Carrie Underwood is a True Star!

Every Publication this week had at least one article written on Carrie Underwood: USA Today, US Weekly, Entertainment Weekly, Seventeen Magazine...Carrie's there, in fact she is on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. On October 23 her second studio album, Carnival Ride will be released. Former American Idol season four winner Carrie Underwood was one of the few American Idol winners to take her success from the show to critical and commercial success. Her debut album, Some Hearts, has sold nearly 6 million copies, recently squeaking by Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway to become the most successful record from any Idol contestant. Some Hearts' multiplatinum status also puts it just behind Nickelback for the best selling album of the past two years and was named the best-selling album of 2006 . At 24, she has collected two Grammys (including Best New Artist, the first Idol to do so), two CMA awards, five Academy of Country Music awards, two People's Choice awards, and an American Music award. She's also had four smash singles on the country charts; one of them, ''Before He Cheats'' ended up a pop-radio hit last summer and a mainstay in the top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100.

Underwood went into Some Hearts an American Idol — an assurance of name recognition, but hardly a guarantee of future success. She goes into Carnival Ride a country superstar, the kind of celebrity who gets linked romantically with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and, more recently, Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford. She has two nominations for the American Music Awards, three for the CMAs and a song sung over the credits of the animated film Enchanted, opening Nov. 21.


Carnival Ride Review

On her sophomore album, Carnival Ride, she is ready to crack the dreaded sophomore slump. The first single off of Carnival Ride is So Small. The song is a very strong pop-country track. The song features Carrie's extremely strong voice which makes the song a hit. This is the first song which Carrie has released as a single where she has writing credit on the song. The song is very catchy and has been a big hit for her.

Flat On The Floor is a catchy up-tempo track. The song is more traditional country with a little bit of Rock-n-Roll as opposed to most of the other songs on the album.

I Told You So is a cover of the Randy Travis classic from 1988. The song is very good and at the same level as the original which is hard to do. The song is very catchy and very easy to listen to.

I Know You Won't is one of the ballads on the album. The song is very well written and produced. The song talks about the disappointments in a relationship. Carrie's big voice shines over the mellow track.

Last Name musically sounds like the sequel of Before He Cheats. The song features the playful nature of Carrie over a rock-country inspired beat. The song talks about meeting someone in the club and having a good time and not even knowing their last name.

Get Out Of This Town is a solid pop-country track. The song features a very catchy melody and a great hook.

With this Album Carrie Underwood not only proves to be the superior American Idol but also a superior artist who has a long and successful career ahead of her. Carrie will have you saying "Kelly who?"

Grade: A-