She won "American Idol" in 2005, then immediately released a debut album that went septuple-platinum and won her multiple music industry awards, including two Grammys.

Her latest album, "Carnival Ride," has sold double-platinum so far. She is co-headlining a tour with Keith Urban that comes to Raleigh's RBC Center on Saturday.

Underwood recently talked to us about performing, pinching herself and being the world's sexiest vegetarian.

Q: Do you and Keith Urban have any song collaborations cooked up for the show?

A: (Coyly) Oh, we miiiight. I don't want to give it away, but we've been known to. We did the song by Rihanna called 'Umbrella' for, like, four shows.

Q: A lot of your hits tend to be really uplifting, soaring or spunky. Now that you're so successful, do you start to think about taking unexpected musical risks on your next few albums?

A: You know, I'm not even thinking so much about my next few albums. When I pick songs and when I sing them, it's all about me doing what I, as a listener, would want to hear. I'm really not thinking about anything else but what I like.

Q: How about writing? Are you writing more?

A: Yeah. I ended up with four co-writes on 'Carnival Ride.' I had one on the first one. We just didn't have time. You know, I won 'Idol' on May 25, and we came out with an album on November 15. It was a very, very short amount of time to put out an album from scratch. With the second one, I had more time and got to hang out with some cool writers. Some really great stuff came out of it. It's exciting, and I'd like to continue that.

Q: You performed 'Before He Cheats' with a 'Stomp'-like dance-and-percussion group at the Grammys. Can we expect anything that visually startling on your tour?

A: You know, this is my first big tour -- my first time actually being able to have big set pieces, big screens and stuff like that. It's mainly just about working my way up. We've got some really great lighting stuff, and a few tricks here and there. But you know, I don't have fire, it doesn't rain on me onstage or anything like that. Yet.

Q: You're being inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in May. How do you feel about that? It's so early in your career.

A: I feel great about it. That's something that I wanted to be a part of, even if I wasn't a member. I wanted to be there, and to be able to perform. It's something that I love about country music. People aren't just throwaway artists. They are respected well into their careers, and people love them for a very long time. We respect our history.

Q: What's it like to perform there? Can you feel the presence of ghosts when you're standing on the stage?

A: (Laughs) It's not creepy like that! But just to be in the dressing rooms, and to walk down the halls, you know, there's always pictures of all these great moments, of all these great people that performed together. All these strong women that came before me and made their mark. And to think that my picture's going to be up there, it's just an amazing thing to me.

Q: What was the biggest pinch-yourself moment in your career so far?

A: Oh, my gosh. You know, it might be hard to pick one. I think my first CMA performance -- that'll always stick out in my mind, because it was the first time I'd been on an awards show that I had always watched at home. Grammys -- to come out winning a Grammy was an amazing thing. There's pinch-myself moments all over the place.

Q: Among all these awards you've won, there have been a few magazine honors that focus on your looks -- World's Sexiest Vegetarian and being featured as one of People magazine's Most Beautiful People, stuff like that. Does that embarrass you, or do you kind of love it?

A: It embarrasses me, I think, more than anything. I mean, of course it's an honor when people think you, I don't know, look good. But it's kind of a little embarrassing because I never thought of myself that way before. I've always been a guys' girl -- not tomboyish, but kinda.

Q: You're often praised for a wholesome image. Is that a burden for you -- living up to people's image of you?

A: Not really. I just have to keep in mind to do what's comfortable for me. My motto, as far as that goes, is: I would never want to do anything that, someday, my future children are going to be embarrassed about. I would never want somebody to bring a picture of me to my son or daughter's school and say, "Aha! Here's your mom! Here's her boobs!" You know? I want to be the soccer mom. I want to be like that.