American Idol and Carrie Underwood Win People’s Choice Awards
(News announcement from AmericanIdol.com)

Last night, the 36th People’s Choice Awards were held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, home to the last two Idol finales. Fans had the opportunity to vote over the past few months, and the results were announced live on TV. People’s Choice recently cited that a record breaking 60 million online votes determined the winners.

American Idol won the award for Favorite Competition Show. This is the fourth PCA win for Idol, who also brought home the crystal trophy in 2007, 2006, and 2005.

Also no stranger to the People’s Choice Awards is this year’s winner for Favorite Country Artist, the Season 4 American Idol, Carrie Underwood. This honor makes Carrie an impressive six-time People’s Choice winner! She was so excited to receive her award that she stumbled on the way up to the stage and joked about it in her acceptance speech. At the end of her speech, Carrie encouraged her fans to come see her on tour.

Now with 11 #1 singles and more than 11 million in album sales to her credit, including her recently released third album, Play On, Underwood has become a consistent fan-favorite who is also the reigning fan-voted Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year. Carrie closed 2009 with another fan-driven honor, as GAC viewers flocked to her #1 blockbuster, “Cowboy Casanova,” voting it their #1 video of the year, with the results revealed during GAC’s airing of their Top 50 Videos of 2009 special.

New American Idol judge Ellen DeGeneres was a presenter at last night’s award show and also took home a People’s Choice Award for her talk show.