Carrie Underwood Wants That CMA Entertainer of the Year Trophy
Carrie Underwood knows her 2019 CMA Awards Entertainer of the Year nomination is a big deal. She's also unabashedly honest about wanting to win it.
"I’m blessed and lucky to be nominated, obviously in fantastic company," Underwood told The Boot and other media at a recent press event. "It would be amazing [to win it]. It’s not the end all, be all, but, of course, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want it. Sorry, boys!"
The Entertainer of the Year award is much more than an artist's live show or string of radio hits, both of which Underwood has on lock thanks to a 360-degree stage experience on her 2019 Cry Pretty Tour and a recent No. 1 song, "Southbound," her second chart-topper of the year. The category's criteria encompass an artist's entire brand.
"I personally feel like Entertainer [of the Year] is everything, right? So I feel like people narrow it down to tour, but I feel like there’s so many more components to it," Underwood reflects.
Besides selling out arenas, championing other female artists -- including tour openers Maddie & Tae and Runaway June -- writing a book and co-writing her songs, Underwood is a working mom and a caring person. She spends weeks at a time on the road with her husband and two children, and she's known in the industry for her warm personality.
"First of all, she is such a good person; she doesn’t have to be," country radio host Bobby Bones gushed to The Boot on the red carpet of the 2019 CMT Artists of the Year ceremony in October. "She obviously can sing her face off. To me, at this point, that’s secondary in a town where everyone is talented, but who are the really good people who look out for others?
"For so many reasons, the Entertainer category, to me, is so much more than just songs or shows. It’s 'What is that wildcard thing that you do?' And, with Carrie, it is so much: It is the Sunday Night Football. It is the hosting an award show," he continued. "She has to win Entertainer of the Year."
Fellow artist Miranda Lambert is also backing Underwood for Entertainer of the Year: "If you think about what Entertainer of the Year encompasses, for the year, and how you've represented country music in the public eye -- she's got a brand," she explains. "And people need to pay attention to what Entertainer of the Year means. It's all the things. It's not just ticket sales or your stage show. It's all of it."
Underwood is certainly one of country music's hottest artists right now, and she has both a lot going for her currently and a multitude of projects in the works. The singer rarely slows down, but that doesn't mean she can't take time to enjoy the good parts of life.
"I think you can enjoy things while the wheels are turning," Underwood explains. "There’s always things happening, always things to look forward to, always things to think about and plan for. But I have the most amazing life doing what I love to do, so I feel like every night onstage, or [when] we’re headed to the next place, it’s thinking about what’s coming up but just loving the life I’m in."
The 2019 CMA Awards are set for Nov. 13. The show will air live from Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on ABC beginning at 8PM ET, and Underwood will be co-hosting the show, for the 12th consecutive year, with Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire. She is the only woman nominated for Entertainer of the Year in 2019 and, should she win it, will be the first female artist to take home the award since Taylor Swift did so in 2011.
The Boot will be staying up late covering the most buzzed-about winners, fashion and moments at the 2019 CMA Awards. Readers can watch along with us by checking back to TheBoot.com for the latest CMAs headlines, liking The Boot on Facebook and following The Boot on Twitter.
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