And the big winner of the night at this years CMA Awards… Taylor Swift! Taking home 4 awards including Best Female Vocalist, Album of the Year, and the coveted Entertainer of the Year! Swift came by backstage to talk with us about all her wins, so did Brad Paisley who served as host and will go home with an award.

We also spoke with Lady Antebellum, winners for two categories: Best Single of the Year and Vocal Group. They say although this isn’t their first industry nod, they still have a lot to prove.

Next up, Best Duo: Sugarland, who used their acceptance speech to give a shout out on stage to fellow nominees Brooks and Dunn who’ve announced a split. Sugarland came by (CMA in hand) and talked about how good it feels to be the 43rd winner in this category.

And… we got to drop in on his CMA rehearsal, now he’s a CMA winner – Darius Rucker! We can stop calling him new to the genre now I think… A bonafide country star with the statue to prove it. One he says will go on display right between his Grammys.

And that’s a wrap from the 2009 Fox News coverage of the CMA Awards. Now its time to make your predictions for 2010…click “comment” below to do so!

Ashley and Jill Dobson on the red carpet!

Plenty of cowboy hats and a couple of boots made it onto the red carpet at the CMA’s tonight, as all the country stars dressed to the nines to celebrate the night and honor their peers. 

To name a few we caught up with… Reba McEntire, who wore her own “Reba” line dress! A shiny black floor length gown fitting for county royalty. The multi-tasking star discussed all her latest projects and from clothing to furniture and of course new music this year, she’s been busy.

Several former American Idols made there way over too like Diana Degarmo in bright pink and Danny Gokey (who we spoke to already earlier in the day, but we wanted to know how his first CMA red carpet was going!)  

The Judds (Wynonna and Naomi) came by too and made sure to recognize Veterans Day. They also spoke with us about working together and what this year means to them since 25 years ago today they won their first award as The Judds at the CMAs. 

Now the show is going on and we are backstage waiting for all the winners to tell us if it really is an “honor just to be nominated” or… if its always better to win!
Stay tuned for more from here at the Sommet Center in Nashville.

Danny Gokey finished in the Top 3 at American Idol in May. He wrapped the Idol tour in September, and moved to Nashville the next day! Now, he’s hard at work on his first album, to be released next year. I caught up with him at Sony’s Nashville headquarters today. Gokey has a gospel background but decided to pursue country when Idol guest mentor Randy Travis told him, “I think you’d be great in the genre. The fans would love you.” So far, the feeling is mutual. Gokey says he loves Nashville because, “It’s like one big family here.” A year ago, he lived in Wisconsin and worked as a church musical director. Now he’s attending tonight’s CMA awards and says he’s not quite used to the spotlight. He says he still gets nervous at big red carpet events, but “I think that’s a good thing, it keeps me on my game.” Tonight I’ll be on my game, working the CMA red carpet and keeping an eye out for Gokey, Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift and all of country’s biggest stars!

Back in Nashville and so far it’s been one live music set after another! From the moment we walked off the plane there’s someone singing a hit country tune and everywhere we go especially downtown there are folks hitting the stage.

Here to catch up with the stars as they prep for their CMA week, we were able to check in with Darius Rucker who last year was just beginning his run in this genre and telling us how he was excited to be welcomed onto the scene … the Hootie and the Blowfish lead singer has been turning out the hits solo for country ever since.

All around town folks are buzzing with celebrity spottings like now Nashville staple Kid Rock (some said they saw him over at the other Nashville staple “Tootsies”). We got to check out the famous Tootsies and get a tour! And that idea of people coming to this city guitar in hand hoping to catch their break …  I saw it myself right there with one hopeful wanting to get a chance to show what he’s got at the Orchid Lounge.

And we also caught up with Alan Jackson, former American Idols Kellie Pickler and Danny Gokey, and took a studio tour with Jimmy Wayne!

Plus, there’s much more to come as all of the stars from Carrie to Taylor, Kenny to Brad, and the rest of the big names in country walk the red carpet at the CMAs tonight!