They were the best the show has seen in five years. "Entertainment Weekly" said early Nielsen estimates have the broadcast Sunday night watched by 26.6-million.
Taylor Swift was a big winner at the Grammy's, and she has taken some flak for being played on pop radio, but backstage Sunday she said, "Genres have really become something that I don't think people focus on as much anymore. But country music is my love. Country music is absolutely going to be my home because of the stories that are told ... Growing up, my friends didn't listen to country music, but I did because I could identify with these stories so well."
One of the funniest moments (for me) came when Rapper T-Pain (who performed with Taylor on the CMT Music Awards - and correctly predicted that she would win the Grammy for Album of the Year) said he had his sites set on another country singer. "Next on my list is Carrie Underwood. I swear to God. Everybody else can suck it until I get to Carrie Underwood." ROFLMAO (not that I condone that language. heehee)