Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
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A CM executive producer R.A. Clark is eager to again work with Underwood, female artist the only to be named ACM Entertainer of the Year twice. She wowed the audi- ence last year with her versatility, transitioning from the dynamic Tyler duet to a powerful rendi- tion of "How Great Thou Art" with Vince Gill at the ACM Girls' Night Out, moving much of the audience to tears. "It shows the breadth of her capa- bilities," Clark says. "On a television show, she connects with the home audience. Whatever boot camp they do at [American] Idol works. Close up, how she moves on stage, her personality, her lock- ing eyes with the fans at home—she's magnetic." "There's a little bit of a darker side to it," she says. "It's just stormier." Clark, for one, looks forward to her new, edg- ier sound. "She can do anything—she can rock, sing a ballad, strip it down to acoustic, do a power song," he says. "A consummate profes- sional, she shows up on time, is always made up, is ready for the camera, is ready to do interviews, and always, always is great." Indeed, Underwood does seem to talk in flaw- less sound bites (an effect of her years spent as a "AMERICAN IDOL ISN'T JUST A PART OF MY PAST. IT'S THE CATALYST THAT LED ME HERE." While the song she's performing this year has yet to be announced, it will undoubtedly be from her new album, Blown Away, out May 1. But don't expect her usual mix of weepy sagas (like "Just a Dream") and angry chick tunes (think "Before He Cheats"). Underwood's fourth compilation will be a marked change from her first three. "I've always been known for power ballads, and there's not really that at all in the album," she says. "I hon- estly think it's just because the album kind of makes itself. We'll look at the end and think what could we use more of, but it is what it is. I don't think, Oh, I need this power ballad. If you can't find a song like that, you don't force it. I have one song that's so beautiful and so moving but it's so quiet. It's a story, and you really listen to it—I'm not trying to impress people with what I can do. I've done enough by now that I don't have to sing to the moon with every single song." The first single from Blown Away hit airwaves in February and is decidedly the album's most upbeat track, she says. "'Good Girl' is about that girl that you know or you have been—I know and I have been this girl before—and she's got stars in her eyes and the guy isn't good enough for her and doing Lord knows what behind her back, and she thinks the world of him. Love is blind, right? So she doesn't see him for what he is. And I'm the one trying to talk some sense into her: 'What is wrong with you? You're awesome, and you're with…that?' It's really rocking—it's defi- nitely a foot-tapper." The rest of however, will the album, lean toward the melodramatic. vegasmagazine.com 99 couldn't appear more polished. She's truly a knockout: from her dewy, glowing complexion to the curtain of sleek golden hair that cascades down her back, to her immaculately toned phy- sique—a result of hours spent on the treadmill while touring. "There's nothing else to do dur- ing the day," she says. The only time she got frazzled was when asked to scribble a handwritten note for Vegas. "Nobody writes anymore!" she says. "Everybody texts. My penmanship is terrible." Then, she busted out into a rap when "Baby Got Back" came on the radio, and couldn't resist a shimmy to the song "My Humps." She really is just like any other 29-year-old woman—but more polished and with a collection of Grammys and other musical acco- lades to boot. Underwood will launch a major tour for her new album this fall, the dates of which have yet to be announced. While she's not one for a lot of vocal exercise before a show—"I'll hear people warming up for an hour before they go on stage, and I'm like, 'You're wasting it! What are you doing?'" she says—doing a tour of such magnitude requires a lot of physical preparation in advance. For Underwood, this means countless hours in the gym, both pre-tour and on the road, with her trainer. "I do my own hair and makeup on tour, so I figure [a trainer] is my splurge," she says. "I don't take a giant team with me, so I feel like that's the one thing I deserve while I'm on tour: Someone to say, 'Hey, let's go!' and keep me motivated." While she travels with a small, intimate entou- rage, the country star often leaves at home one vital member, which might surprise people: her hus- band. "We see each other as much as we can, but he's not one for road life," she says. "He can't really sleep on the bus. You can't have a giant bed in the back, so I'm like, 'You're touching me! Go away. mass communications major, no doubt), and What are you doing? Scoot over!' He gets bored. I think if he ever comes out with us on tour for any length of time, I'm going to have to find him some- thing to do!" U Dress and earrings (prices on request), Dolce & Gabbana. Crystals, CityCenter, 702-431- 6614; dolcegabbana.com. Ring, Kimberly McDonald ($6,200). Tesorini, Bellagio, 702-693-7924; kimberlymcdonald.com. nderwood's on-tour routine is all about having a schedule: She wakes up, works out, cooks her own food—"I don't have a chef on tour; I make my own food on the bus"—plays with her dogs, gets ready for the show, does a sound check, breaks for dinner, then does one final round of prepara- tion before it's show time. "I'm pretty regimented, but really not a whole lot goes on," she says. "That's spread out over many hours." In the midst of everything else she has going on this year—the awards show, the album, the tour, her home and married life—the one thing Underwood definitely plans to do is return to the franchise that launched her to international fame. "American Idol isn't even just a part of my past—it's the catalyst that led me here," she says. "It's always so much fun going back because so many of the people who worked on the show when I was there still work there. Plus, it's fun to meet a new batch of contestants and see how bright and starry-eyed they all are." V