Carrie Underwood has certainly been on Santa Claus's nice list over the past couple of years. In addition to winning the fourth season of American Idol, she has won four Grammys and sold over 10 million albums. Her latest album, Play On, debuted at the top of the charts.
As the holiday season begins, Underwood will star in Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special, airing Dec. 7, on FOX.
'We're doing several new songs as well as a few that people should recognize,' Underwood said. 'Other artists get to come on and do some of their own stuff too, which is really cool. And I do stuff with them, and it's just a big mishmash of awesome music.'
Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, David Cook and Kristen Chenoweth are just a few of the guests that will share the stage with Underwood.
Underwood was especially glad to have the chance to collaborate with Parton.
'I never met her before this, so I was so excited to get to talk to her, and obviously get to sing with her,' Underwood said. 'It felt like such a special moment for me in the show to be able to perform with her. It was a dream come true.'
FOX hired Adam Shankman, director of such successful films as Bedtime Stories and Hairspray, to co-direct the event.
For Underwood, hosting a Christmas special was a no-brainer. She has fond memories of the holiday from when she was a child and still enjoys getting into the Christmas spirit.
'We had records, and it wasn't even any specific name artist, it was just a choir or something. We had these old records that I would always play for Christmas,' Underwood said. 'Thank God my mom didn't throw them away. I have them now. I still like to play them. It makes me think about Christmas.'
When it comes to her favorite Christmas songs, Underwood has a great affection for the classics.
'I love things like ‘O Holy Night.' I think that's probably my favorite,' she said. 'But ‘Little Drummer Boy' and things like that, I have them on my records. They're just the things that really put you in a Christmas state of mind.'
While Underwood has yet to release a Christmas album, she definitely sees it as a possibility.
'I was lucky enough to record a few songs last year,' Underwood said. 'I was so busy last year that I didn't have [time] to record a full album, but I would love to. I love classic Christmas songs – they've been around forever and everybody knows them.'
Hosting a special is nothing new to Underwood. Earlier this month she co-hosted the Country Music Awards with Paisley, for the second time in as many years.
'It was a lot of fun co-hosting the CMAs again,' Underwood said. 'I was really proud of both of us for not causing any major problems.'
Underwood is looking forward to spending the holidays with her family.
'We don't really have many traditions, but we are together and that's the most important thing,' Underwood said. 'We eat ourselves silly, and of course, try to remember the true meaning of Christmas.'
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