Who is Carrie Underwood

Would American Idol winner Carrie Underwood have landed a major-label recording contract without winning the hugely popular television contest? Probably. The big-voiced Oklahoman has the pipes, the look, the pedigree, and, most important, the emotional resonance to sustain a professional career. As an investment in her future, her label eschewed the easy path in putting out an album to take advantage of her publicity, going for a name producer, Dann Huff (Keith Urban, Faith Hill, Lonestar), to handle half the tracks. It also solicited material from the same top songwriters (Diane Warren, Brett James, Troy Verges, Rivers Rutherford) who stock albums by Hill, Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, and Wynonna. "Jesus, Take the Wheel," the hit first single, shows off the best of Underwood's power vocals, while the sexy rocker "We're Young and Beautiful" pulls her out of her ballad-heavy comfort zone, and her autobiographical "I Ain't in Checotah Anymore" bolsters her authenticity. If the young performer oversings on occasion (the overwrought bonus track, "Inside Your Heaven"), and settles for too many generic themes, she still surprises in her ability to go head-to-head with country's reigning females. Will Underwood really survive to be a contender for the Martina throne? Let's just say that American Idol judges and voters picked the right contestant. If the posturing Bo Bice had won, rock stars would hardly be quaking in their boots. -- Alanna Nash

Sing the Carrie Underwood songs with the right music background. Carrie Underwood Karaoke at it's best!

Carrie Underwood is a talented singer with a bright future ahead of her. The CD single gives listeners a glimpse of what to expect in the future from the newest star on the music scene. Independence Day is a great song that addresses the social issue of domestic violence. It is about the extreme measures a woman goes through to escape her abusive relationship. I think this country tune is perfect for Carrie's powerful voice. Inside Your Heaven is a typical pop love tune lyrically, but I think Carrie makes up for it by displaying her incredible vocal range on this song. She sounds great on this track in my opinion. -- Robert G Yokoyama (Mililani, Hawaii)

Twelve finalists and/or future singers (six men and six women) who were selected from America, compete in a talent contest in which they were asked to sing any song they like on this "Star Search" clone. After each song that was sung, the judges, Abdul, Jackson and Cowell, then critique that finalist's chosen song. After each show's ending, America must vote for a finalist to whom they really think their performance is good using this AT&T (now Cingular Wireless) or any other cellular phone to cast votes with. Once the votes are locked in, the judges and America decides who has the most and the least amount of votes, and the contestant with the least amount of votes is eliminated, and it goes on each week's show until the winner is crowned as "American Idol," where he/she wins a recording contract worth up to $1,000,000. The rest of the other finalists to whom they have been voted off before (the runner-up) also get recording contracts, too.

Many millions adore it, many others probably wish it was illegal, but there's no denying the magnetic pull of American Idol on television viewers. Maybe it's that we can't avert our eyes from the train wreck that comprises about 90% of the contestants, or that we appreciate the heart and soul of the ones who are genuinely talented; or maybe we just love to hate house villain Simon Cowell and his caustic put-downs. Good, bad, or whatever, American Idol really is the phenomenon it claims to be. And with some ten hours of material spread out over three discs--there's so much stuff here that even the bonus features have bonus features--this overview of the first four seasons will surely satisfy even the most ardent fans.

Disc One, The Best Of, takes us from the first step in the process (the cattle-call try-outs so popular they need stadiums to accommodate all the hopefuls) through the initial auditions and interviews with judges Cowell, Randy Jackson, and Paula Abdul to the performances seen on the telecasts themselves--including those by eventual winners Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, and Carrie Underwood, as well as runners-up Bo Bice and Clay Aiken, among others. In other words, nothing unexpected. Indeed, for many viewers, Disc Two (The Worst Of) will likely be the favorite. For it is here that the set focuses on our fascination with the profoundly clueless, those utterly untalented folks who make us squirm with their outlandish self-delusion and willingness, nay eagerness, to humiliate themselves on TV (epitomized by William "She Bangs" Hung, the so-bad-he's-good sideshow that's depressing on so many levels), only to then find themselves genuinely astonished and angry when they fail to make the cut. Finally, Disc Three includes an interview with Abdul, "homecoming" footage featuring Underwood and Bice, and additional interviews from the fourth season.

If American Idol has a dirty little secret (aside from Abdul's personal life), it's that the show hasn't produced a single artist with not just a good voice but an original one--a Norah Jones, an Alicia Keys, a John Mayer, someone can play and write as well as sing. But then, that's not what the show is about; we're frequently reminded that this is "a singing competition," pure and simple. Which brings us to what may well be this exhaustive (and perhaps exhausting, too) set's defining moment: When a particularly awful "singer" begs to do another tune, Cowell says, "There's only so much punishment a human being can take." Replies the contestant: "No, I can take a lot more." --Sam Graham

Features the best and worst performances from the 1st four seasons of the pop cultural phenomena American Idol. Worst: Includes outrageous performances from William Hung and a collection of some of the most unreal performers. Best: Features the hottest talent to come out of the show: Carrie Underwood, Bo Bice, Fantasia (single "I Believe" hit #1 on the charts), Diana Degarmo (single "Dreams" hit #2 on the Billboard charts), Constantine, Clay Aiken (first single was #1 with 400,000 sold first week), Ruben Studdard (platinum artist whose album was in the Top 10 for 6 weeks), and Kelly Clarkson (double platinum).