Carrie Underwood Basically Won the Super Bowl

The score is in, and it looks like Carrie Underwood beat Justin Timberlake during Sunday night’s (Feb. 4) Super Bowl LII.

Underwood ended the competition between the two when she earned the biggest single boost from the game when her inspiring anthem “The Champion” — which features mid-song vocals from Ludacris — shot to No. 1 on iTunes. It sold 16,000 digital copies on game day.

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Timberlake walked away from his halftime show with good numbers, too, though. His sales on “Say Something,” “Filthy” and “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” came in at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. And I’m sure he’s being a good sport about that.

Underwood wrote “The Champion” with Ludacris, plus country hitmakers Chris DeStefano and Brett James. And while it has been getting comfortable at the top of the Billboard charts for the past two weeks, the Super Bowl will likely be just what it needs to stay on top.

All of which makes me wonder, with as popular as country music has proven to be in Super Bowl circles, why the coveted halftime show rarely features a country artist.

In fact, it’s been 15 years since a country artist took that stage. In 2003, Shania Twain was part of the halftime show with Sting and No Doubt. And before that, there was only one other country show. It was in 1994, when Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt and The Judds collaborated on a halftime show when the Dallas Cowboys played the Buffalo Bills in Atlanta.

Alison makes her living loving country music. She’s based in Chicago, but she’s always leaving her heart in Nashville.

This Article Was Originally Posted at www.CMT.com

http://www.cmt.com/news/1791038/carrie-underwood-basically-won-the-super-bowl/

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