Month: October 2008

Underwood Will Have Performed 137 Live Shows By Year’s End !

NASHVILLE – (October 31, 2008) – Carrie Underwood’s “Carnival Ride Tour,” sponsored by vitaminwater®, has become a much-demanded concert ticket this year. Over 1,000,000 fans have come to see Underwood perform on the road so far in 2008. The current fall leg of shows included a sold-out show at the BOK Center in Tulsa in her home state of Oklahoma Wednesday night, a sold-out run of five shows in Canada earlier this month, and many other sell-outs across the U.S. By the end of 2008, Underwood will have performed 137 live concerts, in addition to her many other Opry and TV performances.

Underwood, who recently celebrated her ninth #1 single, will take a quick break from the “Carnival Ride Tour” to host the 42nd Annual CMA Awards with Brad Paisley. She was recently nominated in two CMA categories, Female Vocalist of The Year, a title she currently holds for 2006 & 2007, and Album of The Year for CARNIVAL RIDE. She will depart Nashville the day after the CMA’s to resume the tour in Bakersfield, California.

“Just a Dream” Becomes the Fourth Chart-Topping Smash from Carnival Ride

Nashville, TN – Two-time and reigning CMA and ACM Female Vocalist and three-time GRAMMY winner Carrie Underwood tops the country airplay charts this week with her latest smash, “Just a Dream.” The fourth consecutive #1 from Carrie’s Carnival Ride album, “Just a Dream” marks her ninth single to top a key sales or airplay chart – a stunning achievement, particularly since Underwood has released only two albums.

“I am just so honored,” she says. “All of the support that I’ve had throughout all my singles is just incredible. And I’m just very appreciative.”

To date, the Carnival Ride album has also launched the smash singles “So Small,” “All-American Girl,” and “Last Name,” all co-written by Carrie.

“Just a Dream,” written by Steve McEwan, Hillary Lindsey, and Gordie Sampson, is a song that Carrie says is “such a beautiful story, and I feel like those are the songs that are really meaningful,” where a lyric can help listeners to “see things in a different way, or it can make them feel better about a situation that they’re in, or they can empathize with it, or they can listen to it, and the song tells exactly what they went through. Those songs, when they get so close, when so many people like them and hear them, and it makes an impact on their life, those are the ones that are really important.”

The only American Idol winner ever to achieve nine #1 hits, Underwood’s collection of chart-toppers began with the instant success of her post-American Idol single, “Inside Your Heaven,” which debuted atop Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in the summer of 2005. It was the first of five #1s to top the BDS or Mediabase charts from her 7x-Platinum debut, Some Hearts, with the others including the GRAMMY-winning “Jesus, Take the Wheel” and “Before He Cheats,” as well as “Don’t Forget to Remember Me” and “Wasted.”

In addition to co-hosting The 42nd Annual CMA Awards on November 12, Carrie has been keeping an incredibly busy schedule on the road headlining her Carnival Ride Tour, with 137 shows in total by year end.

THREE TIME GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING RECORDING ARTIST CARRIE UNDERWOOD
UNVEILS HER WAX FIGURE AT MADAME TUSSAUDS NEW YORK

New York, NY (October 22, 2008) – Times Square got a double dose of Carrie Underwood today as the three-time Grammy Award-winning recording artist unveiled her wax figure at Madame Tussauds New York. Underwood was welcomed by a barrage of camera flashes as she posed side-by-side with her wax likeness, which she saw for the first time today.

The creation of Underwood’s figure began earlier this year when a team of Madame Tussauds studio artists flew out to meet Carrie on tour for her figure sitting. Underwood was an enthusiastic participant in the figure making process – not only did she spend more than an hour with the studio artists, but she also generously donated a replica of the dress that she wore to the 2006 CMA Awards, when she was first named Female Vocalist of The Year, to Madame Tussauds for her figure to don. The dress was designed by Trish Townsend and constructed by Dez Zamek.

“We are thrilled that Carrie was able to join us today to help unveil her figure. Not only is she a bona fide superstar with fans around the world, but she is also an incredibly kind and generous young woman – a true role model for young people today. We know that our guests will love her figure, and we can’t wait for them to see it,” said Janine DiGioacchino, General Manager of Madame Tussauds New York and Madame Tussauds Washington D.C.

Underwood’s wax likeness is now part of the attraction’s “VIP Room” and is posed in a standing position with hands on hips. Visitors will be able to take pictures with and even hug her figure.

“I am honored to have been asked to pose for a Madame Tussauds wax figure as this is truly a once in a lifetime experience. I am really excited to attend my unveiling today!” said Underwood.

