23-year-old Carrie crooned to “We’re Young and Beautiful” and a cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.”

With her hair in a loose ponytail and dressed in blue jeans and knee-high boots, the American Idol winner waited until later in her set to sing her hit, “Jesus, Take the Wheel.”

According to the Fayetteville Observer, fans ate it up. Nicole Steele, Teresa McGuire and Leah Fantauzzo -- students from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro -- cheered as they showed off the sorority letters on their T-shirts -- Sigma Sigma Sigma.

Underwood, as many fans may know, was a member of the same sorority, at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma.

Before Carrie took the stage, 8-year-old Hannah Pritchard and her 6-year-old brother, Harrison, warmed up nearby concert goers with an all-Carrie serenade. Both hope to audition for American Idol when they are older. Hannah says she'd sing Underwood’s music.

“She’s a really big fan of me,” Hannah said.

“No, you’re a really big fan of her,” parents Pam and Byron Pritchard corrected, laughing.

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Maybe the two concerts she did in Syracuse, N.Y., last September with the American Idol crew had singer Carrie Underwood feeling at home Monday when she performed at the New York State Fair's grandstand.

Or maybe it was the summer out on tour headlining, or opening for megastar Kenny Chesney, helped the American Idol champion grow more comfortable.

For whatever reason, she was certainly having a good time on stage this week, the Syracuse Post-Standard reports.

"I am chatty tonight!" Underwood said midway through her show.

The happy crowd of American Idol fans, which you can spot by the way they hold up their posters of love or wave whenever they think their hero might be looking in their direction, was given a lesson by Carrie regarding the importance of education. Underwood talked about important it was that she went back to get her degree after her narrow Idol win over Bo Bice.

Then she admitted being a bona fide Star Trekkie.

Musically, as well as in terms of her stage presence, Underwood has certainly grown. As she started with the powerful "We're Young and Beautiful," it was easy to tell that the native of Checotah, Okla., has gotten a lot out of the past 12 months as a country music star.

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In an interview before her concert Saturday night at Central Pennsylvania's RiverPlace, Carrie Underwood promised a few surprises.

Turns out, according to the Morning Call, she wasn't kidding.

Who would have thought that the country sweetheart would wow the sellout MusikFest crowd of over 6,500 with near-perfect renditions of Guns N' Roses' "Patience" and "Sweet Child O' Mine?"

Underwood, 23, said she would perform some covers along with material from her own chart-topping debut album, Some Hearts.

But the audience, ranging from grandmothers to grade-schoolers, probably expected the American Idol winner to cover classics from the playlists of Martina McBride or Reba McEntire, not GNR.

Imagine their surprise when, instead, they got a double dose of Axl Rose.

Underwood looked like a Nashville princess with a white tank-top and pink skirt, complemented by cowboy boots. Several songs, however, were more Pat Benatar than Pat Boone. The Oklahoma native's entire 16-song, 70-minute performance was louder and edgier than the material found on her platinum-selling country hit "Jesus Take The Wheel."

No one seemed to mind. Not only did Underwood attempt to bust loose from the sappy-sweet country mold, but she did it remarkably well, showcasing the vocal power and gusto of the first American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson.

She delivered the country goods as well, flawlessly hitting "Don't Forget To Remember Me" during an acoustic section, in which she also played guitar, and mixed in a shortened version of Dolly Parton's "Jolene."

However, Underwood, who seems to rank highly as both a role-model for young females and as hot property among young males, is still in the process of finding herself as a performer. Her uneasiness on stage is a big part of her genuineness and charm, but at times she lacks pizzazz.

Her between-song routine of sipping water, talking about the weather and thanking everyone -- over and over again -- is awfully sweet, but could be a little spruced up! Nonetheless, it's wonderful in a way to see the innocence and sincerity about Underwood, that she has yet to be tarnished by big-time success.

"Just a year and a half ago, I was just a typical college student," she said.

Carrie's diploma may have arrived in the mail on Saturday, but she's still got that school-girl naivete. And all of us here at AIW love her for who she is!

The accolades and awards for Carrie Underwood continue to mount up. The latest is that the Season 4 American Idol winner and country sensation has been named Country Breakout Artist of the Year by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM).

The award was one of several honors bestowed by the not-for-profit music trade association on behalf of its members in recognition of artists who have contributed significantly to the health of the industry through sales and creativity.

Carrie took a day in between tour dates this week to perform in New York's Bryant Park, as part of Good Morning America's summer concert series. See below.

While in the Big Apple, Underwood will pre-tape a performance for the CBS Early Show, which will air next Wednesday, August 16!

American Idol Season Four winner Carrie Underwood will be touring with a fellow country star and Arista Records label-mate, Brad Paisley, beginning this September.

Their joint venture September 22 in Birmingham, Ala., and continues through December 8 in Chicago, Ill. Paisley released his smash hit CD, Time Well Wasted, in August 2005 and is currently supporting the effort on the road with Eric Church.

Underwood is currently on the road with Kenny Chesney, and will perform at a handful of state fairs in early September before embarking on her tour with Paisley.

Take a look at this list of Carrie's tour dates to see if she'll be rolling through your neck of the woods.