2011 CMA Awards

[MuffyBee]

 

http://www.billboard.com/column/the-615/cma-awards-taylor-swift-reclaims-top-prize-1005501552.story#/column/the-615/cma-awards-taylor-swift-reclaims-top-prize-1005501552.story
CMA Awards: Taylor Swift Reclaims Top Prize
November 11, 2011

It was a mix of old favorites and new blood at the 45th Annual Country Music Association Awards, as many acts on the show claimed their first trophies. The first award of the night was proof of this, as Republic Nashville's The Band Perry, the biggest winners of the night, notched their first ever win in the Single of the Year for their multi-format hit "If I Die Young." The tune also won Song of the Year honors for lead singer Kimberly Perry. But, their night was far from over. The trio had one more speech to make, winning the New Artist of the Year award.
Jason Aldean shocked many by walking away with Album of the Year for My Kinda Party. It was also the first major win for Broken Bow Records, Aldean's label.

 

Not all the winners were first-timers, however. Sugarland claimed their fifth straight win in the Vocal Duo of the Year category. Lady Antebellum won the Vocal Group of the Year for the third straight year, and it was a repeat in the Male and Female Vocalist categories with husband and wife Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert reigning in their respective categories for the second straight year.

 

Reprising her win in 2009, Taylor Swift won the evening's biggest prize -- the Entertainer of the Year trophy. "One of my favorite things this year is the camaraderie of these artists," she said in her speech, alluding to the fact that acts such as Ronnie Dunn, Kenny Chesney, and Tim McGraw joined her on the concert stage at various times this year.

 

The awards kicked off in exhilarating fashion with Blake Shelton performing the 1980s classic "Footloose" with the song's original performer, Kenny Loggins. Shelton recorded the song for the recent theatrical remake. Other highlights of the night performance-wise were Miranda Lambert's fiery take on her funk-filled hit "Baggage Claim," the Zac Brown Band's stirring rendition of the classic "Georgia On My Mind," with special guest Gregg Allman, as well as Vince Gill, Brad Paisley and Keith Urban's tribute to Glen Campbell, who is in the midst of his farewell tour.

 

Speaking of tributes, in his first CMA appearance in a quarter-century, Lionel Richie performed a medley of his hits with Darius Rucker ("Stuck On You"), Rascal Flatts ("Dancing On The Ceiling"), and the same song he performed with Alabama in 1986 -- "Deep River Woman," with Little Big Town. The R&B legend will release Tuskegee, a duets album in March 2012. The night was also a return to the CMA stage for Faith Hill, who performed her just-released single "Come Home."

Humor also proved to be a key part of the awards, with hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood making light of the recent Hank Williams, Jr. - Monday Night Football controversy with a parody of his legendary theme song. The two were joined on stage by none other than Bocephus himself. The emcees also presented each other with mock gifts -- which turned out to be Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Barbie dolls -- which elicited a huge response from the crowd. Later in the telecast, 90-year old Little Jimmy Dickens appeared on the stage as if to parody Justin Bieber, announcing his "newest single," which he called "It Ain't My Baby, Baby," referring to the controversy surrounding the teen superstar.


In awards presented by Mercury's Laura Bell Bundy prior to the ABC telecast, Mac McAnally was named Musician of the Year for the fourth straight year. The Video of the Year statuette was presented to "You And Tequila" from Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/music/articles/2011/11/09/20111109country-music-awards-cma-ten-best-performances.html
CMA Awards best performances: Glen Campbell, Eric Church
November 9, 2011

 ::snipping2::

Glen Campbell tribute

This heartfelt tribute to the once-and-future Rhinestone Cowboy, who went public earlier this year with the news that he's been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease, began exactly where it should have - with a classic clip of Campbell singing "Gentle on my Mind." Then,Vince Gill took the mike for a poignant read on "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," with the camera cutting back and forth between Gill on stage and Campbell in the audience, mouthing the words. If you weren't crying just a little by the time the tribute made its way from that to Keith Urban's "Wichita Lineman" and Brad Paisley singing "Galveston" before inviting Campbell up on stage, you may not have a heart. And they get bonus points for having Jimmy Webb, who wrote those Campbell classics, join the tribute on piano. It was the sort of emotional moment awards shows are always shooting for but rarely achieve.

Eric Church, "Drink in My Hand"

This self-styled outlaw took the stage in dark shades, a faded black T-shirt with a darker jersey underneath, a tattered black ball cap and a dog tag around his neck to twang and snarl his way through the drinking-man's country of "Drink in My Hand." It takes a certain kind of attitude to put a song like that across, and Church had it to burn with the skill to back it up, throwing the devil's horns like he'd been doing shots with Hank III at one point.

Zac Brown Band, "Georgia on My Mind"

These guys pulled out all the stops, from strings and horns to jazz piano and a guest appearance by the great Gregg Allman on Hammond B-3 organ and vocals, for a soulful-yet-sophisticated "Georgia on My Mind." You couldn't tell if they preferred the Willie Nelson or Ray Charles version of Hoagy Carmichael's timeless ballad, and that can only be a good thing.

Taylor Swift, "Ours"

Swift turned in an understated version of this heartfelt ballad alone on acoustic guitar while seated on a sofa in a makeshift living room, wearing a pretty pink sweater. It was the kind of performance where you keep expecting a band to kick in, but it stayed quiet, which was nice. She also made the most of the cute-as-a-button persona that's helped her sell so many concert tickets. Swift mentioned Mesa's own Jimmy Eat World when she picked up entertainer of the year at the end of the night, by the way.

Lady Antebellum, "We Owned the Night"

Their first single out of the gate from "Own the Night" was another pop crossover move that made it all the way to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. But Lady Antebellum stuck closer to country on the CMAs with an understated, bluegrass-flavored version of "We Owned the Night" with a nice dual-guitar lead and close country harmonies.

Kenny Chesney, "You and Tequila"

Chesney brought Grace Potter out to join him on a stripped-down performance of "You and Tequila." Two acoustic guitars, two stools, two voices. That was all this tender drinking ballad needed. And Potter looked great. If she wants to turn her back on the Americana underground, she sure looked like the kind of singer Nashville would embrace.

Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, "Remind Me"

Paisley dug in his heels on the scrappiest Telecaster solo of the night and Underwood soared on the chorus of this aching country ballad in a show of vocal force that may have given certain viewers flashbacks to Underwood's prize-winning run on "American Idol."
More...

[MuffyBee]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/taylor-swift-named-entertainer-of-the-year-for-the-second-time-at-the-cma-awards/2011/11/09/gIQA4uaz6M_story_1.html
The song’s the thing: Female songwriters Swift, Perry lead charge of country girls at CMAs
(Photo gallery at link)