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November 8, 2007 at 10:14:00 AM | more stories by this author
Former Idol nabs two awards, including top female vocalist honor for second year in a row; Chesney named entertainer of year again.
The two most dominant figures in country music over the past few years continued their run at the Country Music Association Awards last night. Carrie Underwood and Kenny Chesney repeated as female vocalist of the year and entertainer of the year, respectively, for the second straight year.
Carrie Underwood performs at the CMA Awards.
Underwood, the former American Idol winner, also claimed the top single of the year for "Before He Cheats."
"God has blessed me with so many wonderful things," Underwood said when accepting the female vocalist of the year honor. "If you told me a few years ago I had been nominated with the people I'm nominated with, I would have called you absolutely insane."
Brad Paisley, who won for male vocalist of the year and music video of the year for the song "Online," teared up as he thanked his father, who he said carried amplifiers and ran sound "even though he didn't know what he was doing."
"I can't tell you what this means to me to win this. I always wanted to win this award at least once; this will do," he said.
Sugarland won vocal duo of the year, which broke Brooks & Dunn's long-standing lock on the award. They had won the duo category in 14 of the last 15 years, including the last six in a row.
"If we're standing up here, we have this lofty view because we're standing on the shoulders of giants who've come before us," said Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles.
The award for newcomer of the year went to 17-year-old Taylor Swift. She gave a tearful speech in which she joked, "This is definitely the highlight of my senior year."
Rascal Flatts won top vocal group and performed "She Goes All the Way" with Jamie Foxx, a longtime friend of lead singer Gary LeVox. George Strait took top album for It Just Comes Natural and top song for "Give It Away."
Other winners included Tracy Lawrence, featuring Tim McGraw and Chesney, for musical event for Find Out Who Your Friends Are, and Jerry Douglas of Union Station as musician of the year.
The show was broadcast live on ABC and was hosted by James Denton of Desperate Housewives, Kate Walsh of Private Practice, and Kimberly Williams-Paisley, wife of Brad Paisley, of According to Jim.
