CMT AWARDS GO CUTTING-EDGE

Performances from Taylor Swift bookended Tuesday night’s CMT Awards in Nashville, as T-Pain joined her in an unlikely opening duet, and she rocked out in the closing “Pour Some Sugar on Me” backed by her CMT Crossroads co-stars Def Leppard. In between, Swift picked up a pair of awards: Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year for "Love Story."

Brad Paisley was the big winner with three awards: CMT Performance of the Year, Male Video of the Year and Collaboration of the Year for "Start a Band," his duet with Keith Urban. The Aussie got off the best line of the night, joining Paisley on stage to urge kids to learn guitar because "Rock Band never got anyone a date."

Sugarland got Duo of the Year, Rascal Flatts and the Zac Brown Band took home one award each, and Kid Rock accepted the award for Wide Open Country Video for "All Summer Long," with ex-girlfriend Sheryl Crow at his side. His speech contained the Zen riddle: "What's more creative than a stripper pole on a pontoon boat?"

In the night’s other big improbable appearance, the B-52s got the audience dancing in the aisles with a rousing, twang-free performance of "Love Shack."

Kudos to Brian Phillips, Jay Frank and executive producer John Hamlin on a very hip awards show.