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I took a little break from blogging to work on a new site, my first foray into the world of fansites, with a news, pictures, and videos focused “fanblog” called Carrie Underwood Central that I launched late last month. I’m still getting everything rolling over there, but I’m happy with its early progress and the site’s look and feel.

Check it out when you get a minute!

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Carrie Underwood, American Idol’s crown jewel and 2009 ACM Entertainer of the Year, was of course, at this year’s American Idol finale (Congrats to Kris Allen!!) and as usual, she looked pretty perfect.

The last time we saw Carrie, she was at a loss for words accepting her Entertainer of the Year Award, also looking perfect, but I’m a fan of the pink dress she wore to this year’s AI finale.

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Another season of American Idol has come and gone and Kris Allen somehow defeated the collective powerhouse that was early favorites Danny Gokey and Adam Lambert to become Season 8’s winner.

Personally, I’m thrilled about it.

How did Adam Lambert, clearly the most original contestant the show has had since Blake Lewis lose? The same way that Blake lost, by being incredibly talented, but just too polarizing with his style. While many would get and would love Adam’s glam rock style, Kris’ arrangements were clearly more mainstream and his likable personality made him someone that anyone would feel good about him winning. As Idol tradition has had it, both Adam and Kris will get record deals and I hope their talents bring them the same or more success than other past successful idols like Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia, Katharine McPhee, Elliott Yamin, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Kellie Pickler, David Cook, and others.

Congrats to Kris Allen!

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Carrie Underwood in Badgley Mischka Ad Campaign

Carrie Underwood is part of designer Badgley Mischka’s 20th Anniversary Ad campaign with a bunch of other big names in entertainment

– Brooke Shields, Eva Longoria Parker, Lauren Hutton, and Anjelica Huston. Of course, Carrie looks beautiful as always, but it’s interesting that she’s the only singer in a group full of actresses. Not bad for an American Idol winner to represent a whole side of entertainment.

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You can say what you will about Carrie Underwood’s outfit during her performance of “Last Name” at the 2009 Grammy Awards (I don’t know what was going on there either), but is there any denying that she was among the night’s best dressed on the red carpet?

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One random prediction that I’m very proud of is my prediction that Katy Perry would not be a one hit wonder.

While everything about “I Kissed a Girl” screamed “one hit wonder,” I was one of those people who actually bought her full album. When people would get into my car and ask, “What are we listening to?” and I’d answer, “Katy Perry”, I would get a look. After I got a look, they would say, “Is the CD good?” and I’d say “It’s actually much better that you think” before telling them that there were actually a solid number of not only listenable, but pretty good songs on the album.

How has the artist formerly known as Christian singer Katy Hudson managed to make this happen?

By being really hot and charming.

Ok that, but she (and her people) have also managed to actually choose 3 out of the top 4 songs on her album for her first three singles. And for that, Team Katy, you should be commended. While many of us see our favorite singers choose song after song that we wouldn’t have chosen for radio play hit the mainstream, by choosing “I Kissed a Girl,” “Hot N Cold,” and now “Thinking of You,” Katy Perry has not only shown her wacky side, but has shown that she has some diversity as an artist and good diversity at that.

While a catchy song by all means, “I Kissed a Girl” almost felt like a cry for attention. But then again, it was really catchy.

“Hot N Cold” was another fun song, a little out there, but less out there than “I Kissed a Girl,” but a great song that let Perry show off the new version of her on stage.

And now, after making a name and an image with herself, she gets to show some depth and she does that with “Thinking of You,” which I believe to be the best song on her album. And if Team Katy decides to release one more single off the album and makes it “Waking up in Vegas,” they will have gone 4 for 4 in choosing the top four songs from her album for radio play.

I don’t think anyone will ever campaign to say that Katy Perry is the best singer out right now, but I think everyone will agree that her voice is distinctive and in this song, it’s passionate and tells a compelling story.

If you know me, you know that I’m a big Carrie Underwood fan and it’s interesting to see the similarities between the video for Katy Perry’s “Thinking of You” and Carrie Underwood’s “Just a Dream.” While Perry’s video is more of an interpretation of the lyrics, compared to Underwood’s more direct translation of the lyrics, watch both and see if you find the similarities pretty striking for two videos released far enough away from each other for the creators to notice (Underwood’s came first, not that it matters).

Katy Perry’s “Thinking of You”

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Now that I’ve been to four separate Carrie Underwood concerts (Dixon, California; Los Angeles, California; Stagecoach 2008; San Diego, California), I think that I can say that I am a Carrie Underwood concert pro at this point.

Since Carrie’s first album “Some Hearts” came out, she’s been far and away my favorite singer and music personality. I was pretty much a pure hip-hop/R&B listener and somehow, Carrie Underwood got me to listen to country, which got me listening to some more rock, which got me listening to anything and everything. About 75% of the time that I’m in the car, I’m rocking out to something that isn’t hip-hop or R&B at this point and I think that’s a pretty big deal for one artist to completely change the type of music that someone listens to.

