More Fan Fare Tonight

The CMT Music Awards take place tonight, and as with all award shows, some surprises are in store. Rumors have been circulating that Taylor Swift will be appearing with rapper T-Pain; she will not confirm or deny the speculations, saying only that everyone should watch to find out. And in CMT’s continuing efforts to broaden country music’s appeal, tonight you’ll see presenters from all fields of entertainment: sports, rock stars, models, rappers, comedians, and TV personalities. There may even be some country music on the show. The show starts at 5 in our time zone with the red carpet arrivals, followed by the award show from 6 – 8:30pm.

It’s also interesting to note that this year CMT is getting away from the gift bags full of expensive indulgences that are traditionally given to celebrities at award shows. Instead, CMT One Country will be giving the gift of food to 130 school-aged children. With the donation of 20-thousand dollars to their non-profit partner, Feeding America, CMT One Country will be able to feed those children for the entire 2009-2010 school year through the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee’s BackPack Program. The 2009 CMT Music Awards sponsors, Sears and Land’s End, also donated backpacks which will also be autographed by artists and auctioned for another CMT One Country benefit.

News From Around The Country
Last week, Jack Ingram, Jason Aldean, Jason Meadows, and Trent Willmon participated in an artist steer riding contest with the Championship Bull Riding League. After lasting just three seconds, Jack was thrown and landed flat on his back. No serious injuries for him or the other artists, but Jack admitted that it would be his first and last time taking an 8-second ride. Josh Turner has recently presented a young woman from his high school in South Carolina with the first scholarship from the Josh Turner Fund for the Arts. Martina McBride helped raise 72-thousand dollars through an auction on Saturday for the YWCA. PETA has revealed the winners of its Sexiest Vegetarians Poll and Kellie Pickler tied with Heroes' Milo Ventimiglia for first place. George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today” is among 25 recordings from various genres that will be added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry this year.