Brad Paisley played the Grand Ole Opry last night, tweeting that the night was "fantasy camp" for him. The night was dubbed "Play On" and commemorated the one-year anniversary of the floods in middle Tennessee. Joining Brad onstage were Alabama, Trace Adkins, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan and Charlie Daniels Band. The performance was a benefit for Hands On Nashville, The American Red Cross and The United Way of Metropolitan Nashville. After the show, Brad let it slip that he is donating all of the proceeds from the sale of the single "Old Alabama" to tornado relief efforts.
Voting continues for the 2011 CMT Music Awards, and some of the performers have been announced. Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland, Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum are scheduled to perform on the June 8th awards show.
Shania Twain is making an appearance at the CMA Music Festival this year, and she'll be bringing along an entire audience from the Oprah Winfrey show. When she was on Oprah's show yesterday, she gave each audience member Gaylord Opryland Resort accomodations, two-day festival passes and invited them to a private brunch. There had been a contest to fill the audience with the ultimate Shania fans, so you can imagine how excited they all were with the gifts. The last time she was at the CMA Music Festival, it was known as Fan Fair - 1996. She'll be signing copies of her book, "From This Moment On" but not performing.
John Rich, still in contention on "Celebrity Apprentice," is about to release two six-paks. The mini-albums will be out on May 17th, and one is a fund-raiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. "For the Kids" will raise money to support the hospital, which is the charity he's promoting on "Celebrity Apprentice." The other album is "Rich Rocks" and will include "Country Done Come to Town" and collaborations with Kid Rock, Lil Jon, Cowboy Troy and Hank Williams Jr.
Zimbio.com compiled a list of the hottest couples of 2011, based on popularity, success, attractiveness and staying power. Not surprisingly, country stars made the list.
#19 – Tim McGraw & Faith Hill
#22 – Carrie Underwood & Mike Fisher
#26 – Keith Urban & Nicole Kidman
#52 – Julianne Hough & Ryan Seacrest
#75 – Josh Kelley & Katherine Heigl
#100 – LeAnn Rimes & Eddie Cibrian
Maxim magazine is out with its list of the "Hot 100" and a couple of country stars are on it. Taylor Swift checks in at #20 and Julianne Hough is at #48.
Speaking of beautiful, Lee Brice's video for "Beautiful Every Time" is...
Congrats to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, whose classic "Fishin' in the Dark" was released digitally in 2009 and has been certified gold by the RIAA.
Shania Twain is on the Today show today.
Happy birthday to Randy Travis, who turns 52 today.
The tweet of the day is from Martina McBride: "Its a wrap! We just made a FUN video for Teenage Daughters....the whole family was part of it. So proud of my girls (and John)"
