COUNTRY MUSIC NEWS
Carrie Underwood ON American Idol Season Finale tonight. Carrie Underwood returns to American Idol for the season finale tonight. She will perform her current single "Undo It" during the episode. Carrie, who won the American Idol competition in 2005, sang on the Fox series earlier this year during the "Idol Gives Back" special. The final two contestants are Lee Dewyze and Crystal Bowersox.
BRAD PAISLEY’S H2O World tour KICKS OFF. Brad Paisley kicked off his H2O tour this past weekend in Virginia Beach and a sold-out show in Washington D.C. Over 42-thousand fans came out to the shows. Darius Rucker and Justin Moore opened the shows on the main stage. Water Works Plaza featured free, fun events such as a slip and slide, a dunking booth, fishing simulator, racing simulator and other water related activities. There is also a smaller stage in the Water Works Plaza area which featured performances by Steel Magnolia, Easton Corbin and Josh Thompson. When Brad went on stage Friday night he told fans “You have no idea what we went through to get here tonight” before opening the show with his current single “Water.” During the show Brad talked about the struggles after the Nashville flood saying “It was emotional, it was heartache, and it took perseverance to get here tonight. Every member of my team made this a reality and I am so proud of them. Thanks to you guys for making this difficult time that much more rewarding for all of us out here on the road.” The H2O tour continues this weekend with stops in Kansas City and St. Louis.
JOHN RICH’S NEW VIDEO “COUNTRY DONE COME TO TOWN” DEBUTS ON CMT. John Rich’s new video for his single “Country Done Come to Town” debuts today on CMT and CMT.com The video was filmed at John’s home in Nashville. “There’s girls in the swimmin’ pool on my roof. There’s a goat on my roof. There’s a couple of gals wrestling in bikinis in a kiddie pool full of cream-style corn on my roof. You got Ted Nugent at the grill cookin’ steaks and [he] had his cross bow out and two foot Fred and Sebastian Bach and Gretchen and George Jones is on the roof—mowing the grass on the roof on a riding mower. Just absolute insanity”
COMEDIAN JEFF DUNHAM WILL HOST CMT MUSIC AWARDS VIDEO OF THE YEAR SPECIAL. Days before the 2010 CMT Music Awards ventriloquist/comedian Jeff Dunham and his comedic sidekicks will give fans a closer look at the Video of the Year nominees when he hosts 2010 CMT Music Awards Video of the Year Special premiering Saturday, June 5th at 2:00pm EST. This one-hour special features the ten videos nominated for Video of the Year, which include Jason Aldean’s “The Truth”; Kenny Chesney’s “Out Last Night”; Toby Keith’s “American Ride”; Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now”; Miranda Lambert’s “White Liar”; Brad Paisley’s “Welcome to the Future”; Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me”; Carrie Underwood’s “Cowboy Casanova”; Keith Urban’s “‘Til Summer Comes Around” and Zac Brown Band’s “Toes”. Fans can vote online at CMT.com through Tuesday, June 8 to determine the winners. The final five nominees will be announced at the beginning of the live show and fans can vote at CMT.com and via text on their Verizon Wireless phones throughout the live broadcast (ET/CT only) to determine the night’s big winner.
FAITH HILL AND EMMYLOU HARRIS PAY TRIBUTE TO PAUL MCCARTNEY. Faith Hill and Emmylou Harris will be part of a special concert at the White House June 2nd that will pay tribute to Paul McCartney. Hosted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, the evening will honor McCartney as this year’s recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for popular song, the highest honor for pop music. Faith and Emmylou will join other performers at the event including Elvis Costello, Dave Grohl, the Jonas Brothers, Stevie Wonder, Jack White and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. The event will broadcast on PBS on July 28th at 8:00pm EST.
KIX BROOKS HOLDS BENEFIT CONCERT AT HIS WINERY. The As Long As We Have Voices sold-out event took place at Kix Brooks’ winery, Arrington Vineyards south of Nashville last week. "Never in my 30 years in Nashville have I seen such terrible devastation," Kix said of the historic floods. "But it has been amazing to watch this community come together to overcome this." Kix performed at the event along with other country artists and songwriters such as Keith Stegall, Joey + Rory, Ty Herndon, Sherrie Austin, and Jason Sellers. Tickets to the event were sold for $100 a pair which included admission to the event, parking and a bottle of wine from Arrington Vineyards. Proceeds went to aid the Salvation Army’s flood relief efforts in Nashville.
DIERKS BENTLEY MEETS WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA. Dierks Bentley surprised the crowd at his Washington D.C. show recently when he revealed that earlier that day he had met with President Obama. He began telling the audience that he had been walking down Pittsburgh Avenue when a band member corrected him saying it was Pennsylvania Avenue. Dierks said he dropped off a copy of his new album Up On The Ridge in the oval office. That was all the info Dierks shared with the crowd. President Obama quoted Dierks last year when he said “I said country music was the best shrink $15 can buy.”
THIS AND THAT
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
TONY AWARD HOST! Will & Grace actor Sean Hayes will host this year’s Tony Awards. The awards show will air live on CBS on June 13th from Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Hayes himself is nominated for a 2010 Tony for his role as “Chuck” in Promises, Promises.