CMA Awards - The Great Outweighed The Questionable

The Country Music Alive fan site's Kirk Kitzgerald says it all for me this morning:

* Non-country performances from Elton John and Dolly, Willie Nelson with Paul Simon and Norah Jones, and Bon Jovi with Nettles were interesting, enjoyable, but easily forgotten in the vast history of the show.

* The memories for me tonight will be Glen Campbell's emotion in his face as it hit him, right on stage, the magnitude of accomplishment of being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

* Lee Ann Womack's powerful statement on stage when accepting an award saying "I love country music" and a plea to people that listen to music that doesn't mean anything to them, to give country radio a try.

* Of course, can't leave Gretchen Wilson out with tears in her eyes as she accepts Female Vocalist of the Year.

* Kenny Chesney opened the evening and set the mood for the show with "Living in Fast Forward." Highlights of the performances included Sara Evans performance of "Cheatin," Brad Paisley with "When I Get Where I'm Goin," Martina McBride's "Help Me Make It Through The Night," introduced by Kris Kristofferson. Alan Jackson performed the classic Eric Clapton song "Wonderful Tonight" and the stage was lit on fire around Miranda Lambert during the performance of "Kerosene." Garth Brooks' performed his tribute to Chris LeDoux from Times Square, along with hundreds of fans around the stage and traffic coming to a stop in the famous location. Yet another surprise from Brooks himself.

KBRJ, Anchorage's Big Joe Marshall's blog for his listeners has this review of the show.

Official Links:

Entertainer of the Year - Keith Urban
Female Vocalist of the Year - Gretchen Wilson
Male Vocalist of the Year - Keith Urban
Horizon Award - Dierks Bentley
Vocal Group of the Year - Rascal Flatts
Vocal Duo of the Year - Brooks & Dunn
Single of the Year" - I May Hate Myself in the Morning" (Lee Ann Womack, Produced by Byron Gallimore)
Musician of the Year - Jerry Douglas, Dobro
Album of the Year - "There's More Where That Came From, ("Lee Ann Womack, Produced by Byron Gallimore and Greg Droman, MCA Nashville)
Music Video of the Year - "As Good As I Once Was" (Toby Keith, Directed by Michael Salomon)
Musical Event of the Year" - Good News, Bad News" (George Strait with Lee Ann Womack, MCA Nashville, Appears on "Somewhere Down In Texas")
Song of the Year - "Whiskey Lullaby" (Bill Anderson and Jon Randall, Appears on "Mud on the Tires" Album)

The 39th CMA Awards Website