By Amy Faust

THURSDAY

GRAMMY NOMS ARE IN
Last night, Taylor Swift co-hosted a special where some of the major Grammy nomination categories were announced, but here's some scoop you might not have gotten about the country nominees:  Alison Kraus and Robert Plant got 5 noms for their collaboration, while George Strait got 4, and newcomer Jamey Johnson ("In Color") got 3.  For the complete list, click here, or for the country categories, just scroll down to the bottom of this page.

TAYLOR REVEALS ANOTHER CRUSH
People like me who have already heard Taylor Swift's new Cd "Fearless" over 100 times because of their 9 year old daughters will be interested to know who "Stephen" is in Taylor's song "Hey Stephen."  Turns out he's a real guy, and he's the lead singer of a Nashville band called "Love and Theft."  Now that he knows he's THE Stephen, Steven Barker Liles, 24, says he's flattered, and that "anyone would be lucky to go out with Taylor."



WEDNESDAY

The best picture yet of little Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, 5 months:



TUESDAY

OBAMA ADVISOR'S COUNTRY CONNECTION
The man just appointed as President-Elect Obama's national security advisor once gave some valuable advice to Toby Keith.   James Jones, a retired Marine General, had seen Toby Keith perform "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" for military audiences a few times, but at the time (not long after 9/11) Toby had no plans to release the song as a single because he didn't want it to seem like he was trying to capitalize off of tragedy.  Jones kept on him, and told him a number of times that he should release the song so that the rest of the country could hear it.  Eventually Toby did, and obviously Jones was right.  since then the two have kept in touch, even taking a good will tour of Africa together.  So Toby's got an "in" at the White House!

KEITH URBAN PLANNING
A few details are out about Keith's plans for next year: He'll definitely do another world tour, and even though he hasn't given dates for the tour or a release date for his next CD, he has revealed some of the acts who will tour with him next year, and it's quite a list:  Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Dierks Bentley, Glen Campbell (his idol!), Lady Antebellum and the Zac Brown Band.  Not all at once, but I'm guessing one or two at a time.

CARRIE IN PLAYBOY?
A persistent internet rumor says that "Playboy" magazine has offered Carrie Underwood $3 million to pose for their April issue.  Now even if this is true, it doesn't really matter, because there is simply no way she would do it.  Carrie just doesn't have any interest in creating that kind of image.  She told us she was even worried about the video for her slightly racy "Last Name" song, because she didn't want girls to see her in a compromised position.  so Playboy?  No way!


MONDAY

ONE BRAWL WE WISH WE'D SEEN
Imagine this:  two guys, one 6 feet 6, the other 6 feet 7, beating the stuffing out of each other in a hotel room.  Now imagine that it's Trace Adkins and Darryl Worley!  Darryl says that one time back in 2002, he and Trace got into some kind of crazy alpha showdown when they were touring together as the "Big Men of Country".  Their tour managers had to come in and break it up before the whole room got trashed, and Darryl says the funny thing is he has no idea what started it or whether they were even half serious about it.  since Trace got sober that same year, I'm going to guess this all happened before he took his last drink.

TAYLOR'S ACCIDENTAL SMARTS
One of the key's to Taylor Swift's phenomenal success has been her early adoption of internet technology like My Space to launch her career.  She was one of the first country artists to really promote herself on that website and get fans through online networking.  Taylor says that's true, but it didn't happen because she was some kind of business whiz.  She says that in the 8th grade, all of her friends were getting MySpace pages, so she just got one, too.  then she started posting her music on there, and her friends started putting her songs up on their pages, and next thing she knew she had a bunch of friends who like her music.  Now I'd say that number is up in the millions.

ZAC BROWN:  FLASH IN THE PAN?
Congrats to the Zach Brown Band, who have their first #1 hit with "Chicken Fried."  So that was pretty fast, right?  Not exactly:  Zach and the boys say they've been playing out in clubs 5 or 6 nights a week for 12 years!   So this success is especially sweet for them. 

Last week's tidbits:

WEDNESDAY

THE TABLOID SCOOP ON KENNY CHESNEY IS TRUE!
Normally I would not jump on the bandwagon and report an item from "Star" magazine about who Kenny Chesney is dating, but in this case, I happen to know it's TRUE.  They say his new girlfriend is 2005's Miss Tennessee USA, Amy Colley.  They say they've been dating for a few months, and that she even brought him home to meet the parents.  They were fixed up by a "mutual friend," and the fact is that we actually know this mutual friend, and he told us privately about fixing the two of them up last time we saw him.  So the "Star" magazine got it right!!!

Here she is, with a little bio info as well (outdated since she's out of college now):

Amy Colley – Miss Tennessee USA 2005 Amy is currently a Junior at East Tennessee State University, majoring in Nursing. Upon graduation, Amy plans to pursue her Master’s Degree in Anesthesiology from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Amy has been volunteering in her community for the past nine years, including volunteering at the Special Olympics in Bristol, Tennessee, helping coach events as well as giving out awards. Amy enjoys traveling, working out, water tubing, collecting Elvis memorabilia and watching “The Price is Right.”

JOHN RICH APOLOGIZES....NOT
In fact, I think he pretty much did the opposite of apologizing in a recent interview about that bloody mishap that happened in an LA hotel room.  A quick recap:  Rich is accused of smashing a glass object into the face of a rocker dude named Jerry Montano.  At first, Montano said no big deal and refused to press charges...now he's suing.  John says the reason Jerry didn't press charges at first was because he knew John would "get nasty".  In summing up the incident, John said, "He had it coming."  That should make the law suit interesting!!!

