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Live-blog: ACM Awards

7 p.m.: Looks like the 43rd edition of the annual Academy of Country Music Awards are starting off with a solid shot of country-rock, with Checotah’s favorite daughter and the reigning ACM top female vocalist, Carrie Underwood, bringing her sassy new single, “Last Name.” She looks sharp in that white pantsuit with all the silver sparkles: Elvis would be proud, and this is Vegas after all. The song definitely suits the setting.

 This looks like an auspicious beginning to the evening, especially for Oklahoma country music fans.  

7:04: They just showed a few shots from the “orange” carpet, and it looks like Joe Don Rooney got back to Nashville for the awards. The Picher product was back in his hometown volunteering in the aftermath of the recent devastating tornado. The band will get the humanitarian award tonight.

7:05: Reba McEntire has taken the stage as hostess for the 10th time, and she’s already scorching the crowd with her jokes. She just informed everyone that she first hosted the ACMs in 1986, and she accused Taylor Swift, a ripe old 18, of looking at her like she just said she flew with the Wright brothers, which she did not. She looks absolutely stunning in her blue gown with that glorious red hair.

7:06: Ouch and ouch. Reba just quipped that when she started hosting Roger Clements wasn’t even interested in country music. I surely doubt that Mindy McCready is at the ACMs, and not just because of that sordid story. And I loved the point she made about an African-American and woman being up for the presidency but not for entertainer of the year. That’s once again an all-guys’ party even though there are so many powerhouse female stars in country music these days.

7:08: Toby Keith of Norman is on stage to perform his latest rollicking single, “She’s a Hottie,” which Reba dubbed “his touching tribute to the female gender.” I love her so much, and the song’s not bad. More of the rockified country, and we’re two for two on Oklahoma artists performing on the show.

7:13: “Without a Trace” actress Poppy Montgomery and “Mindfreak”/magical type guy Criss Angel are onstage to present the single record of the year award, setting the stage for a lineup of bizarre presenters for the evening. This is going to be a weird night if they keep doing this. Anyway, here are the nominees:

SINGLE RECORD OF THE YEAR [Award to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company]
• Don’t Blink
Kenny Chesney, Produced by Buddy Cannon, Kenny Chesney
BNA
• Famous In A Small Town
Miranda Lambert, Produced by Frank Liddell, Mike Wrucke
Columbia
• Lost In This Moment
Big & Rich, Produced by Big Kenny, John Rich
Warner Bros/WRN
• Stay
Sugarland, Produced by Kristian Bush, Byron Gallimore, Jennifer Nettles
Mercury
• Watching Airplanes
Gary Allan, Produced by Gary Allan , Mark Wright
MCA Nashville

The winner: Sugarland, who took about five minutes to get to the stage in the midst of all the huggy/kissfest. But they were very gracious about giving credit to their producer, whom Jennifer Nettles, dressed in a gown that had a bead factory exploded all over it, described as “part therapist-part magician.” Kristian Bush credited everyone with making their five-minute acoustic song a hit. It’s a great song and one of my favorites of the year.

The duo edged out Oklahoman Miranda Lambert of Tishomingo for the prize.

7:17: Reba says that you can still vote for entertainer of the year. Go to www.cbs.com or www.acmvote.com to do that.

7:20: Reba just announced that Brad Paisley’s “Online” won video of the year offstage somewhere. I hate it when they do that. In case you’re interested in who he beat, here are the nominees:

VIDEO OF THE YEAR [Award to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)]
• Don’t Blink – Kenny Chesney
Producer: Tacklebox Films
Director: Shaun Silva
• Lost In This Moment – Big & Rich
Producer: Big Kenny, Steve Lamar, Marc Oswald
Director: Deaton Flannigan
• Online – Brad Paisley
Producer: Frames Per Second
Director: Jason Alexander
• Stay – Sugarland
Producer: Kristian Bush, Byron Gallimore, Jennifer Nettles
Director: Shaun Silva
• Watching You – Rodney Atkins
Producer: Broken Poet Production
Director: Eric Welch

7:22: “Seinfeld” co-star Jason Alexander, who starred in and directed Paisley’s funny “Online” video, is here to introduce Brad singing his latest hit, “I’m Still a Guy,” which is hilarious. There definitely seems to be theme of rocking country with lots of humor in tonight’s performances.

