It's hard to imagine anyone not adoring Carrie Underwood, but that's just what media outlets are insinuating about another extremely likable singer.

Faith Hill says she was joking when cameras showed her screaming "What?!" in apparent anger when she lost the female vocalist of the year award to Carrie Underwood at the Country Music Association Awards Monday night.

"The idea that I would act disrespectful towards a fellow musician is unimaginable to me," Hill said. "For this to become a focus of attention given the talent gathered is utterly ridiculous. Carrie Underwood is a talented and deserving Female Vocalist of The Year."

Media outlets and blogs zeroed in on Hill’s reaction after Carrie Underwood’s name was announced at the ceremony.

Joke or not, it was a stark contrast to the gracious nodding of the other nominees, Sara Evans, Gretchen Wilson, and Martina McBride.

Even if Faith expected to win and was momentarily miffed, we're sure she meant no disrespect. After all, how can someone, especially a fellow country star, not love Carrie Underwood music or the Oklahoma cutie herself?

Popular American Idol finalist Jon Peter Lewis has released his greatly anticipated album, Stories from Hollywood, AIW has learned.

It's been a long wait for fans of Jon Peter Lewis, a.k.a. JPL, but he finally released his full-length CD this week. We will get the lyrics up on our American Idol music page as soon as we get our hands on the record.

JPL may not have won American Idol, but when he and his band perform songs from the new record, fans have been impressed. The songs written by himself and members of his band are good. He's got the whole indie pop rock thing going, and that's right up his fans' alley.

Interestingly, Jon also turned 27 years old this week. Happy birthday!

Kelly Clarkson officially has some company.

Making the leap from American Idol champ to award-winning recording artist is not easy, but Carrie Underwood is making it look like it. The Oklahoma native won female vocalist of the year at the 40th Annual Country Music Association Awards in Nashville Monday night.

Underwood, whose debut album, Some Hearts, was released a year ago and became a smash hit, tearfully accepted the award.

"Two years ago I was sitting at home watching these very awards and watching all these other people win and having the best night of their life, and this is the best year of my life," the fourth-season American Idol winner said.

The singer also won the Horizon award, given for most significant creative growth. Backstage, the 23-year-old sweetheart said she was happy just to be nominated, let alone win twice.

"I would have taken male vocalist if they had given it to me," she joked.

It also appeared that Carrie was at the show with Anthony Fedorov, but we can't confirm that at this time. We welcome comments from anyone who can!

That top male vocalist honor went to Keith Urban for the second year in a row. Urban, who had to drop out of the show after checking into a rehab clinic last month, received a standing ovation his name was announced.

His prize was accepted by Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn, who read a letter from Urban in which in which he thanked his friends and family and wife Nicole Kidman. "To my wife, Nicole, I love you," Urban said the in the letter. "I'm looking forward to coming home and seeing you all soon."

Added Dunn: "We love you Keith -- good luck, brother."

Dunn himself, along with partner Kix Brooks, co-hosted the show and took home three awards for their song "Believe."

Kenny Chesney took the night's top award, entertainer of the year, which he'd also won two years ago. The vocal group award went to Rascal Flatts.

Besides Urban, the most buzzed-about star was former Dancing With the Stars contestant Sara Evans, who dropped out of the reality show amid a divorce scandal. While she didn't win female vocalist of the year, she performed her hit, "Real Fine Place to Start."

In our mind, of course, the night belonged to Carrie Underwood. Congratulations to a great singer, person, and one of our favorite American Idol people.

It's almost that time again.

Our favorite show is getting close to returning, and USA Today has the scheduling scoop for American Idol Season 6. Air dates for the audition rounds start with a pair of two-hour episodes January 16-17, with the ensuing "Hollywood" rounds (or wherever in the L.A. megalopolis the judges actually narrow down the auditiion winners) will be broadcast February 6, 7, 13 and 14.

The newspaper caught up with executive producer Nigel Lythgoe (right), who promises some of the worst singers ever this season, but swears the producers can tell the difference between sincerely deluded bad singers and performers trying to contrive their way onto the show and gain 15 minutes of fame by being deliberately awful.

In other words, don't hold your breath for the second coming of William Hung... but you never can tell.

