Blog Posts by Wendy Geller

Happy new year, everyone! Twenty-ten promises to be as exciting a year for country music as was 2009--how could it not be, what with all the anticipation last year's round of crazy incidents set up?

Gather 'round, country fans, as I take a look into my crystal ball and make a few predictions for Nashville 2010. (Disclaimer: This is harmless and hopefully amusing speculation on the part of your country blogger, not meant to be taken as any true psychic ability.)

1) Kanye West will make some sort of artistic collaborative effort with Taylor Swift. The hatchet will be buried formally; a pop (compromise between hip-hop and country) duet or performance at some highly publicized event will occur between the two.

2) Speaking of Taylor--She will sweep the Grammys at the end of January. At this point she will be officially saturated with every important musical accolade possible except the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry.

3) At least one bona fide hip-hop star will make a

Aw, shucks--it was just too cute to last, I suppose. After a few months of winks, rumors, and Saturday Night Live skits, Taylor Swift and Twilight hunk Taylor Lautner are reportedly no longer an item.

The two Taylors, who met as co-stars on the set of the upcoming film Valentine's Day, have been seen out and about together since October. While never officially confirming anything, the pair had a good deal of fun fueling rumors about their relationship, with the prime moment probably being Swift's campy air-kiss to Lautner during her stint as SNL host in November. (Lautner responded theatrically in kind, chivalrously kicking the crap out of a Kanye West dummy when he had his own turn hosting SNL.)

News of the breakup, of course, immediately hit gossipy outlets such as Us Weekly and People. However, as a true testimony of Swift's star power, the split is making headlines on some mainstream news outlets as well.

According to Us online, a source reported that the pair had blah

It's hard to dispute that this year has been one of the most...tumultuous for country music in quite a while. As we wind down the days of 2009, let's take a look back at some of the craziest events--positive, negative, and everywhere in between--fans have been witnessing over the past 12 months.

In no particular order...

Gloriana wins Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards. A lot of people scratched their heads over this--Gloriana who? And how did this Gloriana chick, whoever she is, win over the formidable Lady Gaga? Country fans, of course, knew that Gloriana is a band, not a singular female, and that they are awfully darn talented as well as good to look at. And that we're proud of them for winning! Go, Gloriana, go!

The Raconteurs score a CMA nomination. Jack White had an inexplicable grip on Nashville the past year, from the Oak Ridge Boys covering "Seven Nation Army" to Taylor Swift musing about a duet with him...to his decidedly non-country outfit the

Wondering what your favorite country artists are up to this fine Christmas 2009? I headed over to Twitter to round up a collection of yuletide sentiments from the past two days.

Some are funny, some are sweet; all are full of holiday cheer--and hey, James Otto, watch out. You'll shoot your eye out, kid!

Katie Armiger: My grandma got me tons of thigh-high tights for Christmas. I'm not sure what that means?? :D

Rissi Palmer: Christmas miracle: my mom saw my new tattoo and said it was cute...wow

Kellie Pickler: Happy Holidays to all of our service men and women overseas. Booked another USO tour, so see you soon!!

James Otto: I got a new Benneli shotgun for Christmas! All ducks beware and be fast or you will be dinner.

Randy Houser: (after several tweets bemoaning his dreadful holiday travel issues) Well...I just boarded the plane that's supposed to take me to my stress free zone. Wish me luck folks.

Dierks Bentley: Got a Christmas call (and a few lines of a Christmas song) from

Well, it's official. I'm pleased to deliver some fun and happy country news for this holiday season--Carrie Underwood is engaged!

After a yearlong courtship that's for the most part flown under the radar--pretty amazing for a celeb couple--Underwood accepted a proposal from her boyfriend, pro hockey player Mike Fisher, on Sunday. Reps for the couple confirmed the engagement this morning.

There are no details available as of yet (except that the two are "excited and very happy") and a wedding date has not been determined.

Underwood has been tight-lipped about her long-distance relationship with Fisher, who is based out of Canada; perhaps learning her lesson after a string of shorter-lived romantic escapades (she's been linked to Dallas Cowboy Tony Romo and Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford). She did effusively praise him in the liner notes of her latest album, Play On, noting "you are the most amazing addition to my life." Whatever her motive, it appears things have worked out very nicely.

Guess what: This blog entry is about last night's American Music Awards. But it isn't going to be about Taylor Swift. At least--not primarily. (You all can sit down and wipe your brows in amazement. Right?)

Okay, so Swift sewed up 2009 neatly with her cherry-on-the-sundae scoop of five AMAs, including the top honor of Artist of the Year--beating out the late, legendary Michael Jackson--and two cross-genre wins (female pop/rock artist and adult contemporary artist).

But at this point, I'm not shocked or surprised.

This blog entry also is not going to be about Carrie Underwood's penchant of late for appearing in shorty-shorts (unkindly called a "diaper" by a few news reports).

Nor about Keith Urban's rather sweet reference to Nicole Kidman--not Sunday Rose--as his "baby girl." Nor about Rascal Flatts getting the country group award after a notable and probably stinging upset by Lady Antebellum at the CMAs a couple weeks ago.

Although all these things are interesting, one thing truly

Feeling a bit Scrooge-y this holiday season? Sugarland has the perfect cure. I dare you to watch the duo's brand-new video, premiering here on Yahoo! Music, and not get in at least a somewhat festive mood.

Jennifer and Kristian don't actually appear in their clip for "Winter Wonderland." However, you'll see an Elvis-impersonating snowman, a breakdancing reindeer, and a cast of other ridiculously cute little characters jiving along to Jen's boppy rendition of the holiday standard. The entire video is done in claymation and it'll remind you of those adorable Rankin-Bass Christmas specials you loved as a kid--Rudolph, Frosty, The Year Without A Santa Claus. (No, Snow Miser and Heat Miser do not make an appearance, but I'm putting in my vote for them for future video treatments.)

The video is in support of Sugarland's new and first Christmas album, Gold And Green, which hit the streets in mid-October and features five traditional holiday classics as well as five original songs fit for the

Hmmm...could Trace Adkins, the man termed "The Voice Of God" by none other than Gene Simmons, be moving from music into a fulltime acting career? The latest news from Traceville (which has not been a quiet place for quite a long time now--just last week, he scored two Grammy nominations) is that the singer will be taking a role in a new original series pilot.

The show is called Tough Trade, and, well, no surprise here--it's a drama about Nashville; specifically following the ups and downs of a musical family dynasty facing bankruptcy from too much debauchery. Adkins plays a bodyguard and family friend with the rather ironic name of "Scared." (Trace Adkins--scared of anything?! After facing Donald Trump?)

All in all it promises to be a good time--this is the first original series for new premium channel EPIX, and has the creator of the highly successful series Weeds on board, as well as some serious costars including Sam Shepard. The pilot is set to air in 2010 and filming began last