Taylor Swift and Brad Paisley Top CMT Music Awards

Taylor-Swift-CMT-Music-Awards-2009

Brad Paisley and Taylor Swift emerged as the night’s biggest winners at the 2009 CMT Music Awards with three and two wins, respectively. Paisley took home top honors for Male Video of the Year (“Waitin’ On A Woman”), Collaborative Video of the Year (“Start A Band” with Keith Urban) and CMT Performance of the Year, along with Alan Jackson, George Strait and Dierks Bentley (for Alan Jackson’s “Country Boy” from CMT Giants: Alan Jackson). Taylor Swift brought home Female Video of the Year and the night’s highest honor for Video of the Year (“Love Story”). Swift swept both of these categories for the second consecutive year.
For the seventh consecutive year, Rascal Flatts won Group Video of the Year (“Every Day”), while Sugarland captured Duo Video of the Year (“All I Want To Do”), marking their third consecutive win in the Duo category.
Hosted by actor/comedian Bill Engvall, the 2009 CMT Music Awards kicked off with an opening sketch featuring the widely-talked about collaboration between rap artist T-Pain and Taylor Swift, rapping to a new version of Taylor’s hit “Love Story,” called “Thug Story.” “T-Sweezy” (Taylor Swift's rap name) rapped such lines as “you don’t wanna fight me in my extra-small white T.” Directed by Peter Zavadil, the T-Pain/Taylor Swift segment is available here.
Dierks Bentley kicked off the live show with his newest hit, “Sideways”; Darius Rucker introduced his third single, “Alright”; and Lady Antebellum reenacted the video for their nominated song, “Lookin’ For A Good Time.” Brad Paisley performed his 10th consecutive and current No. 1 song, “Then,” and Taylor Swift recreated the video for her Top 10 hit, ”You Belong With Me.”
In addition, a number of surprise performances marked the evening as Sugarland took the stage with Atlanta neighbors the B-52s for a confetti-filled version of their hit, “Love Shack.” Keith Urban ventured into the crowd with his No. 1 single, “Sweet Thing,” and then later joined Jason Aldean onstage for his rockin’ No. 1 hit, “She’s Country.” Trace Adkins performed “You’re Gonna Miss This,” and Rascal Flatts kept the show rolling with their latest single, “Summer Nights.” Kellie Pickler performed “Best Days Of Your Life” and Toby Keith followed with his No. 1 smash, “God Love Her.” Taylor Swift and Def Leppard closed the show with a recreation of their CMT Crossroads performance of “Pour Some Sugar On Me.”
Joining Bill Engvall onstage were presenters Randy Jackson and Kellie Pickler; Alison Krauss and Ted Nugent; Martina McBride and actor Luke Wilson; T-Pain and Toby Keith; Dancing With the Stars champions Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas; and Kid Rock and model Karolina Kurkova. Additional presenters included CMT hosts Katie Cook and Lance Smith; the Singing Bee’s Melissa Peterman and Dierks Bentley; Rodney Atkins, Billy Currington and Julianne Hough; Tennessee Titans’ Kerry Collins and Heidi Newfield; ventriloquist Terry Fator; and Can You Duet judge Naomi Judd and The O’Reilly Factor’s Bill O’Reilly.
For the second 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 Jason Michael Carroll, Carter Twins, Eric Church, Eli Young Band, Gloriana and Joey + Rory.
A record seven million votes were cast online at CMT.com and on mobile to determine who walked away with trophies. 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.
 
   Taylor Swift - “Love Story” (Director: Trey Fanjoy)
 
MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR   
Best video by a male artist; awarded to the artist
 
   Brad Paisley - “Waitin’ On A Woman”
 
FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a female artist; awarded to the artist
 
   Taylor Swift - “Love Story”
 
GROUP VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a group; awarded to the artists
 
   Rascal Flatts - “Every Day”
 
DUO VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a duo; awarded to the artists
 
   Sugarland - “All I Want To Do”
 
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)
 
   Zac Brown Band - “Chicken Fried”
 
COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video that featured a special collaborative appearance by artists; awarded to the artists (individual, group or duo)
 
   Brad Paisley with Keith Urban - “Start A Band”
 
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)
 
   Alan Jackson, George Strait, Dierks Bentley and Brad Paisley - “Country Boy” from CMT GIANTS: ALAN JACKSON
 
WIDE OPEN COUNTRY VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video from an artist outside the mainstream of country music; awarded to the artist (male, female, group/duo or collaboration)
 
   Kid Rock - “All Summer Long”
 
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
 
   Trey Fanjoy (directed Taylor Swift’s winning video, “Love Story”)