Swift Tops CMA Awards
By Deborah Evans Price, senior music editor, GospelMusicChannel.com
Young country artists dominated the 43rd Annual Country Music Association Awards Wednesday night at Nashville’s Sommet Center, with Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum picking up crystal trophies in key categories and serving up memorable performances during the three-hour ABC telecast.
Swift was the evening’s big winner as she captured the Album, Female Vocalist, Music Video, and Entertainer of the Year Awards. “I’ll never forget this moment...everything that I have ever wanted just happened to me,” said Swift, clutching the Entertainer of the Year prize.
At 19, the Big Machine Records artist became the youngest person ever to win Entertainer of the Year. So what’s next?
“I never imagined that the unattainable thing that I’d always held in my mind would happen to me at 19,” Swift said backstage. “I couldn’t be more grateful, but I love a challenge and right now the challenge is to find that next challenge!”
Capitol Records trio Lady Antebellum ended Rascal Flatts’ six-year winning streak by taking the Vocal Group of the Year award. Lady A’s Hillary Scott, Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley also won the Single of the Year award for their hit “I Run to You.”
“The three of us have dreamed about this our entire lives,” Hillary said backstage in the press room. “We are so blessed to be able to do this for a living.”
Brad Paisley won his third consecutive Male Vocalist of the Year honor and fourth award in the Musical Event category for the No. 1 single, “Start a Band,” a duet with Keith Urban from Paisley’s 2008 Play album. This brings Paisley’s CMA Award count to 13. The quick-witted West Virginian co-hosted the CMAs with Carrie Underwood for the second consecutive year and also delivered one of the evening’s best performances, serving up his recent No. 1 hit “Welcome to the Future.”
Both Paisley and Underwood were exceptional as hosts. In one of the evening’s funniest moments, Paisley enlisted friend and Grand Ole Opry star Little Jimmy Dickens to spoof the recent Kanye West debacle where the rapper interrupted Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech for Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.
“It was a thrill for me to see him do that,” Paisley commented. "Jimmy is so smart and so savvy. When I called him and asked him to do this, he already knew all about the Kanye West thing. He’s not oblivious to this stuff even at 88. He knows what’s happening.”
Jamey Johnson’s hit “In Color” was named Song of the Year. Johnson accepted the honor with co-writers James Otto and Lee Thomas Miller. “When we were writing this song we talked a lot about our grandfathers,” said Miller, whose acceptance speech acknowledged Veteran’s Day and the recent tragedy at Fort Hood in Texas. “Fort Hood: you’re in our prayers.”
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Did everyone watch the CMAs last night? What did you think? I thought Darius Rucker's acceptance was one of the best moments.
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