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Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood to Perform at CMA Awards

By Eileen Finan

Monday October 05, 2009 08:00 AM EDT

Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood

Todd Williamson/FilmMagic; Jen Lowery/Startraks

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A power-packed lineup of country stars including Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley and Keith Urban will perform at the 43rd Annual CMA Awards show, the Country Music Association tells PEOPLE.com.

The list of stars – which also includes Brooks & Dunn (the vocal duo, winners of 14 CMAs, have announced they will be parting ways after a farewell tour next year), Reba McEntire, George Strait, Sugarland and first-time nominee Darius Rucker – is the first round of performers announced for the show.

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The lineup means that all the year’s nominees for entertainer of the year – Strait, Swift, Chesney, Paisley (this year’s most-nominated artist with seven nods) and Urban – will sing on the broadcast. The entertainer of the year nomination marks a remarkable rise for Swift, who at 19 is the youngest artist ever nominated for the association’s top award. It was just two years ago that she won the CMA Horizon Award for best new artist.

The CMA Awards air live from Nashville on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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