ACM Awards: Taylor Swift gets soaked, Kenny Chesney wins big
Parting thoughts: Kenny Chesney won the top prize at the annual Academy of Country Music Awards, held Sunday night (May 18) in Las Vegas. For the fourth straight year, Chesney took home the entertainer of the year trophy, but he lost out to up-and-coming country star Miranda Lambert in the album of the year field.
Lambert, who last year at the ACMs took home the best new female artist prize, was recognized for her 2007 release, "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend." The rock-leaning singer also performed the album's "Gunpowder and Lead" on the telecast. It's the second year running that a country woman won album of the year, as last year's show saw the honors go to award-show staple Carrie Underwood.
Underwood, who opened the ACMs with her "Last Name," giving it an amped-up production under neon lights, took home top female vocalist. Duo Sugarland also fared well, winning single record of the year and song of the year for heartbreak single "Stay." The act performed new song "All I Wanna Do," tipped as the first single from the its upcoming release.
Fast-rising star Taylor Swift, however, will probably walk away with the most talked-about moment on the show -- certainly the most bizarre. While she won top new female vocalist, the award was overshadowed by her water-soaked rendition of "Should've Said No." Toward the end of the cut, a makeshift waterfall was dumped on the star -- a scene more fitting for Nickelodeon than the ACMs -- and the singer did her best to maintain her composure.
Top new male vocalist went to Jake Ingram, and top female vocalist went to Kellie Pickler. The latter unveiled her new single, "Don't You Know You're Beautiful." A list of winners, and instant reactions to the show, is below.
8:01 p.m.: Click here for a list of winners
7:57 p.m.: Reba closes the show by saying, "Don't end up doing anything that ends up on YouTube." This message needs to get to Madonna.
7:55 p.m. Entertainer of the year: Kenny Chesney, of course. Fourth year in a row. Chesney thanks his mom and dad "for having sex." And declares this one "special" because it was the first-time the award was voted upon by the fans. Ho-hum -- the fan-voting thing is an award-show stunt that's worth little more than a press release. It certainly doesn't bring any more tension to the proceedings, as stakes aren't exactly raised, and Chesney has these sorts of award locked up, thanks to his superstar status and constant touring. Chesney has also nabbed the entertainer of the year title for a few years running over at the CMAs, and it's high time producers make an effort to mix things up a bit -- those who win the award should be ineligible the following year.
7:45 p.m.: Top female vocalist: Carrie Underwood. Carrie's been on an award-show tear the past few years, but Grammys' best new artist hasn't bothered to change her winning speech, thanking her agent, her manager, all the folks involved with "American Idol" and a last-minute toss-in to fans. She'll surely get some more chances on the podium later this year at the 2007 CMAs, and here's hoping she hires some speechwriters by then.
7:34 p.m.: Top male vocalist: Brad Paisley.
7:28 p.m.: Kellie Pickler, one of the big winners at the recent CMT Awards, sings "Don't You Know You're Beautiful," tipped as the first single from her upcoming album. It's a slow-moving self-esteem booster, and it will start to get a big push after the awards, no doubt. But it sounds all a bit forced, and comes across -- on first listen -- like an advertisement for an anti-depressant. CMT co-host Miley Cyrus did a better job at this type of thing with "Nobody's Perfect," and you can dance to that one.
7:20-something p.m. diversion: Taylor Swift vs. Tinker Bell (see 6:20 p.m.)
7:22 p.m.: Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley give a warm tribute to Eddy Arnold by performing a spare and lovely "Make the World Go Away." Credit the ACMs for not going the montage route.
7:17 p.m.: David Spade introduces Rascal Flatts, who perform "Every Day." The band is accompanied by a string section, one that's barely audible above the band's high-pitched melodies.
7:15 p.m.: Keith Urban performs "Tu CompanÃa" in the round, a diverting little campfire of a number that would make Jack Johnson proud.
7:11 p.m.: Top vocal group: Rascal Flatts. They thank God and air-conditioning.
7:06 p.m.: Brooks wraps up at nearly the 10-minute mark with "Ain't Goin' Down (Til the Sun Comes Up)." The effect was like listening to all the 30-second clips on one of Brooks' greatest hits sets on Amazon.com.
6:57 p.m.: Garth Brooks. The country legend was awarded something called the "crystal milestone" award. Now we're getting a medley of all of Brooks' major hits. Eight minutes in, and he's still going.
6:47 p.m.: Top vocal duo: Brooks & Dunn.
6:43 p.m.: Wait. OK. So for the last verse in Taylor Swift's song, she performed under a makeshift waterfall, falling to the floor and letting herself get soaked. Because you can't get mad at someone for being off-key when they're drenched? Not sure if this was supposed to be sexy or meaningful (some sort of play on her no longer wearing the hoodie). Either way, it didn't work, and was simply bizarre.
