COUNTRY'S HOTTEST 20

CMT has a special planned for August 10th. "What's Your 20? 20 Greatest Men, 20 Years."

Here's how it works - CMT has selected the 20 men - we rank them.

Here's our choices

• Trace Adkins
• Jason Aldean
• Dierks Bentley
• Garth Brooks
• Brooks & Dunn
• Johnny Cash
• Kenny Chesney
• Vince Gill
• Alan Jackson
• Toby Keith
• Tim McGraw
• Willie Nelson
• Brad Paisley
• Rascal Flatts
• Blake Shelton
• George Strait
• Randy Travis
• Keith Urban
• Hank Williams Jr.
• Zac Brown Band

POLLSTAR'S TOP NORTH AMERICAN COUNTRY TOURS

This list is for the first half of 2011

#4 - Kenny Chesney - $46.7 million

#6 - Taylor Swift - $29.5 million (she's been out of the country for most of the first half of 2011)

#15 - George Strait, Reba McEntire, & Lee Ann Womack - $18.4 million

#27 - Brad Paisley - $11.9 million

#28 - Jason Aldean - $11.8 million

#33 - Sugarland - $10.1 million

#39 - Rascal Flatts - $9.2 million

#49 - Tim McGraw - $7.3 million

#50 - Zac Brown Band - $6.7 million

"OWN THE NIGHT" TRACK LIST

I've got September 13th on my calendar for many reasons. First - it's my parents 44th Wedding Anniversary (way to go Mom & Dad!), but it's also the day that Lady Antebellum's "Own the Night" album is out. Can NOT wait!

Here's the track listing.

1. We Owned the Night
2. Just a Kiss
3. Dancin' Away With My Heart
4. Friday Night
5. When You Were Mine
6. Cold As Stone
7. Singing Me Home
8. Wanted You More
9. As You Turn Away
10. The Love I've Found In You
11. Somewhere Love Remains
12. The Heart of the World

AAUCCKTTIINNGG!

One day we might see Jason Aldean in a few roles. He recently told the Courier Press from Evansville, IN that he wouldn't rule acting out. He was pitched a movie script recently. Jason says he would like to ease into it, maybe try it out, and not jump into the larger roles right away. You know, find out if it's something he's interested in. He will not kiss anyone on screen though. He doesn't want his kids to be "confused." This doesn't stop them from trying though. Jason said, "It seems like every time I get a video treatment, for some reason it's got me hooking up with some girl and I'm like, damn, y'all gotta get somebody else to do that."

You can spot Carrie Underwood in the premier of CBS's Blue Bloods on September 23rd. Sh will play herself, along with Tony Bennett as they perform "It Had To Be You" from Tony's Duets Two album - which hits stores September 20th.

MONTGOMERY GENTRY PERFORMS FOR EVERY SOLDIER

And I do mean every soldier - around the entire globe. The USO Homefront Concert is set for next Tuesday - July 26th. The concert takes place in Louisville, Kentucky and there will be 1,400 people at the National Guard's National Volunteer's Workshop and Symposium to watch - which doesn't sound like every soldier. But...the Pentaon will uplink the concert to the Armed Forces Network. That means it will be beamed to all military bases around the world. You don't have to be in the service to watch though. Like the Homefront Concert USA page on Facebook to see it yourself.

Here's the link to the Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=219940491378057

DUH! KENNY CHESNEY IS HOT!

Cosmo did a list of Hot Guys on Tour and Kenny Chesney made the cut. This is what Cosmopolitan said of Kenny; "Worn-in jeans, cowboy hats, cut-off tees...Kenny may not have Katy Perry's costume budget, but we still think his, um, tractor's sexy." LOL

Cosmo's Hot Guys in Bands

1. Adam Levine of Maroon 5 (and winner of The Voice)
2. Andrew McMahon of Jack's Mannequin
3. Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars
4. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver
5. Kenny Chesney
6. Kid Cudi
7. All Four Kings of Leon
8. Matt Bellamy of Muse
9. Michael Buble
10. MKOTBSB Members

SUGARLAND CONTEST

Their current song is "Tonight" and they're running a fan video contest. They want you to submit a 2-minute video answering questions like "What are you waiting for 'Tonight?' Is it a dream date with your partner? A night in with your children? An evening out with friends? Some quiet time alone?"

You are given a number of Sugarland clips that you mix up with your own video footage to explain what the songs title means to you.

Sugarland will chose 10 favs and post them online so we can pick the winning entry.

The winner receives a trip for two to see Sugarland play their final "Incredible Machine 2011 Tour" show in Atlanta, GA. The prize includes a meet-n-greet with the band and dinner for two.

Details at SugarlandMusic.com

BABIES!

