Thursday, November 12, 2009

This has been one of the most exciting weeks in CMA award show history... mainly because so much history was made! The big headline, of course, is Taylor Swift, who at 19 becomes the youngest entertainer ever to win Entertainer of the Year. I know what you're thinking... you reach this pinnacle at such an early age... what's next? Taylor addressed that after the show, and was quite eloquent in her response. She mentioned that she is so appreciative of all the awards and realizes that so many of her dreams are coming true at a very early age. She pointed out that she loves a challenge, and that her next challenge would be to FIND the next challenge.
The other big headline is a guy who rose to the challenge of proving he's not just a pop superstar, he is also a country superstar. Darius Rucker's win as New Artist of the Year may seem strange to him since he's been a mega-star in the pop world for nearly 20 years, but you could see on his face how thrilled, shocked, and grateful he is for the way his country career is flying higher than he ever dreamed. We are thrilled for him, Taylor, and all the winners!
Hey, I wanted to mention something that you didn't see if you watched the award show on TV. Brad Paisley, hosting the show, was positioned very close to where fans were seated in the audience. Whenever Brad finished a part of his live on-camera duties, the fans instantly started reaching out to him when he was off camera for autographs and handshakes. And he took care of every request. He could have easily gone backstage at those times to prepare for his next segment, but he took time to honor fan requests. That sort of thing lets you know how important YOU are to the stars.
I was sitting by the platform where Brad and Carrie Underwood did some of their hosting. She was wearing one of her beautiful, but short, sparkly dresses. I guess she heard some of the male audience members whistling because she turned around with a playful look on her face and said, "If you try to look up my dress, there's gonna be a problem!" Jumping in to tease the audience, Brad said, "And don't even think about looking at my butt!" It was great to see that during the commercial breaks Brad and Carrie, who had the pressure of a live show, were both calm and excited to interact with the audience.
And one final, unbelievable note about the evening... for the full three hours, Blake Shelton did not tweet on his Twitter!!!


FROM OUR ARCHIVES: Lorianne and Charlie sat down with Tim McGraw, and Charlie surprised Tim with some very special gifts. Read all about it here!