Country Sweetheart Carrie Underwood Wows Audiences at the CNN Heroes Awards Show
Carrie Underwood is one country music superstar who is known for her big heart and country music love songs. Thus, it was quite fitting that she got to sing at the recent CNN Heroes Special Gala dubbed “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood last November 26. Singing her hit song, “Changes,” she managed to wow the crowd with a heartfelt rendition. “
This event which coincided with thanksgiving, was the culminating event of CNN’s quest to find people around the world whose efforts to alleviate specific problems in their society merited recognition and support. Of the record-number of nominees they received this year, Filipino Efren Peñaflorida won the prestigious award with his effort to provide alternative education to impoverished children in his country through pushcart classrooms. Peñaflorida, who was selected after seven weeks of online voting at CNN.com, garnered over 2.75 million votes to win the $100,000 award in behalf of his Dynamic Teen Company. Aside from this, he also received a $10,000 pledge from Wallis Annenberg, chairman of the board, and president and CEO of the Annenberg Foundation who was also part of the Blue Ribbon Panel that selected the top 10 Heroes for this year.
Says CNN President Jim Walton, “This record number of nominations is further evidence of the momentum CNN Heroes has built in just a few short years.” He added, “Viewers have been engaged by these stories of inspiration and accomplishment beyond our expectations. It is truly an honor to be able to introduce the CNN Heroes to our global audience every year.”
The star-studded affair was attended by presenters such as Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Neil Patrick Harris, Pierce Brosnan, Dwayne Johnson, Eva Mendes, Randy Jackson, Greg Kinnear, George Lopez, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Aside from Underwood, who performed an original orchestral arrangement of “Change” from her hit album, “Play On,” the other musical performances for the night were provided by Maxwell who sang “Help Somebody” from “BLACKsummers’night” and Grammy nominee Leona Lewis who performed “Happy,” from her second studio effort entitled “Echo.” Their performances collectively represented the spirit of the CNN Heroes campaign, which aims to give distinction and support to ordinary folks whose extraordinary efforts helped make a difference in their respective communities from countries as far as Iran, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, the Philippines and the US, among others.
Of the three performances however, it was Underwood’s finale number which perfectly summed up the night’s proceedings. The song’s lyrics talk about those “fools” who believe that they can make a difference and change the world with just a simple act. Its inspirational message of being able to bring change to someone’s life with just a small gesture and bringing hope to people who have none certainly evoked the kind of heroism exemplified by those who were being honored that night. Its bridge, “The world’s so big it could break your heart/And you just wanna help/Not sure where to start/So you close your eyes/Send up a prayer into the dark” perfectly captured the sentiments of the heroes being honored.
