Jack Is Nearly Smarter Than a 5th Grader

If you blinked, you missed Jack Ingram ride onto the set of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader on a child’s bicycle – complete with flowery basket! The intro was fast, and the rest of the show was faster. Jack whizzed through the elementary school questions pretty quickly, although he did use up his peeks and cheats before the end of the test. He had to answer the last few questions on his own, but luckily by that point, he was reduced to 1st and 2nd grade questions. Like Bucky Covington and Heidi Newfield before him, Jack used the strategy of starting with the harder 5th grade questions while he had the help of the kids. Big Kenny had done the opposite; he started in 1st grade and grew up throughout the test. Nonetheless, Jack’s strategy worked. Along the way, he missed the question about the color of the visual spectrum that is closest to an x-ray. He said “green;” the answer was “violet.” And although he played it like he was just checking with the kids to confirm his answer about fruit in an Aesop fable, he had no idea! But in the end, Jack did answer enough to earn $25,000 for his charity, Tom’s Shoes. When it came to the bonus question, Jack, like Bucky, chose to leave while he was ahead and not gamble Tom’s shoe money down to a consolation prize. Jack Ingram became the third 5th grade dropout of the week. Emily West takes the test tonight to wrap up country music week.

News From Around The Country
Big Kenny’s new solo will be coming out in November in a very unique package - it’s biodegradable cardboard infused with flower seeds. …. Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, Kenny Rogers, Hank Williams, Junior, and Randy Travis were among the few honored Tuesday night during the 2nd Annual ACM Honors event. Randy received the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award. … Brad Paisley will be the musical guest on The Jay Leno Show on Monday; and The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien on Wednesday. …. Jewel recently taped a Christmas special for HGTV. The show will share decorating tips as hosts help Jewel decorate her home in Texas for the holidays. The special airs December 6th. … And finally, if you’d like a wakeup call from Toby Keith, sign up at his website. Toby will give fans a wake up call October 6th reminding them to go out and grab his new album American Ride.

Heidi Newfield Drops Out of the 5th Grade

Last night on “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader” Heidi Newfield played for the National MS Society. Citing her mother’s battle with MS, she wanted to play for a charity that was close to her heart. Throughout the grade school test, Heidi answered most of the questions herself, but she did lose some money early on when she got a question about the Louisiana Purchase wrong and then tried to cheat off the paper of a classmate for another question. Trying to help Heidi, the young student had answered an elementary question about world geography with what looked like a misspelling. However, when Jeff Foxworthy questioned him as to the intent of his answer, he stated what sounded like a completely different sea and was therefore marked incorrect. So with incorrect answers, she was never going to reach the $25,000 level; but she could have answered the bonus question about ancient history to try to increase the pot to $140,000. Instead, Heidi chose to drop out of school and walk away with $14,000 to fund research to cure Multiple Sclerosis.

Tonight, Bucky Covington tries to outsmart the kids; tomorrow Jack Ingram takes a turn at the desk; and Friday Emily West meets the 5th Graders.



Other stuff to watch on CMT: This weekend is a CMT Big Music Weekend, with nine new videos hitting the airwaves. Plus, some artists will be on hand to introduce their videos with special segments filmed just for this weekend. Here are the new videos to look for:

· Carrie Underwood – “Cowboy Casanova”
· Tim McGraw – “Southern Voice”
· Kenny Chesney (featuring Dave Matthews) – “I’m Alive”
· Keith Urban – “Hit the Ground Runnin’”
· Sugarland – “Keep You”
· Reba – “Consider Me Gone”
· Miranda Lambert – “White Liar”
· Billy Currington – “That’s How Country Boys Roll”
· Michelle Branch – “Sooner or Later”

Big Kenny Isn't Smarter Than a 5th Grader

“I’ve learned to be resourceful,” said Big Kenny, describing his studies since grade school. When you don’t know the answer – look it up – or cheat. And cheat he did. Big Kenny copied off his classmates papers when necessary, took their help and advice, did fairly well on his own, and ultimately answered all the questions up to the $25,000 level. All he missed was the math question, “If Malachi has 10 dozen video games, how many scores of video games does he have?” The correct answer is six. Then it came time for the bonus round. $250,000 looked more enticing than the consolation prize of $2500, so Big Kenny had to at least take the chance. It was a world history question. And it was clear that he didn’t know about the Spanish conquistadors who originally explored what is now modern day New Mexico and Arizona. Remembering the old saying, “It is better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all,” Kenny locked in his final answer of “Christopher Columbus” and unfortunately lost all that he had won. Big Kenny walked away with the $2500 for his charity, Love Everybody, an organization he described as doing good work around the world, including the recent building of a school in rural Sudan.

