Strait Ahead for George and Carrie at ACMs

The Academy of Country Music was just giving it away to Carrie Underwood and George Strait tonight. 

A newcomer no longer, Carrie Underwood took home a leading three honors, including Top Female Vocalist of the Year, at the 42nd ACM Awards Tuesday. She also shared a Video of the Year trophy for "Before He Cheats" and pocketed Album of the Year for her debut effort Some Hearts, which has sold more than 5.4 million copies.

"This is such an honor," said last year's top new female vocalist, who has since added multiple Grammy, CMT and CMA awards to her résumé. "Thank you, god, for giving me this wonderful opportunity to make some great music and meet some great people." 

Also taking multiple bows was veteran artist George Strait. Just as he did with his hall of fame career, Strait rose to the top of the pack Tuesday, taking home Song and Single Record of the Year for "Give It Away" off his latest album, It Just Comes Natural.

About the only thing he didn't win was the top prize as Kenny Chesney earned his third straight Entertainer of the Year title.

"When I first started playing music, I was in college and I would go rent all my equipment and put it in the back of a pickup truck. The only thing I wanted to do was cut a record as good as Keith Whitley did, and I listened to that music over and over again," Chesney said. Obviously, it worked.

While a dozen awards were handed out by the 4,500-member ACM, the ceremony at Las Vegas' MGM Grand was largely about having a country-rockin' good time. The three-hour telecast on CBS featured 20 performances, including crowd-pleasers from Chesney, Martina McBride, Brad Paisley, Josh Turner, Rascal Flatts, Toby Keith, Little Big Town, Rodney Atkins, Jason Aldean, Big & Rich with John Legend, Vince Gill and Tim McGraw. 

Despite losing out for Top New Female Vocalist to Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift had an extra-special evening, finally getting a face-to-face with the namesake of her hit single "Tim McGraw."  

"Hi, I'm Taylor!" the 17-year-old told the country superstar after an acoustic rendition of the mellow ode to young love, heading out into the audience to introduce herself and hug McGraw and wife Faith Hill.  

"If there are any teenage boys out there who want to write a song called Reba McEntire…I'm just saying!" the plucky Reba star, who was hosting the ACM Awards for the ninth time, told the crowd. The country veteran also took the stage for a duet with Kelly Clarkson on "Because of You."  

It was a bit of a man's world in Vegas: Aside from the big wins by Strait and Chesney, the three gents of Rascal Flatts were named Top Vocal Group, Brooks & Dunn scoring their 24rd ACM Award with their win for Top Vocal Duo.

"It's still as much fun as it's ever been and we're going to keep doing it," Kix Brooks said as he and Ronnie Dunn collected their trophy. (Their collaboration with Sheryl Crow and Vince Gill on "Building Bridges" was named Vocal Event of the Year earlier in the evening.)

Brooks & Dunn were also honored with this year's Home Deport Humanitarian Award and will have two playgrounds built in their name in the locations of their choice. 

"It's a pretty cool thing," Dunn, who's looking to build in Nashville, said. "I told them we're a duo, so they gave us two. They didn't blink an eye." Brooks, meanwhile, has chosen Shreveport, Louisiana, as his playground locale.   

Here's a roundup of the major winners at the 42nd Academy of Country Music Awards: 

• Entertainer of the Year: Kenny Chesney
• Album of the Year: Some Hearts, Carrie Underwood
• Single Record of the Year: "Give It Away," George Strait
• Song of the Year: "Give It Away," George Strait
• Top Female Vocalist: Carrie Underwood
• Top Male Vocalist: Brad Paisley
• Top Vocal Group: Rascal Flatts
• Top Vocal Duo: Brooks & Dunn
• Top New Female Vocalist: Miranda Lambert
• Top New Male Vocalist: Rodney Atkins
• Top New Duo or Vocal Group: Little Big Town
• Video of the Year: "Before He Cheats," Carrie Underwood
• Vocal Event of the Year: "Building Bridges," Brooks & Dunn with Vince Gill and Sheryl Crow
• Home Depot Humanitarian Award: Brooks & Dunn