CMT Blog: Shows

Taylor Swift is going to be both the host and the musical guest on Saturday Night Live this Saturday (Nov. 7). Is that even possible, for someone to perform country music AND be truly funny in the skits?

Yes. And I know this because of Garth Brooks. He did the same double duty when he was at the top of his game, and I think really surprised everyone with a sense of humor that seemed to come very naturally. Like when he's being teased backstage by the irresistibly sexy Mango (Chris Kattan). Or when Tracy Morgan is totally bad-mouthing Chris Gaines right to Garth Brooks' face. "He's a weedy beedy bing bong freak. And he's soft. He's fat. If you were that big, they'd be calling you Girth Brooks." But the very best was when Garth played Milo Jenkins, who sells his soul to the devil (Will Ferrell) to write him a hit song. Like "Fred's Slacks." It might be hard for Swift to beat that. But she has taken Garth Brooks' advice before, so I'm guessing she'll follow in his footsteps again this weekend. She told MTV she wanted to look nothing like herself. "I told all the writers, 'Don't count anything out. I want to go completely, 100 percent in.'" Then she said cast member Kristen Wiig was one of her comedic inspirations. Which really makes me hope they do a skit with Wiig as the one-upper, trying to one-up Swift. Like, "You got a songwriting deal when you were 14? I got one when I was still in my mother's womb." Or, "Both your albums went platinum four times? My albums have gone platinum, like, platinum times. Elvis was totally jealous." And they'd have to do something about Kanye. "Kanye West barged in on your VMA speech? He barges in on me more. He barges into my house, my dressing room, my car. He's obsessed with me. He thinks I'm the greatest comic of all time."

That's all the time she had, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from asking Kellie Pickler every single question I had about her appearance this Sunday (Nov. 8) on ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. And then some. Luckily, I talk fast and she talks even faster. She called me from Nashville, and we jammed as many Qs and as we could into our allotted time.

CMT.com: What was it like telling the Terpenning family they were getting a new house?
Pickler: It was one of the most beautiful things. That family is so deserving, so it was such a blessing. The whole show is about embracing one another and coming together. One of the most emotional parts was seeing 200 people marching down the street to come and help.

Read more...

Nothing says the CMA Awards are in town like pecan logs and apple butter. So the folks at Cracker Barrel are setting up a temporary store right in downtown Nashville from Nov. 7-12. It's really to celebrate the Alan Jackson Collection with more than 40 items like clothes, jewelry, CDs and rocking chairs. So if you want to browse around for all things Alan Jackson and get an autograph from Jackson himself, go to the corner of First Avenue and Broadway between 9 and 11 a.m. on Tuesday (Nov. 10). Actually, go earlier than that. Fans are encouraged to line up as early 6:00 a.m. to get a ticket for a place in line. (Like an estate sale, only countrier.)

It feels like the whole world is counting down the days until the CMA Awards. I know I am. There are seven days left, as of right this minute. And starting today (Nov. 4), Jake Owen is going to be helping country fans get ready for the Nov. 11 fete-of-all-country fetes on ABC.com.

They'll do this daily five-minute Webisode thing called The Countdown to Country Music's Biggest Night. He'll do some behind-the-scenes stuff, bring us exclusive updates and get the scoop from some of the biggest stars up for the most coveted awards. How does he feel about this cool diversion from his normal work schedule? "It's cool to be able to hang out with my artist buddies and show off Nashville," he told me. "This year is a big year for me, too, because I'm nominated for best new artist. So hosting the show just builds up the anticipation for the CMAs."

Read more...

When Faith Hill was on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday (Nov. 2), I knew she'd probably talk about her new parfum. But what I didn't know is that she would also be giving away her secrets for staying in such fabulous shape. And they are: cardio, elliptical, Pilates, old-fashioned lunges, chasing after three kids and picking up Tim McGraw's laundry. Well, technically, she didn't call that last one exercise. But she did say that in the new home they just built, she tried to make it easier for her hubby to actually put his own laundry in the hamper but that it hasn't really worked out quite the way she wanted. "One thing I did try to do was put the hamper in his closet, a little closer to where he might actually hit it occasionally," she said. So I guess that means that even after selling 40 million albums, McGraw is just another mere mortal who leaves dirty socks on the floor.

Nobody has proclaimed it Carrie Underwood month in any official capacity. But when you look at her schedule, it's very clear that she owns November. There was her performance (in a gray dress and purple tights!) on Good Morning America this morning (Nov. 3) to celebrate the release of Play On, and on Thursday (Nov. 5) she'll be hanging on Live! With Regis & Kelly. She does Good Morning America again from Nashville on Nov. 11 -- the morning of the CMA Awards. Then oh yeah, she's hosting that ceremony on Nov. 11. The night after that, an A&E: Biography of her life will air. After that, it's The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien on Nov. 16, The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Nov. 18, Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Nov. 19 and a performance on the American Music Awards on Nov. 22. And then? God willing, she will get some much needed R&R after the whirlwind that comes with promoting what I'm sure will be another multi-platinum album.

You have to wait 12 more days until the actual special premieres on Nov. 10. But right this minute you can get some very cool behind-the-scenes interview footage from In The Spotlight With Robin Roberts on ABC. She went down south to get the inside scoop on Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw and more. But in a special section on their Web site today are great mini-clips with plenty of stand-out moments. Like Underwood telling Roberts, "I remember the day people started treating me differently. You say to yourself, 'I'm thirsty,' and somebody brings you water." And then McGraw giving Roberts a tour of his 900-acre farm and the big old house where he and his Dancehall Doctors rehearse. Then she even gets a few stars to sing bits of their favorite country songs: Reba McEntire does Steve Wariner's "The Weekend," Darius Rucker does Radney Foster's "Easier Said Than Done," and Underwood does "Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On" by Mel McDaniel, a fellow native of Checotah, Okla.

She doesn't two-step. She doesn't shake her booty. She doesn't bust a move. Really, other than throwing her head around when she plays guitar and occasionally skipping across the stage in concert, Taylor Swift never tries to do much dancing to her own music. So why, oh, why are there people gliding across the dance floor in formal wear?

Read more...

Maybe he thinks one of his fans will be just the good luck charm he needs to win all the CMA Awards he is nominated for. Or maybe he's just nice. Either way, enter this contest if you want Keith Urban to foot the bill for you and a friend, spouse, sister or miscellaneous fan to come on down to Nashville for the CMA Awards on Nov. 11. You can win two really good tickets plus a gift bag with "apparel and commemorative merchandise." (There's no mention of airfare and hotel so I guess if you are out of town you'd have to pay for that yourself.) And it doesn't say this on the entry form, but if and when Urban goes onstage to accept any awards, I think you are obligated to hoot and holler the loudest.

The endearing (or annoying) thing about Twitter is it's just so random. Telling people your every move? Weird to do it, and even more weird to read it. But when you have 46,000 people following you, like Martina McBride does, your tweets become relevant because you have fans who really do care. So McBride shared a few things throughout the past week that matter: Yesterday she said, "JUST found out ... the show I did w/ Oprah airs October 26th! Yaaay!" Before that she talked about her new show for ABC, saying, "Big day today. Shooting all day for abc special called In the Spotlight With Robin Roberts. Wanna show my everyday life ... but w/ makeup. :)" She also tweeted about something that drives her (and me, by the way) crazy: "My newest pet peeve is when u call someone on their cell phone and they don't answer. So then u text them and they text u right back."