Today's Country Tidbits

Turns out Miranda Lambert's day Wednesday was even more special than we knew. Not only was it her 27th birthday, not only did she win an arm-load of CMA awards and help boyfriend Blake Shelton celebrate his first two CMA wins, she also got a phone call from her musical hero. Her cellphone rang, she didn't recognize the number but answered it anyway, and the caller identified himself as Merle Haggard. Her response? "THE Merle? This is Miranda Lambert!" He chuckled, saying "I know - I called you." He congratulated her on her CMA nominations, wished her luck and also sent her 37 roses - 27 pink ones to celebrate her birthday, 9 yellow ones to celebrate her CMA nominations and one red one, just for her. Take a lesson, Blake - that's a seriously thoughtful bouquet!

From People Magazine, the best quotes from the stage, the red carpet and backstage at the CMA Awards:

1.) “Are you guys gonna wear your meat suits at least?” – Show co-host Brad Paisley said while mistaking winners Lady Antebellum with Lady Gaga.

2.) “Gwyneth, I’ve always wanted to ask you something. Can you get me two Coldplay tickets?”- Brad Paisley “Can you make it four?” – co-host Carrie Underwood said to Gwyneth Paltrow who’s married to frontman Chris Martin.

3.) “Normally I root for Miranda at these things, but that was way before I ever got nominated. We’ll just leave it at that. You can always draw your own conclusions.” Blake Shelton told People regarding his game face to compete against fiancé Miranda Lambert.

4.) “All you have to do is read the teleprompter. I can read. Check!” –Kellie Pickler told CMT host Evan Farmer on acing her job as a presenter.

5.) “Yes, she does have a southern accent, but she says y’all and g’day mate. She’s a mix.” –Nicole Kidman said to CMT host Evan Farmer on raising daughter Sunday Rose.

6.) “I think it’s a really fun dress; it kind of looks like a Gothic cake topper!”- Julianne Hough said to People regarding her Georges Chakra gown and her first time wearing black at an awards show.

7.) “I went to a great bar and had a pint of Guinness. That’s my new ritual. I’m feeling good!” – Performer Gwyneth Paltrow told CMT host Katie Cook about her pre-show jitters.

8.) “I don’t know what’s going on. I just told Blake I think we need to go to church.” - Miranda Lambert said while accepting that award for Female Vocalist of the Year, and also after Blake took the trophy for Male Vocalist.

9.) “Come on man, everybody here knows that Brad Paisley lip syncs.” – NASCAR champ Jeff Gordon said while imitating Brad.

Taylor Swift has been added to the list of performers at the American Music Awards, airing November 21st on ABC.

Ready for more awards? The People's Choice Award final nominees are ready for your votes. Tim McGraw is up for Favorite Male Vocalist, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood are nominated for Favorite Female Vocalist, and in the Favorite Country Artist category, Taylor and Carrie are joined by Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum and Rascal Flatts. Carrie Underwood also shows up in the Favorite TV Guest Star category.

Rascal Flatts has rounded up Luke Bryan and Chris Young and will kick off the winter leg of their "Nothing Like This" tour January 14th in Sioux Falls, SD.

Carrie Underwood has been added to the list of performers on CBS's "Thanksgiving Day Parade Show."

The Lifetime Channel movie, "Unanswered Prayers," based on the Garth Brooks song of the same name, will debut on November 29th.

Reba's on the David Letterman show tonight. Tomorrow morning on NBC's "Weekend Today" Little Big Town will be featured during the 8am hour in a segment called "Secrets of Songwriters." They'll talk about how "Little White Church" went from an idea recorded into a cell phone to a top 10 single for the band.

This Sunday night's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is the one shot in Middle Tennessee, featuring Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and LeAnn Rimes.

The tweet of the day is from Martina McBride: "After an amazing week I'm home & ready 4bed. After having 2 fit in tiny dresses I had a big fat steak, a loaded baked potato and a martini!"