Alexander got in a few pretty lame lines about leaving his “bedazzler” at home and feeling underdressed among all the rhinestones. (Of course, Jennifer Nettles’ dress could make Elizabeth I in full ruffled collar feel less than glitzy.) He also commented that country music is supposed to be full of people of faith, but he didn’t see any of them at synagogue. That was actually pretty amusing and not overly insulting.

7:27: Hot new group Lady Antebellum is onstage to present the top new vocalist award, which isn’t even really a contest. Check out the noms and you’ll understand:

TOP NEW FEMALE VOCALIST
• Sarah Buxton
• Kellie Pickler
• Taylor Swift

The obvious winner: Taylor Swift, whose self-titled debut has sold 3 million copies and is coming off a “Rolling Stone” cover and big wins at the CMT Music Awards.

She thanked her mom for giving up sleeping in her own bed to snooze on rental cars and in airplanes on the road with her musical 16-year-old daughter. Sweet.

And Taylor looked beautiful in her full white gown with golden sparkles that highlighted her blond tresses.

7:31: They just showed videotaped well-wishes from Jay Leno and “CSI: Miami” star Emily Proctor to Garth Brooks, who will be getting the first-ever Crystal Milestone Award later tonight.

7:32: The producers also just barely honored some of the country legends and trailblazers with some more of those hateful offstage awards. They basically flashed their name at lightning speed across the bottom of the stage while deep-voiced young talent Josh Turner talked about what’s coming up next.

Among those barely honored: The late Conway Twitty of OKC with the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award. I guess since he’s dead the ACMs don’t have to make much effort. The least they could have done is show his picture. Sheesh.

7:34: Blake Shelton has just come on stage to present his girlfriend, Miranda Lambert, who’s performing. He joked about the pressure on him to get it right: “God help me if I mess this up. The last thing I need is a ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.’” Yeah, especially one that lives just down the road in rural Tishomingo.

She’s performing her hit “Gunpowder and Lead,” continuing the upbeat, rock feel of the show. I mean, her bassist has a liberty spike mohawk. I’m sure there are some country traditionalists spinning in their graves.

7:38: Quartet Little Big Town, who won the prize last year, is here to give out the top new duo or vocal group prize. Here are the noms:

TOP NEW DUO OR VOCAL GROUP
• Carolina Rain
• Lady Antebellum
• The Wreckers

Winner: Lady Antebellum. This trio is on fire this year, so it’s not a big surprise. They want to know if they get to hang out with Kenny Chesney now. They are thanking everyone as fast as they can, including God, their families and radio for getting behind them so quickly, which they definitely have. They are saying they are very nervous, and who can blame them. They are very young and new to the biz. But a promising start for them.

7:45: Rodney Adkins, who as Reba just pointed out is waaaayyy country in accent, attitude and wardrobe (blue ballcap, jeans, T-shirt and guitar) is here to perform a medley of his hits, including his funny, touching and all-too-accurate song “I’ve Been Watching You,” “These Are My People,” “Cleaning This Gun (Come on in Boy),” and “If You’re Going Through Hell.” I’m not crazy about medleys like these. It seems like you just get into one song when they switch. But this will be the first of no less than two, since Garth is going to do one later.

7:49: Clay Walker and Brad Mates of Emerson Drive are here to present the top new male vocalist prize and warn him that he should be proud and not sell the award on eBay. Hey, guys, eBay is only for junk like cheese slices in the shape of Elvis. He needs to sell it at a garage sale if he’s going to put it on the market.

