During her acceptance speech, the 'Speak Now' hitmaker also acknowledges her fellow nominees, saying, 'I respect you so much, and I love you. We work so hard and try to give you back.'
- Apr 2, 2012
AceShowbiz - Taylor Swift was the last winner announced at the live telecast of the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards in Las Vegas before the show pulled its final curtain. After losing Video of the Year to Toby Keith and Female Vocalist of the Year to Miranda Lambert, she finally came out victorious in top category, Entertainer of the Year.
During her acceptance speech, Swift took time to give a shout-out to her cancer-stricken fan who's supposed to be her date but was unable to attend the ACM Awards due to his hospitalization. Before the show, she also tweeted, "Just talked to Kevin McGuire. He's not well enough to join me at the ACMs. Please keep him in your thoughts. I'll make it up to you, Kevin!"
"My date tonight was supposed to be a high school football player named Kevin McGuire and he's not here, but I promised I'd give him a shout out," Swift said onstage. "Kevin and all your family and all your friends, thank you for wanting to take me to the ACMs."
On her way to the stage, Swift kissed fellow nominees Jason Aldean and Kenny Chesney. She additionally said, "Thank you so much to the fans who voted for this. I'm so happy about this. I want to say to my fellow nominees in this category. I respect you so much, and I love you. We work so hard and try to give you back."
Swift received the coveted prize from Lionel Richie. Aside from beating Aldean and Chesney, she also won over Brad Paisley and Blake Shelton. This marked her win in the category for two years in a row. Last year, she brought home the title after having a stiff competition with Aldean, Keith, Miranda Lambert, Paisley and Keith Urban.
Though failing to grab Entertainer of the Year, Shelton didn't walk home empty-handed. A few moments after his wife Lambert collected her Female Vocalist of the Year, the country music crooner, who hosted the event with Reba McEntire, won a trophy of his own for Male Vocalist of the Year.
Shelton received the award from Swift. While Lambert previously talked about getting butterflies in her stomach, he shared how surprised he was for winning the coveted title. "Holy crap, I didn't see that coming at all," he gushed. "It's amazing, co-hosting this. I hadn't even thought about this at all." This year marked Lambert's Female Vocalist of the Year win for three consecutive years, but it's the first one for Shelton.
Regardless, Lambert and Shelton are no stranger to win Top Male and Female Vocalist in country music awards. Last year, the couple won them at CMA Awards. It marked their CMA wins in the categories for two years in a row. In 2010, they took home the same awards and became the first couple who grabbed Male and Female Vocalists since Tim McGraw and Faith Hill won them in 2000.