Today's Country Tidbits

The CMA show last night was just what an award show should be - long on great performances and filled with appreciative acceptance speeches and an appreciative audience. Miranda Lambert went into the night with 9 nominations and ended up with four awards: Video of the Year and Song of the Year for "The House That Built Me," Album of the Year for "Revolution" and Female Vocalist of the Year. She was nominated in seven categories, with two nominations each in two of the categories, so she went 4 for 7, which is really great! Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins had a good night - before the televised portion of the show started, they found out they won the award for Musical Event of the Year for "Hillbilly Bone." Blake also won Male Vocalist of the Year. Lady Antebellum picked up two awards, too - their song "Need You Now" earned the Single of the Year award and they picked up the Vocal Group of the Year award. Sugarland won Vocal Duo of the Year and the Zac Brown Band was named New Artist of the Year. Poor Brad Paisley only earned one award, but it was the one he really wanted to win - Entertainer of the Year. It's his first time winning that award, but probably not his last.

Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton are now part of a very small, very unique group. By winning the CMA Best Female Vocalist and Best Male Vocalist awards on the same night, they join the only other couples who've done it: Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, Lorrie Morgan and Keith Whitley, Ricky Skaggs and Sharon White and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. The Tim and Faith win was a decade ago, in 2000.

Miranda Lambert's Album of the Year award for "Revolution" makes her one of only six female artists to win that award. She joins Anne Murray, Patty Loveless, Dixie Chicks, Lee Ann Womack and Taylor Swift.

Who did country divas Martina McBride and Gretchen Wilson have on their arms last night? They each had two dates - their daughters. Sweet!

And in case you lost count, Carrie Underwood had 8 outfit changes last night. And she looked great in each one of them, didn't she? People.com has a photo album of star shots from last night's show.

Lady Antebellum has had a great week, which included some work on the "Hello World" video.

Rascal Flatts will be part of NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series Ceremony on Friday, December 3rd at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. They'll perform, and the ceremony will air live at 9pm Eastern on the Speed channel.

The top three albums in the country are Taylor Swift's "Speak Now," Jason Aldean's "My Kinda Party" and Sugarland's "Incredible Machine." Take that, rappers and rockers!

The CMA line of the night was from Brad Paisley: “After the night Miranda and Blake are having we can expect a baby in nine months.”

Today's Country Tidbits

All the stars who'll be performing on the CMA Awards show tonight have been in rehearsals this week. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood are both hosting and performing, and they've been rehearsing since Sunday. Yesterday, Dierks Bentley, Rascal Flatts, George Strait and Gwyneth Paltrow were on stage, rehearsing their songs for tonight's show. Carrie and Brad have a special kind of pre-show workout...

Miranda Lambert, nominated for a record 9 CMA awards tonight, is also celebrating her 27th birthday today. But wait - there's one more thing she'll celebrate after the show: the end of her diet. She's had a personal trainer traveling with her on tour, and she's been watching what she eats. But tonight, the diet goes out the window as she hosts a post-show pizza party for her birthday. She says she hasn't eaten pizza in a month, and she can't wait.

Taking advantage of the fact that most of Nashville's biggest stars are in town during CMA week, other organizations hold their award ceremonies this week, too. Monday night at the SESAC Awards, Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum won Songwriter of the Year for the second year in a row. Last night was the BMI Songwriter Awards ceremony, and even though she has a near shut-out in the CMA Award nominations, Taylor Swift had a big night. She won top honors - BMI's Country Songwriter of the Year - and in so doing, became the youngest person ever to win the award. She and Liz Rose shared Country Song of the Year for "You Belong With Me." It's been an emotional week for Taylor, who sang at a friend's funeral on Monday. She recognized him during her acceptance speech, saying “He was 21, and I used to play my songs for him first. So I would like to thank Jeff Lang.”

Forbes Magazine has issued their list of top-earning women, and Taylor Swift makes it for the first, but probably not last, time. On the strength of her tour, two endorsement deals and of course, sales of her music, Taylor is in the #9 spot.

