By Brian Mansfield Special for USA TODAY
Taylor Swift returned to her winning ways Sunday in Las Vegas, taking Entertainer of the Year at the 46th Academy of Country Music Awards.
By Ethan Miller, Getty Images
Getting the crowd going: Brad Paisley performs.
By Ethan Miller, Getty Images
Getting the crowd going: Brad Paisley performs.
"I'm just losing my mind!" said Swift, who also performed her new single, Mean.
Miranda Lambert made the most trips to the stage, accepting awards in four categories, including top female vocalist. Her hit The House That Built Me was named single, song and video of the year.
Country singers may have been front and center, but the academy brought in plenty of performers from other genres. Rihanna, James Taylor and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler all joined the night's country nominees for duets during the three-hour ceremony.
While the ACMs were ostensibly an awards show, performances outnumbered trophies two to one. An hour went by before the first award.
USA TODAY rates the evening's most memorable performances.
(* * * out of four) Brad Paisley and Alabama, Old Alabama
Entertainer of the Year nominee Paisley reunited the members of Alabama (who won that award five times) for the new single from Paisley's forthcoming This Is Country Music album. Their show-opening performance featured an easygoing Southern-rock groove and some great guitar-picking.
(* * *) Carrie Underwoodand Steven Tyler, Undo It/Walk This Way
The former American Idolchamp brought out one of the show's new judges for a rocked-up rendition of her recent No. 1 hit, which segued into Aerosmith's Walk This Way. But when Tyler sang, "So I gave her just a little kiss ? like this," she pulled away at the last second and grinned.
(* * *) Sara Evans, Just a Little Bit Stronger
Evans, named the ACM's top female vocalist in 2006, has kept a pretty low profile since an ugly divorce that year. She earned a standing ovation for a ballad about recovery that perfectly fits her own life story.
(* * 1/2) Jennifer Nettles and Rihanna, California King Bed
The awards show had mixed success with its riskiest cross-genre duet. While Sugarland's lead singer and the R&B superstar had obvious chemistry, their voices didn't blend so well.
(* * * 1/2) Ronnie Dunn, Bleed Red
Dunn, ex of regular top-duo winners Brooks & Dunn, had the spotlight all to himself, and he made the most of it, giving a powerhouse performance of his new solo single, backed by his band and a string section.
(* * *) Martina McBride, Teenage Daughters
Country music excels at depictions of day-to-day life, and this mother of three girls knows what she's talking about.
(* * * 1/2) Darius Rucker, Music From the Heart
In the broadcast's emotional high point, Rucker performed with a chorus from the ACM's Lifting Lives music camp for young adults with developmental disabilities, singing a ballad that camp attendees had written with artist Chris Young and hit songwriter Brett James.
(* * *1/2) Reba McEntire, When Love Gets a Hold of You
McEntire has won the ACM top female vocalist more times (seven) than anybody else, and she showed why she's still the standard with a thrilling performance of her new single, with its haunting Western-style guitar riff.
(* * * 1/2) Zac Brown Band with James Taylor, Colder Weather/Sweet Baby James
Taylor has clearly influenced Brown's music, especially current single Colder Weather, so bringing Taylor out to sing the song (and his own Sweet Baby James) with them was the night's most natural pairing.
Tara Conner Zhang Ziyi Camilla Belle Ana Paula Lemes Alessandra Ambrosio
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