CMT Blog: Shows

For years, I thought Kellie Pickler's big personality kind of overshadowed her big powerful voice. But on this performance of CMT's Studio 330 Sessions, she put that big personality on the back burner for a while so that her vocals can be the star. She sings her heart and soul out on "Makin' Me Fall in Love Again" (which she says is about the good side of love), then "Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You" and "Best Days of Your Life" (the one she says she wrote with Taylor Swift while they were touring with Brad Paisley). Then she does "Don't Close Your Eyes" from her all-time favorite classic country singer Keith Whitley. She sounds phenomenal on each one. But she does let her quirky side come out a little in the interview at the end when she talks about her first cassette tape (George Strait) and her current cell phone ring tone (Hank Williams' "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It"). Her best anecdote is about her first concert at 16. She and a friend drove to Charlotte, N.C., to see Kenny Chesney and decorated a Honda to say, "Honk if you love Kenny Chesney." I've seen hundred of cars like that in concert parking lots, so it's funny to think that just about seven years ago, that could have been Pickler's.

Thank you, Sheryl Crow, for giving me a real legit reason to tune into the much-talked-about new show, Cougar Town. Until now, I've only heard bad things: Courteney Cox plays a divorced woman on the prowl for men and talks incessantly about sex with anyone who will listen, like her neighbor/friend Ellie and her assistant/friend Laurie. (Ellie is the young mom. Laurie is the slut.) Enter the always classy Crow, who will play a recurring romantic rival to Cox' character, Jules. The story is that Jules' mission to hook up with her neighbor Grayson will be thwarted by Crow's arrival. The series is one of those trashy indulgences you wish you didn't like, but you do. And having Crow on a few episodes will make it even more addictive. I can't wait to see if her character will be the girl so perfect you hate her or just another narcissistic cougar out to snag a boy toy.

Yesterday (Feb. 4) I wrote about Carrie Underwood's acting. Well, at least the 30 seconds I'd seen of it in her "Temporary Home" video. She seems like she is really taking that gift of hers seriously. Not only has she filmed an episode of How I Met Your Mother but now she's going to be in an actual movie. Remember that little girl Bethany Hamilton, the surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack when she was only 13? This movie, Soul Surfer, is about her, and Underwood will be playing the supporting role of a church youth leader. (Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid play Bethany's parents, and AnnaSophia Robb will be Bethany and will fare much better than she did in Bridge to Terabithia.) How Underwood is going to film a movie, go on tour all over America and Canada, plan a wedding AND THEN get married is beyond me. With a schedule like that, I wouldn't blame her at all if she turned into a bit of a bridezilla.

Photo credit: Larry Busacca/Getty Images

For me, Super Bowl XLIV will be only about three things: the seven-layer taco dip, the million-dollar commercials and the music. And this year, it is especially about the music and the singers I love. I'd already blogged about Carrie Underwood doing the national anthem, which will be flawless I'm sure. But now even Kenny Chesney is going to throw his two cents in on Sunday (Feb. 7), when he does the Sunday NFL Countdown on ESPN. "It's not like I'm the definitive voice or anything, but I do think I represent the definitive football fan. Me and the guys watch these games, live and die over who's playing who all season when we're closing out the tour -- and this is, obviously, the biggest game of the year," he said. He added that this Countdown show is "like doing the Grammys for football." So while the rest of the world will be rooting for the Saints or the Colts, I'll just be cheering on country music.

Photo credit: Ed Rode

Carrie Underwood has become such a cultural phenomenon, I'm not surprised people are starting to cover her songs when they audition for American Idol. This, however, surprised me. Haeley Vaughn, who is only 16, did Underwood's "Last Name" on Wednesday night's (Feb. 3) Idol auditions from Denver. And, man, did she do it well. She told the judges she was hoping she could be the first black pop-country kind of mainstream singer. (I do remember Rissi Palmer wanting that same kind of thing when she debuted with "Country Girl" in 2007, but she has only charted three singles, none reaching the Top 40.) The Idol judges seemed to buy Vaughn's dream, with Simon Cowell calling her "a cute little thing," Victoria Beckham saying she was "infectious" and Randy Jackson saying he liked her but warning, "Don't get too soundalike with Carrie Underwood."

