Like the woman in the opening line of "Jesus Take the Wheel," Carrie Underwood is on her way to Cincinnati.
Well, right across the river from it, anyway. The country hit maker, riding high since winning the 2005 "American Idol" competition, will headline the Bank of Kentucky Center's grand opening Sept. 24 at Northern Kentucky University.
Also like the woman in the song, Underwood has a lot on her mind these days, as she continues adjusting to stardom she never expected.
"I don't do anything on a whim," she said. "I planned my life. You go to school, you graduate, you get a job. Something like 'American Idol' - that's just not practical. Something like that isn't really going to happen."
And it wouldn't have happened had her mother not pressured her to attend an "Idol" audition, even though Underwood had no formal vocal training.
"I had none at all until I got on 'American Idol,' " she said. "We had to cut a 4½-minute song to a minute-and-a-half, and that was the first time I had someone working with me on a song."
Powered by her victory on the show's fourth season, Underwood's 2005 CD, "Some Hearts," became at hit.
It was the biggest-selling debut for any female country artist, with sales topping 7 million copies. Its breakout track "Jesus Take the Wheel" hit No. 1 for six weeks on the country charts and won a Grammy for country song of the year.
Her new album, "Carnival Ride," cracked No. 1 on Billboard's country chart during its first week of release in October. Underwood chose the title from lyrics she wrote to one of its tracks.
"I don't like self-titling things," she said. "I think that's lazy. I mean, they know whose CD it is, the name's right on it. There's a line in one of the songs ("Wheel of the World"): 'God put us here on this carnival ride/We close our eyes never knowing where it will take us next.' That just sums up my life."
The ride began 25 years ago in Muskogee, Okla., where Underwood was born and raised. Playing by the rules she described, she graduated from Oklahoma's Northeastern State University with a journalism degree, experience she's put to use as a celebrity.
"Sometimes (reporters) try to get me in trouble and I'm better at answering questions because I've been on the other end," she said.
Media-fueled controversies have involved alleged feuds with fellow country singers Wynonna Judd and Faith Hill, after Judd called Underwood "a little bit vanilla," and a camera caught Hill expressing astonishment when Underwood won the Female Vocalist of the Year nod at the 2006 Country Music Association Awards.
Underwood says both stories were overblown.
"Oh my gosh, that was nothing at all," she said. "They are both so wonderful. If I didn't like them so much I wouldn't feel so awful. Right after the CMA incident I talked to Faith that night. She said 'I'm so sorry," I said 'I'm so sorry.' I knew she didn't mean it."
Underwood needn't worry about disrespect from her legions of followers who call themselves "Carrie's Care Bears. They include Lauren Gerhardt, 13, a student at Seven Hills Middle School.
"I'm not a huge fan of 'American Idol,' " Lauren said. "I found out about Carrie from a friend. She said, 'Oh my God, you should hear this girl.' I got her CD and she was just amazing.
"I was browsing on her Web site and saw she's in Cleveland too (Sept. 23). That's not too far. If they call us Care Bears, that's what I am."
Les Crooks, Bank of Kentucky Center general manager, says Underwood's mix of genres is ideal to open the 10,000-seat arena.
"She's a two-time CMA Entertainer of the Year," Crooks said. "She's got a great show that appeals to pop and country fans. We think she's a fantastic choice to open our center."
The current tour has showcased Underwood's expanded interest in writing. Her lyrics on "Carnival Ride" include the autobiographical "All-American Girl," one of three album tracks to reach No. 1 on the country charts.
"I was the last of three girls in my family," she said of the song's origins. "My dad really wanted a boy. I think I'm pretty cool, but I know he loves me.
"I love writing and I'm interested in book projects. I wrote an entry for Charlie Daniels' book 'Growing up Country' and a story in 'Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul' so now I'm a published author."
And one still amazed by her good fortune.
"For a 25-year-old to own her own house, I think, whoa, that's really cool," she said. "I've been so lucky."
Oh, and why did Cincinnati figure into "Jesus Take the Wheel"?
Underwood didn't write it - Brett James, Gordie Sampson and Hillary Lindsey did, none of them a Cincinnatian - so Underwood isn't sure. "But I'm honored to be going there," she said.