Anyway here are the noms:
TOP NEW MALE VOCALIST
• Luke Bryan
• Jack Ingram
• Jake Owen

The winner: Jack Ingram, who commented on what a long road it’s been to win a new male vocalist prize. That’s so true, I think Jack Ingram has been touring for almost a decade, so he’s not really new, just newly noticed. He dedicated the award to anyone who has ever come to one of his shows, played one of his songs on radio or taken anything positive from one of his shows. Then, he dared people to dream. Very nice.

7:57: They just played videotaped well-wishes to Garth from Dick Clark and Huey Lewis, who recorded a duet of his hit “Workin’ for a Living” with Garth. Wow, Dick Clark looks frail. He doesn’t look ever-young anymore. Sad.

7:58: Reba just introduced “the biggest ticket seller of this new century,” heartthrob Kenny Chesney, whose recent tootsy-smashing run-in with a hydraulic lift at a show she referenced in her opening monologue. He’s getting away from the country-rock theme, performing the low-key ballad “Better as a Memory,” which is sort of like the title track to his latest album “Just Who I Am.” (It features the album title in the oft-repeated chorus.) Doesn’t matter, you can still hear some screams from the ladies who love his tanness in the background.

8:02: It’s George Strait’s birthday, and in a bit of cosmic coincidence, he’s performing his 56th hit, “I Saw God Today.” It’s a beautiful song, and Reba says it’s one of her faves. And George Strait does not look 56. Geez, I should look that good – only more feminine, naturally – at 56.

8:06: Now, we’ve got George and Kenny together to perform their duet “Shiftwork,” which is one of two entries that Kenny has competing in vocal event of the year. It’s not my fave of those nominees – I prefer Reba and Kelly Clarkson’s “Because of You,” even it has been overplayed – but it does remind me of the mind-boggling number of noms Kenny has in this contest: 11 total, counting his producing creds. Must be the power of the tan.

There is a lot of handsome on that stage right now. I may swoon.

8:12: The inevitable has finally come to pass: Kenny has finally been featured in a Corona commerical. If anyone was made to star in a beer commercial on the beach, it is him. It’s a nice ad, very relaxing, but it still doesn’t make me want to drink Corona.

8:15: Kudos to the country music community for again remembering to pay tribute to the troops, with a standing O for all the troops protecting our freedom. Amen.

8:16: Sugarland is on stage with the premiere of their new single, “All I Want to Do.” Reba introduced Jennifer Nettles as the only person who can fit more syllables into one word than her, and she’s definitely living up to that distinction with this song. She looks fabulous in that black pantsuit with the long fringe on the legs, much better than the bead-attack gold gown from earlier. Kristian Bush looks pretty fly for a country guy in that polka dot black suit with cowboy hat. That looks like something Shannon Sharpe or Deion Sanders would wear on an NFL commentary. Without the topper, of course.

And … they topped a great performance by just jumping off the stage. It was cute, since it wasn’t a long drop and they then peeked sassily from over that little wall.

8:19: Here’s John Rich and Jewel to present album of the year. He’s joking that either she’s not Big Kenny or he needs some serious Lasik. With a grin, she replied, “Well, I shaved.”

Don’t know where Big Kenny is, but they’re here to present album of the year to one of these people and his/her work:

Album of the Year [Award to artist(s)/producer(s)/record company]
• “5th Gear” – Brad Paisley (Arista Nashville)
Produced by Frank Rogers
• “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” – Miranda Lambert (Columbia)
Produced by Frank Liddell, Mike Wrucke
• “Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates” – Kenny Chesney (BNA)
Produced by Buddy Cannon, Kenny Chesney
• “If You’re Going Through Hell” – Rodney Atkins (Curb)
Produced by Rodney Atkins, Ted Hewitt
• “Taylor Swift” – Taylor Swift (Big Machine)
Produced by Scott Borchetta, Nathan Chapman
# 6 Produced by Robert Ellis Orrall

The winner: Miranda Lambert, who seems absolutely shocked. She covered her mouth and said “Holy crap.” I’m surprised as well, since this was such as competitive category, but kudos to the ACMs for giving a top-level award to a talented female songwriter/performer.