Photo credit: Michael Buckner/FOX

Why does every man in Nashville seem to be so obsessed with having a man cave? Is it their God-given right or something? You never hear women bragging about their girl cave, do you? But if you are into that kind of thing, tune in Friday (Feb. 5) to watch Eric Church show you his. He and his wife Katherine will be giving you a personal tour of their newly-renovated home in Nashville for an episode of CMT Cribs. It will have more than the aforementioned cave, though. There's a homegrown backyard garden, and the master bedroom has separate bathrooms, which the couple admits is the secret to a happy marriage. I do love this series. How else am I ever going to see the deck off Dierks Bentley's master bedroom, Craig Morgan's wine cellar, Gretchen Wilson's John Deere Gators and Jason Aldean's pool?

Well, well, well. Isn't this the pot calling the kettle black? Adam Lambert fuses a Western string tie and sparkly jacket at the Grammys and that somehow gives him the authority to name the best and worst fashion moments at the show? ET apparently thought so when they gave him the microphone to cover the red carpet. He had faves: Pink, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Fergie and Rihanna. But then he had a few he didn't like, too, such as Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert. He named Miranda the worst dressed, calling her dress "Little Mermaid meets Bed Bath and Beyond." He added, "It looked like a prom dress you'd buy at the mall." I personally thought Miranda looked head-to-toe gorgeous, so I'd like to give country fans the opportunity to weigh in on her outfit. And his, if you'd like. Go for it, readers.

Photo credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Did you see that guy on the banjolin during Taylor Swift's performance at the Grammys? (The banjolin is a banjo with a mandolin neck.) Well, I knew he was not in her band, so I had to know who he was and what earned him the right to such a remarkable spot on stage.

That guy is this singer/songwriter/producer named Butch Walker. And after a career of writing and producing for himself and artists like Avril Lavigne, Pink, Lindsay Lohan, the Donnas, Fall Out Boy and All-American Rejects, he's way more into the alt-rock thing than he is country. But last November, he tried this experiment where he asked fans and followers on Twitter to tell him what song they wanted him to cover. And when the votes came in, he found himself covering Swift's "You Belong With Me." That live cover inspired him to film himself doing a stripped down version of the song with a banjolin. (This Walker is crazy multi-talented.) And then like most videos these days, it made its way around the Internet until Swift herself saw it and tweeted, "@butchwalker covered You Belong With Me and I'm losing my MIND listening to it! Blown away."

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Although the song is 15 years old, and it never went to No. 1, Reba McEntire continues to include the dramatic ballad, "And Still," in her set list. For example, it was a highlight of her recent Invitation Only episode on CMT, which comes out on DVD on Tuesday (Feb. 9). In this vintage video, McEntire portrays a missionary in Central America who crosses paths with a former boyfriend. As the home movies flicker in her imagination, the old flame suddenly burns her with an unexpected twist. To this day, that devastating surprise ending gets me every time. When McEntire accepted CMT's Johnny Cash video visionary award in 2004, she was asked which of her videos stuck out most in her memory and she mentioned this one. It's a favorite of mine, too. Check out "And Still."

Angie Haywood was one of those moms. The kind that loved her son enough to make him take piano lessons as a kid, despite his dislike of those lessons. But look at him now: playing the piano brilliantly at the Grammy Awards. "Do you know how good it feels when I see him up there, you know, on stage playing the piano?," she told a local TV station in Augusta, Ga. Every time Angie and Van Haywood see their son performing with Lady Antebellum on TV, like they did on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and then the Grammy Awards, it is hard to believe. "It's just surreal, is the best word for it. Can't get your mind around it," Haywood's dad said. But to make it all very real, the Haywoods showed off their son's ACM and CMA awards. It looks like the shelf has plenty of room for that new Grammy Award, too.

Photo credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images