Underwood Wins Top ACM Award
Carrie Underwood was named entertainer of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards, the first female act to win the honor since the Dixie Chicks did it back in 2000. She is only the seventh to do so in the show's near-four-decade existence.
"I've had a lot of good moments in the past four years. This one takes the cake," the tearful former "American Idol" champ said. "Thank you God, thank you fans, thank you to ACM for nominating me in the first place. I never thought I'd be nominated and never thought I'd win. I'm shaking. I don't know what to say."
With the win, Underwood, who also won top female vocalist, broke Kenny Chesney's four-year winning streak and denied him the chance to tie Alabama's five years of dominance in the category. The other female acts to have won the title include Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks. Chesney kissed Underwood as she walked up to accept the honor.
The ACM Award Winners
Earlier, when she won the award for female vocalist of the year, Underwood gushed, "I feel like I just won 'American Idol' all over again."
Another female dominating not only country music but the entire music industry, Taylor Swift, won album of the year for her sophomore disc "Fearless." Both of Swift's albums have topped the 3 million sales mark - a rare feat in today's music industry. She's connected with fans both young and old for her intensely personal songs, which she usually writes on her own or with another writer.
"A lot of people who know me know if you talk to me more than five minutes, I'm probably going to write a song about you," said Swift as she thanked some of the characters in her songs, including Tim McGraw and Romeo.
Other winners included Jamey Johnson, Sugarland and "Dancing With The Stars" dancer Julianne Hough, but the evening's most memorable moments were the performances.
ACM Arrivals
Photos: Country Couples
Photos: On the ACM Stage
Trace Adkins sang "Til the Last Shot's Fired," a somber salute to U.S. troops, with the West Point Glee Club. The performance was introduced by Lt. Andrew Kinard, a wounded soldier.
"As you listen to this song, please consider that it's not about the war, it's about the warrior," Kinard told the crowd.
John Rich's angry anthem "Shuttin' Detroit Down" also stirred the crowd.
"I'd like to dedicate this song tonight to all the hard-working, taxpaying Americans from coast to coast who love this country as much as I do," Rich said to the audience, while holding a guitar tagged with a "Made in the U.S.A." sticker.
"We wrote this song specifically for you," he said before launching into his searing song that feeds into taxpayer resentment about the bailouts on Wall Street.
Other performances included teen sensation Miley Cyrus, dancing atop a high staircase on stage; Heidi Newfield singing "Johnny and June," inspired by the late Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, around an appropriate ring of fire; and Underwood in a burgundy dress so overwhelming that it took up most of the stage.
"Can I borrow that?" host Reba McEntire quipped afterward.
Jamey Johnson, a newcomer, beat out veterans like George Strait and Brad Paisley in nabbing the night's first honor, song of the year, for his poignant hit about an old man looking back on his life, "In Color."
"Thanks to my band for going in on an off-day and producing an off-record," Johnson quipped in a brief acceptance speech.
Adkins also won single of the year for his heartfelt hit "You're Gonna Miss This."
The deep-voiced singer said the song, about how people want to grow up and move on with life when they should slow down and enjoy the moment, was very personal to him, but he didn't think others would relate to it. When his label said they were going to release it as a single, he said, "Go ahead. Nobody's going play it."
"I'm glad I'm an idiot," Adkins cracked. "Thank you very much."
Swift had four nominations going into Sunday's show, but got a special honor as McEntire presented her with the ACM Crystal Milestone Award for bringing so many young people to country music.
Sugarland broke Brooks & Dunn's lock on the vocal duo award, while "Dancing with the Stars" champ Hough took the top new artist trophy during Sunday's awards ceremony.
An excited Hough told the audience she was glad her dress had torn because it gave her "something else to think about."
The Home Depot humanitarian award went to singer LeAnn Rimes, who said she found immense joy in "making a difference in the lives of other people."
Strait and Brad Paisley led all nominees with six. Paisley was linked up by video from Nashville, where his wife Kimberly Williams-Paisley is expecting their second child, and accepted the trophy for male vocalist of the year from there.
"I wish I could be there but I didn't want to take the chance of missing the birth of our next child. I hope you understand," he said.
Jamie Foxx introduced Strait's performance of "Troubadour," and joked that the country scene was getting more diverse.
"Things are changing," Foxx said, mentioning his repeat appearance at the ACMs and Darius Rucker's success on the country charts. "(An) African-American singing country. Things are changing. Got a black man running the country. Things are changing. ... I mean what's next, white people going to Tyler Perry movies?"
Tim McGraw was supposed to perform but abruptly pulled out of the show; a person with knowledge about the show who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter said McGraw and the ACM Awards producers had a dispute about his stage performance.
Among the celebrities on hand to help present awards were Foxx, Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Love Hewitt. The show aired live from the MGM Grand on CBS.