Country Music Awards Attain New Levels of Inclusion

By Jon Caramanica

It’s safe to say that this is the first year in which the most important people at the Country Music Association Awards were an African-American man and a teenage girl, but so it went Wednesday night at the 43rd edition of the awards, celebrating a year of increasingly porous borders in Nashville.

Engagement is the only option, it was clear at this show, broadcast from the Sommet Center in Nashville on ABC, and hosted by the country stars Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood for the second year. New faces abounded, dynasties ended, and cross-pollination was the new normal. The phenom Taylor Swift swept the four categories in which she was nominated, including Entertainer of the Year, making her the first female artist to win that award since 2000.

The show got questions of inclusion out of the way early: the first two performances were by Ms. Swift — at 19, the youngest ever nominee for Entertainer of the Year — and Darius Rucker. Mr. Rucker won New Artist of the Year, the first African-American so honored, was nominated for Male Vocalist of the year, a category no African-American had won (or been nominated in) since Charley Pride in 1972. In what was presumably a ploy to make him appear part of the country crowd, Mr. Rucker spent half of his performance in the audience — almost without fail, his was the only black face visible.
Complete article on http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/arts/music/12country.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
A version of this article appeared in print on November 12, 2009, on page A26 of the New York edition.