• April 20, 2009
• Vol. 71
• No. 15

Girls' Night in Vegas

By Eileen Finan, Joey Bartolomeo

With Lady Luck Clearly on Their Side, Carrie, Taylor and Julianne Took Home Top Prizes at the Academy of Country Music Awards Show

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From PEOPLE Magazine

It was appropriate that Taylor Swift won the ACM Album of the Year award for what she says she "wrote basically in my bedroom about boys": This night was for the girls. And yet the notable winners at the show in Las Vegas April 5—Swift, Julianne Hough and Carrie Underwood, the first female Entertainer of the Year since the Dixie Chicks in 2000—were stunned by their luck. "My legs are jelly and my fingers are numb," Hough said of her first ACM award. "Kristian Bush of Sugarland gave me a hug and said, 'Welcome to country music.' I just started bawling. I'm not an emotional person, but I'm a baby right now." Moments earlier at the podium, she faced a more pressing drama when a dress malfunction prompted a zip-up from presenter Jack Ingram. "It's not my first rodeo," he joked of offering a helping hand.

Underwood, meanwhile, unveiled the night's wildest wardrobe—a lava-like cascade of fabric (designed by Rafael Cennamo) that was kept top secret until her performance. "It basically stood up by itself," she says of her gown. "Someone had to crawl under it and put my shoes on!"

With so much girl power on display, only one man was able to share the spotlight: legend George Strait, who was honored as Artist of the Decade. While the stars waxed poetic about his contributions to country music, leave it to a lady to put it all in perspective: "I think George is pretty hot," said Miranda Lambert with a giggle. "He's aging very well!"

• Contributors:
• With Anne Marie Cruz/Las Vegas,
• Mark Gray/Las Vegas,
• Brenda Rodriguez/Las Vegas.

More From This Article

Carrie's Moment

After her Top Female Vocalist win, Underwood—who also gave a show-stopping performance (left)—told her mom, "Okay, you don't have to worry about holding my purse anymore, I won't be getting up again." Then she won Entertainer of the Year. "I kind of blacked out," she says. But she didn't forget her hockey player boyfriend Mike Fisher in her speech, yelling, "Mike, baby, I wish you were here!"