Tonight, Heidi Newfield gives it a go; tomorrow Bucky Covington goes back to school; Thursday Jack Ingram plays for his gold star; and Friday Emily West meets the 5th Graders.

An Entire Week of Blond Moments

It’s Country Music Week on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader! Watch CMT at 6pm (Mountain) each night this week to see Jeff Foxworthy quiz the country stars on grade school subjects. It’s interesting to note that all of this week’s contestants share the same hair color. So be prepared for some great “blond moments” when the singers are forced to cheat off 5th graders to win some money for charity. Tonight, it’s Big Kenny from Big & Rich, playing for his charity Love Everybody. Be sure to check back on this blog later tonight for the recaps!

Tomorrow, Heidi Newfield will play; Wednesday Bucky Covington will try to make the grade; Thursday Jack Ingram matches smarts with the kids; Friday Emily West goes back to school.

News From Around The Country
Blake Shelton's brow-raising tweets have lead to him to be entered in the Mr. Twitter U-S-A contest for September and so far he is in the lead. The link to the contest is on his website and fans can vote every 20-minutes. Should Blake win in the U-S, he would then go on to a global competition for the world crown. … Lady Antebellum’s “I Run To You,” is being featured in the fall commercial campaign for the financial services giant TIAA-CREF. … Love and Theft have been asked to join the Jason Aldean Tour. … And finally, Trisha Yearwood has been asked to host the annual “Christmas at Belmont.” She’ll join over 400 university students and faculty singers, as well as the Nashville Children’s Choir. It will take place at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, and will be nationally aired on December 23rd on PBS.

A Big Green Ringtone

Jason Aldean continues to ring phones across the nation. “Big Green Tractor” won the top spot on the Billboard all-genre Ringscan chart. Yes, they keep track of such things. This is great news for country music, since it shows that more people are downloading a country ringtone than they are ringtones from Jay Z, Drake, Mariah Carey, and The Black Eyed Peas. And speaking of the song’s success, it’s been certified Gold for digital sales, and it’s been a four-week chart topper, making Jason the only artist to hold that position in more than 18 months. Brad Paisley’s “Letter to Me” had a four-week run in Feb. 2008.

Ouch! The Young & Wild(er) Tour just started, and Eric Church has already fractured his foot; yet he continues to perform. It happened back on September 4th in Syracuse, but we’re just now hearing about it because Eric refuses to let it affect any of his shows. “As my fans know, I get pretty excited on stage and stomp my feet,” explains Eric. “The combination of the stomping and the fact that our crowds are crazier than ever led to me breaking my foot. I refuse to miss a show over this, so for the time being, I’ll be doing the rest of the shows from a stool. I’m still gonna bring it, and I expect our fans to do the same.” To see what kind of a show Eric does … how ‘bout this little memory from the time that Eric was in Las Cruces to play the NMSU bonfire…..



TV Notes
Taylor Swift will appear on ABC’s The View this morning where she will perform two songs and sit down for a conversation with Barbara Walters and the ladies on the show.... Tonight, Rascal Flatts will perform on the Season Finale of NBC’s America’s Got Talent. Shakira, Leona Lewis, Cirque du Soleil and other special guests are also scheduled to perform. …. John Rich will appear on Fox News Channel's Hannity's America tonight. … And finally, don’t forget to set your DVR next week for Country Music Week on Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? Here’s the appearance schedule:
Monday, 9/21 – Big Kenny (playing for Love Everybody)
Tuesday, 9/22 – Heidi Newfield (playing for National MS Society)
Wednesday, 9/23 – Bucky Covington (playing for the Arthritis Foundation)
Thursday, 9/24 – Jack Ingram (playing for Tom’s Shoes)
Friday, 9/25 – Emily West (playing for the Alzheimer Foundation of America)

Country Sets Records and Goes Back To School

Congratulations to Reba McEntire and Jack Ingram. For the 2nd time in her career, Reba McEntire has the top album on Billboard’s Top 200 Album Chart. Keep On Lovin’ You sold 95-thousand copies in its first week. Jack Ingram owns a Guinness World Record for "the most radio interviews in 24 hours." To promote his album release this week, Jack did 215 interviews in 24 hours. After a talkative day, the last thing Jack said was, “After the last 24 hours, I officially have nothing left to say.” Jack more than doubled the previous record which was 96 interviews.

