Carrie Underwood Proud of Country’s ‘Idol’ Takeover

Carrie Underwood still pinches herself everyday at the memory of winning 'American Idol.' "My entire goal for going on 'Idol' was to make enough money so I could go back to school," the country superstar admitted during a Q&A session at this week's Billboard Country Music Summit in Nashville. "Maybe because my major was broadcast journalism, I would be able to get a job a little easier. Obviously I was nicely surprised; it worked out all right."

Carrie made a special appearance on the Season 10 finale of 'Idol' last month, singing her hit, 'Before He Cheats,' with runner-up Lauren Alaina. Both Lauren and newly-crowned 'Idol' winner, Scotty McCreery, have both since signed with Mercury Nashville to release their debut country albums. It's the first time in the history of the show that both the winner and runner-up are country musicians.

"'American Idol' is for people like me, people like Scotty and Lauren who were in small towns and didn't know how to do it, but had a great love for music and a great talent," said Carrie. "People are telling you what they want. They don't have to wait for radio or media to tell them what they want. They say, 'This is what we want to hear.' I was so pleased to see two country people in the finals, because it was people saying that it's what they want."

Carrie hosted her annual fan club party this morning (June 8) at the Grand Ole Opry. Tomorrow, she'll jet off to Australia for a two-week promotional trip supporting her 'Play On: Deluxe Edition' album, which releases in Australia and New Zealand this Friday.

Scotty and Lauren are diving right in to their country music careers. They're in Nashville this week for their first CMA Music Fest experience. They'll present at tonight's CMT Music Awards and are also expected to sign autographs later this week.