In any case, Simon Cowell, who hated the auditioners in Seattle and (not surprisingly) has said so in no uncertain terms, is sure to be annoyed beyond comprehension when the show gets underway.

Which is part of the reason we love watching, of course.

On the flip side, Simon Cowell insists he loves Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Ryan Seacrest -- although Lythgoe counters that the fearsome foursome "always get on each other's nerves... they never behave well."

That doesn't stop them from delivering on the business end, however. Lythgoe modestly calls the American Idol judge team "the best judging panel of (any) show in the world," and wryly observes about the auditions, "There was a lot of sucking up going on -- which we encourage."

Simon is clearly in mid-season form already.

We just talked about Elliott Yamin participating in a tennis event that will raise money for Virginia charities. It turns out he's not the only American Idol star in the news for such a reason today.

Kelly Clarkson will be performing this Thursday, November 9, at 7:30 pm at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood for a benefit to honor legendary singer Tony Bennett, who will be celebrating his 80th birthday.

Also appearing at the event will be Hollywood stars George Clooney, Billy Crystal, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Willis and others.

Proceeds of the benefit will go to Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Camps charity.

She'll be a hit, there's no doubt about that. It's always great to see the amazing Kelly Clarkson and her American Idol counterparts performing for good causes.

It's always nice to see American Idol stars giving back. Season 5 finalist Elliott Yamin will join tennis legend Andre Agassi and other stars at the Genworth Children's Advantage Classic on December 8, 2006.

Agassi's wife, Steffi Graf, will be on hand, along with stars James Blake and Lindsay Davenport. For his part, Elliott Yamin will perform a few songs in between the scheduled mixed doubles and men’s singles tennis matches.

Nine charities in the Richmond, Va., area (Yamin's home city) will receive $473,000 in grants in anticipation of a sold out event.

Those charities include: Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Club, Comfort Zone Camp, Friends Association for Children, Richmond Ballet Minds in Motion, Science Museum of Virginia Career Ladder Program, Stop Child Abuse Now, William Byrd Community House, and the local YMCA.

Any money raised above the $473,000 announced commitment will be divided equally among the nine beneficiary charities.

The Genworth Children’s Advantage Classic will take place at the Siegel Center at Virginia Commonwealth University. Tickets for the event are available through the VCU box office and all TicketMaster outlets. Ticket prices range from $35-$125.

Visit Genworth on the web for more information.

Taylor Hicks never turns in a sub-par performance.

We know that's true of the Soul Man's music, but it's also true of his golf game. Not that he's a shabby player -- his 16 handicap is respectable, and good enough to earn him 57th place on Golf Digest's list of the world's Top 100 musician/golfers.

Apparently Taylor was a decent high school golfer growing up in Alabama. Who knew? Below is a list of some other music stars whose skills on the links compare similarly to Taylor's.

A classic rock aficianado, Hicks would probably be flattered to see that he can hang with the likes of Bob Dylan, Steve Miller and Neil Young -- not to mention his buddy and one-time performing partner, Snoop Dogg. Click to enlarge!

Here's some information we've come across from around the world of American Idol. There's certainly a lot going on with our favorite stars, and we try our best to keep you updated! Below is our breakdown...

CARRIE UNDERWOOD

As you’ve probably heard, Carrie Underwood will perform at the Charleston Municipal Auditorium December 9. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m.

Speaking of Carrie, we caught her video for "Before He Cheats" the other day. Though she’s come a long way from her simpler American Idol days, it is still not easy to believe she's the kind of girl who would bash her boyfriend’s headlights in with a baseball bat.

Look at her! She's just too sweet! We don't buy the vengeful angle... we will, however, buy her music!

KELLIE PICKLER

Kellie Pickler’s CD, Small Town Girl, is in stores as of today! Be sure to check out our review in a separate post, coming very soon. Kellie will perform her first single, "Red High Heels" on The Tonight Show Friday.

BUCKY COVINGTON

Bucky Covington and his wife are moving to Nashville today. We hear he plans to go straight to the studio to record some tunes. Good luck, Bucky!

