CMT Blog: “I Told You So”

When I say "360 feet of silk taffeta," it sounds like the world's most hideous bridesmaid dress, right? But when I say "Carrie Underwood's dress made of 360 feet of silk taffeta," it all starts to sound pretty gorgeous, doesn't it?

That's probably why the folks at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum have devoted a display to that merlot-colored Rafael Cennamo dress Underwood wore during her performance at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas in April. Remember? It's the dress nobody was allowed talk about until she revealed it that night, when she belted out her version of Randy Travis' "I Told You So." And the one that had Underwood saying, "I truly felt like a princess." That dress turned out to be a bit of a good luck charm, too, because that was the night the ACM named her its entertainer of the year and top female vocalist.

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Carrie Underwood closed the American Idol broadcast Tuesday night (May 19). At least, I'm pretty sure it was Carrie Underwood.

She had the long blond hair, the sparkling eye shadow, the killer pipes and the big backing band. But this Carrie Underwood was rocking so hard it, was hard to know if it was really her. Probably because her song choice was so not her. It was her take on Mötley Crüe's 1985 glam-rock power ballad, "Home Sweet Home," which Idol has been using as their buh-bye song when each contestant goes home.

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That's what Simon Cowell said on last night's (March 18) American Idol. He thought about using his "save" feature (a new rule that allows the four judges to override the votes of all of America -- thereby keeping a contestant around for another week) for Alexis Grace. But ultimately, he said, "It was good, but it wasn't good enough. Sorry." And that was just about her performance of Dolly Parton's "Jolene." Not necessarily about her overall star quality. Still, though, it's so gut-wrenching to watch what used to just be the sing-myself-out song become the please-please-please-save-me-from-elimination song.

Other high and low lights included:

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Last night's (March 11) American Idol had some good news and bad news. Two contestants were sent home (the bad), but two stars came to perform (the good). Kanye West sang some song I couldn't understand, and Kelly Clarkson did "My Life Would Suck Without You." Next week will be more of the same comings and goings, but since it's Grand Ole Opry week, the big stars will be Brad Paisley, Randy Travis and Idol alum Carrie Underwood. Not to give too much away, but Paisley will be singing a new tune "Then," and Underwood will be teaming up with Travis to do his enormous hit -- and her current single -- "I Told You So." Even better, the remaining contestants will be singing country classics. Which makes it the best week on American Idol. Ever.

By now, everyone has seen Carrie Underwood's flawless performance of Randy Travis' 1988 hit "I Told You So" on the Grand Ole Opry. But have you seen his from all those years ago?

It's very simple -- just Travis (looking a lot like Matt Damon, I might add) and his guitar. He sings the song not with a smile but with a more pensive demeanor. And so does Underwood in hers. She's not bubbly, she's not dancing, she's not all over the stage with a cordless microphone. I love that. It's like she respects the song too much to add anything unnecessary.

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Carrie Underwood sings a Randy Travis classic live on stage as this week's entry in the CMT New Music Video Evaluation process. Additionally, an Eli Young Band live presentation makes its debut on CMT.

Video: "I Told You So"
Artist: Carrie Underwood
Director: Jim Yockey

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There's a cute shop by my house that I go into way too often to buy way too many things like vintagey jewelry and hand-painted pictures frames that I don't need. But I like browsing around because they play country music all the time. And the last time I was there, the stereo was playing a girl singing a song I knew. But for the life of me I couldn't name the singer. So I asked the owner, "Is this ‘I Told You So?'" And another shopper said "No, Keith Urban sings that." And after a bit of back and forth, we came to the realization that there are indeed two completely different songs with that exact same name. Read more...