1. Oprah Winfrey - $315 million

2. Beyonce Knowles - $87 million

3. Britney Spears - $64 million

4. Lady Gaga - $62 million

5. Madonna - $58 million

6. Sandra Bullock - $56 million

7. Ellen DeGeneres - $55 million

8. Miley Cyrus - $48 million

9. Taylor Swift (tie) - $45 million

10. Judge Judy Sheindlin (tie) - $45 million

Counting down to Keith Urban's next cd, "Get Closer" just got more fun. Target is offering Facebook streams of a track a day, with "Put You In A Song" and "You Gonna Fly" available now on the Facebook pages of Keith and Target.

Toby Keith was the Incognito Bandito in New York this summer, and one of the songs he did on stage was the classic Neil Diamond song, "Sundown."

Wanna see Garth Brooks in Las Vegas? New shows are about to go on sale, but they're gonna cost you. Steve Wynn, owner of the Wynn Hotel where Garth is performing, announced a price increase of $100 per ticket, saying "The most important thing for our company is to give people value for their entertainment dollar. The contact with Garth in the Encore is the equivalent of being in his living room ... In terms of value, I believe that Garth is still underpriced and represents the greatest entertainment value in modern Las Vegas." Tickets for the December 3-5, January 21-13 and February 11-13 and 25-27 shows will run you $225 each and are available through Ticketmaster.com or at 877-65-GARTH (42784)

For the football player or football lover in your life, Kenny Chesney's documentary is out, just in time for holiday gift-giving. Here's a sneak-peek...

Dierks Bentley and Brad Paisley are on Good Morning America today, Blake Shelton is on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight after the CMA Awards, and nearly all of Nashville will be on ABC tonight for the 44th Annual CMA Awards, starting at 8pm Eastern.

Happy birthday to Miranda Lambert (27) and Chris Cagle (42) today.

The tweet of the day is from Trisha Yearwood: "9 shows for flood relief! Thank you to everyone who is supporting the community of Nashville. You guys rock!"

Today's Country Tidbits

Darius Rucker has written and produced a song for the PGA Tour, to raise money for the PGA charities. The song will be available early in 2011, and all proceeds will go to The First Tee and other PGA initiatives. The song, named "Together, Anything is Possible," will be part of PGA tour tv broadcasts, and there are plans for a "making of the song" video, along with public service announcements recorded by Darius. As an avid golfer himself, Darius was honored and delighted to be part of this project.

Martina McBride has changed record labels. After 18 years with RCA Nashville, she's now on the roster of Republic Nashville, the new home of Rascal Flatts. Republic is part of Scott Borchetta's Big Machine music empire, home of Taylor Swift.

It was a star-studded night last night in Nashville, as "Country Strong" had its industry premier. At the theatre were the film's stars, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw with wife Faith Hill, Tobey Maguire, Leighton Meester and country music luminaries like Martina McBride, Luke Bryan and Kix Brooks were in attendance. The movie won't open for the rest of us until January 7th, 2011.

New stars were added to Nashville's Walk of Stars. Rascal Flatts, Kris Kristofferson, Mel Tillis, Little Jimmy Dickens, Bobby Hebb and Eddy Arnold all were honored with their own stars in the Walk of Fame Park in downtown Nashville.

Kellie Pickler answered fan questions via her twitter account last night and revealed that she'll be co-hosing the red carpet coverage at the CMA Awards tomorrow night, wearing a Pamela Roland gown and that she and Kyle can't wait to have kids.

Gloriana took a float on the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East and performed for the troops.

Tonight, Jason Aldean is performing at the Hard Rock in Nashville. Can't be there? Don't worry...grab a beer and hit the internet - the show is streaming live and free, starting at 6:45 Eastern.

Congrats to Keith Urban, whose "Defying Gravity" cd has earned platinum status.

People.com has a photo gallery of country stars and their furry friends. There's also a photo gallery of Brad Paisley shots. Just like Brad, sometimes serious, sometimes silly.