ACE YOUNG

The new single from Ace Young, “Scattered,” is officialy available for download on iTunes. We thought it was a little cheesy, to be sure, but it grows on you. And yes, his falsetto is on full display. As far as we know, though, Ace has not signed with any record label.

KATHARINE MCPHEE

Looks like Katharine McPhee’s a little gutsier than I gave her credit for. Katharine was scheduled to sing “Over the Rainbow” at the Carousel of Hope Gala, but when she saw Whitney Houston in the audience, she changed to “I Have Nothing.”

Considering the performance of that song that she gave on American Idol, it was certainly a testament to McPhee's courage to get up there and try it a second time. It paid off, though, as Whitney nodded her head in approval at the performance.

You might remember that Katharine (seen here with beau Nick Cokas, right, at the event in Beverly Hills) was roundly criticized by the judges after performing "I Have Nothing" On American Idol. The viewing audience, however, disagreed and voted her into the Top 2. Simon Cowell apologized to her on that week's results show.

TAYLOR HICKS

Taylor Hicks’ CD release date has been moved to December 5, which means he will be after Katharine (November 28) and on the same date as Fantasia. According to GrayCharles.com, he continues to work on his upcoming album, 75 percent of which is complete.

The producers are beginning to mix some of the songs. If you, like many of his fans, are eagerly looking forward to seeing Taylor Hicks in concert, the Soul Man will start a three-month tour in February and plans to "play lots of different size towns, even smaller ones."

Hopefully, that's going to be a town near you.

CHRIS DAUGHTRY

Chris Daughtry’s release date is still set for November 21, but he's ditching the first name thing... the release will come from Daughtry -- the Bon Jovi-esque name of his new band. Howard Benson, who worked with All-American Rejects and My Chemical Romance, is the producer. Chris says he realizes not winning Idol was better for him.

According to a blurb posted on puretonemusic.com, here are all 12 confirmed song titles (in sequence): It's Not Over, Used To, Home, Over You, Crashed, Feels Like Tonight, What I Want (featuring Slash), Breakdown, Gone, There And Back Again, All These Lives, and What About Now.

The site also reported that the song, "Sorry" will be exclusive to iTunes and the newly recorded acoustic versions of "Home" and "Crashed" will be exclusive to WalMart.

JOSH GRACIN

Josh Gracin’s next CD, All About Y’all will be released in early 2007. I was a little worried about Josh since his original release date came and went and his website had not been updated in months. His new single, "I Keep Coming Back" is from the same songwriting team that wrote "What Hurts the Most."

KIMBERLEY LOCKE

The second CD released by Kimberley Locke, Based on a True Story, will hit the shelves of record stores in March 2007. It will be great to hear what the Supawoman has in store for us then!

CLAY AIKEN

The one and only Clay Aiken is scheduled to appear on The Megan Mullally Show this Thursday, November 2.

And, as we reported last week, Clay will also appear on Days of Our Lives as himself December 22, serenading Steve and Kayla with “Everything I Have.” Clay’s version of “O, Holy Night” will also be featured in the episode.

FANTASIA BARRINO

Fantasia Barrino's single, "Hood Boy" is being released to radio. Her album is set to be released on December 12. You can listen to a stream at her MySpace. Lastly, Season 5 semi-finalist Patrick Hall releases his single "One For the Ages" tomorrow. The album, One For the Ages, will be available February 2007.

Who's that southern belle? Typically, that title belongs to Carrie Underwood, but in this case, it's the original American Idol who takes the honor.

Native Texan Kelly Clarkson plays up her Southern roots in her ruffled dress Thursday at the CMT Giants event at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood honoring country crooner Reba McEntire. She looks beautiful! The inaugural American Idol winner and its most successful artist later took the stage to raise her voice in tribute.

Things are looking up for American Idol judge and former Los Angeles Lakers choreographer Paula Abdul as she, NBA legend Magic Johnson and Snoop Dogg (who was recently arrested for drug possession) pay tribute to Lakers owner Jerry Buss at a Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on Monday. 

Either our favorite American Idol music critic is really short... or Magic Johnson and Snoop Dogg are really tall. Probably a combination thereof. Suffice it to say, Snoop may be a successful musician and pop culture icon, but after his recent drug bust, he may be threatening his status as Randy Jackson's dawg.