Carrie Underwood | "Blown Away" Era

[SHOOTER]

Loved her performance although I agree that her adding a bit more of a "performance" element couldn't hurt.

[Deleted]

I'm just really, really happy that Carrie got to finally accept award, as well as accept an award that was broadcasted. She was so genuinely happy at the microphone tonight. Loved her speech, as usual.

And her performance was fantastic. The band was much louder than usual, though. She was drowned out a bit there.

[bornfearless2000]

Carrie killed it last night.

EDIT :


Carrie has 2 songs inside Billboard Hot 100 YTD 2012 (according to the thread in General section).

GOOD GIRL : #60

BLOWN AWAY : #75

[jenglisbe]

Idolator:

A handful of other acts seemed to be suffering from the soundstage’s bad acoustics (not to name names, but, well, we weren’t blown away by Carrie Underwood).

I feel like Carrie is often a victim of bad sound mixing on awards shows. Is she aware of the issue?

[cufan7]

Nov 19, 2012 9:58:01 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Idolator:

A handful of other acts seemed to be suffering from the soundstage’s bad acoustics (not to name names, but, well, we weren’t blown away by Carrie Underwood).

I feel like Carrie is often a victim of bad sound mixing on awards shows. Is she aware of the issue?

I've felt like this is a common problem for her. The CMAs where she performed "Cowboy Casanova" is what comes to mind.

[carrieidol1]

TBH, is that really within her control? She can only hear herself while singing, and I doubt she listens to playbacks. She probably runs through once or twice, gets the "thumbs up" from the producers, and then moves on to get ready for the show. For all she knows, she sounds like she does during her concerts?... Considering the circumstances regarding the sound system, she sounded great (better than 90% of the other acts).

To the point of her 'upping' the entertainment value, here's my take. Carrie Underwood is a pristine vocalist, she's known for her vocal chops, and is expected to sound impeccable at every public appearance. Much like we all saw with many of last night's acts, when you add gimmicks, dancing, jumping, etc, you inherently dilute the vocals. This happens to the point where most of them now lip sync, simply because their gimmicks, that seemingly hide their true talent(s), go overboard. Had Carrie featured two Cadillacs on stage to lay on top of, climb over, dance around, etc, her vocals would have sounded like s**t. If you take notice of everyone who did have crazy gimmicks, their backtrack included their vocals which hid, for the most part, their live sound; Usher, Taylor, Justin, etc... If they weren't full-on lipping, their voice was hidden by the backtrack which included their vocals.

As much as people want to believe crazy stage gimmicks and pristine vocals can coexist during a single performance, unless you're P!nk, it's virtually impossible, and even she had a strong backtrack that included her vocals (which was understandable and nevertheless amazing considering she was live singing over that). I say this and think back to Carrie's ACM "Good Girl" performance, remember? That vocal performance relative to most of Carrie's performances was a train wreck. She tried the gimmicks, running around, etc, and it didn't work. It doesn't help that it was the first live performance of the song, so surely she was nervous. Nevertheless, that's one example of a rather bad attempt of Carrie experimenting with gimmicks.

Now I see the point made with Carrie's "Before He Cheats" Grammy performance from 2008, that was simply flawless. Then again, the gimmicks surrounded her and she just walked around them. So I see both sides. There's always room for growth in the entertainment field, but Carrie doesn't always need that. For me, it was a nice eye-rest to just watch Carrie sing, without over-the-top dancers and gymnastic-like obstacles. I'll take Carrie sounding flawless over any stage gimmick, any day.

Edit*

Oh, and if you want Carrie and her stage gimmicks, go see her live, and then get back to me... I think seeing her concert will fill that need for anyone who feels Carrie's live performances are boring or non-visual.

