Carrie Underwood -- How Great Thou Art, The Showstopper Performance

The CBS Television Network broadcast a highly-anticipated event on Friday evening, April 22, 2011. Billed as "the concert of the year," Girls' Night Out: Superstar Women Of Country honored eight exceptional female singers -- from today's brightest stars to some country music legends.

The Good Friday television special, taped at the annual Academy of Country Music Awards (CMA) earlier in the month, paid tribute to The Judds, Miranda Lambert, Loretta Lynn, Martina McBride, Jennifer Nettles, Reba McEntire, and Carrie Underwood. These talented women were recognized for their professional achievements, as well as their contributions to their music genre.

The country superstars, glammed up and gorgeous for the CMA awards, gave incredibly powerful performances. But it was Carrie Underwood's moving duet with Vince Gill that brought down the house. It was truly a showstopping moment.

After watching Gill perform her hit song "Jesus, Take The Wheel," Underwood took the stage for her knockout performance. Accompanied by Gill on the guitar, Underwood sang a beautiful rendition of the gospel standard "How Great Thou Art." The musicians performed the classic song to an audience of peers, who gave them a standing ovation.

The Underwood-Gill rendition of "How Great Thou Art" was the most talked-about performance of the night, and their duet created a viral sensation. A video of the performance on YouTube received more than a million views on Easter weekend alone, and three million views within a week of its debut.

The duet visibly moved the audience, as the video shows. It also moved Internet viewers, who were free with their praise and compliments. In fact, the video drew more than a dozen pages of comments, sprinkled with words like "beautiful," "stunning," "goosebumps," and "wow!"

One viewer wrote, "Just amazing...I can't stop playing the song." Another person said, "What a great delivery of the greatest message ever." Someone called the duet "an incredible performance. Destined to be a classic." And another wrote, "Not a country music fan here, but I can't deny real talent. This, folks, is real talent!"

Did you watch Carrie Underwood singing "How Great Thou Art?" In case you missed it, here is the video. Tell us what you think about it, in the comments section below.

"How Great Thou Art"

Verse 1: O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder / Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made / I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder / Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Refrain: Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee / How great Thou art, How great Thou art / Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee / How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Verse 2: When through the woods, and forest glades I wander / And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees / When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur / And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Verse 3: And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing / Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in / That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing / He bled and died to take away my sin.

Verse 4: When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation / And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart / Then I shall bow, in humble adoration / And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Carl Boberg, 1886

Carrie Underwood made her acting debut in the 2011 feature film, Soul Surfer. The sports action drama is based on the life of Bethany Hamilton, a professional surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack in 2003.

Underwood stars as Sarah Hill, a youth group leader who helped Hamilton heal from her life-changing injury. Her role is a small but important one.

"When I read the script, I definitely wanted to be involved in such an inspirational story," said Underwood. "Just to be a part of telling that was enough for me."

For more on this inspirational story, read Soul Surfer, The Bethany Hamilton Story -- Inspiring People, Books, And Films. The movie trailer includes a scene with Underwood.

© 2011. Annette Smith. All rights reserved.

• American Idol Archive: Carrie Underwood
• Carrie Underwood: The Official Website
• The Official Website Of Vince Gill

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