“I don’t know what to say, I didn’t expect this at all. Sitting behind Kenny Chesney, I just don’t feel like I should be taking this,” she said. “Thank you so much to my fans and the industry for accepting me, even though I’m a little left of center.”

She thanked “my boyfriend for supporting me and telling me it’s OK to be who I am.” There were frequent cut-aways to Blake, since they are country’s current “it” couple.

8:21: Randy Owen of Alabama is onstage to talking about the one week of the year when Vegas goes country, and he likes it “because Vegas lets you play louder than any other city.” He’s introducing a taped montage of behind-the-scenes preparation activities for the awards show.

8:28: Continuing the theme of venerable country groups, here’s longtime hitmakers Brooks & Dunn to play their new song “Put a Girl in It,” one of my faves of theirs in a long time. Tulsan Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks still sound great after all these years, and they still look they’re having fun. They are nominated for duo of the year for what seems like the 1 millionth time.

8:30: Reba foreshadowed in her intro that the duo should follow their song’s advice and put a girl in their act. Country’s queen of the quick-change is out on stage in jeans and a sparkly black top belting along with them. That was fun, but I think we’re getting some more balance problems (see the comments from Kevin and me): I could barely hear Reba and she’s not exactly soft-spoken when she sings.

8:33: Clint Black and newcomer Julianne Hough are onstage to present the song of the year award. He told her not make any jokes about listening to “Killin’ Time” as a teen. Her response: “I would never do anything like that; I wasn’t even born yet.” Ouch. At least Miley Cyrus isn’t there to make everyone feel even older.

But they’re not there just to joke; they’re presenting song of the year, and here are the possibles:

SONG OF THE YEAR [Award to Composer(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]
• Don’t Blink
Kenny Chesney
Writers: Casey Beathard, Chris Wallin
Publishers: Lavender Zoo Music (BMI), Mama’s Dream Music (ASCAP), Sony/ATV Acuff Rose (BMI), WB Music Corp. (ASCAP)
• Lost In This Moment
Big & Rich
Writers: Keith Anderson, Rodney Clawson, John Rich
Publishers: EMI April Music, Inc. (ASCAP), Romeo Cowboy Music (ASCAP), WB Music Corp. (ASCAP), Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI), Writer’s Extreme Music (BMI)
• Moments
Emerson Drive
Writers: Dave Berg, Annie Tate, Sam Tate
Publishers: Gravitron (SESAC), WB Music Corp. (ASCAP)
• Watching You
Rodney Atkins
Writers: Rodney Atkins, Steve Dean, Brian White
Publishers: Bethar Music (BMI), Mike Curb Music (BMI), Multisongs (SESAC), Songs
From The White House (SESAC)
• Stay
Sugarland
Writer: Jennifer Nettles
Publishers: Jennifer Nettles Publishing (ASCAP)

The winner: Score another win for Sugarland’s “Stay,” which I love. Another outburst of hugging from the duo, and here comes Jennifer Nettles with the waterworks. She looks like she’s going to lose it.

But she holds it together enough to give a gushing but gracious speech:

“It means so much to me that you guys believed in and really accepted this song,” she said, thanking country radio and  everyone involved in making the hit. She also thanked everyone for taking a risk on a country song without drums.

She ordered Kristian to thank his wife, and he obliged and gave a few more thanks. She’s so funny.

8:40: Reba is introducing hot three-time platinum youngster Taylor Swift, who “tonight is just another girl in a hoodie.” She’s playing “Should’ve Said No,” her latest scathing breakup song. I would hate to analyze the history of this girl’s love life.

8:42: Well, Reba’s got some competition in the quick-change department. Two stage hands just grabbed and yanked away Taylor’s hoodie-and-jeans ensemble to reveal a short black dress. And now water is raining down on her, drenching her long hair, short black dress and everything else she’s wearing. Now, she’s getting a standing O and seems really embarrassed, like she’s thinking, “I can’t believe I did that.”

