Carrie Underwood fits into the same boat as Taylor Swift in that she's a country artist that has success appealing to the non-country listening populace (read: our father). That success led NBC into casting her as Maria von Trapp in the live broadcast of The Sound of Music, which will air on December 5. NBC has released a one-minute clip of its star singing the title song from the musical. Although our father is an Underwood fan, we opted to get the opinion of our aunt, who likewise is a die-hard Sound of Music fan.
She wasn't pleased with what she heard. We decided that, based on the number of times our relative invoked Julie Andrews during her rant on the new recording, she was simply too biased in favor of the actress she has seen portraying Ms. von Trapp for her entire life. Therefore, we ruled out her argument.
Be aware listener, that no, Underwood does not sound note for note like Andrews. If you point out that Underwood sounds way too American to play an Austrian, we'll point out that Andrews sounds way too British to play an Austrian, and yet you've gotten over that. But of course, also consider that the version you can listen to here is not the final version...just a demo. The actual broadcast on December 5 will be done live, just like the real musical that Rodgers and Hammerstein intended when they wrote the play.
We think it's a little bit odd that all of the spotlight has been on Underwood, personally. Of course Maria is the main character in the production, but we're more interested in seeing how Jamie Moyer (playing Captain von Trapp) handles "Edelweiss."
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