Nashville, TN (Top40 Charts/ CMT MUSIC AWARDS) - The night belonged to first-time winners and fan-favorite Carrie Underwood, who took home two wins at this year's CMT MUSIC AWARDS. Underwood took top honors for VIDEO OF THE YEAR ("
Cowboy Casanova") and CMT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR ("
Temporary Home" from INVITATION ONLY: CARRIE UNDERWOOD); while
Keith Urban took home the buckle in a first-time category win for MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR ("'Til Summer Comes Around," and
Miranda Lambert scored her first CMT
Music Award for FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR ("
White Liar").
Also for the first time, the multi-platinum Lady Antebellum won GROUP VIDEO OF THE YEAR ("Need You Now"); Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins won COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR ("Hillbilly Bone"), and Luke Bryan claimed the USA WEEKEND BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO OF THE YEAR ("Do I"). Legendary duo Brooks & Dunn re-emerged as a fan favorite capturing DUO VIDEO OF THE YEAR ("Indian Summer"), which marks their first DUO win since 2002. Director Shaun Silva won his first VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR for his entire body of work over the last year.
The evening kicked off with an explosive performance by the show's host, Kid Rock, who was joined by many of his famous friends, including Trace Adkins, Zac Brown, Randy Houser, Jamey Johnson, Martina McBride, Kellie Pickler, and none other than Hank Williams, Jr.
The party rolled on as Miranda Lambert sang her first No 1 hit, "White Liar"; crowd-favorite Tim McGraw performed his 23rd No 1 single, "Southern Voice"; and was followed by Brad Paisley's stellar performance of "American Saturday Night." Next, Jamey Johnson took the stage for a first-time performance of his powerful new song, entitled "Macon," and was joined by special guests Little Big Town, Kate and Kacey Coppola, and guitarist Jeremy Popoff from the band Lit.
LeAnn Rimes came out "Swingin'" in a fully choreographed dance number that included an appearance by the song's original artist and songwriter, John Anderson; Toby Keith revved up the crowd with his 19th No 1 hit, "American Ride"; and Zac Brown Band performed their current single, "Free."
Carrie Underwood performed her rapidly-rising Top 10 single, "Undo It"; guitars were blazin' when Keith Urban was joined by his CMT Crossroads partner, John Mayer, for a first-time television performance of Urban's song, "Hit the Ground Running"; and Lady Antebellum closed out the night with the television exclusive of the unreleased single, "Stars Tonight," off of their current album.
Joining Kid Rock onstage were presenters "Dancing With the Stars" competitors Erin Andrews and Maks Chmerkovskiy, Laura Bell Bundy, Sheryl Crow, Paula Deen, Kara Dioguardi, Gloriana, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Terrell Owens, Hayden Panettiere, Richard Petty, Kellie Pickler, Jada Pinkett-Smith, LeAnn Rimes, Blake Shelton, "Jersey Shore's" Snooki and The Situation, David Spade, Taylor Swift, Kenan Thompson, Carrie Underwood, Luke Wilson, Trisha Yearwood and Zac Brown Band. For the third 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 Laura Bell Bundy, Easton Corbin, Justin Moore, Steel Magnolia, Trailer Choir and Chris Young.
CMT.com simulcast the live 2010 CMT MUSIC AWARDS online, and interacted with fans throughout the telecast with live Twitter updates from the red carpet and backstage. CMT.com also served as an online hub for all fan interaction surrounding the show with live streams of the red carpet, backstage press room and more, in addition to streams from popular social networking sites such as Twitter and Flickr. 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.
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.
Carrie Underwood - "Cowboy Casanova"
MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a male artist; awarded to the artist
Keith Urban - "'Til Summer Comes Around"
FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a female artist; awarded to the artist
Miranda Lambert - "White Liar"
GROUP VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a group; awarded to the artists
Lady Antebellum - "Need You Now"
DUO VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a duo; awarded to the artists
Brooks & Dunn - "Indian Summer"
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)
Luke Bryan - "Do I"
COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video that featured a special collaborative appearance by artists; awarded to the artists (individual, group or duo)
Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins - "Hillbilly Bone"
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)
Carrie Underwood - "Temporary Home" from INVITATION ONLY: CARRIE UNDERWOOD
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
Shaun Silva
The 2010 CMT MUSIC AWARDS will encore Wednesday, June 9 at 11:30 p.m.; Thursday, June 10 at 12:00 p.m., and 9:00 p.m.; Friday, June 11 at 10:00 p.m.; Saturday, June 12 at 5:30 p.m., and Sunday, June 13 at 7:00 p.m. The 2010 CMT MUSIC AWARDS RED CARPET SPECIAL will re-air on Sunday, June 13 at 6:00 p.m. All times listed are ET/PT.
The 2010 CMT MUSIC AWARDS is executive produced by Jesse Ignjatovic and directed by Hamish Hamilton. John Hamlin and Margaret Comeaux serve as executive producers for CMT.
www.cmtmusicawardspress.com - Follow @CMTPress on Twitter
CMT, a unit of Viacom's MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), is the leading television and digital authority on country music and entertainment, reaching more than 90 million homes in the U.S. CMT and its website, CMT.com, offer an unparalleled mix of music, news, live concerts and series and is the top resource for country music on demand. The network's digital platforms include the 24-hour music channel, CMT Pure Country, CMT Mobile and CMT VOD.
MTV Networks, a division of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of entertainment content, with brands that engage and connect diverse audiences across television, online, mobile, games, virtual worlds and consumer products. The company's portfolio spans more than 150 television channels and 400 digital media properties worldwide, and includes MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Nick Jr., TeenNick, AddictingGames, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, SPIKE, TV Land, Atom, GameTrailers and Xfire.