“Play On,” the third album for Carrie Underwood, the former champion of American Idol, this week will make its debut at number one on the chart for US albums. It’s the spot that two years ago her sophomore album occupied.

First week sales for “Play On” were 318,000 copies. That fell short of “Carnival Ride,” Underwood’s previous album, which during the first week after its release in 2007 sold 527,000 copies. However she still sold enough copies for her new set to be No. 1 on Billboard 200′s latest chart. According to retail data from Nielsen SoundScan reported by Billboard the accomplishment also is the largest total for one week sales in 2009 for any female recording artist as well as second best week for sales in the country genre in 2009.

With Underwood taking the top spot, “This Is It” by Michael Jackson moves down from No. 1 into the No. 2 slot with 196,000 copies sold. “My Christmas” by Andrea Bocelli debuted at No. 3 with 149,000 copies sold; the soundtrack from “”Glee” came in at No. 4 selling 113,000 copies; the hits compilation “Now 32” was No. 5 selling 102,000 copies.

The Top 10 was rounded out with “Fearless” by Taylor Swift at No. 6 selling 70,000 copies: “Raditutde” by Weezer at No. 7 selling 66,000 copies; “Crazy Love” by Michael Buble” at No. 8 selling 59,000 copies: “If On a Winter’s Night,” by Sting at No. 9 jwas ust under the sales figures for Buble; and the soundtrack for “New Moon” at No. 10 selling 52,000 copies.

It’s time for the music award season to begin. On Monday the eligibility time period for the Grammy Awards of 2010 ends. Today it was announced that Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood will be returning to host the Country Music Association Awards for 2009. On November 11 the CMA show will be airing live on ABC in the East Coast time zone.

Underwood is the current “Entertainer of the Year” at Academy of Country Music Awards, the rival of CMA. She broke the lock Kenny Chesney had held on that category. Underwood has also been recognized as Female Vocalist of the Year all three years running at the CMA. The male title has been owned by Paisley for the past two years. In total Underwood has five CMA trophies and Paisley has eleven.

The public is welcome at the CMAs. On September 19 tickets go on sale via Ticketmaster. The ticket prices start at $110 and max out at $382.50, not including any surcharges. Once again the CMAs will be held in Nashville at Sommet Center. By mid September the 2009 award nominations will be announced. According to a spokesman details still need to finalized before any nomination date is announced.

Although country music does have two major awards that are specifically dedicated to that genre, a bigger Nashville presence is expected to be felt during the full 2009-10 season of music awards. Taylor Swift, the young country star, could end up having the top selling album of 2009 with “Fearless.” She has also become one of MTV’s major players in their newest branding campaign they have launched for their upcoming show, the Video Music Awards.

These days country music stars are making their presence felt on the musical charts. This week the No. 1 album spot is held by Reba McEntire for “Keep On Loving You”; while last week it was “Twang,” by George Strait that held the top spot. This week it’s the No. 2 album. Another factor is that this year the Recording Academy seems to be doing a lot more outreach than they had in past years with their Grammy Award. In Nashville on September 8 the group will be staging “Grammy Salute to Country Music,” their first ever, to honor Vince Gill.

It is expected that a few additional cities will be added to Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban’s upcoming tour launching in late January.

Although details haven’t been announced yet, reps for the country stars said Baltimore MD; Peoria, IL and Sacramento, CA are being added to “Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Carnival Ride Tour.”  According to a recent press release, tickets so far are selling fast with several shows having sold out already.

The US trek will kick off in Uncasville, CT for a stand of two nights starting January 31.  Through late April the outing will be visiting arenas across the country.

Urban, who announced recently that his wife Nicole Kidman is pregnant with their first child, continues supporting “Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing,” his most recent No. 1 studio album, along with “Keith Urban Greatest Hits: 18 Kids” his best-of recent collection.  In addition to the shows with Underwood, an Australian tour in March is on Urban’s itinerary along with several dates on the upcoming stadium tour of Kenny Chesney’s.

Underwood earlier this month, started to announce plans for a headlining run.  It will intertwine with her co-billing with Urban.  Underwood’s website has the first six dates posted.  The Grammy award winning singer is supporting “Carnival Ride,” her double platinum second album which spawned “So Small.”  The hit single is her fifth country chart topper in a row.

According to a recent press release, recently the two time Grammy Award winner and reigning CMA and ACM Female Vocalist of the Year, made history when she became the best selling No. 1 female artist two consecutive years across all genres.

While getting ready to go out with Keith Urban on a co-headlining tour, Carrie Underwood is also announcing dates for a North American outing of her own.

The first six shows for her “Carnival Ride Tour” intertwine with her co-billing with Urban scheduled to kick off in Uncasville, CT on January 31. The headlining gigs for Underwood start in Wilkes-Barre, PA on February 18. Josh Turner, country singer and Grammy nominee, will be along as well. According to an Underwood press release, it is expected that the tour will grow to over 30 dates. On Saturday, January 12, tickets for the first shows will go on sale.

The country and crossover singer says that she is excited at the prospect of doing a full performance of her music.

Underwood in a statement said, I have been very luck to learn from lots of other great artists as I have toured with them. They have really inspired me in many, many ways. They helped me to be able to reach this point of having my first set of real headline shows. Finally I feel I am ready.

Underwood’s superstar status for live performances seems to be catching up to her recording world superstar status. She made history recently by becoming the best selling female singer across all musical genres for the second year in a row.

