Country's Top 5 Biggest Happenings Of The Decade: #1 Carrie Underwood - Dreams Really Do Come True

The Decade's and New Queen Of Country Part One
It really is a true Cinderella story for the music world. At the young age of 21 the young, small town (Checotah, Oklahoma) farm girl, decided she would take one last shot at her music dream. So she took time off from her final year from University, and went and auditioned for the biggest talent show in the world, American Idol. With no actual thoughts of winning she was just hoping for some face time to get noticed and help with her future journalism career. She got a lot more then she expected.



In the summer of 2004, Underwood auditioned for American Idol in St. Louis. On the first show that would have voting results, Underwood sang "Could've Been" by Tiffany and judge Simon Cowell commented that she would be one of the favorites to win the competition. During the top 11 finalists' performance on the March 22, 2005, Underwood gave her now infamous performance of the number one 1980s rock hit "Alone" by Heart and Cowell publicly stated:

Carrie, you are not the girl to beat you are the person to beat. I will make a prediction, not only will you win this show, you will sell more records then any other previous Idol winner.

Underwood is one of five winners never to have been voted in the bottom three, one of the shows producers later said that Underwood dominated the voting, winning each week handily. While on the show, Underwood gained a loyal fan base that would continue to follow her on her amazing journey. On May 25, 2005, Underwood was crowned the winner of the fourth season of American Idol.



Underwood's debut album, entitled Some Hearts, was released to store shelves on November 15, 2005, which was also the same day as the CMA Awards in NYC. Carrie was given a small amount of time to give a shorter version of her first single Jesus Take The Wheel. She stood on the stage alone with a microphone, when finished the people who were unsure about her being a country artist were shocked in disbelief of the big voice that came out of her that was definitely country. That is where her loving marriage with country music began.

After winning American Idol, and finishing up her album, Underwood admirably went back to Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, graduating magna cum laude in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in mass communication and an emphasis in journalism. This past year Underwood advocated for teacher's and the respect she has for their jobs, posing for pictures with her mother and sister.

Some Hearts debuted on the Billboard 200 charts with 315,000 copies sold, this made it number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and the biggest debut of any country artist since the start of the SoundScan system in 1991. Some Hearts has since been certified 7x Platinum by the RIAA, and is the fastest-selling debut country album in the history of the SoundScan era.

Jesus Take the Wheel was released to radio and it received so much airplay that it debuted at number thirty-nine on the Billboard Country Chart in its first week. It eventually reached number one for six consecutive weeks. It won the 2006 Grammy award for Country Song of the Year. Her third release Before He Cheats was and even bigger hit for her and spent five consecutive weeks at the top. The crossover affect was huge for Underwood with this one, bringing even more attention to the Country genre then Underwood already brought with her win from American Idol.

After all this was the beginning of her amazing list of accolades. Through Some Hearts, Underwood was awarded:
2005
Teen Choice Awards
Choice Reality Star - female
Top-Selling Hot 100 Song of the Year: "Inside Your Heaven"
Billboard Music Awards
Top-Selling Country Single: "Inside Your Heaven"
Country Single Sales Artist of the Year

2006
Gospel Music Association Awards Country
Recorded Song of the Year: "Jesus, Take the Wheel"
CMT Music Awards
Female Video Of The Year: "Jesus, Take the Wheel"
Breakthrough Video of the Year: "Jesus, Take the Wheel"
Academy of Country Music Awards
Top New Female Vocalist of the Year
Single Record of the Year: "Jesus, Take the Wheel"
Country Music Association Awards
Female Vocalist of the Year
Horizon Award
(this was the first time since 1995 that an artist won both the female vocalist and Horizon award.)
American Music Awards
Favorite New Breakthrough Artist
Billboard Music Awards
Female Country Artist of the Year
Album of the Year
Country Album of the Year
Country New Artist of the Year
Female Billboard 200 Album Artist of the Year

2007
33rd People's Choice Awards
Favorite Country Song: "Before He Cheats"
Favorite Female Singer
Grammy Awards
Best New Artist
Best Female Country Vocal Performance: "Jesus, Take the Wheel"
CMT Music Awards
Video of the Year: "Before He Cheats"
Female Video of the Year: "Before He Cheats"
Academy of Country Music Awards
Female Vocalist of the Year
Album of the Year: "Some Hearts"
Video of the Year: "Before He Cheats"
Country Music Association Awards
Female Vocalist of the Year
Single Of The Year: "Before He Cheats"
American Music Awards
Favorite Country Female Artist
Favorite Country Album: "Some Hearts"
T-Mobile Text-In Award (Artist of the Year)
Billboard Music Awards
Female Country Artist of the Year
Country Album for "Some Hearts"
Country Artist of the Year
Female Billboard 200 Artist of the Year
Country Albums Artist of the Year

2008
Grammy Awards
Best Female Country Vocal Performance: "Before He Cheats"


Part two still to come.