Carrie Underwood

In a recent poll by AOL, 1.3 million American Idol fans cast their votes for the Most Popular American Idol, and Carrie Underwood led the pack, managing to pull in 54 percent of the vote.

Carrie took home the American Idol crown in 2005. 

With only 26 percent of the vote, the first ever American Idol - Kelly Clarkson - came in second.

Meanwhile, American Idol co-judge Simon Cowell would like to see Geordies Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, popularly known as “Ant and Dec,” replace host Ryan Seacrest as Seacrest moves over to sit in Larry King’s chair on CNN. 

Carrie graces the cover of the July issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.

Carrie Underwood suited up to participate in the City of Hope Celebrity Softball Challenge, held on Wednesday June 4 in Nashville’s Greer Stadium. Carrie had the honor of being the lead-off batter for the Grand Ole Opry Live team at the event, which is in it’s 18th year. 

Carrie Underwood took home the award for Female Vocalist of the Year at last night’s 43rd Annual Academy Of Country Music Awards, which was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Congratulations, Carrie!

For a complete list of winners, click here.

While Kellie Pickler and Carrie Underwood may have shot to fame on “American Idol,” where they formed a fast and firm friendship, the two country queens are scary-busy these days, touring the country and singing up a storm, but Pickler recently told OK! magazine that the two are still very much friends and get together when their gruelling schedules allow them a little break:  

“When we’re both in Nashville, we hang out.  But it’s hard when we’re on tour.”

Kellie also dished on her friendship with Taylor Swift and says the songbirds are the ”Three Musketeers of Country Music”: 

“They’re like my sisters in country music. Taylor and I toured together all year last year… I guess you can call Taylor and Carrie and me the Three Musketeers. Us blondes, we’ve gotta stick together.  Boom!”

More new photos of Kellie arriving at the 43rd Annual Academy Of Country Music Awards:

Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley, who are both nominees for multiple awards, will perform a special tribute to country music legend Eddy Arnold during the 43rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, which will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas tonight {Sunday, May 18, 2008} at 8:00 pm on CBS.  

New photos!  Carrie arriving at the 43rd Annual Academy Of Country Music Awards: 

Country songbird Carrie Underwood has finally revealed the name of the ex-boyfriend who was once too embarrassed to be seen with her after a softball accident gave her two black eyes and a broken nose during a softball game. 

Said Carrie: 

“I went on a date to the movies that night, and the guy wouldn’t even take me out to eat after. The next day he told everyone he was embarrassed to be seen with me.”

But Carrie managed to get her revenge twice over - snubbing the guy after she won “American Idol” and now naming him in an Instyle interview:

“After Idol I went back home and signed autographs, and his younger siblings were there. They said, ‘Do you remember Justin? He wanted us to give you his number.’ Guess what? I did not call him.”

Check out the new “Last Name” video on Carrie’s official YouTube channel and don’t forget to subscribe to the channel if you don’t want to miss any new videos! 

Carrie Underwood will be performing in Reno, Nevada on May 21 at the Reno Events Center.

Prior to the Reno show, Carrie will be in Colorado Springs, Colorado on May 13, Casper, Wyoming on May 14, Bozeman, Montana on May 15 and at Country Thunder USA in Waxahachie Texas, on June 1.  

More pics from the 2008 CMT Music Awards on April 14, 2008 in Nashville, Tennessee.  Enjoy!

Carrie Underwood was inducted as the newest member of The Grand Ole Opry by fellow Opry member Garth Brooks.

Brooks presented Underwood with The Opry Members Award, The award’s wooden base is made from the Pews at The Ryman Auditorium, The first home of The Grand Ole Opry.

The induction ceremony was held on Saturday May 10, during OPRY LIVE on Great American Country.   

More photos from the event. Enjoy!

Carrie Underwood performs during day 3 of Stagecoach, California’s Country Music Festival, held at the Empire Polo Field on May 4, 2008 in Indio, California.

Lots more pics below.  Enjoy!

This is a bit of older news and since it wasn’t posted on the blog before, I thought I would mention that Carrie was named by “Dear Doctor” magazine has having the 2008 female celebrity “Smile Of The Year. “ 

Who would disagree with that?

This was probaby a dream come true for Carrie - I can imagine she was both shocked and surprised when, after singing “I Told You So,” originally by Randy Travis, the man himself joined her onstage where he invited her to join the Grand Ole Opry.

Said Travis:

“To end your birthday week, I was asked by the management here at the Grand Ole Opry to ask you if you would like to be their next member.”

Pete Fisher, the Opry’s vice president and general manager, said he and his staff had been working on the surprise for two months:

“We are just happy we succeeding in keeping this one under wraps as long as we have. When we seek out candidates for Opry membership, we are not only looking for artists who achieve extraordinary things with their career as Carrie has done, but for artists who really show a sincere connection to the Opry and all that it stands for. Just days after she won American Idol, Carrie made it a priority to debut on the Grand Ole Opry stage. And throughout what has really been quite a fast pace for her, she has made the Opry a priority.”

Carrie’s two albums have sold 9 million copies and she’s won three Grammys and four CMA Awards - including two awards for Female Vocalist.

She will be inducted this Saturday, May 10 at 8 p.m. ET during a live broadcast on the Great American Country network.

More photos of her surprise invitation:

Hi Everyone - it’s Tina with more fabulous Carrie Underwood news!

Carrie will be performing at the 43rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, where she’s also nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year. The awards will be televised live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 18th at 8:00 PM ET/PT on CBS.

Also look for Toby Keith, Kellie Pickler, LeAnn Rimes, Taylor Swift, Brooks & Dunn, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood and others to pitch in, whle Kenny Chesney and George Strait will perform their duet “Shiftwork” from Chesney’s album, “Poets & Pirates.” This will be the first time the pair have performed this song live. Both Chesney and Strait are nominated for multiple Academy of Country Music awards, including Entertainer of the Year.

If you missed the list of nominess, click here to visit the official site of the Academy of Country Music.

In addition to almost everywhere else, the Canadian Country Music Association is also showing love for Carrie Underwood by nominating her album ‘Some Hearts’ for album of the year. The CCMA Awards are part of Canada’s Country Music Week which is scheduled from September 7-10, 2007 in Regina.

Here are the upcoming video airtimes for Carrie Underwood today on GAC:

11:14 AM - “Before He Cheats”

Carrie Underwood’s first single “So Small” from her long awaited next album is now in rotation at an estimated 180 radio stations across america, not counting the number of online stations currently playing the single. You can use a radio locator to find and request Carrie’s new single on your favorite radio station. There are also some fan made videos for “So Small” on YouTube that you can check out if you haven’t already.

Don’t forget to head over to GAC and vote for “Wasted” in the Top 20 Countdown. The song has currently slipped from #4 to #6.

 Here are the upcoming video airtimes for Carrie Underwood today on GAC:

08:05 PM - “Before He Cheats”

10:55 PM - “Wasted”