Carrie Underwood was one of the big names at The Billboard Awards last night, and she brought her husband with her! I always have a hard time finding photos of Carrie with her husband, hockey player Mike Fisher. The last event photos I can find of the two of them together are from the Grammy Awards in 2010, so this is somewhat of a big deal for them to attend together and pose on the red carpet. They’re such a good looking couple.

In terms of her poofy Oscar de la Renta dress, I like it in spite of myself. With all that tulle and frou-frou I would expect to hate it, but my guy reaction is positive. Somehow, this dress is huge, feminine and over the top but manages to pull it off with a little whimsy. I think the tight cleavage-hiding bodice and the modern, controlled messiness of the skirt keep it from being too girly. Carrie’s too-long curls and fake-looking extensions are too much with this look, though. I was thinking that before I saw that our friends at Red Carpet Fashion Awards come to the same conclusion. This giant dress calls for a sleeker ‘do to balance out the cake-topper tulle skirt. In video of her performance, below, her hair looks even more ridiculous in motion. Her frosty makeup is similarly overdone, but I guess she’s on stage and has an excuse for overdoing it.

Carrie wasn’t nominated in any categories last night, which I was surprised to learn. She did perform “Blown Away” during the ceremony. She changed into a red flowing gown for her performance. I like that she’s keeping covered up. Normally I would speculate about that, but she’s made it clear that she and her husband aren’t ready for babies. Here’s her performance:

photo credit: Fame and WENN