CMT Music Awards 2011
With another year’s tribute to the best in country music having come to a close, the winners of the 2011 CMT Music Awards were named in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday night – June 8.
The Kid Rock hosted event (which was held at Bridgestone Arena) saw Taylor Swift take home the top honor of Video of the Year for ‘Mine,’ which was voted on by fans.
Upon being named as the CMT victor, Miss Swift was brought in via video where she thanked her many loyal supporters from Milwaukee – where she’s currently located for her ‘Speak Now’ tour.
Other big winners at the CMT Music Awards included Blake Shelton as Male Video of the Year for his hit single ‘Who Are You When I’m Not Looking’ while Miranda Lambert garnered Female Video of the Year for ‘The House That Built Me’.
As for the show, the audience was treated to performances including The Band Perry’s rendition of ‘Love the Way You Lie’/'You Lie’ and Toby Keith’s ‘Made In America’, as well as duets by Kid Rock with both Wynonna Judd and Sheryl Crow.
Top country acts such as Sugarland, Zac Brown Band, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts and Luke Bryan also churned out performances while celebrities such as Nicole Kidman, Scotty McCreery, Cheryl Hines, Kristin Chenoweth and Justin Bieber were among those on-hand for the festivities.
The show was closed out with an energetic offering by Jason Aldean and Ludacris – who performed Aldean’s hit song ‘Dirt Road Anthem’.
- CMT Music Awards 11.
Nashville, Tenn. — Ludacris made a surprise appearance, as did Sheryl Crow’s underwear. Lady Antebellum laid down a funky beat with Charles Kelley doing a Don Henley impression. And a sassy Wynonna Judd put Kid Rock in his place.
Actress Kristin Chenoweth’s first CMT Music Awards left quite an impression Wednesday night.
“This show is entertaining” – Chenoweth said. “I think the Oscars could learn something from it.”
Recent trends continued as Taylor Swift’s fans gave her the night’s top honor (the fan-voted video of the year award for ‘Mine’) Miranda Lambert’s ‘The House That Built Me’ continued its extraordinary run and Lambert’s new husband, Blake Shelton, was the night’s only multiple winner. As often is the case at the CMT Awards, though, the show was as memorable for its unlikely mashups and celebrity cross-pollination moments as for its winners.
Let’s start with Crow’s underwear, which made a brief appearance after she sang ‘Collide’ with host Kid Rock. The singer wore a short, white skirt as she sat on a stool alongside Kid Rock and briefly flashed the camera as she stood up. It happened in a blink of the eye, but in the age of DVRs the moment went viral on Twitter, something Crow acknowledged about an hour later when she and Sara Evans presented an award.
“Well, at least you were wearing underwear” – Evans told Crow.
“I was wearing underwear because I’m good, clean, wholesome family fun” – Crow joked.
For the 2011 CMT Music Awards, the Zac Brown Band took to the stage (complete with sand, sun and surf) to perform their new single ‘Knee Deep.’ It was definitely a fun performance and quite a bit different from their hits ‘Chicken Fried’ and ‘As She’s Walking Away.’ “Knee Deep” is their second single off their second studio album, ‘You Get What You Give.’
Unfortunately, Jimmy Buffet could not grace the stage with the Zac Brown Band. Buffet collaborated with the band on the radio version of the song, but was not at the CMT Awards Wednesday night – June 8.
The Zac Brown Band was up for two awards for their ‘Colder Weather’ video – Video of the Year and Group Video of the Year, but they did not take home either award. ‘Colder Weather’ was the first single off their newest album.
We’ll post video just as soon as we have it. For now, here’s the audio of the song.