I'm going to officially call it: Things are getting just plain ridiculous for LeAnn Rimes. The singer is seemingly unable to keep out of controversy in regards to her relationship with actor Eddie Cibrian.

The latest incident (in a string of many, most of them detailed here in this blog): Her appearance on the cover of Shape magazine's October issue, which was accompanied by a confessional interview discussing her affair with Cibrian and eventual breakup of her marriage to Dean Sheremet.

Some readers apparently were not thrilled with the publication's choice of covergirl, and enough of them contacted the magazine to invoke a groveling apology from Shape editor-in-chief Valerie Latona.

"Shape has made a terrible mistake in putting LeAnn Rimes on the cover," Latona said, in an email that was obtained by celeb gossip site TooFab.

"Please know that our putting her on the cover was not meant to put a husband-stealer on a pedestal--but to show how we all are human."

Latona added that she

'Twas the night after CMAs, and all through the house, lots of hungover stars were creeping, even though it was hotter than Taos...

"Nothing like a Christmas special and it's 85 outside," said Brad Paisley, addressing the crowd at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena Thursday night. That was a slight exaggeration of the current Tennessee heat wave, but temperatures have been reaching the balmy high 70s in Music City this week, which, as Paisley indicated, didn't exactly put everyone in a Perry Como mood. Nonetheless, ABC and the Country Music Association were shooting a special called CMA Country Christmas, scheduled to air on Nov. 29.

Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles hosted the occasion, which also featured performances from Reba McIntire, Leann Rimes, Sheryl Crow, Rascal Flatts, Martina McBride, Darius Rucker, Kellie Pickler, and Little Big Town.

It made sense for the parties involved to shoot the special the night after the CMAs. After all, they already had the arena rented out and full of

Looks like 2010 is definitely yet another "year of the blond, explosively popular female country singer." However, this time, it's not Carrie Underwood or Taylor Swift--it's Miranda Lambert's turn. The Texas-bred sensation made country music history Wednesday morning by being nominated for a record nine Country Music Association awards, the most ever for any female artist.

When the first-round nominees for this year's CMA awards were announced in seven initial categories Tuesday morning, Lambert scooped up five nods, establishing her as the leader of the pack. On Wednesday morning, when the final round was revealed, she grabbed four more nods, putting her just below Alan Jackson's all-time record of 10 nominations. 

Last year's CMA awards sweeper, Taylor Swift, was nominated in just one category this year, female vocalist. Carrie Underwood, who received the entertainer of the year award at the Academy of Country Music Awards earlier this year, received two nods: Female vocalist and

The stars arriving at the 44th CMA Awards offered a split decision in who they thought was most likely to prevail at tonight's CMA Awards, with Lady Antebellum and Miranda Lambert seen as being in a dead heat. But in that, they were nearly unanimous, that youth is likely to prevail, one way or another.

Well, actually, we did find someone rooting for Keith Urban, one of the guys who's a relative veteran in the Entertainer of the Year category. And that's Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott.

"Honestly, we feel like we haven't earned it," Hillary Scott told Our Country. "We have a lot more to prove before I feel like we'll be deserving of that award. I do love that that category this year is kind of turning over a new leaf with newer, younger acts... But then you still have the great Brad Paisley and Keith Urban in there, and in my opinion, one of them will take it home. We toured with Keith up in Canada for three weeks, and it was one of the most inspiring experiences we ever had. So I hope

You may have heard that there will be a new Chronicles Of Narnia movie coming just in time for the holiday season--The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader will hit theaters on December 10. For fans of the beloved C.S. Lewis series, that's a nice Christmas gift in and of itself, but here's another little present to add to the mix.

Guess who will be singing a tune on the soundtrack? None other than a name you just might be familiar with--Carrie Underwood, who also cowrote the song specifically for the movie. A self-professed "big fan" of the Narnia series (both books and films), Underwood explains that her tune, titled "There's A Place For Us," speaks to the hero in all of us.

"For everybody, there's a place where you're powerful and where you belong," she relates. "The movie and song are about finding that place where you fit in."

Here's an exclusive first peek at the movie, as well as Underwood's beautiful new song. Enjoy!

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So, Memorial Day is fast upon us--and while I'm heartily all for encouraging barbecues, 3-day getaways, and general relaxation, here's something easy and uplifting that you can do to honor the spirit of the holiday this weekend.

The Grammy-winning upstarts in the Zac Brown Band, who spent last month on a USO/Armed Forces tour entertaining the troops, have teamed up with Dodge Ram Trucks to launch a special campaign saluting our men and women in uniform. Called "Letters For Lyrics," the premise is simple--write a letter to a soldier, and bring it in to your local Ram dealership (or a ZBB show). In return, you'll receive a free compilation CD, Breaking Southern Ground, which includes new songs from ZBB and other artists on Zac's label.

The campaign, which launched earlier this month, has already resulted in more than 25,000 letters submitted for our soldiers stationed around the world. However, the band has set a goal of collecting a whopping 1 million letters. Sound crazy? Well, they

Back in May, the Zac Brown Band, in partnership with Ram Trucks, kicked off a national letter-writing campaign targeted at showing appreciation to the men and women who serve our country. Titled "Letters For Lyrics," the concept was simple--write a letter to a U.S. soldier, bring it to a ZBB concert or your local Ram dealership, and receive a special compilation CD in return for your effort. It was a perfect way to celebrate May's Memorial Day holiday.

And now, we're all the way to November, the band is still working on reaching its goal of 1 million letters sent to soldiers serving around the globe, and they've come up with an extra-convenient way for you to participate in the campaign--just in time for Veterans' Day on November 11.

If you haven't been able to make it out to a show or found time to visit a dealership--or, heck, if you just can't find an envelope around the house (guilty over here)--the campaign now has a dedicated online form in which you can simply compose your

Taylor Swift was annointed queen in Nashville this week—not by the CMA Awards, which mysteriously undernominated her, but at the BMI Awards, where she broke several records. Not only was Swift the youngest person, at 20, to be named Songwriter of the Year, but she also become the first BMI writer to have the Country Song of the Year for three years in a row, with "You Belong With Me" following "Love Story" and "Teardrops on My Guitar" in that line of succession.

If anything, Swift might inspire some other hit Nashville songwriters to ditch BMI and have their songs licensed through a different performing rights organization. Because all the songs from her newly released Speak Now album will be eligible next year, or the year after, which makes her pretty much a shoo-in for Songwriter of the Year in 2011 and 2012, too. So if you're another songwriter with a competitive streak hoping for the top prize any time soon, you just might be wanting to take your chances at the ASCAP Awards