For Brad Paisley, Time Well Wasted was time well spent.

The artist's effort earned him Album of the Year honors at the 41st Academy of Country Music Awards Tuesday night in Las Vegas. Paisley's duet with Dolly Parton on "When I Get Where I'm Going" also picked up Video of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year awards, giving Paisley three statuettes to take home at the end of the evening.

Platinum-selling duo Brooks & Dunn also tripled their pleasure Tuesday. Tennesseans Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn won their 20th, 21st and 22nd ACM awards for Top Vocal Duo and Song of the Year for "Believe" (Dunn won two for the song because he co-wrote it as well as performed) making them the most-honored act in the history of the show.

And as for Carrie Underwood, she's no longer just an American Idol.

Proving she's got what Simon Cowell would call "what it takes to make it in the real world," the Oklahoma native scored back-to-back wins for Top Female Vocalist and Single Record of the Year for her hit song "Jesus Takes the Wheel."

We've also learned that Nicole Kidman isn't the only one who thinks a lot of Keith Urban. Her fiancé took home Top Male Vocalist honors for the second year in a row.

The New Zealand-born artist has been riding quite a streak lately, winning CMA Male Vocalist of the Year in November, scoring a Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for "You'll Think of Me" in February, and confirming his engagement to Kidman last week.

After performing her song "Coal Mine," Sara Evans beat out Underwood, Martina McBride, Gretchen Wilson and Lee Ann Womack for Top Female Vocalist.

"I've waited my whole life for this," Evans told the audience.

Rascal Flatts, whose Me and My Gang debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and is currently number six, was named Top Vocal Group after exiting the building temporarily to wow the crowd on the Las Vegas Strip with a performance of their album's title song.

Kenny Chesney was named Entertainer of the Year, presumably for his consistently sold-out concerts and sex appeal and not for his offstage marital woes.

Vince Gill received the Home Depot Humanitarian Award, which allows the winner to build a playground in the city of his or her choosing.

"The title `humanitarian' is a big one," he said, adding that his choice for a building spot would probably be in New Orleans. "I've gotten to write songs, sing and play a guitar for a living, which is a blessing. I've also tried to help other people along the way."

The evening's unofficial accolades for best song title ever go to Trace Adkins' "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk," which he performed during the ceremony at the MGM Grand surrounded by a lineup of Vegas-style showgirls.

Dwight Yoakam performed Buck Owens' "Bakersfield Sound" in tribute to the late country legend who died in March. He was joined by Paisley, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, and Owens' son, Buddy.

Holding it all together, Reba McEntire put in her eighth appearance as ACM Awards host.

As she strolled the pre-show red carpet, Kelly Clarkson, on hand to perform "What Hurts the Most" with Rascal Flatts, shared her pick for this year's American Idol winner, which will be announced Wednesday.

"I'd say Taylor [Hicks]," she said. "He's different, he's unique." Score one for the Soul Patrol.

Chatter about Idol was warm, but the Fox show itself has left a chill on the award ceremony's ratings as it has gone head to head in past years with Idol's Tuesday-night performance finale--as was the case tonight. Last year, an episode of Idol featuring the top three finalists scored 19.4 million viewers while the ACM Awards drew in 8.3 million.

The great divide prompted the Academy to start negotiations with CBS to hand out the awards in late April next year, before all the Idol finale hoopla begins.

Here's a complete list of Tuesday night's big winners: