While many aspiring artists want nothing more than to win American Idol, Carrie Underwood used the hit show as a launching pad for her career. Only the beginning for the singer, Underwood used her time on the show to kickstart a career that includes selling over 85 million albums, winning numerous Grammy Awards, and even becoming the voice of Sunday Night Football with her song “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night.” Singing various renditions of the song for the past 11 years, the singer recently discussed the recording process and how Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce thanked her for getting him ready before games.
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Appearing on The Morning Mash Up on SiriusXM Hits 1, Underwood revealed just how tedious recording the Sunday Night Football song is. Given that there are 32 different teams in the NFL, the number of different scenarios sees the singer performing the song countless times. She said, “When we go in to record, we do it all at once. I do the whole main version, but then we go through and pick up all the matchups for each week of regular-season football, and then we go into playoff football. And I then sing every possible combination of teams that could possibly maybe play each other.”
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Carrie Underwood Admits “I’m A Little Part Of Their Journey”
Underwood even joked that while she knows some teams won’t make it, she still has to perform the song with their names included just in case that team becomes the next underdog. But her time in the studio comes with some perks. Apparently, Kelce thanked Underwood for her song and admitted that it helps get him in the right mindset for each game.
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Although excited to help the players, Underwood often forgot that she had been performing the song for 11 years. She explained, “I think my favorite is when … it kind of dawns on me that it’s like, before these guys were playing in Sunday Night Football games, they were watching Sunday Night Football. It would’ve been the equivalent of me watching awards shows or people performing on TV, just being like, ‘Oh my gosh, if I could only do that.’ … And I’ve been [recording the theme for] 11 years, so some of these guys were younger, watching these football games, just thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, if I could be on Sunday Night Football.’ And then, when they get there, I’m a little part of their journey, which is really cool.”
Fans also agreed with Kelce as they loved Underwood’s performance of “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night.” Online, they wrote, “I absolutely love the new opening! You look amazing and I love it when you play the drums! It wouldn’t be football season without you!”
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(Photo by Mike Coppola/WireImage)
