See photos from the event

Taylor Swift rocks out with Joe Elliott of Def Leppard. (Jason Merritt / Getty Images)

Truthfully, I was a little bit overwhelmed by Taylor Swift’s domination of the 2009 CMT Music Awards show last night. I fully agree that her video “Love Story” earned its position as Video of the Year, but did we really need to see three performances from her?

Don’t get me wrong: I love Taylor. Always have. But I find some of her antics contrived, and it seems like no one wants to question Taylor’s judgment. Like the bathrobe behind the fake window during “You Belong To Me”? Did we really need all this overly-orchestrated stuff?

And I was dreading the rap I’d heard about and the Def Leppard number, “Pour Some Sugar On Me”, but I have to say, her rap with T-Pain was cute. And you have to love someone who can make fun of herself.

It also shows Swift’s open-mindedness to other genres and her depth as a musician that she can morph so easily with rap and rock. And the preamble to the pre-taped rap had Swift in Vulcan ears on the bridge of the USS Enterprise and then in NFL gear. “It’s my dream,” was the hook. I doubt Swift dreamed that she’d become the face and name of country music in 2008-09.

And to her credit, Swift has brought a whole new generation of fans, kids who never would’ve ventured away from the pop music charts without a vibrant, youthful, well-mannered young lady to lead them.

And it always seems like Swift’s the most surprised to win of anyone! She is certainly gracious and charming. In her acceptance speech, she singled out Shania Twain and Garth Brooks as role models for her career. She says she learned to make videos by watching Shania, and how to treat her fans from Garth. Can’t argue with that. She also answered the burning question about who her date was: It was her younger brother Austin.

(“God smiles on my little brother, inside and out he’s better than I am.” — From Swift’s “The Best Day”.)

That being said, the awards themselves were fairly predictable.

Golden Boy Brad Paisley won three awards, beating the usually unbeatable Trace Adkins for Male Video. Paisley’s “Waiting on a Woman,” with Andy Griffith, trumped “You’re Gonna Miss This”, with Trace’s dad and lots of friends and neighbors.

Sugarland’s “All I Want to Do” won a buckle for duo video of the year. Rascal Flatts won the group video honors for “Every Day”. They performed “Summer Nights”, a track from their latest album, Unstoppable“. No surprises there.

See photos from the event

Kid Rock gets goofy in the elevator with Sheryl Crow during the after-party. (Rick Diamond / Getty Images)

Yes, I want my kids thinking a stripper pole is cool. I turn the station every time that song or video comes on.

I guess I should be more open-minded about cross-genre acceptance. I certainly love Darius Rucker’s foray into country music. (Can’t wait to see him next month with Flatts at Cruzan.) But he’s the best cross-over artist so far. He left Jewel and Jessica Simpson in the dust.

Other award winners included the Zac Brown Band for Breakthrough Video for “Chicken Fried”. And director Trey Fanjoy, who always contributes fresh, creative products, won director of the year.

Paisley and Urban won for the collaborative video prize for “Start a Band”. And Paisley also shared a buckle with Dierks Bentley, Alan Jackson, George Strait and Paisley for their performance of “Country Boy” during the TV special, “CMT Giants: Alan Jackson”.

One final thought: Could it be that Carrie Underwood’s reign is over? Underwood was only nominated in the Video of the Year category and she didn’t win. Her cover of Randy Travis’ “I Told You So” is the first song of Underwood’s that failed to reach No. 1 since “Don’t Forget to Remember Me” stalled short of the top spot in 2006.

But I gotta say, the blondes are taking over: Underwood, Nettles, Swift, Kellie Pickler, Miranda Lambert, Julianne Hough.

Could it be the men of country are going to take a back seat to the women? Hey, look at our President. Change has come to America. Maybe change has come to country music too!

See photos from the event

Related articles by Zemanta

• Swift the belle of CMT’s ball