T-GIVING RUNDOWN
Lots of country stars will be participating in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.  Trace Adkins, Darius Rucker and the Cyruses (Billy Ray and Miley) will all be part of the festivities on NBC, but if you watch CBS you'lls ee a 4 song mini-concert by Sugarland.  Tim and Faith and their girls will spend turkey day in the big city for the first time mainly because Faith is doing all kinds of publicity for her Christmas CD.

TUESDAY

MILEY'S SWEET 16 PRESENT
Billy Ray found the perfect gift for his daughter's birthday:  he handed her the keys to a brand new recording studio just for her.  Miley says she'd love to use the space to someday record a country album once the whole Hannah Montana thing dies down.  Her first choice for a duet?  Not her dad, who gave her the studio, but "Aunt Dolly" Parton, who is actually her godmother in real life and her aunt on TV.

WATCH FAITH!
On Thanksgiving, be sure to tune in to a PBS show called "Soundstage" to see Faith Hill perform a bunch of Christmas songs, backed by a full orchestra and choir!  People who saw the show when it was taped a few months ago said Faith sounds great.  This is timed to remind people to run out on Black Friday and buy her CD, Joy to the World.

SEE TAYLOR!
It will be hard to miss Taylor in the next few weeks if you are strolling through the magazine aisle.  Check this out:  She's CosmoGirl's 2008 Girl of the Year, and she's also on the cover of the December issues of Girls' Life and Women's Health, she's Cosmopolitan's "Fun, Fearless Female" for December, Allure magazine's "Your Face" for December and Seventeen magazine's "Style Star of 2008."  Holy Cow!!!
told her "sometimes we're afraid to push ourselves, to really reach as far as we can, because we're afraid that when we succeed, the world will ask more of us." Martina says right then and there she decided to write, and then co-wrote 3 songs for her next CD.  Now she's written more for her new CD, and she's going to keep writing.


TUESDAY

HERE'S A PICTURE OF DING DONG
This guy beat out Keith Urban on E!'s list of the sexiest men in the world.  (Keith is #16, and top honors go to soccer stud David Beckham).  He's Ding Dong Dantes, the number one actor and underwear model in the Philippines:


Not to be confused with hostess Ding Dongs:



 Have we got that figured out?  Alrighty then.

MINDY FEELS BAD
Mindy McCready, fresh from 30 days in jail for probation violation, says she feels bad about the long affair she had with embattled baseball player Roger Clemens.  Though Clemens denies the affair, Mindy says their relationship started when she was 16, though it wasn't physical for the first 2 years.  She says they were fairly open about it, even vacationing together.  Her biggest regret is the hurt it caused Roger's wife and family.  So it makes perfect sense, then, doesn't it, for her to talk about this publicly years later, while Clemens continues to deny it?  I'm sure that makes Mrs. Clemens feel just great to hear all about it. 

BLAKE'S BIG DAY
"Startin' Fires", Blake Shelton's brand new CD, hits stores today, and we talked to him about a really cool duet on there that he did with his love Miranda Lambert.  Instead of doing a big cheesy love ballad, the two of them wrote a funny song called "Bare Skin Rug" while they were sitting outside by Blake's fire pit.  So they brought the microphones out there and recordede it on the spot.  Not exactly the big love-power-ballad that some people would want, but that's Blake and Miranda for you!


MONDAY

MARTINA SINGS WITH ELVIS!
As part of a project called "Elvis Presley Christmas Duets", Martina McBride will sing "Blue Christmas" with the long-departed Elvis, an audio trick that has been used before, for sure, but they're doing a bit more:  Martina will actually appear with Elvis in footage from his famous 1968 comeback special when he sings the holiday song.  Producers say in watching the old footage, there's a spot between Elvis and his guitarist Scotty Moore that just looks like someone should be there, so that's where Martina will be.  You'll be able to see this video on CMT during the holidays.  The duet project also has songs with Carrie Underwood and Amy Grant.


PHOTO GALLERY

TOBY SHAVES HIS PITS!
Yes, in this crucial time in American history and politics, what's more important than checking out a picture of Toby Keith's shaved armpits?  Nothing, so here you go:

 


Here's the dude Carrie Underwood's been seen with lately, Travis Stork:






Which one's the real Carrie???



Answer:  the one in black.  the one on the left is her wax double at Madame Tussaud's in New York.



LOOKING GOOD, FAITH!
Hot-cha-cha!  Here's the magazine cover that Faith Hill has posed for to celebrate her 41st birthday.  I'll let the picture speak for itself:

Shape

JOHN RICH'S CRAZY LA WEEK

WARNING:  Graphic image associated with this story.  If you don't want to see it, don't scroll down to the end of today's tidbits. 

Last week in LA, John Rich managed to get involved in two violent incidents within about 24 hours.  The first one was without a doubt not his fault.  He was at a club on the Sunset Strip trying to close the deal with a woman.  when she got up to go to the bathroom, a guy came up and sucker-punched him hard in the ear!  John made a citizen's arrest, which means he and some other guys made sure the guy stayed put until cops got there, at which point the dude,  Chris Pozzi, was arrested.  Altercation #2 came the next night, when after a wild night of partying, John started to get fed up with the scene, and yelled "(eff) LA...How do you guys live here??!!"  So John invited some people back to his hotel, where somehow, a rocker dude named Jerry Montano "got in the way" of a bottle that John Rich was swinging, and got smashed in the face.  Here's where the graphic photo comes into it...you can scroll down and see the damage if you want.  No charges were pressed by Jerry, who said it was just an accident. 


OK here is that photo..........







To see Tim and Faith's private island, just click here.


TOBY SHAVES HIS PITS!
Yes, in this crucial time in American history and politics, what's more important than checking out a picture of Toby Keith's shaved armpits?  Nothing, so here you go: