Jason Aldean

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Jason Aldean Likes His Odds in Vegas

Originally posted 03/31/2012 01:25PM

He's got a one-in-five shot to take home the biggest trophy of the night Sunday at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas, and that's good enough for Jason Aldean.

"Out of all country artists, there's only a handful of us that get a crack at entertainer of the year, so to be one of those is pretty cool," says the "Flyover States" singer. "It's an honor to be nominated, but I'll go on record right now saying I want to win."

Aldean adds: "I come from a sports background, so I don't come to the game to sit on the bench, I want to play!"  

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Celebrity Diners Club

CMT Artists of the Year: What Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley Ate

Originally posted 12/13/2011 10:05AM

How do country's biggest stars prep for the CMT Artists of the Year show? With some southern-style cooking, of course!

This year's crop of honorees – Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum and Jason Aldean – all chowed down on a feast prepared by Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard prior to the show, which airs Tuesday (9 p.m. ET on CMT).

"For the dinner, I wanted to show my style of cooking but have influence from the artists and Nashville," Izard told PEOPLE of the three-course meal, complete with wine pairings. (See the full menu below.)

Using notes from each musician, the Top Chef winner created a meal tailor-made for the stars.

"Taylor Swift loves sausage and gravy from Cracker Barrel, so we did mini biscuits with goat and pork gravy," Izard, who owns the Chicago restaurant the Girl & the Goat, said. (She also personally met Swift because, Izard explains, "All of the young guys that work for me would have been disappointed had I not!")

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Credit: Julian Dufort

Jason Aldean's Bulldog Is a Diehard Football Fan

Originally posted 11/14/2011 09:00AM

The instant Jason Aldean brought his new puppy, Athens, home two years ago, he knew the dog would be a die-hard Georgia football fan – just like the singer.

"I had a Georgia helmet on the floor and she went right up to it," Aldean says in the new issue of PEOPLE Country. "She's a natural born fan. She has the jersey she has on now, it's a new one because she wore the other one out."

Sports runs through the dog's veins – literally. The female bulldog is a distant relative of Uga, Georgia's furry team mascot and is even named for the town where the university is located.

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Miranda Lambert Recommends Three Second Delay for Blake Shelton at ACM Awards

Originally posted 04/03/2011 03:00PM

Miranda Lambert knows her fiancé well enough to know that he's unpredictable. So CBS, consider yourself warned when Blake Shelton co-hosts the Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday.

"I told CBS, my advice for you is a 3-second delay because you never know what's going to come out of his mouth, and you might not want that on live TV," Lambert told PEOPLE during rehearsals Friday.

Shelton is nervous about co-hosting the event with Reba McEntire, but his real life leading lady is confident that he'll shine. "He's so quick and so great at adlibbing," said Lambert, "probably too good at adlibbing."

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