Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler Shine at CMA Awards

Carrie Underwood reestablished herself as the reigning princess of country music at the 42^nd Annual Country Music Association (CMA) Awards in Nashville Wednesday night (November 12). Not only was she the host of the annual star-studded event, she took home the coveted Female Vocalist of the Year Award for the third consecutive year.

Known for her demure attitude, Underwood accepted the award, saying, "I got through here in an unconventional way and you guys didn't have to accept me."

Unconventional is right. She didn't make it through the smoke-filled, beer-swilling honky-tonk bar circuit like most of her colleagues. She got there by winning a contest.

And she's still winning. The "American Idol" Season 4 winner was a busy young lady at the CMA Awards ceremony. She also gave a live performance, singing "Just A Dream," which was introduced by Leslie Ponder, a woman whose husband had been killed in combat in Afghanistan.

Carrie Underwood has been on a nonstop roll since she won the "American Idol" title in 2005. Her first album, "Some Hearts," which was released in November 2005, generated five hits, including three No. 1 songs. The album has been certified 7x Platinum (seven million units sold), reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and is the biggest selling debut album by a female artist in country music history.

Underwood's second album, "Carnival Ride," was released in October 2007. So far it has sold over 2 millions copies and produced four No. 1 hits, three of which were co-written by Underwood. "Carnival Ride" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and is currently at No. 49.

Carrie Underwood's success is a direct reflection on her talent. But it may not have seen the light of day had it not been for her exposure on "American Idol."

The same can be said of her fellow performer, Kellie Pickler, who sang her new single, "Best Days of Your Life."

Although Carrie Underwood made headlines Thursday for winning her third Female Vocalist Award the night before, Kellie Pickler came away a winner as well, making headlines by what she wore. She attended the show wearing a dress that showed off her more feminine attributes (the press had a field day with that, although this writer found their sensationalism a bit misapplied.; Pickler was simply lovely). But her performance in a sexy black leather dress was the hit of the night.

Kellie Pickler's self-titled second album came out in late September and debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 9. "Best Days of Your Life" is the second single from the album, the first, "Don't You Know You're Beautiful," peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Pickler's first album, "Small Town Girl," has been certified gold (500,000 or more units sold).

The 2008 CMA Awards show was a showcase of country music talent and beauty. Jennifer Nettles, lead singer of the duo Sugarland, took home two awards, Vocal Duo of the Year and Song of the Year for her song, "Stay."

Alison Krauss took home a CMA Award for Musical Event of the Year for her work with Robert Plant, former lead singer of legendary rock group Led Zeppelin, on "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)."

Hillary Scott took home a CMA Award as well as part of Lady Antebellum, sharing it with her bandmates, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood. The trio won New Artist of the Year.

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Sources:

Billboard.com

Wikipedia.org

Marketwatch.com