On November 12, Underwood will host the 2008 CMA Awards with Brad Paisley on ABC. She was also recently nominated for two 2008 CMA Awards, Female Vocalist of The Year, a title she currently holds for 2006 & 2007, and Album of The Year for CARNIVAL RIDE. In May, she was inducted as the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry and named Top Female Vocalist at the 2008 Academy of Country Music Awards for the second consecutive time. Her current album CARNIVAL RIDE, which contains the current smash “Just A Dream,” contains the #1 co-written hits “So Small,” “All-American Girl” and “Last Name.” Since her debut in 2005, Underwood’s two albums have sold nearly 10 million copies and she is the all-time U.S. top-selling American Idol contestant.

Congratulations, Carrie, on your American Music Award nominations for Favorite Female Artist -Country and Favorite Album-Country for Carnival Ride.

The 2008 American Music Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will be broadcast live on Sunday, November 23 at 8pm ET/PT.

FYI, this year’s winners will once again be determined by online fan voting at www.abc.go.com/amavote, with voting ending November 7th at 11:59 pm PT.

NASHVILLE – The reigning CMA Male and Female Vocalists of the Year, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, will unite to host “The 42nd Annual CMA Awards.” This is the first time that either artist will have hosted “Country Music’s Biggest Night™.” “The 42nd Annual CMA Awards” airs live from the Sommet Center in Nashville, Wednesday, Nov. 12 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on the ABC Television Network.

“We are excited to have our reigning Male and Female Vocalist host the CMA Awards this year,” said Tammy Genovese, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “In addition to their musical talent, Brad’s quick wit and Carrie’s gracefulness will serve them well in this role. CMA is happy to offer both of them their first opportunity to host a nationally televised awards show. ”

In addition to their hosting duties, Paisley and Underwood will also perform on “The CMA Awards.” Previously announced performers include Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Miranda Lambert, George Strait, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, and Keith Urban, with more performers to be announced soon.

“I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to host the awards show,” says Paisley. “We’re going to have a good time – start to finish.”

“I am so excited to host a show I grew up watching, and am so thrilled to spend this night with the fans and Brad,” says Underwood. “It’s going to be a party!”

Underwood toured with Paisley in 2006, and the two became fast friends. The artists, who are both members of the Grand Ole Opry, reunited last year to record the duet “Oh Love” for Paisley’s most recent album, 5th Gear.

Paisley received four nominations in 2008, including Entertainer; Male Vocalist, which he won last year; Song for his self-written “Letter to Me;” and Music Video of the Year for “Waitin’ on a Woman,” directed by Jim Shea and Peter Tilden. Paisley has won 9 CMA Awards since his first nominations in 2000, including Horizon (2000); Male Vocalist (2007); and Album of the Year for Time Well Wasted (2006). He also won Musical Event twice, first in 2004 with Alison Krauss for “Whiskey Lullaby,” and second in 2006 for “When I Get Where I’m Going” with Dolly Parton; Vocal Event in 2001 for “Too Country” with Bill Anderson, George Jones and Buck Owens; and Music Video of the Year three times, first in 2002 for “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song); second in 2004 for “Whiskey Lullaby (again with Krauss), and third in 2007 for “Online.”

Billboard named Paisley one of the five hot headliners (of any genre) to watch in 2007. That same year, Pollstar ranked his “Bonfires and Amplifiers” tour as the No. 2 Country tour in total attendance. This year’s successful “Hershey’s Presents the Paisley Party” tour has already been extended into the first few months of 2009. The West Virginia native recently celebrated total sales of 10 million albums thus far in his career. He also recently achieved his eighth consecutive (and twelfth overall) No. 1 single with “Waitin’ on a Woman.” His new album, the guitar-driven, mostly instrumental Play, will be in stores Nov. 4, featuring the current single “Start a Band,” a duet with Keith Urban.

Underwood received two CMA nominations in 2008, including Female Vocalist and Album of the Year for her second album, Carnival Ride, produced by Mark Bright and featuring four songs co-written by the artist. This was her first nomination in the Album category. She has received nine career nominations since her first in 2006, and has won a total of four CMA Awards. In addition to her two wins as Female Vocalist (2006 and 2007), she also received the Horizon Award in 2006 and Single of the Year for “Before He Cheats” in 2007.

After winning “American Idol” in 2005, Underwood became one of the most popular recording artists in the nation. Her debut album, Some Hearts, is the biggest selling “American Idol” debut project to date, having sold more than seven million albums in the United States. With the release of her current album Carnival Ride, she has now sold nearly 10 million albums in less than three years. She was the best-selling female Country artist for three consecutive years (2005, 2006 and 2007), and has had seven consecutive No. 1 country singles. Underwood is currently headlining her “Carnival Ride Tour,” scheduled to hit 51 cities this fall.

Tickets for the 2008 CMA Awards are on sale now and can be purchased by logging on to www.ticketmaster.com ; calling (615) 255-9600; or in person at the Sommet Center box office, 501 Broadway (corner of Fifth Avenue and Broadway, in Nashville). Ticket prices begin at $110 for Bronze-level seating (upper level), $327.75 for Silver-level seating (club level), and $382.50 for Gold-level seating (lower level). All prices include sales tax but exclude applicable service/handling fees.