Nashville, TN (Top40 Charts/ Big Machine Records) -
Taylor Swift was the big winner at last night's CMT
Music Awards, walking away (for the second consecutive year) with both the evening's top honor, the Video of the Year Award, as well as the trophy for Female Video of the Year. Taylor joins
Keith Urban and
Toby Keith as the only three artists to win twice for Video of the Year.
"I wore a corset for two days straight in the middle of summer, and I learned to waltz," Taylor said after her big wins. "I want to thank the fans from the bottom of my heart for giving me awards for that!"
Taylor performed twice on last night's show. On "You Belong With Me," the Golden Girls dance team from Hendersonville (TN) High (where Taylor attended high school) joined Taylor and her band and dancers for a high-energy production number. Taylor closed the show by joining the UK's premier arena rock band, Def Leppard, for an electrifying rendition of "Pour Some Sugar On Me."
Additionally, Taylor opened the show with a hilarious clip of "Thug Story," a rap performed with T-Pain. Watch it here: https://www.cmt.com/videos/misc/401599/thug-story.jhtml?id=1614098.
Following last night's show, the Los Angeles Times raved, "The Taylor Swift award show reign begins. The night was largely a showcase for the young star, who still seems to be on the rise despite already being the top-selling artist of 2008. Her 2008 album 'Fearless' has already sold more than 3.3 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, and with a sold-out tour, as well as the ability to not take herself too seriously, Swift further set herself up for a massive number of nominations come Grammy time at the end of this year."
Taylor's CMT Awards performance with Def Leppard reprised their 2008 CMT Crossroads concert, one of the most successful in the series' franchise. The show proved so popular that CMT has partnered with Taylor's record label, Big Machine, for the first-ever Crossroads DVD release. CMT CROSSROADS: TAYLOR SWIFT AND DEF LEPPARD, sold exclusively at Wal-Mart and Sam's Clubs, arrived in stores yesterday (June 16), and includes interviews and eleven electrifying performances, three of which have never been seen before.
Also this week, it was announced that Taylor received four Teen Choice Awards nominations:
Choice Music - Female Artist
Choice Music - Love Song (for "Love Story")
Choice Tour - The Fearless 2009 Tour
Choice Music - Album by a Female Artist (for "Fearless")
The 2009 Teen Choice Awards will be broadcast on the FOX network on August 10th.
To hear music by Taylor Swift, and for up-to-date information on Taylor's FEARLESS 2009 tour, log on to: www.taylorswift.com or www.myspace.com/taylorswift.
To download photos of Taylor Swift, log on to: www.bigmachinerecords.com and click on the media tab.
