The 2009 CMT Awards are just a few hours away, and this year’s nominees and performers are getting ready!

Bill Engvall, who is hosting tonight’s awards show, has admitted to being nervous about his job tonight:

“I haven’t been really nervous about a gig in a long time,” Engvall said in a recent interview. “You don’t want to be the guy who made people say, ‘Oh, remember the year when Engvall did it? Ugh.’”

The CMT awards will air live at 8 p.m. EDT tonight on CMT from the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn.

A full list of nominees is under the cut! Read more

The music video for Keith Urban’s current hit single, Kiss A Girl, is set to hit iTunes today!

The video above is the promotional for the final cut, and shows the band performing in front of a giant green screen and will have animation added for the final release.

About the song, Keith says:

“Monty Powell, who I write a lot with, had that title ‘Kiss A Girl.’ We don’t generally write from titles, but I loved this one the minute I heard it. Even if you’ve been in a relationship for a lot of years, it’s imperative to remember that ’spark,’ the innocence, and the first part of a relationship. Why not keep that alive - the idea of courting?”

The song is the second single from Keith’s “Defying Gravity” album, and the full music video will be available on CMT and keithurban.net on June 2.

Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban are taking some time out of their busy schedules for separate performances on this week’s season finale of American Idol.

Carrie will be performing “Home Sweet Home” on Tuesday, May 19th, and Carrie, 19 Recordings, Sony Music Nashville, and iTunes are donating a portion of the sales proceeds of the “Home Sweet Home” digital single to The Humane Society of the United States.

Keith is taking time away from his Escape Together World Tour for a performance on Wednesday, May 20’s continuation of the season finale.

About the show, Keith says, “I think this year, in particular, has been one of the best for American Idol. There are some truly gifted vocalists. The Rat Pack episode was the best, across the board, nights of singing that I’ve ever seen on television. I guess what I love most about the show, is watching the musical growth — to see them use the critique given and come back the next week and blow you away. That’s the magic of Idol.”

The episodes air at 8/7c on FOX, Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

[image: Pacific Coast News]

Keith Urban will be appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show tomorrow, April 1st, but US Magazine got a sneak peak at the interview!

Keith talks a lot about daughter Sunday Rose (with wife and actress Nicole Kidman). When asked what her accent will be, he says, “I think she may say, ‘Good day, ya’ll.’ A nice mix.”

He also talks about her unique name, and why they chose it:

Urban says he and Kidman chose their daughter’s name because “we just love the name of the day. Particularly when you don’t have someone in your life. Sunday in my experience, Sunday was the loneliest day….the day I dreaded the most, ya’ know.

“Everyone goes with their families and if you don’t have a family, you don’t have anybody,” he goes on. “It went from being sort of the most dreaded day of the week for us to being the most joyous day because we just had a family.”

He’s also quick to point out that she was born on a Monday, not Sunday, which they were thankful for because they’d had the name picked out already!

[image: bauer-griffin]

Following in the footsteps of Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban will be releasing one single from his upcoming album, Defying Gravity, each week until the album’s debut on March 31. Read more

There are a ton of album releases hitting the shelves this month, including a few that I’m really looking forward to (Martina and Keith!). Read more

Keith Urban’s upcoming album finally has a name: “Defying Gravity.” The album will drop March 31 and contains Keith’s current #1 hit, Sweet Thing.

About the album, Keith says:

“I’ve always approached making records as a journey where I just have to let myself go. If the conditions are just right the music will reflect the mood and feeling of where I am in my life.

“‘Defying Gravity‘ comes from the lyrics of a song on the album and it just struck me at the time as a phrase that really defined the joyous, optimistic and uplifting spirit that seemed to show itself while making the album.”

[image: newscom]

Keith Urban has announced he’ll be hitting 58 cities during his upcoming concert tour. The tour will kick off in May, following the March 31 release of his next album (which still doesn’t have a name).

At least one supporting act — either Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bentley, Glen Campbell or The Zac Brown Band — will appear at each show.

No dates have been confirmed yet but the tour will likely run into the fall:

Uncasville, CT
Philadelphia
State College, PA
Rochester, NY
St. Paul, MN
Little Rock, AR
Chicago
Tulsa, OK
Green Bay, WI
Kansas City, MO
Charleston, West Va.
Pittsburgh
Roanoke, VA
Columbus, OH
Indianapolis
Louisville, KY
Huntsville, AL
Hershey, PA
Cincinnati
Washington DC
Detroit
Cleveland
Fort Wayne, IN
Charlottesville, VA
St. Louis
Buffalo, NY
Memphis
Knoxville, TN
Atlanta
Nashville
Greenville, SC
Salt Lake City, UT
Charlotte, NC
Portland, OR
Raleigh, NC
Seattle, WA
Des Moines, IA
Spokane, WA
Moline, IL
Boston
Milwaukee
Vancouver, Canada
Omaha, NE
Calgary, Canada
Wichita, KS
Edmonton, Canada
Dallas
Saskatoon, Canada
Denver
Winnipeg, Canada
Glendale, AZ
London, Canada
Las Vegas
Toronto, Canada
Los Angeles
Albany, NY
Ontario, CA
New York

[image: newscom]

CMT recently released their top 20 videos of 2008. Unsurprisingly it includes Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban and George Strait, with only Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland managing to break into the seemingly tight boys club this year!

Did your favorite make the cut?

20. Keith Urban: You Look Good in My Shirt
19. Blake Shelton: Home
18. Alan Jackson: Good Time
17. Craig Morgan: International Harvester
16. Darius Rucker: Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It
15. Kenny Chesney: Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven
14. Rascal Flatts: Every Day
13. Billy Ray Cyrus: Ready, Set, Don’t Go
12. Taylor Swift: Love Story
11. Carrie Underwood: All-American Girl
10. George Strait: Troubadour
9. Kid Rock: All Summer Long
8. Brad Paisley: Letter to Me
7. Alan Jackson: Small Town Southern Man
6. James Otto: Just Got Started Lovin’ You
5. Taylor Swift: Picture to Burn
4. Trace Adkins: You’re Gonna Miss This
3. Kenny Chesney: Shiftwork
2. Sugarland: All I Want to Do
1. Carrie Underwood: Just a Dream

Grammy nominations were announced today and the country noms are no surprise! From Sugarland to Carrie Underwood, check out the full list after the cut! The Grammys will air live February 8 on CBS.

Read more