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Entertainment behind the scenes
Taylor Swift snub bad business for country music awards show
The Academy of Country Music Awards ended their three-year winning streak as Sunday’s telecast fell short of last year’s surprisingly strong haul. Maybe organizers should blame Taylor Swift.
The three-hour CBS ceremony averaged 13.1 million viewers, down from a nine-year high of 14.8 million in 2009, but up from 11.7 million in 2008 and a record low of 9.3 million in 2007. While Carrie Underwood made history at the Las Vegas bash by becoming the first woman to win the coveted entertainer of the year prize twice, it was perhaps more notable that Swift did not win a thing. The country-crossover star, who was nominated five times, has taken home hardware from every big awards show in the past year. And in each case, her victory coincided with a ratings boost.
The Grammys hit a six-year high of 25.9 million viewers in January after Swift became the youngest artist to win the key album of the year award. Last November, the American Music Awards soared to a seven-year high of 14.2 million viewers when Swift won five awards including artist of the year. And at the Country Music Association Awards earlier that month, viewership rose to a four-year high of 17.2 million viewers after Swift’s clean sweep included entertainer of the year.
In September the MTV Video Music Awards achieved a five-year high of almost 9 million viewers, but Kanye West can probably claim a lot of the credit thanks to his on-stage rant after Swift won a statuette he said should have gone to Beyonce. At last year’s ACM Awards Kenny Chesney was the big winner. But Swift was honored for best new female vocalist and stole the show with a water-drenched performance.
“Idol” turns to Kara for winner’s first single
Adam Lambert and Kris Allen will be getting all the attention on Tuesday when they sing for the “American Idol” title. But new judge Kara DioGuardi will also be sharing the limelight.
Songwriter DioGuardi, who has worked in the past with Kelly Clarkson and co-wrote Ashlee Simpson’s hit single “Pieces of Me”, is credited as co-writer of “No Boundaries” — the new song that will be released as a single by the winner of the TV talent show, music industry sources say.
Carrie Underwood’s big night
Its only been four years since Carrie Underwood won American Idol, but it felt like a long-overdue coronation when she was named entertainer of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday night.
The 26-year-old superstar beati out Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley and George Strait, four of country music’s top-selling male artists, all of them at least a decade older, to cement her place as the biggest star of country music’s next generation.
Will Carrie Underwood steal Kenny Chesney’s crown?
Carrie Underwood has become country music’s biggest star since she exploded onto the scene after winning American Idol in 2005, but so far she’s been passed over as the Academy of Country Music’s Entertainer of the Year, which has gone to only six women in 39 years.
In fact in recent years, country superstar Kenny Chesney has had a lock on the Entertainer of the Year award, taking it home in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Carrie Underwood disses celeb political endorsements
Celebrities have come out in force during the long U.S. presidential race, hosting fundraisers, throwing concerts and performing at campaign rallies around the nation.
But not country star Carrie Underwood.
Unlike Barbra Streisand, who’s been doing a round of last minute radio station Q&As in support of Democrat Barack Obama, Underwood is staying mum.