8:44: Brooks & Dunn, last year’s humanitarian award winners, are introducing a video of Rascal Flatts’ philanthropic efforts, since they are getting this year’s humanitarian prize.

But first, wily Brooks is going to get in some jokes, saying the band can’t come out because they’re voting for themselves for entertainer of the year and quipping, “Man, I was wanting to get in that water. Taylor gets to have all the fun.” He’s probably not the only one thinking something along those lines.

 Here comes Rascal Flatts to receive their award, and SHAME, SHAME, SHAME on the producers for trying to rush them offstage. Jay DeMarcus barely got his comments out before they were cutting to Dr. Phil and his wife and starting the go-away music, WHILE Joe Don Rooney was trying to talk about the Picher tornado. GEEZ. That’s very, very tacky. But kudos to the guys for standing firm and getting in their comments, even though Gary LeVox had to just speed-read his thanks and praise for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, a Nashville hospital they are huge supporters of.

Jay rather eloquently said: “We’ve been firm believer that if you give you get back and … we want to encourage everyone to give your blessings back and they’ll come back to you a hundredfold.”

Joe Don mentioned the recent Picher tornado, which took seven lives and basically leveled the small town. He praised the Red Cross’ efforts in the town ”Gary and Jay and I, all of our thoughts and prayers are with you right now back in my hometown.”

8:46: Dr. Phil and Robin McGraw are introducing the noms for top vocal duo, and they’re joking about how they’re welcome as long as they don’t say much. No joke, thoughtless ACM awards producers. Here are the noms:

TOP VOCAL DUO
• Big & Rich
• Brooks & Dunn
• Halfway To Hazard
• Montgomery Gentry
• Sugarland

Winner: Brooks & Dunn, who have won this award an incredibly ridiculous number of times. I’m a bit surprised since Sugarland is on such a roll tonight. But the guys definitely deserve it.

BTW, according to the ACM, it’s their 13th straight time to win this award. Wowzer.

Kix’s quip of the moment:  ”I’m glad Dr. Phil is here tonight because we’re going to need therapy after this.”

8:48: Trace Adkins is here to perform his touching song “You’re Gonna Miss This.” Reba got tongue-tied as she referenced his second-place finish on “Celebrity Apprentice.” I can’t believe that annoying Piers Morgan guy won, either. It’s enough to make me stutter, too.

8:56: Reba, stunning in a long, sparkly black gown, is introducing Crystal Milestone Award winner Garth Brooks and a video montage praising his accomplishments.

8:58: Garth is proving he’s still got the stuff. He’s dressed in his trademark outfit: black cowboy hat, brightly colored Western shirt (no word on whether it’s a Mo’ Betta, but it sure looks like one) and black jeans, and he is as energetic and enthused as ever. He’s performing a montage including “The Thunder Rolls,” “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” “Friends in Low Places,” “We Shall Be Free,” “The Dance,” and “Good Ride Cowboy.”

9:02: Mrs. Garth Brooks, fellow country star and Owasso resident Trisha Yearwood, takes the stage in an amazing (and revealing) blue gown to sing their duet “In Another’s Eyes.”

9:04: We’re cramming lots o’ songs into this montage, because Trisha is gone and Garth is on to “More Than a Memory,” “Rodeo,” and ”Ain’t Goin’ Down (Til the Sun Goes Up).”

9:05: Off comes the topper as he hits the big finish on “Ain’t Going Down.” Now, Reba is coming out to genuinely express her pleasure at presenting him with the inaugural Crystal Milestone. Still breathless, Garth starts into a rather rambling thank you:

“I just want to say thank you, this is about record sales, I hope it’s about music,” he said, thanking country music fans, retailers and radio. “I think like all children out there … I owe this to my mom and dad, who I think bought half those albums anyway.”

Oops, he just referred to Reba as “Miss Yearwood.” Eeeek. Blake Shelton is thinking, “better you than me, buddy.”

