Paisley and Swift big winners at CMT Awards

VILLE – June 16, 2009 – It was a live and loud evening packed with great performances and memorable moments at tonight’s 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS as Brad Paisley and Taylor Swift emerged as the night’s biggest winners with three and two wins, respectively. Paisley took home top honors for MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR (“Waitin’ On A Woman”), COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR (“Start A Band” with Keith Urban), and CMT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR, along with Alan Jackson, George Strait and Dierks Bentley (for Alan Jackson’s “Country Boy” from CMT GIANTS: ALAN JACKSON). Taylor Swift brought home FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR and the night’s highest honor for VIDEO OF THE YEAR (“Love Story”). Swift swept both of these categories for the second consecutive year.

For the seventh consecutive year, Rascal Flatts won GROUP VIDEO OF THE YEAR (“Every Day”); while Sugarland captured DUO VIDEO OF THE YEAR (“All I Want To Do”), which marks their third consecutive win in the Duo category. Kid Rock won WIDE OPEN COUNTRY VIDEO OF THE YEAR (“All Summer Long”); Zac Brown Band was this year’s winner of USA WEEKEND BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO OF THE YEAR (“Chicken Fried”); and director Trey Fanjoy won VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR for her entire body of work over the last year, which included Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.”

Hosted by actor/comedian Bill Engvall, the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS kicked off with an opening sketch featuring the widely-talked about collaboration between rap artist T-Pain and Taylor Swift, rapping to a new version of Taylor’s hit “Love Story,” called “Thug Story.” “T-Sweezy” rapped such lines as “you don’t wanna fight me in my extra-small white T.” Directed by Peter Zavadil, the T-Pain/Taylor Swift segment is available here.

Dierks Bentley kicked off the live show with his newest hit, “Sideways,” Darius Rucker introduced his third single, “Alright,” and was followed by Lady Antebellum, who reenacted the video for their nominated song, “Lookin’ For A Good Time.” Brad Paisley performed his 10th consecutive and current #1 song, “Then”, and Taylor Swift recreated the video for her top 10 hit ”You Belong With Me.”

In addition, a number of surprise performances marked the evening as Sugarland took the stage with Atlanta neighbors the B-52s for a confetti-filled version of their hit “Love Shack.” Keith Urban ventured into the crowd with his #1 single, “Sweet Thing,” and then later joined Jason Aldean onstage for his rockin’ #1 hit, “She’s Country.” Trace Adkins performed his touching single “You’re Gonna Miss This,” and Rascal Flatts kept the show rolling with their latest single, “Summer Nights.” Kellie Pickler performed “Best Days Of Your Life” and Toby Keith followed with his #1 smash “God Love Her.” Taylor Swift and Def Leppard closed the show with a recreation of their CMT CROSSROADS performance of “Pour Some Sugar On Me.”

Joining Bill Engvall onstage were presenters Randy Jackson and Kellie Pickler; Alison Krauss and Ted Nugent; Martina McBride and actor Luke Wilson; T-Pain and Toby Keith; Dancing With the Stars champions Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas; and Kid Rock and model Karolina Kurkova. Additional presenters included CMT hosts Katie Cook and Lance Smith; the SINGING BEE’s Melissa Peterman and Dierks Bentley; Rodney Atkins, Billy Currington and Julianne Hough; Tennessee Titans’ Kerry Collins and Heidi Newfield; ventriloquist Terry Fator; and CAN YOU DUET judge Naomi Judd and The O’Reilly Factor’s Bill O’Reilly.

For the second year in a row, the CMT MUSIC AWARDS featured a second concert stage sponsored by Nationwide Insurance that included such up-and-coming artists as Jason Michael Carroll, Carter Twins, Eric Church, Eli Young Band, Gloriana, Joey + Rory. These six acts combined with the 13 main stage performances marked a record 19 total performances at the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS, all within a two-and-a-half hour time period.

CMT.com simulcast the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS live, blogged and tweeted from the red carpet and backstage. Exclusive content can be found on CMT.com and CMT Mobile and CMT will later bow the awards on its digital all-music channel, CMT Pure Country, and the HD network, Palladia.

A record seven million votes were cast online at CMT.com and on mobile to determine who walked away with trophies. The evening’s winners are as follows:

VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Best video of the year; awarded to the artist (male, female, group/duo or collaboration) and the video director. Final nominees announced during live telecast, with final voting held online at CMT.com during the show.

• Taylor Swift - “Love Story” (Director: Trey Fanjoy)

MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Best video by a male artist; awarded to the artist

• Brad Paisley - “Waitin’ On A Woman”

FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Best video by a female artist; awarded to the artist

• Taylor Swift - “Love Story”

GROUP VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Best video by a group; awarded to the artists

• Rascal Flatts - “Every Day”

DUO VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Best video by a duo; awarded to the artists

• Sugarland - “All I Want To Do”

USA WEEKEND BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Best video from an artist's major debut album; awarded to the artist (male, female, or group/duo)

• Zac Brown Band - “Chicken Fried”

COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Best video that featured a special collaborative appearance by artists; awarded to the artists (individual, group or duo)

• Brad Paisley with Keith Urban - “Start A Band”

CMT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

Musical performance on a television show, series or variety special on a broadcast or major cable network; awarded to the artist (individual, group or duo)

• Alan Jackson, George Strait, Dierks Bentley and Brad Paisley - “Country Boy” from CMT GIANTS: ALAN JACKSON

WIDE OPEN COUNTRY VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Best video from an artist outside the mainstream of country music; awarded to the artist (male, female, group/duo or collaboration)

• Kid Rock - “All Summer Long”

VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

Best video director of the year; awarded to the director for his or her body of work from the past year

• Trey Fanjoy (directed Taylor Swift’s winning video, “Love Story”)

The 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS will encore Tuesday, June 16 at 11:30 p.m.; Wednesday, June 17 at 12:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.; Friday, June 19 at 12:00 a.m.; Saturday, June 20 at 5:30 p.m., and Sunday, June 21 at 8:00 p.m. The 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS RED CARPET SPECIAL will re-air on Saturday, June 20 at 4:30 p.m. All times listed are ET/PT.

The 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS is produced by Tom Forrest and Taillight TV, and directed by Alan Carter. John Hamlin and Margaret Comeaux serve as executive producers for CMT.