After going to Carrie’s Carnival Ride tour in San Diego last night, I have to say that Carrie has come a long way in a good way as a live performer. Not that she wasn’t great initially, but she really owns the stage at this point and is great at interacting with the audience. A singer like Carrie will always have the voice to win over an audience, but people come to concerts to feel like they’re getting to know their favorite singer and I think she’s come a long way in that sense. You see a lot more of her personality and she takes a little bit more freedom with the riffs and variations that she puts into her performances, all of which is great.

So basically, if you’re a Carrie fan and haven’t seen her in concert? Just go. You won’t regret it and she’s turning into such a strong performer at this point that I’ll never miss her when she’s in town, no matter the cost! There are tons and tons of concert reviews online, at great fansites like CarrieFans.com, but if you’re at all a fan of Carrie’s, I can tell you as a veteran concert goer (not just a Carrie concert goer) that she’s quickly becoming great to see live.

What we’re seeing here is the passing of the torch – much like Lebron James, Dwight Howard, Brandon Roy, and Deron Williams have given us a new generation of NBA superstars – country music is undergoing a transformation right before our eyes. This is a transformation that will finally stop people from saying that they like “all music, except for country.” Artists like Swift, Underwood, and Jennifer Nettles’ duo Sugarland, have crossover appeal that makes it more than ok for anyone to like country.

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I love declarative statements and titles by magazines. Why?

Because it seems like they’re always there to be a little controversial so that you’ll buy the magazine. With Esquire naming Halle Berry the “Sexiest Woman Alive” for 2008, I have to respectfully, yet strongly disagree.

There have been other controversial choices for silly lists like this – like Katherine Heigl being AskMen’s Most Desirable Woman of 2008, which I also disagreed with.

There have been lists that feel like they can be completely justified, like FHM’s Top 100 Sexiest Women – a list that was topped out Megan Fox (Top 10 included names like – Keeley Hazell, Elisha Cuthbert

, Hayden Panettiere, Scarlett Johansson, and other keepers).

But Halle Berry the “Sexiest Woman Alive?” Jesus, take the wheel, Esquire. I have to disagree!

Not that Berry is not beautiful because she is in every sense of the word. But there’s a big difference between “Beautiful” and “Sexy” and I think that Berry falls closer to the B than the S.

Here are some examples…

Beautiful is…

Carrie Underwood

Rachel McAdams

Autumn Reeser

Lauren Conrad
Sexy is…

Kim Kardashian

Megan Fox

Lacey Schwimmer

Aubrey O’Day
Falling into both categories is…

Stacy Keibler

download home of phobia aka freshman orientation online Kristen Cavallari

Kristen Bell

Kate Hudson

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This week, Carrie Underwood released a music video for what I believe to be the strongest track on her album Carnival Ride, “Just a Dream.” While it took a few listens for me to pick it up way back when the album came out, the song is about a wife-to-be who loses her military husband before their planned wedding. It’s not only the best song on the album in terms of Carrie’s vocal chops, but it’s also probably the strongest song in terms of writing as well.

Already as one of Carrie’s best performances live in concert, “Just a Dream” continues to shape Carrie as a music artist that could easily find herself in more prominent acting roles in the near future. Unlike videos like “So Small,” where Carrie acts as more of a narrator, Carrie plays the lead role in this video, much like she did in “Last Name.” It’s hard to look attractive while you’re crying, even when you’re Carrie Underwood, and I think the fact that you cringe a little bit at her crying face in the latter parts of the video make her a more believable actress than many would think.

Is Carrie destined for some non-Glitter, small screen/big screen stardom soon? Me thinks so!

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Keeping with the night’s commercial theme, music superstar and hottest woman on the planet Carrie Underwood has also been keeping busy with commercials as of late for both Nintendo and Vitamin Water.

While the Nintendo DS commercial is one of the more random and kind of pointless things I’ve ever seen (though I’m not complaining) because Carrie is pretty much just there to smile, giggle, and say “cuuute,” in a series of commercials that also stars Ugly Betty’s America Ferrera, it’s a tribute to how mainstream the once-country superstar has become.

Carrie, whose Carnival Ride tour continues through this fall (which I will be seeing again in San Diego, just to switch up locations), is the poster girl for any award show, even outside of country music, and I’m led to believe that in terms of overall success, she has surpassed Kelly Clarkson in prestige at this point. Likely not album sales, considering Carrie has only had two CDs to Kelly’s three, but Underwood has tabloid relevance, musical success legitimacy, and of course, the most beautiful face on the planet.

In a commercial that finally points out that Carrie is one of the more attractive girls this side of the Mississippi (it doesn’t matter what side of the Mississippi you’re on, it’s just a fact), Vitamin Water pokes fun at the star’s desirability when they say that makeshift horse whisperer Carrie makes guys want to become horses.

True. Story.

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