But after a hearty and embarrassed laugh by him and Reba and the audience, Garth is turning the attention to her, saying he wants to honor the great lady presenting the award to him, taking and bowing over her outstretched hand to say “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

Now, they’re walking off stage hand in hand with big smiles. No word on whether Trisha is gonna deck him for botching that business.

9:11: Fighting guy Kimbo Slice and “Big Bang Theory” actress Kaley Cuoco are there to (a.) be added to the list of the ACM’s weird and unlikely pairs of presenters and (b.) present vocal group of the year honors. Here’s the options:

TOP VOCAL GROUP
• Diamond Rio
• Eagles
• Emerson Drive
• Little Big Town
• Rascal Flatts

Winner: Rascal Flatts, who ties Alabama’s record for six straight wins in this category.

Joe Don is hugging Kimbo, so maybe he knows who he is.

Gary LeVox is thanking their fans, record label and country radio. “We want to give God all the thanks and all the glory.” At least he’s getting to talk this time.

Joe Don says, “I’m going to try to get home because I’ve got a baby coming soon so I got to get this show moving. I love you Tif, I’ll be home soon.” His model-wife Tiffany Fallon is apparently very preggers, since he said something similar at last month’s CMT Music Awards.

9:13: Country’s other famous soon-to-be daddy Keith Urban is off the stage and on crowd level surrounded by women, naturally, to perform his funky bilingual hit “Tu Compania.” With all the tongue clicks in the background, Bobby McFerrin must count this as his all-time fave country song.

9:16: CBS is getting carried away now with the home-team presenters, with “Rules of Engagement” star David Spade here to introduce Rascal Flatts’ performance. At least he’s pretty funny, joking in great detail about the huge size of the MGM Grand.

9:18: The trio is performing my favorite of their songs, their latest, “Every Day.” It’s especially fitting with their humanitarian award, since it’s a tribute to every day heroes helping others, including Red Cross workers helping in the wake of disasters. And go with the guitar solo, Joe Don. Make us proud!

9:22: Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley, the reigning ACM top female and male vocalists, are performing a tribute to country legend Eddy Arnold, who died earlier this month. Carrie, looking gorgeous in a lovely purple dress, is doing justice to Arnold’s biggest hit, “Make the World Go Away,” with Brad accompanying her with guitar and his voice. It’s very low-key and lovely. Carrie called him country’s first crossover artist, so this pair doing the tribute seems really fitting. And the video of Arnold crying while getting his legacy award made me mist up a bit. Lovely, classy tribute. Nicely done. Take note, Oscars and Grammys, this is how it ought to be done.

9:31: Sara Evans just introduced the world’s most famous beauty school dropout, Kellie Pickler, who’s performing “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful.” I love her sparkly black dress with all the layers on the full skirt, but I’m not feeling the hair. Her blond locks are usually so lovely, but she looks like she just crawled out of bed and slapped on that sparkly headband.

9:33: Mrs. Garth Brooks, or Miss Yearwood, or Reba – whoever she is – Trisha Yearwood is introducing the noms for male vocalist of the year. Here’s the options:

TOP MALE VOCALIST
• Rodney Atkins
• Kenny Chesney
• Brad Paisley
• George Strait
• Keith Urban

The winner: Brad Paisley, for the second year in a row. He’s thanking the fans and paying tribute to Buck Owens, whom his grandfather made him listen to as a kid, thereby getting him interested in country music.

“A singer is nothing without inspiration,” he said, thanking his wife, Kim, who isn’t there, their baby, Huck, for the first time, his parents, and “everybody else’s parents.”

I think he’s managed to thank everyone in the universe with that blanket statement.

9:40: They said a bit ago that the results of the voting for entertainer of the year will be announced coming up soon, so I’m guessing that we’re getting close to the end and that voting’s closed.

9:41: Reba is introducing LeAnn Rimes as someone that it’s hard to believe she’s been around so long and is still so young. So, with the requisite reference to Rimes’ country breakout at age 13, she can now perform the title track from her latest album, “Family.”

She looks 25, not 13, in that short black dress with her long blond hair loose.

