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CMA Live Blog 2011

November 9, 2011 Ben Foster 59

THE WINNERS

Entertainer: Taylor Swift

Female Vocalist: Miranda Lambert

Male Vocalist: Blake Shelton

New Artist: The Band Perry

Vocal Group: Lady Antebellum

Vocal Duo: Sugarland

Song: “If I Die Young” – Kimberly Perry

Single: The Band Perry, “If I Die Young”

Music Video: Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter, “You and Tequila”

Musical Event: Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson, “Don’t You Wanna Stay”

Musician: Mac McAnally

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2011 CMA Awards: Staff Picks and Predictions

November 7, 2011 Ben Foster 28

It’s that time of year again! The time when we all dutifully tune in to the CMA Awards show, raise our eyebrows at the “What the heck are they doing here?” award presenters, and afterwards complain about how totally un-country the whole show was. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I can’t wait.

We’re pleased to share the Country Universe staff picks for this year’s CMA Awards, as well as our predictions of who the winners will be. This year we have some highly competitive categories in which predicting the winners is quite difficult, leading to some significantly divergent picks among our writing staff. Agree? Disagree? Join in the discussion in the comment thread below, and let us know.

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100 Greatest Men: #76. Keith Urban

November 1, 2011 Kevin John Coyne 14

100 Greatest Men: The Complete List

Australia’s had its own country music scene for generations. With Keith Urban, they scored their biggest export to date.

Urban began singing and playing guitar from an early age. Though born in New Zealand, he moved to Australia as a small child. By age eight, he’d already won talent contests. As he got older, his exposure throughout the country increased. He appeared on various television programs and soon landed a recording contract.

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Retro Single Review: Shania Twain, “God Bless the Child”

October 30, 2011 Kevin John Coyne 1

1996 | #48

Gospel recordings were becoming all the rage in the nineties, particularly with female artists.

Sometimes it seemed like they just wanted a big showpiece for the CMA awards. Dolly Parton and Pam Tillis had performed with enormous choirs behind them in 1991 and 1994, respectively. These were, perhaps, the only times in CMA history that the demographics on stage accurately reflected greater metropolitan Nashville.

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Single Review: Terri Clark, “The One”

October 28, 2011 Ben Foster 4

Terri Clark’s new release “The One” retains many of the familiar features that have made Clark’s music so enjoyable. It has a pleasant restrained production arrangement, and a nuanced, sincere vocal performance, along with an interesting lyrical scenario with some clever turns of phrase.

What it’s missing is a good hook.

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