The Morning After

Last night, the CMT Music Awards were a show unto themselves. An odd mix of country and pop culture converged to produce a spectacle that had to have felt as disheveled to the live audience as it came across on TV. Somewhere among the chaos they passed out some awards to, who were they? Like, country artists? The awards themselves and the people who won them seemed secondary to the parade of name-dropping egotism. The loud, overbearing atmosphere was enough to drive someone to drink. Oh, wait. They were! The party atmosphere shown backstage in host Kid Rock’s dressing room is not exactly the image upheld by country music and its artists. Sure, country music sings about drownin’ your sorrows at the bar because you’re woman left you and your dog died, but its artists’ public image has always been American heartland versus underground party den. An interesting engage was begun on The Country Station’s facebook page last night. If you “like” us, or would like to comment here, we’d be curious as to what you have to say about the direction that country’s image is going.

If you missed any of the awards that the fans voted for, here’s the night’s tally:

2010 CMT MUSIC AWARD WINNERS

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Carrie Underwood – “Cowboy Casanova”

MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Keith Urban – “‘Til Summer Comes Around”

FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Miranda Lambert – “White Liar”

GROUP VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”

DUO VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Brooks & Dunn – “Indian Summer”

USA WEEKEND BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Luke Bryan – “Do I”

COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins – “Hillbilly Bone”

CMT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Carrie Underwood – “Temporary Home” from INVITATION ONLY: CARRIE UNDERWOOD

VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Shaun Silva (award eligible videos include: Kenny Chesney’s “Out Last Night” and Rascal Flatts’ “Summer Nights”)

THE NATIONWIDE INSURANCE ON YOUR SIDE AWARD
Chris Young

Big Week In Nashville

CMA Music Fest week kicks off with a tip of the bat. Monday, the 20th Anniversary Nashville Celebrity Softball Challenge For City Of Hope played out to a final score of 15-10. The After MidNite with Blair Garner team outscored the Grand Ole Opry team. Playing for After MidNite were Keith Anderson, Ben Broussard, Chuck Wicks, David Nail, Joe Nichols, Josh Thompson, Luke Bryan, Melissa Peterman, JP Dumont, Katie Cook, Mike Gossin & Rachael Reinard of Gloriana, Randy Montana, Whitney Duncan, Savanna Jack, The Oak Ridge Boys, Ken Amato, Donnie Nickey, and Vince Gill. The Grand Ole Opry team roster was Carrie Underwood, Bryan Lambert, Cheyenne Kimball & Tom Gossin of Gloriana, Craig Morgan, Colt Ford, Felix Cavaliere, Jaron & The Long Road To Love, Jason Aldean, Wade Balek, Julianne Hough, Justin Moore, Mallary Hope, Trailer Choir, Storme Warren, The Band Perry, Titan's Courtland Finnegan & Justin Gage, and Two Foot Fred. For those that couldn’t be there, the online auction of exclusive autographed memorabilia continues at AuctionsForHope.org.

Toby Keith fans can now use an official iPhone app to access concert info, purchase tickets, listen to new music, shop the official store, and access his special Fan Wall. It’s all things Toby for your phone, and it’s free. All you have to do is click here.

Stay tuned for more news from CMA Music Fest and the winners of tonight’s CMT Music Awards, hosted by Kid Rock.

George Is Still King

Billboard magazine has named George Strait as the Top Country Artist of the past 25 years. The trade publication tabulated its archived charts for country singles and country albums to rank artists performing between 1985 and 2010. Garth Brooks came in second, followed by Reba McEntire at No. 3, Alan Jackson at No. 4 and Tim McGraw at No. 5. The Top 10 also included, in descending order, Randy Travis, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Alabama and Brooks & Dunn.

The CMT Music Awards are on tomorrow night, so today is the last day to vote for your favorite artists. These are the only awards that are completely fan-voted, so what you and I like makes a difference. Voting takes place on the CMT website.

Additionally, CMT has announced more country stars and celebrities to serve as presenters of the awards. Strolling out with the envelopes will be Taylor Swift, Laura Bell Bundy, Gloriana, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Kellie Pickler and Blake Shelton. Other new presenters include Dancing With the Stars partners Erin Andrews and Maks Chmerkovsky, Sheryl Crow, actress Jada Pinkett-Smith, comedian David Spade and Snooki and The Situation from MTV's Jersey Shore. As previously announced, the 2010 CMT Music Awards will feature performances from Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and the Zac Brown Band. Kid Rock will host the ceremony airing live tomorrow night on CMT.