Jewel and her hubby Ty Murray are parents! Monday night their baby boy was born. Kase Townes Murray arrived at 7pm (CDT), and weighed 7 pounds - 6 ounces. Jewel gushed to People exclusively, "Ty and I are so pleased to welcome our new baby boy into the world. We are overcome with happiness - it really is as great as everyone told us it would be - better even!"

These are a shots of his nursery - which Jewel tweeted.

Justin Moore's wife Kate is going to have a girl in November. This will be their second daughter. Ella Kole turned one last February.

& BREAKUPS

Of a sort. Cheyenne Kimball has decided to leave Gloriana! There was a note posted on their website Monday that read:

As you may have heard, Cheyenne Kimball chose to leave our band. We need you to know that Gloriana will absolutely continue on. We couldn't imagine our lives any other way.

We are 100 percent committed to all of you, our fans and supporters. As planned, we will debut our new music video this week and will continue touring and supporting "Wanna Take You Home" while finishing up our new album. We wish Cheyenne the best of luck in whatever lies ahead for her.

Much love,

Tom, Rachel, and Mike - Gloriana

Well, Sugarland lost a Kristin Hall and went on to HUGE success. Gloriana is a new group - but very good - so hopefully they will be able to continue on to big things. And all the best to Cheyenne.

P.S. In case you're wondering - Cheyenne is the blond on the left.

UPDATE 7/13/11 - It seems her leaving blindsided the rest of Gloriana. Tom Gossin said, "she just kind of took off after the show." (last Friday night) She didn't respond to an email they sent her and "then, just like everybody else, we saw her Twitter page on Saturday." (That tweet has been taken down since then - but it said that she was no longer part of the group and it was time to move on.) They say it was a shock because "there was nothing particular leading up to this."

ENGAGEMENT'S!

The duo of Steel Magnolia - Meghan Linsey and Joshua Scott Jones are engaged. Joshua gave Meghan his great-grandmother's antique engagement ring (awwwww) before they won CMT's "Can You Duet" in 2009! Yes 2oo9! They've kept the secret this long. Joshua is thinking of a wedding next year on his birthday, July 10th, but Meghan says he is just thinking that date 'cuz it's his birthday. She said she asked him, "Well, do you know if it's a Saturday? Is it a Tuesday?" She said "he doesn't think about those things." Since it's Leap Year next year - she's right, it's a Tuesday, so I don't think that will be the date!

Rumors flew that Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum was engaged when she wore this ginormous diamond on her ring finger at the ACM's this spring, and she had to shoot those down. But congrats are now in order! Chris Tyrell popped the question during the 4th of July weekend. She said, "our families were close by, but it was just us out on a beautiful deck overlooking a lake on East Tennessee. We had just been on a hike and - in our workout clothes - he hit the knee! We feel so blessed by God that He sent us each other, and we are looking so forward to forever together!" Chris is currently working in Edens Edge's backing band on Brad Paisley's tour. They met while he was playing drums for Love and Theft when they were both on the Tim McGraw tour last year.

WILLIE'S POT CASE

It ain't over folks. A judge has refused to approve a plea deal that reduces Willie's drug charges - you'll recall Willie was arrested on suspicion of possession last November after the border patrol thought they smelled pot on his bus. Willie's deal allowed him to plead no contest to a reduced charge of misdemeanor possession of drug paraphenalia, and pay a $500 fine and $280 in court costs.

Last Friday County Judge Becky Dean-Walker admitted she signed that deal and then changed her mind and scratched her name out. She feels he deserves a tougher sentence, saying, "I'm not going to be guilty of signing something because someone is a celebrity...Everybody should be treated the same in my court."

So now the case is still pending.

I'll keep you up to date.

BLAKE & MIRANDA'S WEDDING

There are some seriously awesome pictures at JunkGypsyblog.com. Scroll down to see what they reception looked like, along with a very cute pix of Blake & Miranda.

GUESS WHO'S UP FOR A LOT OF TEEN CHOICE AWARDS

Yeppers. Taylor Swift. 6 nominations for her. August 7th is the date of the awards.

She is nominated in several country categories but also in several all-genre categories.

• Female Artist category
• Love Song category for "Mine"
• Break-Up Song category for "Back to December"
• Red Carpet Fashion Icon

Choice Music: Male Country Artist

• Jason Aldean
• Luke Bryan
• Brad Paisley
• Blake Shelton
• Keith Urban

Choice Music: Female Country Artist

• Miranda Lambert
• Jennette McCurdy
• Kellie Pickler
• Taylor Swift
• Carrie Underwood

Choice Music: Country Single

• "If I Die Young"- The Band Perry
• "Country Girl (Shake It for Me) "- Luke Bryan
• "Just a Kiss" - Lady Antebellum
• "Honey Bee"- Blake Shelton
• "Mean" - Taylor Swift

Choice Music: Country Group

• Lady Antebellum
• The Band Perry
• Rascal Flatts
• Steel Magnolia
• Little Big Town