NOT MAMA’S COUNTRY

It began with the most site-specific of songs, a tune about getting loaded and waking up hung over and betrothed in Vegas, voiced by a girl who'd gone from Jesus to tequila.

"I don't even know his last name," the normally devout Carrie Underwood yowled into a sparkly microphone during a show-opening "Last Name," bemoaning a drunken late night hookup, balancing piety with a pilsner glass. "My momma would be so ashamed."

A few minutes later, Toby Keith was giving voice to a randy come on whose lyrics sound as if they were scrawled on a bar napkin at Scores at 3 a.m.

"Hottie! She's a hottie. Got a smokin' little body," he bawled, smothered in enough denim to cover the infield at Yankee Stadium. "String bikini and a barbed-wire tat. She's a rockin' that cowboy hat."

Ahh, the poetry of the heart.

And so it was at the 43rd installment of the Academy of Country Music Awards at the MGM Grand on Sunday night, where Nashville gobbled a handful of Viagra and saw its libido chew itself off its leash and sniff and paw at anything that moved.

Country music, long cast as the most ideologically conservative of mainstream music genres, has gotten increasingly in touch with the kind of ribald sexuality once reserved for the lad mags tucked beneath junior's mattress.

This was palpable at this year's ACMs, where blonde sparkplug Taylor Swift performed her hit "Should Have Said No" while getting drenched in water that rained down from the rafters, her slinky black dress clinging to her curves to the extent that it was hard to tell where the fabric ended and her flesh began.

Shortly before that, punchy co-ed vocal duo debuted their hot-under-the-collar new single "All I Want To Do," a song about spending the early morning hours doing something other than sleeping.

As it turns out, both Swift and Sugarland had pretty big nights. Swift took home honors for "Top New Female Vocalist," her voice cracking as she struggled to contain her emotions while thanking her mom upon accepting the award.

"This makes missing prom so OK," she said after the show.

Sugarland, which had earned a whopping 10 nominations, won for "Single of the Year" and "Song of the Year."

Other winners included Brad Paisley for "Top Male Vocalist," and Carrie Underwood for "Top Female Vocalist." Rascal Flatts was named "Top Vocal Group" and took home "Humanitarian of the Year" honors. Brooks & Dunn won for "Top Vocal Duo," Jack Ingram was honored as "Top New Male Vocalist," while "Top New Vocal Duo or Group" went to Lady Antebellum.

In a mild upset, Miranda Lambert earned the "Album of the Year" trophy over favorites like Kenny Chesney and Brad Paisley.

The most coveted award of the night, for "Entertainer of the Year," went to Kenny Chesney for the fourth year in a row, tying him with Garth Brooks for most wins in the category.

Despite the honor, Chesney took umbrage to the fact that, for the first time, the award was determined by fans voting online.

"I think it's a complete disrespect to the artist," Chesney said in the press room after the show.

"You don't stand up here because you pushed somebody's button on the Internet, you earn it. I think we need to be careful how we give this award away in the future. It should be about the music."

But this night was less about the awards than the party anyway, again befitting the ACMs' host city, and the event was largely defined by a loose, freewheeling vibe.

For the 10th time, Reba McIntyre presided over the event, carpet-bombing the crowd with age jokes.

Speaking of bad ideas, the ACMs were flush with increasingly odd choices when it came to the presenters.

David Spade? A leather-bound Criss Angel? And who let boulder-sized MMA rogue Kimbo Slice past security?

None of that mattered, as the true focus of the show was performances, over a dozen in all.

Among the highlights: George Strait dueted with Chesney, who looks as if he sleeps in a tanning bed.

Brad Paisley testified to what it takes to be a real country dude, metrosexuals be damned: "I don't highlight my hair, I still got a pair," he sang.

And Keith Urban played on the arena floor, engulfed by the crowd, keeping in line with the fan-friendly tone of the evening.

Country is the most populist of genres, and the ACMs reflected as much: unlike some awards shows, where the public is kept at arm's length, the arena was packed with raucous, raw-throated fans decked out in more cowboy hats than Sergio Leone's oeuvre, all clad in their Sunday's best.

The fellas were covered in more cowhide than the average steer, their belt buckles, of hubcap heft, shining like freshly minted nickels.

The ladies were awash in rhinestones and suede, dressed in formal-looking gowns that looked like something they'd wear to their daughter's wedding.

"I feel just a little bit underdressed," an out-of-place Jason Alexander quipped before introducing a performance by Brad Paisley, whose latest video he directed. "My BeDazzler broke in the room. (There were) rhinestones everywhere."

Despite all the free-flowing glitter and hormones, the night wasn't all sweat and no sentiment.

The high point of the show was a spare, lovelorn duet between Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley on Eddy Arnold standard "Make The World Go Away," honoring the recently deceased country legend.

The other tribute of the night was decidedly more rowdy, with Garth Brooks being presented with the "Crystal Milestone" lifetime achievement award and performing a medley of fan favorites.

"I'm not big on social graces," he sang during his signature hit "Friends in Low Places."

And it was just as well. They would have only gotten in the way on this night.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.