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.

Country queen Reba McEntire recently let Entertainment Tonight behind the scenes of the shoot for her upcoming music video of her current hit single, “Strange.”

In the video she talks about why she’s laying in a bed covered with tissues, and that Strange was the highest entry into the charts that she’s ever had. She talks about what the song means, and reveals that the new album, currently titled Keep On Loving You, will be out later this year (tentatively set for an August release) and will have a very eclectic group of songs. I can’t wait!

A live version of Strange can be heard and seen below, from Reba’s performance at the ACM Awards earlier this year:

We don’t get to see too many pics of Kenny Chesney — he manages to avoid the paparazzi pretty well and even his performances and videos are pretty well guarded! So it’s always a treat when get a few images of him, like this set from his visit to David Letterman last week.

Kenny wears a bright neon orange t-shirt, khakis and a baseball cap as he stops to sign autographs for a throng of waiting fans. MORE PICS after the cut! Read more

Did you catch Kenny Chesney on David Letterman this past week? Don’t worry if you didn’t - he was on at the end of the program, performed his current hit Out Last Night, and really didn’t get to say much after.

David introduced Kenny’s album as “Greatest Hits Eleven,” mistaking the Roman numerals for two (II) as an eleven. I’m sure he’ll get there someday!

It’s hard to believe that May is already coming to a close! Below is a listing of all country music albums set to be released in June:

June 2
Tanya Tucker - My Turn
Tracy Lawrence - The Rock
Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music

June 9
Darryl Worley - Sounds Like Life
Charlie Robison - Beautiful Day

June 16
Holly Williams - Here With Me
Darryl Singletary - Rockin’ in the Country

June 30
Brad Paisley - American Saturday Night
Cledus T. Judd - Polyrically Uncorrect

[image: amazon]

For the first time in 13 years, Reba McEntire will be appearing at the CMA Music Festival to sign autographs.

She’ll be joined by a huge turnout of other country artists at the signing booths, including Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Julianne Hough, Montgomery Gentry, LeAnn Rimes, Gretchen Wilson, Blake Shelton, Chuck Wicks, Caitlin & Will, Jason Michael Carroll, Bucky Covington, Gloriana, Joey + Rory, Little Big Town, The Lost Trailers, Lorrie Morgan, and Heidi Newfield, among many more.

The CMA Music Festival will be held June 11-14 in Nashville.

[image: Zuma Press]

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]

Tim McGraw’s #1 hit single “Everywhere” is from his 1997 album also titled Everywhere. The narrator of the song reminisces about a lost love, saying that she’d be surprised all the places he sees her, because in his heart he sees her everywhere.

The song has actually gotten Tim in some legal hot water. In 2007, songwriter James Martinez filed a lawsuit against McGraw, Reid and Wiseman for $20 million dollars, claiming he had given a demo titled “Anytime, Anywhere Amanda” to the defendants and that the similarities between the two songs are substantial.

McGraw’s lawyers are confident the case will be thrown out, but in August 2008 the lawsuit was transferred from Texas to the federal district court in Nashville, Tennessee and is still ongoing.

For the first time in nine years, a previous #1 song has hit the top spot again! Carrie Underwood’s remake of the 1988 Randy Travis song “I Told You So” has rocketed to the top of the Billboard charts since its release in February.

The duo performed the song together on American Idol in March, and ended up re-recording and re-releasing the song together.

Taylor Swift has taped an episode with Oprah for her daytime talk show to air on May 18th.

She took a break from her Fearless tour for the visit, and Taylor said it’s been a lifelong dream of hers. She showed up at the Chicago studio to surprise a young fan as a part of a special episode: the finale of “Oprah’s Search for the World’s Smartest and Most Talented Kids.” Dancers, singers and more take to the Oprah show stage to show off their best skills.

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The CMAs have a date: Set your DVR for November 11th! The 43rd Annual CMA Awards will air on Wednesday, Nov. 11 on ABC live from the Sommet Center in Nashville.

Nominees for the awards will be announced in early September.

[image: newscom]