CMA Awards 2012
Even earnest Taylor Swift isn’t completely immune to a few friendly jabs from her country music brethren.
On Thursday night’s CMA Awards, Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley took the opportunity as the night’s hosts to poke fun at Swift’s notorious love life in their opening monologue.
“Brad and I were backstage talking about what a strange year this has been” – Underwood began.
“Just look at sports, I can’t keep track of all these trades” – Paisley quipped.
Underwood pointed out that Tim Tebow is now playing for the New York Jets and the two bantered before steering the conversation toward the “Begin Again” singer.
“The greatest trade of the year had to be the Kennedy family. They somehow traded Arnold Schwarzenegger for Taylor Swift” – Paisley deadpanned. “I mean, what they got for that …”
CMA Awards.
She may not have taken home any awards at the 2012 Country Music Awards last night, but Taylor Swift’s powerful, emotional performance of “Begin Again” make her a winner in our books yet again. In a lady-like red dress with a Parisian backdrop, the “Red” singer performed a heartfelt rendition of her single about finding new love.
Blake Shelton was the big winner at last night’s awards, where Taylor was nominated for three awards – Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year and Musical Event of the Year. She lost to Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert and Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw, respectively.
The timing of the performance was appropriate, as Swift recently announced her break-up with boyfriend Conor Kennedy. In an interview in the December issue of Cosmopolitan, the star says of her past relationships – “I can’t deal with someone wanting to take a relationship backward or needing space or cheating on you… I just don’t ever want to end up in a relationship that isn’t fair ever again.”
Blake Shelton was absolutely shocked to win CMA Entertainer of the Year given the stiff competition he faced in that category. ”There’s Taylor Swift right there. I mean, really? This is pretty dumb that there’s anybody else nominated” – Shelton said backstage Thursday night.
Shelton’s big win came in large part because of the massive exposure he’s gained as a coach on NBC’s “The Voice,” but he stressed that country music is still his first priority.
“I’ve got so much more I want to do” – Shelton said of his music career. “I’m still trying to figure out how to even schedule all the things that I want to do.”
Though being on “The Voice” takes away from Shelton”s tour schedule a bit, he said: “That’s about it, you know. I still make records, and I still tour as much as I can.”