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Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983
in Checotah, Oklahoma) is an American country singer who rose to fame as
the winner of the fourth season of American Idol.
****
Early years
She was born and raised on a farm in
Checotah, and graduated in 2001 as salutatorian from Checotah High
School. Underwood attended Northeastern State University, where she
majored in mass communication and is a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma
sorority. She also competed in numerous beauty pageants at the
university and was selected as Miss NSU runner-up in 2004.
Idol
Underwood's musical influences include pop,
but are predominantly country; she stated during Idol auditions that her
favorite singer is Martina McBride. On the April 20 elimination show,
Underwood demonstrated her ability to play the guitar. She can also play
piano and yodel, the latter of which was demonstrated on the Tonight
Show the night after she won.
On the March 22 show, after a performance
of Heart's "Alone", Simon Cowell said, "Carrie, you're not just the girl
to beat, you're the person to beat. I will make a prediction, not only
will you win this competition, but you will sell more records than any
other previous 'Idol' winner!" He went onto say on the March 30 show
that she has the "it factor" that will make her a star.
On her last song of the night in the final
two, Carrie's spectacular performace of "Angels Brought Me Here" made
Simon say, "I think you've done enough to win the competition." On May
25, 2005, she became the fourth winner of American Idol, beating
Southern rocker Bo Bice, and she joins Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken as
the only contestants who have never been one of the "bottom three"
singers during any week's results.
Post-Idol Career
As part of her title, Underwood gained a
recording contract with Arista Records; her first single, "Inside Your
Heaven", was released on June 14, 2005. The single debuted at #1 on the
Billboard Hot 100, with first-week sales of 129,610 singles (#1) and
39,024 digitial downloads (#4). (Technically, this made her the first
country artist to reach #1 since Lonestar in 2000, and the first ever to
debut there, but "Inside Your Heaven" is considered more of a generic
pop record than a country record; indeed, it has been shunned by country
radio.) The B-side is "Independence Day", a cover of the Martina McBride
hit.
Underwood performed a well-received "The
Star Spangled Banner" before Game 4 of the 2005 NBA Finals at the Palace
of Auburn Hills in Michigan. In 2005, she starred in ads for Hershey's
Chocolate. The commercials have Underwood singing Hershey jingles like
the jingles for Hershey's, Kit Kat and Almond Joy. She is also wearing
vintage Hershey T-shirts that feature Hershey's, Almond Joy, Kit Kat,
Reeses and other chocolate brand logos. The T-Shirts are now available
to buy with proofs of purchase. Underwood is also the latest
spokesperson for Skechers shoes, following in the footsteps of Britney
Spears and Christina Aguilera.
Underwood's first single, "Jesus Take The
Wheel" was made available for radio airplay on October 18, 2005. It
received so much airplay that it debuted at #39 on the Billboard Country
Chart in its first week, setting a record. It is currently ranked at #8
in its seventh week on that chart. The single also debuted at #48 on the
Billboard Hot 100 where it is currently peaked at #40
Her initial album release, entitled Some
Hearts, hit store shelves on November 15, 2005. On that same day she
presented an award and performed "Jesus, Take The Wheel" at the 39th
Country Music Association Awards in New York City. When the week's sales
figures were tabulated, Some Hearts entered at number two on the
Billboard Top Pop Albums chart with 315,000 copies sold on the Billboard
200 album chart just 35,000 copies shy of Madonna's Confessions on a
Dance Floor. The large first week sales of Some Hearts made it #1 on the
Billboard Country Top Albums chart and the biggest debut of any country
artist since the advent of the SoundScan system in 1990.
List of Underwood's performances on
American Idol
Auditions and pre-performance rounds
St. Louis Auditions - "I Can't Make You
Love Me" (Original Artist: Bonnie Raitt)
Hollywood 1 - "Young Hearts (Run Free)"
(O.A.: Candi Staton)"
Hollywood 2 - "Independence Day" (O.A.:
Martina McBride)
Live performances
Semi-Final Performance 1 (Women Top 12) -
"Could've Been" (O.A.: Tiffany)
Semi-Final Performance 2 (Women Top 10) -
"Piece of My Heart" (O.A.: Faith Hill's version of Janis Joplin's
classic)
Semi-Final Performance 3 (Women Top 8) -
"Because You Love Me" (O.A.: Jo Dee Messina)
Finals Top 12 Performance (Songs of the
60's) - "When Will I Be Loved" (O.A.: The Everly Brothers)
Finals Top 11 Performance (Billboard #1's)
- "Alone" (O.A.: Heart)
Finals Top 10 Performance (Songs of the
90's) - "Independence Day" (O.A.: Martina McBride)
Finals Top 9 Performance (Broadway
Musicals) - "Hello Young Lovers" (O.A.: Johnny Mathis)
Finals Top 8 Performance (Songs from
Contestants' Birthyear) - "Love Is a Battlefield" (O.A.: Pat Benatar)
Finals Top 7 Performance (70's Dance Music)
- "MacArthur Park" (O.A.: Donna Summer's version of Richard Harris' hit)
Finals Top 6 Performance (Songs of the 21st
Century) - "When God Fearin' Women Get the Blues" (O.A.: Martina
McBride)
Finals Top 5 Performance 1 (Leiber and
Stoller Songs) - "Trouble" (O.A.: Elvis Presley)
Finals Top 5 Performance 2 (Billboard top
40) - "Bless the Broken Road" (O.A.: Rascal Flatts' version of Marcus
Hummon's "Bless the Broken Road")
Finals Top 4 Performance 1 (Nashville
Songs) - "Sin Wagon" (O.A.: The Dixie Chicks)
Finals Top 4 Performance 2 (Gamble and Huff
Songs) - "If You Don't Know Me by Now" (O.A.: Harold Melvin & the Blue
Notes)
Finals Top 3 Performance 1 (Clive Davis'
choice) - "Crying" (O.A.: Roy Orbison)
Finals Top 3 Performance 2 (Performer's
choice) - "Making Love out of Nothing at All" (O.A.: Air Supply)
Finals Top 3 Performance 3 (Judges' choice)
- "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" (O.A.: Shania Twain)
Finals Top 2 Performance 1 (new song
written for AI) - "Inside Your Heaven"
Finals Top 2 Performance 2 (favorite from
season) - "Independence Day" (O.A.: Martina McBride)
Finals Top 2 Performance 3 (song originally
written for Australian Idol) - "Angels Brought Me Here" (O.A.: Guy
Sebastian)
Final Results Show (duet with Bo Bice) -
"Up Where We Belong" (O.A.: Jennifer Warnes and Joe Cocker)
Final Results Show (performance with Rascal
Flatts) - "Bless the Broken Road"
Final Results Show (post-win performance of
first single) - "Inside Your Heaven"
Discography
Albums
2005: Some Hearts - #2 U.S. (656,000 sold)
#1 (US Country; 2 weeks) #20 CAN, RIAA Certification: Gold
****
Awards
2005 Billboard Music Awards
Top-Selling Hot 100 Song of the Year:
"Inside Your Heaven/Independence Day," Carrie Underwood (Won)
Country Single Sales Artist of the Year:
Carrie Underwood (Won)
Top-Selling Country Single of the Year:
"Inside Your Heaven/Independence Day," Carrie Underwood (Won)
****
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