No More Maksim Miranda

Chulianne is safe to dance again. Ty Murray had to sweat it out until the end. The results came in last night on Dancing With The Stars. The three couples who tied for first last night were the obvious choices to save in the first round of names called. Then the shocker of the night went down. Rather than make last night’s low man on the leader board sweat it out all night, Steve Wozniack and Karina were saved right up front. Karina let out a blood curdling scream that could surely be heard next door on the Idol set! Although, just because he was saved early on, doesn’t mean he was fourth in the voting. Remember, they always announce that names are called in no particular order. So Steve and Karina could have been as low scoring as third from the bottom, but that’s still enough to save them to dance again. The next round of names called saved the middle of the pack, leaving the four couples who had mistakes in their routines threatened with the dance-off. It was quickly revealed that fans rallied for Ty and the injured Steve-O which left the dance-off as a battle of the blonds: Holly & Dmitry or Denise & Maks. Holly did okay, Denise showed considerable improvement and registered a respectable judge's score. It makes one wonder how low the viewer vote has to have been to still calculate out as a loss for Denise & Maks. Conversely, how high would they have had to score to raise a weak viewer vote? Since the public vote is never revealed, it makes one wonder if the results pre-determined, likely resulting in the same outcome despite the melodramatic hype to revisit the worst two dances of the week. Viewers may never know. But with the early dismissal of Denise & Maks, so much for anymore “Maksim Miranda” moments. Next week the couples will try one of two new dances, The Argentine Tango or The Lindy Hop. Julianne Hough admits her video blog is kind of boring this week, but Chuck Wicks lets us in on next week’s new dance:



The Academy of Country Music has announced its Special Awards winners, as voted on by the ACM Board of Directors and awarded during years where the Board feels there are clear and deserving candidates. These awards are not televised and will be handed out at a special ceremony in September.

The Jim Reeves International Award: Dolly Parton, recognizing her outstanding contributions to the acceptance of country music throughout the world.
The Poets Award: Merle Haggard and Harlan Howard, for their outstanding musical and/or lyrical contributions throughout their careers.
The Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award: Jerry Reed, Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis and Hank Williams Jr. They used to televise this one until award shows became more about show than awards.
The Tex Ritter Award: Beer For My Horses, given to a movie featuring country music.
The Mae Boren Axton Award: David Young, given in recognition of years of dedication and service by an outstanding individual to the ACM.

Tracy Lawrence and members of his band and crew escaped injury Sunday in a tour bus accident in North Platte, Nebraska. The bus was traveling back to Nashville after a tour stop in Nevada when the left front tire blew out on Interstate 80. Bus driver Raymond Hall lost control of the vehicle which ran on two wheels over the median and into the oncoming lane. Luckily, no traffic was approaching in the opposite direction. Raymond regained control of the bus and brought it to a complete stop. Tracy was traveling on the bus with his road manager and two band members. The vehicle sustained minor damage, so Tracy and the others joined the rest of his band on another bus that was part of the tour. Tracy said, “By divine intervention, we were at the right place at the right time for a serious incident like this to happen and have everyone walk away unscathed.” Let’s hope the band has a safe trip to El Paso on April 4th.

News From Around The Country
Kellie Pickler will join an array of celebrities for Dressed to Kilt 2009 – the annual celebration of Scottish fashion and tradition. Kellie will join celebrities Susan Lucci, Donald Trump, Brendan Fraser, Andie MacDowell, New York Giant Lawrence Tynes, event hosts Sir Sean and Lady Connery, among others, to model kilts and other fashions. The event is March 30th in New York will benefit the Paralyzed Veterans of America and its Scottish counterpart, the Erskine Hospital of Scotland. And finally, Lady Antebellum is partnering with water filtration leader BRITA and their Filter For Good campaign to encourage fans to use fewer disposable water bottles as a small step to better the environment.