“Carnival Ride,” her sophomore double platinum selling album, has spawned “So Small,” her multi-week No. 1 hit song. It’s the fifth country chart topper for Underwood in a row. Her first four came with “Some Hearts,” the multi platinum debut for the singer. “All American Girls,” Underwood’s latest single, is making its way currently up country music’s charts.

Underwood has won two Grammy awards and is the current Female Vocalist of the Year with both the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music.

Confirmed dates for the US world tour which will pair Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban are beginning to trickle in.

“Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Carnival Ride Tour” will visit 24 cities and will kick off in Uncasville, CT for a stand of two nights starting on January 31.  Other cities that have been confirmed include San Jose, CA; Omaha, NE and Roanoke, VA.

Recently Urban won his third award as the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year.  He is supporting “Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing,” his most recent No. 1 album, along with “Keith Urban Greatest Hits: 18 Kids” that was released last week.

Urban has been touring since April.  He has US and Canadian gigs scheduled through mid April.  The remaining 2007 shows for Urban are listed on his website.  Urban is also already looking forward to next summer.  He has a date booked already on the “Poets & Pirates 2008 Tour” of Kenny Chesney’s.  The show will take place in Foxboro MA on July 26 and will also feature Gary Allen, LeAnn Rimes and Sammy Hagar.

Underwood is still enjoying the success of “Carnival Ride,” her second album which last month debuted in the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s 200 chart after it sold over half a million copies in its first week being out in stores.  Recently “So Small,” the lead single, made it to No. 1 on country radio play charts.  It has also made waves recently on the pop charts.

The former American Idol winner in the meantime is still receiving recognition for “Some Hearts,” her multi-platinum debut album.  Underwood earlier this month won three awards at the American Music Awards.  They included Favorite Country Album and Favorite Country Female Artist.  Prior to that she won two awards at the CMA’s.  For the song “Before He Cheats,” one of the five No. 1 ranked singles from “Some Heart,” she won Single of the Year and also was awarded Female Vocalist of the Year.  According to a recent press release, “Some Hearts is the best-selling country album by a female for 2005-2007.

Underwood has one final concert to perform this year.  On December 11 she will be playing at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Tuesday Night Opry with Bill Anderson, Jimmy Dickens and The Grascals.

Next week, Carrie Underwood will hit the road to go on a media blitz cross country in support of “Carnival Ride,” her new album that is set to be released on October 23.

The former American Idol winner will be interviewed on the GAC show “Country Across America” on October 18. On October 20 she will perform “So Small,” her new single, on the GAC show “Opry Live.” This appearance will be part of the 82nd Birthday Bash Celebration for the Grand Ole Opry. On October 20 Underwood will also appear on the show “CMT Insider” to do an interview. On October 23 she will make an appearance on the show “Good Morning America,” as well as “GAC Nights.” On October 24 Underwood will be on “Live with Regis and Kelly” and on October 26 she will be on “CBS Early Show.”

The country singer will then head over to the West Coast to make an appearance on October 29 on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” She will perform on November 5 on “The Ellen Show.” Later that week Underwood, with her three nominations, will be at the “41st Annual CMA Awards.” On November 13 she will appear on the “David Letterman Show.”

If you still need to see more of Underwood after that, no need to worry. Underwood will have more televisions appearances in the months of November and December scheduled. The details will be announced soon.

Just as the previous champions of “American Idol” Fantasia Barrino, Ruben Studdard and Kelly Clarkson did before she did, Carrie Underwood, 2005 winner of the American Idol crown, has signed with Arista Records for a recording deal.

Underwood, who last week was crowned as the winner of the talent competition on the popular Fox TV show “American Idol,” will be releasing a debut full length album this fall. Clive Davis, founder of Arista Records, will be producing the set along with Simon Fuller. According to Arista Records, the American Idol alumni of Barrino, Studdard, Clarkson and Clay Aiken (runner up in 2003), have sold collectively over 12 million albums.

The debut single for Underwood, “Inside Your Heaven,” is being played now on the radio. On June 14, the retail single will hit the stores and also will feature the 22 year old singer covering “Independence Day” by Martina McBride.

Bo Bice, runner up to Underwood in the Idol championship, released “Inside Your Heaven/Vehicle,” his CD single on June 21 on RCA. As of June 1 he was leading the sales rankings on Amazon.com over Underwood. Bice was ranked No. 4 while Underwood was at No. 32.

Underwood, Bice, along with eight of the other finalists of Idol will be embarking on their tour “American Idols Live” in July.

Carrie Underwood, country singer from Oklahoma, has been awarded the American Idol crown for the 4th season’s American Idol talent show on Fox TV.

In addition to being awarded with the title of “American Idol,” Underwood also received a recording contract along with private jet access and a car.

Bice, a rock singer from Alabama, won a car as well. All three previous runner ups on American Idol have all been given record deals also.

All of the top ten finalists from this year’s American Idol, including Underwood, Bice, Nadia Turner, Nikko Smith, Jessica Sierra, Anwar Robinson, Vonzell Solomon, Scott Savol, Constantine Maroulis and Anthony Federov will be hitting the road this summer and play on a U.S. Arena tour of 30 plus cities called “American Idols Live.”

On July 12 the tour will kick off in Florida. It will run through September 10.

A press release issued states that the shows will be featuring both ensemble as well as individual performances along with songs from the compilation album for American Idol called “Showstoppers.”

Previous years winners of American Idol include Kelly Clarkson (2002), Ruben Studdard (2003) and Fantasia Barrino (2004).