Watch 14-Year-Old Carrie Underwood Perform at Miss Westark Pageant

After watching this video of 14-year-old Carrie Underwood nailing it at the 1998 Miss Westark Pageant, you may want to lock away your awkward early high school photos and videos ... forever.

Press play on the video above to see a teenage Underwood participating in the pageant, which took place in Fort Smith, Ark. Sporting her signature long legs, a sparkly blue dress and poise well beyond her years, the future country superstar performed Martina McBride's "A Broken Wing."

It's not surprising, but now there's proof that, even at 14 years old, Underwood was polished and gorgeous -- and that voice! Even at a young age, she showed the makings of a superstar ... and even while wearing braces.

Underwood commented on the video via Twitter, saying, "Awww ... I was such a baby with my braces and my sparkly dress!!! Thanks for the flashback!"

All of that practice onstage at pageants -- including being selected as Miss NSU runner-up at Northeastern State University during her college years -- helped give Underwood the confidence she needed during her time on American Idol, which she won in 2005. And almost two decades after her rendition of "A Broken Wing," the singer has certainly come into her own, dominating country music with her powerhouse voice. Underwood recently notched her 21st No. 1 hit with "Little Toy Guns" and is currently working on a new album.

“I feel things have a different sort of twang to them, kind of a rock twang,” Underwood says of the upcoming project. “So there should be some things that [fans] hopefully have liked about the music we’ve done, but also a little growth, a little bit of shift, so still things they’ve liked but new things to see, hear and feel.”

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