Roots, Toots n' Hoots Blog

Academy of Country Music Awards blog - the view from Roots Toots n' Hoots

Jeffrey Remz  |  April 18, 2010

10:58 p.m. Ok, I don't get this. ACMs already give out Entertainer of the year to Underwood and THEN Darius Rucker sings? Does a good job on Forever Road, but why is he singing when it's all over in effect? 10:55 p.m. Entertainer of the Year:Carrier Underwood!! She won it last year also. Thought Paisley would win it. She thanked a bunch of folks including , surprise, her fans, the good Lord, her fiance Mike the hockey player, etc. She was definitely excited. Not exactly blaming her! :)

10:48 p.m. Keith Urban sings Radney Foster's I'm In. Does a good job of it though I do like Foster's reading which is more laid back. however, I don't get the grainy video and how it jumps around so much. Just kind of odd in contrast to everything else up there and why do they show the camera guy shooting away. they do show the wife a few times.

10:41 p.m. Miranda Lambert - You've got to be kidding me. In winning top female vocalist. Gave Carrie Underwood a big hog. "Thank you Jesus," she said with tears in her eyes. "Thank you so much to the fans. This is my life, and you make it great."

10:37 p.m. Reba is now singing Keep on Lovin' You. She's ok, not overly into it vocally. Why do they have to show dumb photos of people on the screen like Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, Ronnie Dunn, George Strait, Kix Brooks, Kris Kristofferson, etc. Kind of lame. She picks it up vocally though. Hey, they even showed Reba and her husband, Narvel Blackstock.

10:32 p.m. (or so) Brooks & Dunn wins top vocal duo. Not exactly a surprise given that they're going to break up after the upcoming tour. Kix Brooks did the talking and gave a big thanks to the fans, of course! You didn't think Sugar Magnolia would win, did you? Nice win for them of course.

10:24 p.m. Brooks & Dunn now are on stage with Reba, doing their last ACM ever. "We are witnessing history right here," said Reba. Hope the rest of the tour goes better than this because Ronnie Dunn was seriously undermiked. He could not be happy about that, but then it's corrected fortunately. The guy got a great voice. Lot of timbre. Tour starts Friday in Sacramento Cal. Great song. Excellent singing from Dunn. He really holds the notes and not showing off. Nice and lively.

10:18 p.m. Brad Paisley wins top male vocalist. He's all wet of course. He joked with Matthew McConaughey, who was the presenter. His wife and MM were in "We Are Marshall" together. She played MM's wife. "She says I'm a better kisser," he said of his wife. He questioned how his wife knew that since there were no kissing scenes in the flick. He thanked Joe Galante "Thank you everything you've done for me for years." He thanked his wife "who's probably mad." Doubt it. P>10:11 p.m. Brad Paisley does "Water," his current single. Always love his guitar playing. Nice and twangy. Even banjo and fiddle from his band. The guy keeps it real as usual. Vocals are slightly slightly off at a point or two. Guitar playing ain't. At least most of the performances tonight aren't over the top save for Bundy's and Swift's. Paisley for example relies on the music. Nice fiddling in the audience and Paisley goes out with his guitar also. You think it was planned? Well it did get dumb at the end - he fell back into water. No wonder he gave his blue guitar away. And of course babes in the front.

10:04 p.m.- Tim McGraw does a fine job on his current single "Still." He's understated and sings well and shows no sense of ego or being overwrought. The guy is definitely comfortable in his own skin. A very very good thing.

10:01 p.m. Can't say it's any surprise, but Lady A also wins top new group. They did beat Zac Brown Brown and Rascal Flatts (Little Big Town and Randy Rogers Band had ZERO chance). Getting hard for them to think of whom else to thank already.

9:58 p.m. Carrie Underwood gets honor for Triple Crown of winning Entertainer of the Year and some other honors. "I could never have asked for more," she said. Underwood had a lot of emotion. "Everyone that I've ever met along the way, thank you." Does that include Tony Romo? Doubt it. She does always seem genuine to me. She should be more country though live.

