The show starts with a short film spoofing Trace Adkins' appearance on Celebrity Apprentice. In it, he watches the tv with his wife and daughters, and Ryan Seacrest announces that Miley Cyrus is hosting the CMT Music Awards with her dad, and tickets sold out in 25 seconds. His daughters then ask him if he got them tickets, and he assures them he did, and they go running out of the room. Rhonda, his wife then berates him, saying, "Why did you say that? You went all over New York doing things for Donald Trump, and I can't believe you can't get us tickets to the CMT Music Awards. So, Trace gets on the phone with Donald Trump, asking him to help him get tickets. Trump tells him, "I'm a billionaire many times over, and I have really great hair, but I am not a magician. He then calls Miley for tickets, and she says she gave her last pair of tickets to Piers... you know, the winner of Celebrity Apprentice." She hangs up and gets another call from John McCain, who is also trying to get tickets to the show. Next Barak Obama wants tickets, and she turns him down. Trace then calls Larry the Cable Guy, who tells him to try to sneak in the back door. At the show, Trace and his family are outside the venue, and his phone rings, and it's Hillary Clinton, who is returning his call, and she says she's looking for tickets. Next, Gretchen Wilson comes up and has tickets in her hand. Trace asks her where she got them, and she says "from a scalper, right over there." Trace goes over to the guy, and it's Billy Ray Cyrus. Too funny.
The first performance of the night is from Keith Urban, who performs "Raise the Barn," with some help from Brooks & Dunn.
The first buckle is presented by Martina McBride. She presents the award for Group Video of the Year.
Rascal Flatts win for "Take Me There."
Billy Ray announces that CMT One Country will donate $2,500.00 to each winner tonight. He says that some up-and-coming country stars will be playing along with the house band on the Nationwide Insurance Stage. The first performance is from Bucky Covington, who plays "A Different World."
The top four Video of the Year finalists are announced.
- Brad Paisley's "Online"
- Kenny Chesney's "Don't Blink"
- Sugarland's "Stay"
- Taylor Swift's "Our Song."
Fans can vote throughout the show.
LeAnn Rimes comes up next singing "Nothin' Better to Do." She's dressed in the short prison dress and black stockings and garters, like in the video, as are her fellow female inmates. LeAnn sounds great, and the dancing everyone does is just like it was in the video. Great production.
Taylor Swift comes up on the stage holding her gorgeous burgandy high heels. She says her stylist is going to kill her, but her feet were hurting her. She's presenting "USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year."
The buckle goes to Kellie Pickler for "I Wonder." She is not in the audience, but is on a satellite feed. She thanks her label, and manager, and the writers and the directors of the video.
Rascal Flatts are next to perform "Bob That Head."
Before the commercial, we go to the Nationwide Insurance Stage, where we watch James Otto perform his smash hit, "Just Got Started Loving You."
CMT's own Lance Smith and Katie Cook announce the five new categories and winners.
- Character of the Year - Rodney Carrington - "I Got My Game On" by Trace Adkins
- Performance of the Year - Kellie Picker's performance of "I Wonder" from the 2007 CMA Awards
- Tearjerker of the Year - Kellie Pickler - "I Wonder"
- Video Director of the Year - Michael Salomon
- Comedy Video of the Year - Brad Paisley - "Online"
Next, Jewel and Tom Arnold announce a performance by Sugarland, Little Big Town and Jake Owen.
I just love this performance. I wish they would have done this when I saw them on the CMT Change for Change tour last year. The harmonies are wonderful.
Paula Abdul comes on stage to announce a performance by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, as they perform their hit duet, "I Need You."
I saw Tim and Faith perform this at their Soul 2 Soul concert last year, and I love this understated acoustic version, face to face, with only a microphone between them. Awesome!
Tim Daily is next to present the buckle for Female Video of the Year.
The buckle goes to Taylor Swift. She's overwhelmed, and goes to hug Carrie Underwood before going up on the stage, and asks to see the card with her name on it, because she still can't believe she won.
Going to another commercial, we go back to the Nationwide Insurance Stage, where we watch Luke Bryan perform "All My Friends Say."
Next to the stage are Jason Aldean and Snoop Dog, who apparently is making a country record. They announce Alan Jackson, who performs the title track to his latest album, "Good Time."
Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert are next to present the buckle for the Collaborative Video of the Year. Miranda remarked that she was ticked off that they weren't nominated, and Blake said, we didn't collaborate last year. She said, sure we did, and she asks them to show the video, and they show a short clip of Miranda and Blake at Christmas time, wearing santa hats, and she's holding her little dog. They sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." So cute!
The buckle goes to Bon Jovi and LeAnn Rimes for "Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore."
Billy Ray and Miley perform "Ready, Set, Don't Go" together. I didn't care much for the arrangement. It was much more Miley than it is in the actual song. I like it better when they harmonize, instead of Miley singing the chorus all by herself. She really didn't even sound in key. I know she's getting over strep throat, so that might be part of the problem, but I didn't think she sounded good at all, and she was too loud.
It's time for another commercial break, and we go to the Nationwide Insurance Stage for Lady Antebellum, who perform their hit, "Love Don't Live Here Anymore."
