CMA shows country rocks

Country's biggest night, which is what the CMA Awards calls itself, raised the question: Just what is country music?

If what we saw on the 42nd annual Country Music Association Awards on Wednesday night was country, well, then Kid Rock, not George Strait, should be the king of Nashville. And Darius Rucker, the voice of 1990s rock sensations Hootie & the Blowfish, should be the prince.

Strait may have collected the CMA trophies for album of the year for "Troubadour" (his eighth win in this category) and for single of the year for "I Saw God Today" (his third victory for single) and Kenny Chesney may have won top entertainer for the third consecutive year, but Kid Rock, the Detroit rock star, gave the night's most exciting performance. His spirited "All Summer Long," a mash-up of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" and Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London," featured rap hero Lil' Wayne on guitar, American flags on video screens and a Tennessee Titans jersey on the singer's back. And Rucker's reading of his No. 1 country song, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It," was the most passionate performance of the night.

Other big CMA winners were Jennifer Nettles for song of the year ("Stay") and best duo (Sugarland); Brad Paisley for best male vocalist and best video ("Waitin' on a Woman"); Carrie Underwood for best female vocalist, and Lady Antebellum for best new artist.

Chesney seemed surprisingly tongue-tied when he accepted his fourth entertainer of the year trophy in the past five years. Shania Twain, who has been mostly invisible for the past four years, presented the prize in a provocative dress. "You look really good," were Chesney's first words. He followed with "um" and "um."

Scripted words followed more smoothly from co-hosts Paisley and Underwood, who were understated and unmemorable. He ad-libbed one zinger about her eight dresses: "150 grand for that?"

The three-hour program proved that country comes in many accents -- from presenter Nicole Kidman's Aussie lilt to Miranda Lambert's Texas twang and Nettles' Georgia drawl to Kid Rock's white trash accent and the Eagles' California cool. Heck, even ol' George Strait seasoned his "River of Love" with some island flavor and Chesney performed "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" with the Wailers, the classic reggae band from Jamaica.

As a whole, the show could have used a little more Kid Rock moxie and less Nashville polish. The pairing of Hollywood husbands Paisley and Keith Urban on the show-opening "Start a Band" was more guitar fun than fireworks. Alan Jackson was emotionless on "Good Time." Kellie Pickler was shrill and strident on "Best Days of Your Life."

But Sugarland was strikingly dramatic on "It's Love." Rodney Atkins was suitably chauvinistic on "It's America," and Taylor Swift was wildly over-the-top on "Love Story," shifting from a purple gown for the minuet scene to a white gown for the romance scene.

The emotional high point of the CMAs came when a war widow named Leslie Ponder introduced a song that has helped her cope with the loss of her husband in Afghanistan -- "Just a Dream," an overwrought ballad rendered with bravura conviction by Underwood.

"Now that is what country music is all about," Paisley declared.

Jon Bream • 612-673-1719