Dancing With Reba

Set your DVRs! There are several places where you can catch country artists on TV this week. Friday, Kenny Chesney will be on Oprah’s show to talk about his latest music and his new movie. …… Thursday night, Trace Adkins will stop by The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson. …. Today, Trisha Yearwood will be sitting in with the ladies on The View to promote her new cookbook, Home Cooking With Trisha Yearwood. ….. Reba McEntire will be singing two guest numbers tonight on Dancing With The Stars. While she’s there, she should get a chance to have a nice visit with country fan and pro dancer Tony Dovolani. Tony danced with Sara Evans in Season 3, and the two still stay in touch. During their time to dance together, Sara introduced Tony to Tim McGraw. Tony says, “He was creating a new song that he was showing Sara, and I got to see his creative process, which was really, cool. Just to see him be creative and do different things, for me, it was like, wow! I got to see the master at work!” Tony hopes to incorporate a Tim McGraw tune into a future dance with this season’s partner Kate Gosselin. That is, unless they are eliminated on tonight’s episode.

Voting began yesterday for the 2010 CMT Music Awards, country music’s only fan-voted award show. Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum and Sugarland lead the pack in first round nominations with four each, followed by Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Zac Brown Band, who tallied three each. The first round of voting runs from today through Monday, May 3rd, only at CMT.com. On Tuesday, May 11, CMT will announce the four finalists in each of the categories, except Video of the Year. Fans can then vote through June 8th to determine the winners. The final nominees for Video of the Year are announced at the beginning of the live show and fans vote throughout the live broadcast.

Lunchtime Listeners Predict Correctly

CMT promised “live and loud.” It was. The energy in the arena came percolating through the TV set by way of wild, screaming fans, and over-the-top production numbers which were turned up to 11. Compared to other award shows, CMT Music Awards deserve props for getting the sound quality to translate to television. With rare exception, everyone sang upbeat tunes, so at times the show looked more like a rock concert than a country show, but that’s what you get just two days after CMT Music Fest. Many fans held over and were still in town for one last hurrah! The whole wild show was a reflection of modern music, and you have to know that somewhere, somehow, Hank was looking down and winking. Performances included the secretive collaboration of Taylor Swift and T-Pain, which turned out to be a wrap video that the two wrote and created in about three hours; Darius Rucker “Alright,” Lady Antebellum “Looking For A Good Time,” Brad Paisley “Then,” Taylor Swift “You Belong With Me,” Keith Urban “Kiss A Girl,” Sugarland and B-52s “Love Shack,” Trace Adkins “You’re Gonna Miss This,” Rascal Flatts “Summer Nights,” Kellie Pickler “Best Days Of Your Life,” Jason Aldean “Country Girl,” Toby Keith “God Love Her,” and Taylor Swift and Def Leppard “Pour Some Sugar On Me.” The small side stage hosted short blips from Joey and Rory, Eric Church, Carter Twins, Justin Moore, Jason Michael Carroll, Gloriana, and Eli Young Band. The songs they sang going into commercial break were barely recognizable as they were only given time for one or two lines of the hook. Lengthier songs certainly would have been appreciated.

Yesterday, predictions were made at The Country Station as to who would be winning the CMT Music Awards last night. Out of the 8 main categories, 6 were called correctly, including your phoned-in predictions that the Zac Brown Band would win the breakthrough category. Here are the final winners:
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Taylor Swift - “Love Story” (Director: Trey Fanjoy)

MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Brad Paisley - “Waitin’ On A Woman”

FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Taylor Swift - “Love Story”

GROUP VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Rascal Flatts - “Every Day”

DUO VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Sugarland - “All I Want To Do”

USA WEEKEND BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Zac Brown Band - “Chicken Fried”

COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Brad Paisley with Keith Urban - “Start A Band”

CMT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR*
Alan Jackson featuring Dierks Bentley, Brad Paisley and George Strait - “Country Boy” from CMT GIANTS: ALAN JACKSON

WIDE OPEN COUNTRY VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Kid Rock - “All Summer Long”