Here's something to look forward to! Are country stars smarter than 5th graders? We’ll find out when the new season of the popular Jeff Foxworthy-hosted program moves to CMT. Set your DVRs! Guest contestants will tackle subjects ranging from geography to social studies in order to benefit their favorite charity. We'll be sure to follow this upcoming series here on blog!

Here’s the official “Country Music Week” line-up for ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER? - - -
Monday, 9/21 – Big Kenny (playing for Love Everybody)
Tuesday, 9/22 – Heidi Newfield (playing for National MS Society)
Wednesday, 9/23 – Bucky Covington (playing for the Arthritis Foundation)
Thursday, 9/24 – Jack Ingram (playing for Tom’s Shoes)
Friday, 9/25 – Emily West (playing for the Alzheimer Foundation of America)

Kenny Chesney has written a song, “This Is Our Moment,” to be used exclusively on ESPN's college football game and studio telecasts during Dick's Sporting Goods Kickoff Week (September 3-7) and Championship Saturday (December 5) as well as select season games and bowl games. ESPN will debut the song during its pregame show on September 3rd at 7 PM. Kenny was inspired to start writing the song on a cocktail napkin last fall during a dinner in Nashville with play-by-play announcer Brett Musburger, football analyst Kirk Herbstreit and producer Bill Bonnell. Kenny was a guest on ESPN's College Game Day telecast from Vanderbilt during their game against Auburn last year.

And speaking of football, Faith Hill's "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night" will return as the theme song for NBC's Sunday Night Football for the third season. It will make its first appearance this season on September 13th, in a matchup between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, and will continue to be heard throughout the NFL season.

Country Music TV

Last night on Celebrity Apprentice, Clint Black stepped up to greet guests and arrange concierge service; yet Team KOTU was once again on the firing side of the table in the boardroom. The challenge this week was to service guests at a ritzy New York hotel. Celebrities were to be responsible for room service, concierge service and cleaning rooms. Guests, including last year's CA contestant Stephen Baldwin, would rate their service. Dennis Rodman took charge of the men and T-Boz took the reins on Team Athena. Despite a few brilliant moments, unfortunately, Dennis’ drinking problem got in the way of performing the task. He was oft absent physically and/or in spirit, and his team was left to pick up the slack in an attempt to outshine the women’s team, who put Joan Rivers and all her New York contacts on the concierge desk. In the end, both teams stumbled a bit but got through the task relatively unscathed and picked up respectable marks for service from their guests. The women did get the higher mark, so T-Boz won the week’s prize for her charity. There was no need to go through the formality of boardroom grilling to figure out which one of the men would be fired, however. The entire cast stayed in the boardroom to express concern for Dennis’ drinking problem in spite of the show; yet in the end The Donald was forced to fire Dennis. This week, Chloe Kardashian was asked to sit out to balance the lopsided teams. Now that the men are down to four and the women have only lost one, will two women have to sit out next week or are we up for a merge?

Plenty of Keith Urban sighting is on the way as Keith prepares to release his Defying Gravity CD tomorrow. Keith has been on a “No Frills” tour of intimate performances to introduce some of the new music. Appearances this week include the Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Today Show, and ABC’s Nightline on Wednesday (4/1). Then later Wednesday night Keith will be live in New York with his first concert appearance since his sold-out show at Madison Square Garden. In May, Keith’s “Escape Together World Tour” begins.

Rodney Atkins will also be working overtime this week to release his CD It's America. Rodney is also going to New York to kick off the CD with an appearance tomorrow morning on NBC's Today Show. Then watch for Rodney’s upcoming features on Fox News Feed, Reuters TV, FIRST Magazine, Billboard, Nashville Lifestyles, Outdoor Life Magazine, OK! Magazine.com, Entertainment Weekly.com, Washington Post, The Tennessean, Better TV, ABC.com, AOL's The Boot, CMT Insider, GAC Top 20, Good Day Atlanta, WGN and NPR. Album Reviews will be in People Magazine, USA Today, and The Boston Globe.

Also mark your TV viewing calendars for this Friday (4/3) because The Price Is Right is celebrating the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards with special appearances by Reba McEntire, Heidi Newfield and guitarist Larry Mitchell. Each of the artists will present a prize in a unique fashion, and the showcases will be country themed.