Tomorrow night at the CMA Awards, look for Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban to be part of the opening performance. And during commercial breaks, look for Carrie Underwood's debut as the face of Olay beauty products.

New music out today includes Reba's "All The Women I Am" and Blake Shelton's "Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton" greatest hits package.

The tweet of the day is from Jack Ingram: "That was strange! I walk off the plane only 2 hear me welcome me 2 Nashville International Airport! I thought my voice sounded weird on tape"

Today's Country Tidbits

So who's the King of Nashville? Today, it's Garth Brooks, who sold out 9 shows at Bridgestone Arena Saturday afternoon. One show was announced, and it went on sale at 11am Eastern. All 13,000 tickets were sold in less than 5 minutes, melting down GarthBrooks.com and Ticketmaster.com. Several other dates at the arena were available, so tickets were put on sale for those, too. When the dust settled, there are Garth Brooks shows December 16, 17, 19, 20, 21 and 22, with two shows per night on December 16, 21 and 22. Why all the frenzy? His is widely considered to be the best live show ever in country music, and these shows will be his first full-band concerts in Nashville since 1998. In all, over 140,000 tickets were sold in just a couple of hours, and more than $3.5 million will go towards re-building middle Tennessee after the devastating floods this year.

Tonight is the premier of "Country Strong" in Nashville. It'll be a star-studded night, but if you didn't get invited, it'll be a while before you get to see Tim McGraw and Gwyneth Paltrow in their new movie. It doens't open for the rest of us until January 7th, 2011.

When Lady Antebellum does their show in Charles & Dave's hometown of Augusta, GA a week from today, they're in for a special acknowledgement. The city will hold a street-re-naming ceremony in their honor. A road near James Brown Arena will be re-named "Lady Antebellum Way." The mayor notes, “I think it is just an appropriate thing to do, and we always want to celebrate Augustans that have gone on to do well and make it big. They definitely have.”

It's been such a hit, they're continuing the show. George Strait, Reba and Lee Ann Womack will hit the road again in January for the winter leg of their tour. On-sale dates will be announced on George Strait's website, but here are the show dates:

Jan. 14: Austin, Texas (Frank Erwin Center)

Jan. 15: Oklahoma City (Ford Center)

Jan. 27: Tallahassee, Fla. (Leon City Civic Center)

Jan. 28: Jacksonville, Fla. (Veterans Memorial Arena)

Jan. 29: Tampa, Fla. (St. Pete Times Forum)

Feb. 4: Fresno, Calif. (SaveMart Center)

Feb. 5: Las Vegas (MGM Grand Garden Arena)

Feb. 17: Indianapolis (Conseco Fieldhouse)

Feb. 18: Cleveland (Quickens Loan Arena)

Feb. 19: Auburn Hills, Mich. (The Palace)

March 4: Cincinnati (US Bank Arena)

March 5: Chicago (Allstate Arena)

March 25: Lubbock, Texas (United Spirit Arena)

March 26: Las Cruces, N.M. (Pan American Center)

April 1: Denver (Pepsi Center)

April 2: Salt Lake City (Energy Solutions Arena)

April 8: Columbia, Mo. (Mizzou Arena)

April 9: Louisville, Ky. (KFC Yum! Arena)

Shania Twain is apparently in talks with the honchoes at the Coliseum in Las Vegas. No word on when her shows there might happen.

Catch Reba on Good Morning America tomorrow morning.

The tweet of the day is from Billy Currington during the Garth ticket frenzy on Saturday: "really cool that Garth Brooks can sell out 6 shows n nashville n only few minutes after being gone 10 years. GREAT ARTIST loved by so many"

Today's Country Tidbits

Zac Brown Band and Kenny Chesney are teaming up for some stadium dates next year. The "Going Coastal" tour is expected to boast more tour dates for Kenny Chesney than ever before, plus these co-headlining stadium shows. Here's the stadium list...join the appropriate fan club for

earliest access to the best seats.