[spencer]

I've listened to Carrie's performance several times now. I just can't hear what some of you are hearing. At the very start of her performance her first line seemed to be drowned out a bit by the music, but that's it. The performance was stellar. I heard no 'pitchiness' anywhere. (Sometimes I think words like 'pitchie' are thrown out there just for the sake of saying something) Anyway, Carrie as usual gave a flawless performance. I'm of the school that says "less is more" so I'm glad nothing more was added to the performance, which would have only made it more of the same offerings that night. Carrie always maintains a certain degree of sophistication and class in her performances and the AMAs was no exception. Note, the standing ovation for her entrance on stage, and a standing 'O' for her exit. Acknowledgement of a superstar in the house. Loved it all.

[cufan7]

I didn't at all mean that the mixing is Carrie's fault, I'm just saying I feel she's fallen victim to it a few times.

Also, I'm not here for gimmicks when you have an artist with vocals like Carrie's (especially at country events). I think as the first performance of a new single, it should get a treatment like it did, that really focuses simply on the song. Remember the first performance of "Good Girl" on the ACM's? Where it was no where near being considered poor, it definitely was not her best vocal. I think that can be leant more so to the few dance moves and movement that she was focusing on more so than it being her debut performance of the song. I rather her deliver a top notch vocal performance than one where she's moving around a lot.

For Carrie to up the entertainment, I would want it to involve her vocals somehow. The Grammy performance of "Before He Cheats" from years ago is a prime example. Take a song that has been performed quite basically a couple times and change up the vocal arrangement, or something. Otherwise, I'm perfectly pleased with the type of performer Carrie is: a true vocalist.

[Deleted]

Loved the performance last night, but yeah, I do feel like it was kind of hard to hear her. Nothing wrong with her vocals though. *shrug*

Although I would've loved it if she would've worn the same outfit she's wearing on the single cover.

[Mike]

I actually thought she sounded spectacular last night and didn't really notice any sound issues. Easily one of the best vocals of the entire show.

[jenglisbe]

Nov 19, 2012 11:53:31 GMT -5 spencer said:

I've listened to Carrie's performance several times now. I just can't hear what some of you are hearing. At the very start of her performance her first line seemed to be drowned out a bit by the music, but that's it. The performance was stellar. I heard no 'pitchiness' anywhere. (Sometimes I think words like 'pitchie' are thrown out there just for the sake of saying something) Anyway, Carrie as usual gave a flawless performance. I'm of the school that says "less is more" so I'm glad nothing more was added to the performance, which would have only made it more of the same offerings that night. Carrie always maintains a certain degree of sophistication and class in her performances and the AMAs was no exception. Note, the standing ovation for her entrance on stage, and a standing 'O' for her exit. Acknowledgement of a superstar in the house. Loved it all.

I thought she sounded off on some of the lines in the 1st verse (like the first "first tiiiime"). I don't know if it was off pitch or something else, but it just sounded weird. All of it - her vocal, the mixing - seemed to get better as the performance went on.

Entertainment Weekly graded the performances and said this:

Carrie Underwood
Frills were kept to a minimum as Underwood, draped in black, debuted her dark single ''Two Black Cadillacs.'' She made sure to rev things up toward the song's end, at which point you could practically count her fillings as she threw her head back to belt the finale. B+

[onebuffalo]

Anyone have video of Carrie Underwood's win for Country Album? Thanks!

[Deleted]

Nov 19, 2012 14:51:25 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Anyone have video of Carrie Underwood's win for Country Album? Thanks!

:)

[onebuffalo]

^Thanks. I loved her performance of Two Black Cadillacs.

[adwem]

Looks like we get a hint at her 2013 surprise that she has been hinting about

www.rollingstone.com/music/news/carrie-underwood-on-nashville-were-not-that-scandalous-20121119

Underwood might have some acting in her future. Though vague on the subject, she promises there's something very different in line for her in the new year. It's "something really different that would be out of my comfort zone, a really wonderful thing to put on my 'I did that' list," she said.