9:53 p.m. Carrie Underwood sings after yet another dumbo intro from Reba. "She's about to walk down the aisle. Where I come from, that means Wal-Mart." Underwood just sings Temporary Home. Closes her eyes a lot. A lot of make-up there I'd say. Violin, piano, cello and some other stringed instrument backing her up. She sings real well. Not so country though I got to say.

9:47 p.m. Jack Ingram sings an old song of his "Barbie Doll" with a bunch of Barbies coming on stage. Dierks Bentley also chimes in> it is a good, lively performance. Ingram looks young up there. Short cut. Bentley's always good. Lifts up Ingram with a few others. Nice.

9:45 p.m. Montgomery Gentry wins Humanitarian Award, although we knew that already. Troy Gentry gets all choked up calling the experience "humbling." Kind of hard to give an award to one band really just like he said.

9:38 p.m. Miranda Lambert starts off a bit flat. Not much energy there. Hey pedal steel - what happened to rocking guitar from her - she's a country girl at heart though. Singing "The House That Built Me," a solid country song.

9:38 p.m. Red Dirt Road, You're Gonna Miss me When I'm Gone or My Maria - Brooks & Dunn will play one of the three in a fan vote. Let them play all three or what they want.

9:30 p.m. Jason Aldean rocks out on "Crazy Town." That's about the only way the Georgian plays. He sings ok, though he's also drowned out by the music. Just can't get turned on by Aldean. More rock than country. Just because you're marketed country doesn't mean you really are that genre. And fans that doesn't mean the music is bad!

9:25 p.m. Album of the year:Miranda Lambert "Revolution" that's a big surprise for sure. Frank Liddell produced. "This is what I do. it's the only thing I live for. It changed my life." Boos great Frank Liddell's comment because music drowned him out. Kind of quick guys. Let him talk.

9:19 p.m. Five more awards to go in the next 100 minutes. Not exactly a lot of awards there compared to the music. Rascal Flatts just drew a crowd in the dessert to their Hershey's commercial - well on the commercial, there was a crowd. And now Rascal Flatts' "performing Toyota's theme song "Unstoppable," said Reba. She got terrible jokes. As for the song, RF sounds like they always good - it's real good if you like pop music. What they do isn't country but Gary LeVox sings fine, and Joe Don Rooney knows how to play guitar. Looking back, these guys are real vets also. Kind of hard to believe how long some of these acts have been around already.

9:12 p.m. Lady A is back up there, but no award this time. they're singing "American Honey." they got a lot of confidence. Can't blame them. they've had a fantastic year and got the vocal chops do Scott and Kelley & Dave Heywood is quiet singing and he got some force on acoustic guitar

9:11 p.m. Luke Bryan wins top new artist. "It is impossible for a human to shake more than I do now." He thanks everyone of course from his label to booking agent. "Thank you so much fans. This means the world to me." He even thanks his hometown of Leesburg, Ga. and his brother up in heaven.

9:06 p.m. Julianne Hough intros the new artists. She needs a bit better delivery there. Gloriana is out there singing their one hit, thus far, Wild at Heart. Not big on snippets, but it had good energy. Luke Bryan does Do I. Not all that exciting, but Joey + Rory turn in a nice part of Cheater, Cheater. It's country at least!

9 p.m. LL Cool J says this is his first country music awards. "I love it, I love it," he says. Not a surprise this is his first. Like others, he has nothing to do with country. He introduces with Swift, who sings Change. She's flying over the crowd in a round thing. She sounds better than she usually does in other awards shows. Takes off her outfit and reveals black sparkly outfit, giving high fives, getting close to the crowd. Too many gestures though from her. Gets a bit much at times. Not the greatest dancer, but ok. Had some backing singers waving arms and now carried out by some folks. All planned I'm sure.