I’m just curious: how old does she have be until we stop referencing her youth?

At least Reba was nice enough to say that she was “still young, still beautiful, still talented.”

9:45: Dwight Yoakam looks a bit stunted next to supermodel Carolina Kurkova, but despite his comments about height not mattering and such, it can’t be a hardship to stand next to a supermodel (if you’re a guy, that is).

They’re standing together to present the top female vocalist. There are two Okies among the options:

TOP FEMALE VOCALIST
• Miranda Lambert
• Martina McBride
• LeAnn Rimes
• Taylor Swift
• Carrie Underwood

Winner: Carrie Underwood for the second year in a row. Response:  ”Wow, God is good, God is good.”

“I would like to thank the most wonderful family in the world, I have the most wonderful parents, wonderful sisters and wonderful family.” She’s thanking everyone else involved in her career for “doing so much for me. I know I don’t deserve it, but I’ll take it.” She nearly forgot to thank the fans, but quickly said “Oh, the fans, duh,” and credited them with giving them everything she has.

9:48: Geez, no wonder these shows are so long, you get four minutes of commercials for every five minutes of show.

9:50: Reba is making cracks about Montgomery Gentry’s life-of-the-party hospitality suite and the duo is coming out to perform their song “Back When I Knew It All.”

9:55: The host gets the honor: Reba is coming out to reveal the winner of the top prize, entertainer of the year. Here are the choices (go Rascal Flatts, home state pride). It’s fan-voted for the first time this year, so let’s see if that changes the outcome any:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
• Kenny Chesney
• Brad Paisley
• Rascal Flatts
• George Strait
• Keith Urban

The winner: Kenny Chesney. The deeply tanned one is like the Terminator. He can’t be stopped. It’s his fourth straight year to win the top prize.

Kenny said this one is particularly special because it’s fan-voted, and thanked the fans, among many others, including his parents “for having sex all those years ago; they’re responsible for me being here now.” Yikes. Just because something’s true, doesn’t mean you have to bring up in front of everybody, you know.

9:57: Reba just thanked everyone for watching at home and warned everyone not to do anything in Vegas that would end up on YouTube. Excellent advice.

I’ll have your roundup in a bit, guys. Thanks for visiting the blog tonight. Drive safely. Don’t try to read your laptop while driving. I know you’re dedicated BAM’s Blog readers, but you can take that sort of thing too far, you know.

10:08: The hub and I were just realizing that they didn’t announce the vocal event award, which counts Reba and Kelly Clarkson and Vince Gill and Sheryl Crow among the competitors. I’ll see if I can find out who won that. Stand by, readers.

10:35: CMT.com is reporting that the vocal event of the year prize went to Tracy Lawrence, Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney for “Find Out Who Your Friends Are.” Here are the nominees, in case you’re interested, which apparently the ACMs weren’t really, judging from their failure to even mentioned this category in passing.

VOCAL EVENT OF THE YEAR [Award to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company]
• Because Of You – Reba McEntire Duet With Kelly Clarkson
Produced by Tony Brown, Reba McEntire
MCA Nashville
• Find Out Who Your Friends Are – Tracy Lawrence With Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney
Produced by Julian King, Tracy Lawrence
Rocky Comfort/CO5
• Shiftwork – Kenny Chesney Duet With George Strait
Produced by Buddy Cannon, Kenny Chesney
BNA
• Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore – Bon Jovi Featuring LeAnn Rimes
Produced by Dann Huff
Mecury
• What You Give Away -Vince Gill With Sheryl Crow
Produced by Vince Gill, John Hobbs, Justin Niebank
MCA Nashville

So, now that we’ve got that sorted, I’m going to add some pictures to this and give you guys a round-up of the awards.

Check out BAM’s Blog tomorrow, when I’ll get into The Oklahoman’s AP feed and pull some shots of the event itself for a special photo montage. It’ll sort of be like NBC’s One Shining Moment only without Bob Costas and the ultra-sappy music.

Thanks for watching the ACMs with me!

-BAM

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