6:39 p.m.: Taylor Swift pulls an Avril Lavigne, dirtying up her perfectly blond image with a black hoodie and jeans. Or, as a co-worker remarked, "She looks like a Sith Lord." Oh, that didn't last long, she's back to wearing a prom dress singing "Should've Said No."
6:32 p.m.: Song of the year: Sugarland's "Stay." This gives Sugarland wins in both song of the year and single record of the year for the tearjerker.
6:28 p.m.: Brooks & Dunn sing their cuddly little rocker "Put a Girl in It." Sample lyric: "If you're ridin' in your truck, put a girl in it." Nothing charms the ladies more than viewing them as accessories.
6:20 p.m.: Album of the year: Miranda Lambert's "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend." Bit of a surprise there, but absolutely warranted. "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" was one of 2007's best albums. If I pegged anyone to upset Chesney, I would have gone with the seemingly unstoppable Taylor Swift, but Lambert (below) has a rock 'n' roll soul and a dozen pint-raising hooks. And her bad-girl image is absolutely devious compared to Swift -- the music equivalent of Tinker Bell.
6:18 p.m. Sugarland sings new, as yet unreleased single "All I Wanna Do." It's light, a bit goofy, and it's "whoo-woos" surely hint at a crossover hit. It also does kinda sound like the similarly titled Sheryl Crow song.
6:09 p.m. Now we get both Strait and Chesney performing their nominated "Shiftwork." It's shuffling beat teases with picking up, but it never quite does. Instead, the song rides a relaxed groove, playing up its everyday thrills -- relaxing with a beer and peeling off without paying for gas.
6:02 p.m.: George Strait, performing on his birthday, says Reba. He sings his latest single, "I Saw God Today." It's a simple, pretty song, and it's good-natured commonality never sounds forced. The giant baby pictures in the background were a bit Hallmark-ish, however.
5:59 p.m.: The man who's probably going to win entertainer of the year, Kenny Chesney, performs "Better as a Memory." It's Chesney's third country award show performance in seven months, and he does it right, offering a different song each time, even though this ballad is a bit of a snoozer.
5:50 p.m.: Jake Ingram wins top new male vocalist. He punctuates his win with a video game slogan: "Live it. Own it. Dreams come true." It's in the game.
5:48 p.m.: Rodney Atkins is taking the Las Vegas location a bit too seriously, performing a medley. A medley? He touched on "These Are My People" and "Cleaning This Gun (Come on in, Boy)," No medley's under the age of 60, and especially if you've only released a couple albums.
5:43 p.m.: Country award fatigue? The only thing wrong with Lambert singing "Gunpowder and Lead" was that she performed it last November at the CMAs.
5:39 p.m.: Lady Antebellum wins top new duo or vocal group.
5:36 p.m.: Lambert, singing her rant to an unfaithful ex, "Gunpowder and Lead." Would have loved to hear Miranda break out a newer single, but nothing wrong with this tune. She's headbanging to a waterfall of fireworks, and her band is breaking out some arena-worthy guitar solos. The key to this song: It's not until after Lambert loads her shotgun that she drops the kicker of a chorus: "He ain't seen me crazy yet."
5:34 p.m. Blake Shelton, or "pure BS," in the words of host Reba, introducing country spitfire Miranda Lambert.
5:30 p.m. Taylor Swift wins top new female vocalist.
5:26 p.m.: Paisley sings his absolutely horrific "I'm Still A Guy," a song that was already discussed in our last country awards show live blog. But Paisley, if you show up in Las Vegas with a shiny shirt, you can't really mock "feminized men." Also, looks like CBS had Paisley change a lyric or two. Gone was the "copped a feel" line.
5:22 p.m.: Brad Paisley's pal Jason Alexander. The former "Seinfeld" star says he forgot his Bedazzler. He makes a quick joke about country musicians as "people of faith, religious people," claiming it to be a myth. Says Alexander: "I did not see any one of you people in a synagogue."
5:19 p.m.: Looks like Carrie stole Taylor Swift's Bedazzler for her microphone.
5:15 p.m.: Sugarland's "Stay" won for single record of the year.
5:12 p.m.: The ACM Awards are already making an effort to separate themselves from all the other award shows out there. Toby Keith is performing "She's A Hottie." Haven't heard that recently.
5:12 p.m.: A list of nominees are after the jump, and winners will be updated as they're announced on the CBS telecast.
5:07 p.m.: Reba McEntire, hosting the show for the 10th time. Referencing how times-have-a-changed since she first hosted the awards, McEntire jokes: "Back then, Roger Clemens wasn't even interested in country music ... I don't care you who you are, that's funny." Nothing beats jokes about adultery.
5:04 p.m.: Running a little late getting started on the ACM Awards (blame all the "Indiana Jones" news today). But now we're off and running. "American Idol's" Carrie Underwood opened the show, giving a version of "Last Name" that was fit for a Super Bowl halftime show, complete with a giant "C" in the background. A bit bluesy, and more rock 'n' roll than country, Underwood was certainly playing up the Las Vegas glitz rather than Nashville twang.
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