Carrie Underwood Scores The Biggest Gig And Then Some!!!

Carrie Underwood scooped up her fifth Grammy this past Sunday, and it was announced this past week that Carrie will sing The National Anthem at NFL Super Bowl XLIV. Underwood follow in the footsteps of Whitney Houston, Beyonce, Neil Diamond and others celebrities chosen to sing at the biggest event in the U.S. sporting calendar.

NFL Super Bowl is the most watched television broadcast in the United States, attracting more than 151 million viewers in the U.S. last year. This year the pregame show and Super Bowl will be broadcast worldwide in more than 230 countries and territories.

Why Carrie some may ask, and some may answer "what took so long". Well NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said, "Many factors play into our decision-making process, but most importantly we look for someone who can sing a memorable rendition. The national anthem is a difficult song to sing and we look for someone who can deliver a first-class performance. We also look for someone who is nationally and internationally known.

Here's a preview of what it may sound like on Sunday.



Last month she taped her first shot at acting, on the set of How I Met Your Mother, and apparently she got bit. Underwood is now reported to play Sarah Hill a youth pastor and friend of Bethany Hamilton, who's life inspired the book, turning movie Soul Surfer. The role of Sarah helps Hamilton after the horrendous shark attack while surfing in a sort of a counseling way. Filming for Underwood is said to start right after the Super Bowl.

Now there are just a few more little thing going on for Underwood like planning a wedding to her new fiance Mike Fisher, planning for her upcoming huge tour that starts up on March 10th.

With the November release of Underwood's third album Play On, she has most definitely been in high demand and is the most wanted and busy country artist of this year so far!

Grammys And Parties

A picture is worth a thousand plus words, Swift drops one of her four Grammys. Not sure if it was the excitement of the night, the weight of the awards, the fact that she needed to catch a quick plane to Australia, or she was getting nervous someone might take them away after the immediate negative reaction to her performance during the show.

She may have won four awards but, the reactions to her less then Grammy worthy performance, to her seemingly fake surprise to winning, and her not to grateful speech for Country Album Of The Year, started rolling in immediately after her performance and the show. Some jockey's who have been riding the Swift train all year were now questioning how good she actually is, and if she really was deserving of any vocal awards. She may have deserved her Album awards but any that pertain to vocals have been in question by many for some time, and now it seems the majority of Grammy viewers are thinking the same. But she did end up on many best dressed lists.

Zac Brown Band won their first Grammy for Best New Artist, and were the first country act to do so in four years since Carrie Underwood. Underwood's traditional duet with Randy Travis on a re-recording of his 1988 No. 1 hit song "I Told You So" won a Grammy for best country collaboration with vocals and proved again that the worth of country music's heritage is lasting and profound.

Also first time winner's Lady Antebellum solidified its stature as the group of the future with their award for duo/group performance, putting a halt to the longtime dominance of Brooks & Dunn, Rascal Flatts and Sugarland. Similarly, Keith Urban, with his win for male country performance.

Carrie Underwood also took part in the biggest event of the night, the Michael Jackson Tribute, with Celin Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Usher and Smokey Robinson. They performed MJ's Earth Song, singing along with MJ, Underwood's versatility really shone through, and being chosen was a real testimate to how much she is respected in the industry.

On the evening before the Grammys was the famous Clive Davis Grammy party where the only the cream of the crop were invited. Representing Country were Dierks Bentley, Taylor Swift, and Carrie Underwood. Underwood has become a favorite of Davis, perform for the third year in a row, she sang All The Way with Harry Connick Jr, before singing Cowboy Casanova, which was well received with a standing "O", which made her new fiance Mike Fisher notably proud.