Sat March 19 - Tampa, FL - Raymond James Stadium (on sale Sat Dec 11)

Sat April 16 Dallas, TX - Cowboys Texas Stadium (on sale Sat Dec 4)

Sat June 4 Washington, DC - Fed Ex Field (on sale Fri Dec 3)

Sat June 11 - Green Bay, WI - Lambeau Field (on sale Sat Dec 11)

Sat June 18 Philadelphia, PA - Lincoln Financial Field (on sale Sat Nov 20)

Sat July 2 Pittsburgh, PA - Heinz Field (on sale Sat Dec 4)

Sat July 30 - Kansas City, MO - Arrowhead Stadium (on sale Sat Dec 11)

Sat August 20 Detroit, MI - Ford Field (on sale Sat Dec 4)

Sat August 27- Foxboro, MA - Gillette Stadium (on sale Sat Nov 20)

And it's now official - Taylor has the best one-week album sales of any woman in country music, ever. "Speak Now" sold nearly 1,047,000 copies last week, easily out-pacing Shania Twain's "Come On Over" which sold 874,000 in it's debut week in 2002.

Taylor Swift took home the Billboard Top Package Award for her tour with Kellie Pickler and Gloriana last night at the Billboard Touring Awards. She was the only country act to be

recognized for tour excellence this year.

Speaking of Gloriana, the group will perform "Wild At Heart" on the 84th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, airing at 9am Eastern on Thanksgiving day.

More stars are lining up for the CMA festivities next week. Kid Rock will perform, Sara Evans will

present an award and Billy Ray Cyrus will host a Jack Daniels Black Carpet event to raise

awareness about COPD. (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.)

Didja miss Brad Paisley doing an acoustic version of "Anything Like Me" on Good Morning America? Got it here for you.

Tonight, catch Jason Aldean on the Tonight Show. Sunday, Willie Nelson does a pre-race concert and Lee Ann Womack is the Grand Marshall at the AAA Texas 500. They're there in support of the American Red Cross to raise awareness of the need for blood donations.

The tweet of the day is from Martina McBride: "A happy family is but an earlier heaven" John Browning. Have an inspired day!"

Today's Country Tidbits

This afternoon, Sugarland will participate in a live Q & A event with Billboard reporters. You can watch the live interview, and can send your questions to Jennifer and Kristian via Twitter using the hashtag #bblivechat. The interview starts at 4:30 Eastern time this afternoon.

Here's the deal on the Garth Brooks tickets - they go on sale this Saturday morning for his benefit concert in Nashville on December 17th. Tickets are $25, plus $7.50 in Ticketmaster user fees and service charges, and go on sale at 11am Eastern time on Saturday, November 6th. Charge by phone at 866-448-7849 or 1-900-745-3000, or you can order them online at www.ticketmaster.com

Blake Shelton wants to put his fans in his CMA performance. In addition to giving away tickets to the CMA Awards to his BSers fan club members, he's also looking for people to be on stage when he performs at the CMA Awards. You don't get a ticket to the show, you just get to be part of it. If you can be in Nashville all day next Wednesday, sign up!

The line-up for next May's Bayou Country Superfest has been revealed, and it's a good one: Tim McGraw, Sugarland, Trace Adkins, Luke Bryan and Josh Thompson will perform on May 28th, and Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown Band, Billy Currington, Jason Michael Carroll and Lee Brice will hit the stage on May 29th. Tickets go on sale November 10th.

Taylor Swift was on Dancing With the Stars results show this week - here are her performances.

Tomorrow on a special celebrity edition of Ask Dr. Oz, Naomi Judd and Taylor Swift will ask questions. Naomi wants to know what she can do to keep her brain as fit as possible, and Taylor wants to know how to make healthy snacks out of normal grocery store items. Check your local listings to see when the Dr. Oz Show is on in your area.

Brad Paisley is on Good Morning America today.

The tweet of the day is from Brad Paisley: "Great to be back in New York. Really looking forward to a few days up here. And picking up a few cool souvenirs. Like bedbugs."