Carrie Underwood Wins American Idol!

OH MY GOSH! I am so excited that Carrie Underwood won American Idol!!! My family and I watched the show on Tuesday night, witnessing Bo and Carrie's last performances. Bo, who over the past few weeks really shone in the competition, seemed to choke up on the last night, while Carrie let loose and, as judge Randy said, 'emotionally connected' with the songs she sang. During the last number she performed, I literally got goose bumps on my arm. On Wednesday night, I watched the season finale with my mother, my sister, and my friends Jeremy and Aaron (who has a ridiculous crush on Carrie and talks whimsically about the time she rejected him at Ned's (the local bar)). It was really fun, and I felt incredibly nervous, even though I wasn't the one on stage. The show itself was entertaining, especially the part where they spoofed the expose on Paula Abdul's accused torrid love affair with a loser from the second season of American Idol. Finally, it got down to the last 5 minutes of the show. Watching this part reminded me very much of watching the Oscars. A man walked out on stage and presented Ryan Seacrest with an envelope. Ryan, ever the man with dramatic flare, ripped open the envelope, and announced that the newest American Idol was.......Carrie! The audience errupted into cheers, while we few gathered around the television in our living room started applauding and screaming with excitement! It was so exciting I felt like I was there, even though the sane part of me knew (and still knows) that I wasn't. All in all I feel priveleged to attend the same school that this new American Idol attended. Although I never met her, to have some sort of connection to this newly made celebrity is a heady feeling. Not only am I happy that Carrie won because of the hometown pride factor, but I honestly believed that she had the best natural singing voice and raw talent of all the competition on American Idol. I have watched the show from the beginning of this season, following her path along the road to stardom (how cheesy did that just sound?). I am thoroughly pleased that she has won, and hope that every following season of American Idol will be blessed enough to find the amount of talent it has found this season.