44th Annual CMA Awards recap

Presented By: Shania Twain
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
* Kenny Chesney

Presented By: Reese Witherspoon
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
* Brad Paisley (2nd win & 8th nomination)

Presented by: Vince Gill
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
* Carrie Underwood (3rd win and 3rd nomination)

Presented By: Julianne Hough, Jimmy Wayne & Jake Owen
VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
* Sugarland

Presented By: John Rich & Heidi Newfield
VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
* Rascal Flatts

Presented by: Josh Turner & Lee Ann Womak
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
* Troubadour  George Strait (8th win in the category and his 18 total win)

Presented By: Nicole Kidman & Huge Jackman
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
* “I Saw God Today” George Strait; Tony Brown, George Strait

Presented by: Billy Ray & Miley Cyrus
SONG OF THE YEAR
* “Stay” Sugarland; writer: Jennifer Nettles

Presented By: Taylor Swift (last year’s winner)
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
* Lady Antebellum

Off Camera win – no presentation
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
* “Waitin’ On A Woman”; Brad Paisley; directed by Jim Shea

Off Camera win – no presentation
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
* Mac McAnally, Guitar

Hall of Fame 2008 Inductees:
Emmy Lou Harris, Tom T Hall The Statler Brothers & Ernest “Pop” Stoneman

Brad Paisely & Carrie Underwood did a fantastic job as hosts… Brad had a few great lines… here are a few:

Brad Paisley: I am honored to be here tonight because Some of the all the great men of this country hosted this show so I have some HUGE boots to fill… and i believe Dolly also hosted one year so…
On Taylor swift - “Talk about dedication … do you know she had to sneak out of the house to come here tonight.. she has a math test in the morning as well as a meeting with her accountants… so nobody and i mean NOBODY better tell her parents!”
On George Strait – “Hes had 42 nom & taken home 18 awards… and he has seen so much happen over the years… fire, the wheel, a man on the moon, Sugarland when they were a trio…”
Were in for a great evening and I want to say to all of the nominees here…no one here is a loser…. yet
On Nicole Kidman - “She’s the woman that captured Keith Urban’s heart and since they just had a baby together, I’m guessing the rest of him as well”
On Kenny Chesney: “I’m sharing a dressing room with this next performer and I’m so tired of vacuuming up sand… KENNY”
On Martina McBride – “There isn’t any one who doesn’t love the voice of our next performer… except maybe her kids when they get a bad report card or something… but even then getting screamed at in 3 octaves .. in key… that must be amazing…”

And a few other side notes:

Brooks & Dunn & Reba performed “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” Fantastic!

Kelly Pickler’s dress was so short that poor Nicole Kidman & the rest of the first two rows now know her a little better than I think they wanted to.

Elaborate set for Taylor’s “Love Story” you can finally tell that an 18 year old star is actually 18. A castle set, people dressed in medieval dress & the dress change on stage woulda made Reba proud. She apparently borrowed Miley’s boyfriends too… Justin Gaston was he prince at the end of the song

Kid Rock… All Summer Long

What was Jay Demarcus wearing??… He apparently knew it was bad because he commented on stage while Rascal Flatts was accepting the Group of the year: “I’m glad this happened in the beginning of the show so I have time to get Mamaws curtains back in time.”

Leslie Potter was the Military wife who came out before Carrie Underwoods “This is just a dream” that brought the house to its feet and tears to the eyes of most everyone there and watching on TV.

“Mamma its really hard to sing when your sitting in the 3rd row and crying” ~ Carrie Underwood while accepting Female Vocalist of the Year