Congratulations are in order for young Ms. Taylor Swift who ended up taking home 4 awards, one for each nomination she received this year, at the 2009 Country Music Association Awards which took place at the Sommet Center in Nashville, TN last night. You may recall that Taylor ended up winning a pretty big award at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards back in September but her moment was trod upon by a very rude Kanye West, fortunately no such thing happened last night. Taylor became the youngest performer ever in CMA history to take home the biggest award of the night, Entertainer of the Year. Here are a few photos and some deets from her big night last night:
Kayne West may not be a fan, but applause and accolades from all other quarters keep rolling in for Taylor Swift. The 19-year-old singer last night became the youngest person and the first solo female act in a decade to win the Country Music Association’s entertainer of the year award. It was a triumphant night for the Love Story star who won all four awards for which she was nominated, including album of the year, female vocalist and best music video. And she couldn’t resist the chance to take a swipe at her most vocal critic as the audience, which included Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, cheered on. As she picked up the award for best female vocalist, she said: ‘I want to thank every single person in this room tonight for not running up on this stage during this speech – thank you.’ On a more emotional note, she added: ‘I’ll never forget this moment because in this moment everything that I have ever wanted has just happened to me.’ West infamously interrupted Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV VMA’s in September, declaring: ‘Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time.’ The rapper became the butt of several other jokes at the CMA ceremony held at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Co-hosts Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley performed the country standard Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys,’ but changed the lyrics to ‘Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be Kanye.’ They sang: ‘Let them pick guitars and drive them old trucks, ’cause cowboys have manners, they don’t interrupt.’ Later in the show there was another gag aimed at the rapper when Underwood told Paisley that his video Welcome To The Future was ‘one of my favorite videos of all time.’ As Paisley began to thank his video team, 88-year-old country crooner Little Jimmy Dickens walked out on stage to stop the speech. ‘Excuse me! Excuse me sir – I’ll let you finish later. Now Brad Paisley, I know you had a nice video and all that, but Taylor Swift made the best video of all time,’ Dickens joked. Swift managed to snap Kenny Chesney’s stranglehold on the entertainer of the year category: He won three straight and four of the last five.
HMMM … you know, as douchey as Kanye West is and as deserved as all the ridicule is, I can’t help but feel it’s a bit strange that an entire awards show would decide to gang up on him in this way. Again, don’t get me wrong … Kanye can be an ass and he could use a bit of humbling but there’s just something about all of this backbiting that seems odd. Mebbe it’s just a matter of the Country Music community rallying around Taylor … but methinks awarding her with all those trophies last night is a much better, more refined way to rally around her. For those interested, you can watch the funny old man doing the “Kanye gag” HERE … hopefully this will be the end of that tired old joke. All in all, tho, it sounds like Taylor had herself a really great night … I’ve come to be a fan of hers and I think it’s great that she walked off with Entertainer of the Year last night. She’s riding high these days … I hope she is really enjoying it all.
[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]
‘Kayne West may not be a fan’…he never said he didn’t like her. He just thought that someones video was better. I thought he was rude too…but I agree that this has gone too far. Taylor herself even said she was over it.
The country mafiazo family are searching for revenge that night, that`s all. They`re a little to old school to get over it. ugh
yeah they need to stop beating a dead horse. blech
CMA entertainer of the year award…almost as prestigious as the razzies. is this ‘show’ only boradcast in the bible belt?
i can’t wait to read Kayne’s ALL CAPITAL LETTER half-illiterate response to all of this.
Country is an odd genre, they all stick up for their own, despite their own little internal feuds. You never see anything like this in pop, hip hop, etc.
Now that the country community had their opportunity stick it to Kanye, it should be all over now.
Ooh yeah, Kanye was a jerk to her so that means people have to fawn over her all the more.
Since when was Taylor Swift actually good? I personally can’t stand her annoying teenage songs. Give me something real anyday. I highly doubt she even knows what she is singing about half the time.
PSH. I, personally, LOVE that they took as many cuts at Kanye as possible. i thought the whole thing was hilarious. If you can’t take the heat Kanye, stop being such an egotistical bastard.
Just sayin.
they really need to let it go. how immature could they be? i mean most country artist are older then say..the MTV crowd…so maybe its my fault for expecting a little more maturity from them.
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@Ria – this “show” was broadcast on ABC actually. Thanks for coming out though!
@cherr – I totally agree. I think every opportunity should be taken to remind Kanye West that he’s the biggest asshole in music.
@Nicola It seems to me like T. Swift probably has a pretty good idea of what she is singing about most of the time, since she wrote or co-wrote all of her songs. And what’s more real than selling more albums this year than any living artist in any genre? The only one to sell more records than Taylor is Michael Jackson.
I think the idea that “cowboys have manners” is a bit absurd. You already have Wynonna Judd saying that Taylor should not have won her awards. You had LeAnne Rhimes saying that about Carrie Underwood a couple of years ago. I don’t like the idea that the Kayne thing is being turned into a culture war. The country music industry is just as catty and rude as the MTV crowd.
I like Taylor but she dresses like an old woman! I can’t stand her hair. I mean, she’s only 19 but she dresses like a grandma most of the time. Anyways, I’m starting to think that Taylor is a little bit apparent when she knows when she’s going to win something. It’s sort of annoying. I like her but she kind of annoyed me last night even though I found her cute.
@ CHASE- Her hair is naturally curly and I have to say I like the fact that she doesn’t straighten it smooth or chop it all off and wear extensions.
Anyways, It’s a bit ridiculous that people don’t like that she won entertainer of the year. She sold more albums, had sell out concerts, and crossed over on to the pop charts. She also won an award from the VMA’s which is a show from the channel that isn’t even close to country.
The Kanye jokes were funny, but old. It’s the fact that Taylor is currently the genres’ little darling and they were sticking up for her. She’s had an amazing year and quite possibly did deserve the entertainer of the year. Female VOCALIST? I’m sorry, but, uh, no. The girl is a really talented songwriter, but singing live is not her forte…at all. That said, she did have an amazing night.
She seems like a nice enough girl but I still don’t get why she’s so popular. She can’t sing, her weird vendettas against her ex-boyfriends are so juvenile and petty and more importantly – none of her songs sound remotely country to me so it’s weird that she’s even classified in that genre. I feel like I’m missing something.
Not begrudging her any success but I just find it odd.
@Ria – really? Yea the jokes are old but it was a good show. Hoodie won a CMA! so that was cool.
Little Jimmy Dickins is an icon in the country music world. Regardless of how absurd the joke was and how “dated” it may come across – it was funny. HE is funny. I’m young, but I enjoy the little old guy’s humor. What’s wrong with poking fun at Kanye? At least that wasn’t the bulk of the SNL event …
soooo quick question…is that the dress she wore on SNL when she sang her second song? or just similar?