8:53 p.m. Single Record of the year:Need You Now by Lady Antebellum. they're doing well tonight folks! This is becoming old hat almost :) "I don't think this compares to an Olympic gold medal," said Hillary Scott, referring to presenter Lindsay Vonn (along with Joe Nichols). "We're living our dream right now," said Charles Kelley (the tall one decked out in a white jacket with black stripes).

8:48 p.m. Almost 50 minutes into this and only one award given out. I have a feeling the pace is going to pick up big time. Lots of soldier references of course including RAM with Zac Brown Band.

8:45 p.m. Zac Brown Brown gets playing their hit Chicken Fried before soldiers on USO tour somewhere in the MidEast. Sounds pretty good thousands of miles away. Just a short stint.

8:39 p.m. - Toby Keith gives a tribute to his late friend, Wayman Tisdale, the basketball and jazz star. Cryin' For Me (Wayman's Song) is done with jazz guy Dave Koz. "I'm gonna miss you my friend," sings Keith. A from the heart song that has some real meaning instead of overwrought. Tisdale's family apparently was there, crying a lot. It's sad of course, but a deserved tribute to Tisdale.

8:31 p.m. - Laura Bell Bundy somehow is out there singing. Her vocals don't sounds so great I got to say. Very theatrical. Not a surprise since she's a Broadway actress. Giddy On Up is the song. Just sounds a bit rough vocally. Lot of midriff showing there also. One of these big production shindigs with a lot of folks in boots and hats. At least it fits her background. Not all that outstanding a performance.

8:26 p.m. - Another bad Reba joke. Faith Hill, who has "anything a woman could want (including her husband Tim McGraw)" is introduced by McEntire. Hill is already an elder statesman almost. Introduces song of the year nominations - winner is Lady Antebellum with the very fine Need You Now. "Oh my God," said Hillary Scott. "First and foremost, we want to thank God, our families, our fans. thank you." Isn't that more than one?

8:18 p.m. Chesney is out there on stage as the hits keep coming - Ain't Back Yet. Got a horn section backing him up. They could once again mix the vocals higher and lower the guitars. Maybe it's my TV. Give Chesney credit - he is a spirited, high energy performer.

8:15 p.m. Does anyone think that Billy Currington's That's How Country Boys Roll sounds a heck of a lot like Lynyrd Skynyrd's Gimme three Steps? Same vibe anyway. More southern rock than country for sure. matter of fact, not hearing any country there. Can't hear the vocals all that well. Where are all the guys in front of the stage?

8:13 p.m. "Hillbilly Bone" gets spirited, rocking version from Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins and some "hee haws' from the crowd. Sounds like it would be a bit harsh on the ears live - meaning it's big big on guitars. Not bad though.

8:12 p.m. - Who knew that Cher was a country star? neither did she though she tries to give herself cred saying something about her mom being part of the Bob Wills band & how she grew up on country, Dumbo & Cinderella. Not to mention always wanting to do a duet with her "dear friend" I think she said, Haggard, but "Haggard and Cher" wouldn't go over well. This is the exact thing that makes no sense at these awards shows - folks like Cher who have zippo to do with country in any form really and are just trotted out, well not sure why.

8:09 p.m. a few more jokes from Reba about all of the nominees. George Strait and Zac Brown Band aren't there. Zac Brown is in Mideast on a USO Tour. Strait has "Family obligations," according to Reba. Agree with Reba that ZBB should come home safe and sound. Most of the other jokes were not so great.

8:05 p.m. Lame, easy joke from Reba - thanks to Tiger Woods and Jessie James for inspiring us all." Ho hum. Not a bad joke about expanding the entertainer of the year award to 8, leaving seven folks bummed. not bad. But yet another easy Dolly Parton joke. Ho hum.

8:01 p.m. - Hey if this is what it's going to be like, sounds good to me. Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood both can sing real well & do the Creedence song "Travelin' Band" a lot of justice. Brad Paisley comes out as does John Fogerty, the guy behind it originally. Charlie Daniels also lets loose on fiddle. A spirited, fine start

8 p.m. The ACMs start off with host Reba McEntire asking if everyone is ready to party. She then lets the stage take over for performers.