CMT Blog: CMT Music Awards

I know, I know. You're probably thinking what I was thinking. The world needs another country music awards show like we need another song about cane poles and fishin' holes. But if you really think about it, how much can it hurt? It's not like a fourth awards show will diminish the first three. Those already have their niches. (CMAs = good times in Nashville, ACMs = good times in Las Vegas, and CMT Music Awards = good times celebrating the videos and not just the music.) So this rookie show, the fan-voted American Country Awards, will be in Las Vegas and will air live on FOX on Dec. 6. The producer behind it is the same one who does the Teen Choice Awards, so he was probably thinking he'd like to put some of that success on his slice of the country pie. And I'm thinking the more classy country shows we have on television, the better.

Photo credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Darius Rucker wants to hear your song. Your best song, in fact. The one you wrote and have been dying to get a top-notch talent to listen to and give you feedback on. A mentoring session with Rucker is the grand prize in this year's Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) Song Contest that runs now through Oct. 31. Its mission is to give unsigned songwriters the help they need to become big-time hit makers. So you submit your songs, and some of Nashville's top writers and song publishers will narrow the list down to a group of finalists and announce a winner. Then fans will vote early next year for their own favorite. Even if you don't win the session with Rucker, you could win other prizes like a one-song demo, tickets to the 2011 CMT Music Awards, a private tour of CMT studios, a performance at The Bluebird Café, meetings with industry hotshots and more. So enter. It doesn't even have to be a country song. And it only costs $35 per song ($45 for non-members).

LeAnn Rimes cranked up the energy level at last week's CMT Music Awards when she previewed her new single, a cover of John Anderson's 1983 hit, "Swingin'." Her new album will be released later this year. Through her "Posted" page at CMT.com, Rimes took the time to answer questions fans submitted by voicemail and via Twitter.

Voicemail: Love the new single! When can we expect the video?

Rimes: The video will debut this weekend on CMT's New Music Weekend! Its super fun and campy. I love it!

Voicemail: What's your favorite summertime hit of all time?

Wow, that's hard. Maybe, Bryan Adams "Summer Of 69."

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I had an amazing time this week at the CMA Music Festival! Things got kicked off early with the CMT Music Awards show. I got to perform on the Nationwide stage and actually took home the Nationwide award due to the fans voting! So thank you for voting for me! The next day we had a No. 1 party for "The Man I Want to Be" that was open to my fans. People showed up in force and the two songwriters, Brett James and Tim Nichols, were both there. My band and I played a few songs and I am still humbled by the legendary Gene Watson getting on stage and singing "Mama Tried" with me as a duet. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience all the way around. I was also surprised with a plaque commemorating 500,000 digital transactions of "Gettin' You Home." Amazing! The next two days kept me busy with a HUGE crowd at Riverfront Park, playing the Opry guitar auction, my annual fan club party/birthday celebration (had an awesome time guys) and the CMT Fan Social at the Wildhorse Saloon. Finally, on Sunday (June 13), I signed in the booth without stopping from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. I was so excited that many people wanted to come by and see me. It was an amazing experience and I hope I get to do it again next year!

When I was on the red (blue) carpet last week before the CMT Music Awards, this adorable Australian country singer Shea Fisher told me that her favorite video of all time was LeAnn Rimes' "Nothin' Better to Do." I agreed it was a great video because Rimes can be so entertaining when you stop paying attention to the gossip and just focus on her singing. So when Rimes came out during the awards show to perform her new single, a cover of John Anderson's 1983 "Swingin'," it all became perfectly clear again how fabulous she is onstage. She sang that song like it was her own, threw her rich vocals into it, gave it a saucy sexy spin AND did three cartwheels. Not that I was counting or anything. Her next album, Lady and Gentlemen, will be all covers. On her Twitter page, Rimes says she is "Super excited," so I can't wait to hear more of that. She also wrote that the album will be released on vinyl on Sept. 30 and all other outlets on Oct. 5, for those of you who haven't gone all retro and bought vintage record players.

Well they definitely have the kissing part nailed. I'm sure you all saw Carrie Underwood give her fiancé Mike Fisher a big smooch when her name was announced as the big winner at the CMT Music Awards on Wednesday (June 9). But other than the you-may-now-kiss-the-bride part, it's not like Underwood's been obsessing over the details of her upcoming wedding ceremony. She told People magazine, "We'll just show up. It's mainly about family and friends and the two of us. So it's going to be good no matter what." She admits she does have a wedding planner who is handling most of the details. "We have a dress and stuff but most of the things are like, whatever," she said. I hope she stays that calm, cool and collected when the big day gets here.

Photo credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

The whole who-are-you-wearing thing really shouldn't be an issue at awards shows, but it is. I guess it's just human nature that everyone wants to check out everyone else. And if it's a crime, I'm kind of guilty of it, too. I got as dressed up as I could to work, not walk, the blue carpet at last night's (June 9) CMT Music Awards, and some of the media around did ask the outfit questions and dole out the compliments. But I will say this. The styles I noticed most were the strapless dresses on the women because they looked so comfortable in the heat and humidity. A lot of the men were wearing the Johnny Cash-ish all-black suit, shirt and tie get-up. (See photos.) Trust me, they were all sweating like crazy. Or as they say in the South, they "glistened." But MTV.com has all the details on who wore what, and how Miranda Lambert's dress sparkled, Faith Hill went boho with a floral J. Mendel gown and how Taylor Swift's hair was sleek and straight while Snooki's pouf was high and mighty.

Photo credit: Ed Rode

Yes, he smoked. Yes, he made some snide remarks that might've been a little inappropriate for a family show. Kid Rock did all those bad-boy things right. But here is why he was the perfect host for the CMT Music Awards. During his 10-second speech at the very end, he said this: "As a music lover, if it looks good you'll see it. If it sounds good, you'll hear it. If it's marketed right, you'll buy it. But if it's real, you'll feel it." I don't know if the show's writers wrote that for him or if he came up with it on his own, but it felt genuine to me. And that's the power of music and of Kid Rock. He may not be the countriest guy out there, and he wasn't an obvious choice as host. But you can tell that to him, music is all that matters. And to me, that matters.

Before Keith Urban strolled into the CMT Music Awards last night (June 9), he greeted as many astonished country fans as possible, going up and down the rows of tourists at the Bridgestone Arena and even hopped a fence to say hi to even more people. Asked backstage why he was so determined to connect, he replied, "They've been waiting out there all day and it was pouring rain earlier. If you're standing in the front, you're hoping to get a chance to meet everybody. So I think you just make time to do it, or you're putting the cart before the horse." Urban won the fan-voted CMT Music Award in the male video category for "'Til Summer Comes Around." Yet for those lucky folks who got up close and personal before the show, this summer will be pretty hard to beat.

Everyone saw Luke Bryan's reaction when he won <I>USA Weekend</I> Breakthrough Video of the Year at last night's (June 9) CMT Music Awards. He jumped up out of his seat. He ran to the stage. And he tossed his jacket into crowd (even though he thought maybe his cell phone was in there). He was so happy with it all, and he gave a sweet acceptance speech, even thanking his wife for letting him act like he was in love with another woman in the video for "Do I." But not everyone saw what I saw six hours later when I ran into Bryan at an after-party. He was still on cloud nine, still gushing over how many people made that video happen, still kind of in shock and still just as genuinely blown away by the win at he was during the broadcast. It was nice to see an artist's appreciation be so real and last so long.