A Confession

I have an admission to make. Normally, this is something that I’d only admit to my mother & my sister (who share in this shame), but I feel the need to come clean.

I love Carrie Underwood & American Idol.

There, I’ve said it. This all started this morning with a visit to one of my favourite gossip sites, Perez Hilton. He posted a clip from YouTube showing the Best Female Vocalist award at the Country Music Awards, which I believe were on last night. The cameras showed all 5 nominees (Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, Gretchen Wilson, Martina McBride and Sara Evans) in real time as the award was announced. As the presenter said “and the award goes to…”, you could see Faith Hill raise her arms in triumph, but when the presenter finished with “Carrie Underwood!”, Faith Hill shouted into the camera, “What?!?!”, and ran off stage. It was priceless!

Aside from proving to me that Faith Hill is graceless, presumptuous, and a sore loser, the clip reminded me of how much I love Carrie Underwood, and I went hunting for more clips on YouTube. My all-time favourite American Idol moment is Carrie singing Heart’s “Alone” (come on, I was born in the 80s!), and I wanted to see if I could find a clip. I found a goldmine! Not only was the original clip from AI on there, there was a clip from a VH1 special where Carrie sang “Alone” with Heart themselves. It rocks! But I had to post the original AI clip:

If you haven’t listened to “Some Hearts” (Carrie’s debut album) yet, do take a listen. She’s so refreshing and down to earth, and her lyrics are funny and well-written. One of my favourite songs on the album is the current single, “Before He Cheats”. The chorus goes:

I dug my keys into the side
Of his pretty little souped-up four wheel drive.
I carved my name into his leather seats.
I took a Louisville Slugger to both headlights,
Slashed a hole in all four tires.
Maybe next time he’ll think
Before he cheats.

Does it get any better? I know that country music is an acquired taste, but Carrie Underwood is an easy one to acquire, and she soon becomes a bit of an addiction. Everyone needs a secret shame one in awhile. Check out Faith Hill’s “explanation” on People.com. And I also find it quite interesting that even People Magazine has jumped on the YouTube bandwagon.)