[jenglisbe]

Nov 19, 2012 11:09:50 GMT -5 carrieidol1 said:

TBH, is that really within her control? She can only hear herself while singing, and I doubt she listens to playbacks. She probably runs through once or twice, gets the "thumbs up" from the producers, and then moves on to get ready for the show. For all she knows, she sounds like she does during her concerts?... Considering the circumstances regarding the sound system, she sounded great (better than 90% of the other acts).

At certain shows it seems to be a problem for all artists; the ACMs for example. But last night, I didn't notice it as a problem for everyone, yet it's a consistent issue for Carrie. So I feel like something can be done.

[Typo]

SO....maybe those rumors about her playing Dolly on Broadway are true after all. If done right, that could be huge for her.

[cufan7]

Nov 19, 2012 17:35:51 GMT -5 Typo said:

SO....maybe those rumors about her playing Dolly on Broadway are true after all. If done right, that could be huge for her.

Or maybe Maria in "The Sound Of Music" play? The tweet the other day about getting "The Sound Of Music" book was so random. Plus why would she be sent that... Just a thought.

[misterscribbs]

If Carrie goes on Broadway.. I may need to make a trip to the big apple.

[sbp17]

I love Carrie immensely. Immensely. But her sense of humor is the dryer, more dead-pan type. Whereas Dolly is more "in your face" and bubbly. It would certainly be award-worthy if Carrie is able to stretch so far as to pull off a Dolly but I think this is too bold a stretch for someone with such little acting experience.

ETA: Sound Of Music, on the other hand, seems closer to who she is.

[carrieidol1]

OMFG... If she's on Broadway I'm there ASAP!

[bigb0882]

Can Carrie pull off the songs from Sound of Music without sounding so country, though? I don't know if she can, that twang is pretty ingrained I think. Good on her if she can. For that reason alone I think the Dolly role would be a much better fit.

[spencer]

Nov 19, 2012 20:52:22 GMT -5 bigb0882 said:

Can Carrie pull off the songs from Sound of Music without sounding so country, though? I don't know if she can, that twang is pretty ingrained I think. Good on her if she can. For that reason alone I think the Dolly role would be a much better fit.

This was an interesting statement. Some people complain that she doesn't have enough of a twang and some people feel she has a noticeable twang. In fact, Carrie's 'twang' can vary in degree and comes and goes at will. She adjusts depending on the context. As for singing the Sound of Music, she already has. On the big stage. And did a super job. No twang, anywhere. I'm sure you can find it on youtube.

[leilamaurizia]

Really cute video!

Carrie Underwood Gets Interviewed By Her Husband Mike Fisher - 2012 American Music Awards

[cufan7]

Nov 19, 2012 21:34:39 GMT -5 spencer said:

Nov 19, 2012 20:52:22 GMT -5 bigb0882 said:

Can Carrie pull off the songs from Sound of Music without sounding so country, though? I don't know if she can, that twang is pretty ingrained I think. Good on her if she can. For that reason alone I think the Dolly role would be a much better fit.

This was an interesting statement. Some people complain that she doesn't have enough of a twang and some people feel she has a noticeable twang. In fact, Carrie's 'twang' can vary in degree and comes and goes at will. She adjusts depending on the context. As for singing the Sound of Music, she already has. On the big stage. And did a super job. No twang, anywhere. I'm sure you can find it on youtube.

[Deleted]

Uhm what

Bitch is coming for those Tony Awards.

[bornfearless2000]

Nov 20, 2012 1:11:01 GMT -5 @14887fan said:

Uhm what

Bitch is coming for those Tony Awards.

Bitch is coming for all awards. except CMA because they will keep snubbing her

[leilamaurizia]

Let us take a moment to remember:



As much as I loved the full-blown production of "Blown Away" at the BMAs, thinking back, my favorite Carrie performances consist mostly of those where her voice is front and center.

[stuffy]

I really don't think it's broadway. Also as much as I love Carrie if it's a big role in anything she's going to need some acting lessons. She's not a natural.

[freeman]

One of my friends sent me this. It is so hilarious. Before He Cheats karaoke with a twist. lol