Newlyweds Rule The ACM Awards

We don't talk a lot about straight-up Country music on this blog, but Country music IS music for grown-ups, and one of the Country industry's biggest nights of the year was Sunday, the ACM (Academy of Country Music) awards in Las Vegas.

Blake and Miranda

Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert, the latest Power Couple in Country Music, won three awards between them, including Blake (who co-hosted the show with Reba McEntire) taking home Best Male Vocalist and Miranda making bookends with Best Female Vocalist.  She also won Album of the year for Four The Record.


Taylor Swift won the award for Entertainer Of The Year, and gave a very sweet shout out to the teenager with cancer who was supposed to be her date for the night, but couldn't because he was too sick to make it to the show.  

Read more about the ACM awards in the stories below!

Related articles

• The Best of the Academy of Country Music Awards (hollywood.com)
• Miranda Lambert Wins Big At ACM's (huffingtonpost.com)
• Quotes from the ACM Awards (blogs.tennessean.com)
• 2012 Academy of Country Music Awards Winners (acountry.com)

"The Hunger Games" Soundtrack-Let's Hope The Movie Is Better

The soundtrack for "The Hunger Games" movie, The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond was released today, and the reviews are in, and decidedly mixed.  The soundtrack features some songs from the movie, and many that help tell the story of "The Hunger Games".

Produced by 12-time Grammy winner T Bone Burnett, the album features 16 new by many of music's top artists who've drawn from themes embodied in The Hunger Games story to craft their songs. 

The first single from the movie is "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars.  Not a bad song, but kind of unremarkable.  In my opinion, much like the entire soundtrack.  If you haven't heard the song, here's the video.

There's no doubt that the movie will be a smash when it opens on March 23rd, but I'm not sure the soundtrack will pack the same punch as O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the incredible music from the 2000 film and the closest soundtrack I can think of after listening to The Hunger Games CD.

You can preview all the songs on the soundtrack here.

Here's the Track List:
1. Abraham's Daughter by Arcade Fire
2. Tomorrow Will Be Kinder by The Secret Sisters
3. Nothing To Remember by Neko Case
4. Safe & Sound ft. The Civil Wars by Taylor Swift 
5. The Ruler and The Killer by Kid Cudi 
6. Dark Days by Punch Brothers 
7. One Engine by The Decemberists 
8. Daughter's Lament by The Carolina Chocolate Drops 
9. Kingdom Come by The Civil Wars 
10. Take The Heartland by Glen Hansard 
11. Come Away To The Water by Maroon 5 ft. Rozzi Crane 
12. Run Daddy Run ft. Pistol Annies by Miranda Lambert 
13. Rules by Jayme Dee 
14. Eyes Open by Taylor Swift 
15. Lover Is Childlike by The Low Anthem 
16. Just A Game by Birdy 

Related articles

• Taylor Swift Debuts Second Hunger Games Single in Concert (thehollywoodgossip.com)