Carrie Underwood launched her career with a winning run on American Idol in 2005, but the country superstar says that when she tried out for the show, she didn't believe there was any way she could possibly win.

In fact, it was just the opposite, Underwood admitted in an interview on Friday (Feb. 21) at the 2020 Country Radio Seminar in Nashville.

"I would say not an ounce of me thought I would win," she said. "I come from the tiniest town in the world. I'd never been on a plane before. I like to sing, but lots of people like to sing. I wanted to be a famous country music singer, but a lot of people do."

Underwood had been singing for a few years at that point without having much success, and she admits that from a pragmatic standpoint, she wanted to get it out of her system and have no regrets.

"What I honestly thought would happen was, I would go there, and the door would shut, and I could move on with the rest of my life, saying, 'Well, I tried,'" she reflected.

Instead, Underwood became an obvious standout contestant virtually from the minute she auditioned for Season 4 of American Idol by singing Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me." She went on to win Season 4 of the iconic reality TV singing competition, landing a record deal that resulted in the release of her debut album, Some Hearts, in 2005.

That album scored three No. 1 hits in "Jesus, Take the Wheel," "Before He Cheats" and "Wasted," setting Underwood on the path to become one of the most prominent country artists of her generation.

It's just as well that she didn't know what she was doing, Underwood added.

"It all worked out exactly the way that it was supposed to."

After Underwood's interview, she was presented with a surprise platinum award for her most recent album, Cry Pretty.

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