LAS VEGAS (AP) – Shania Twain will oversee thousands of running Santas. Twain will serve as the grand marshal for the Las Vegas Great Santa Run on December 7. The 5K race draws as many as 10,000 runners, many of whom dress in Santa costumes.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

NASHVILLE (AP) – George Strait knows he got one vote for entertainer of the year at the Country Music Association Awards. He voted for himself. Strait says he had a great year and any time he gets nominated it’s special, but he’s still nervous. He’s competing for that award against Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton — and any of them would be happy if Strait won as well. Swift says Strait let her open his shows when she was just 17 and she still gets a text from him now and then wishing her well. Shelton says two artists will be viewed as having the greatest influence on country music: Hank Williams Senior and Strait. The CMAs will be tonight in Nashville and air live on ABC.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

NASHVILLE (AP) – Brad Paisley hopes you laugh as well as sing along to the Country Music Association Awards. He says it’s a well-thought-out show and they put a lot of effort into the comedy as well as the performances. He wants the opening monologue to be memorable, so that in a few years viewers will look back on that and know it was 2013 because of the things he poked fun at. Paisley and Carrie Underwood will host the awards for the sixth straight time. Taylor Swift and Kacey Musgraves lead the nominations with six each. The CMAs will air live from Nashville tonight on ABC.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Dolly Parton will play herself in a holiday movie for Lifetime. “A Country Christmas Story” is the story a biracial girl in the Appalachians who defies her family because she wants to be a country star. She goes to Dollywood and enters a singing competition hosted by Parton. Brian McKnight will play the girl’s father. “A Country Christmas Story” airs this Saturday.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

NEW YORK (AP) – Carrie Underwood and the cast of “The Sound of Music” will give a sneak peek of what they’ve been rehearsing during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. They will appear in the first hour of the parade. The parade will be shown Thanksgiving Day on NBC.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

NEW YORK (AP) – Buck Owens had a nearly photographic memory, and before he died he recorded his memories onto cassette. Those stories have now been compiled into Owens’ autobiography, called “Buck ‘Em!” Among the things he covers include being one of the first country musicians not to live in Nashville, but in Bakersfield, California. He also discusses his multiple failed marriages, the death of his musical partner Don Rich, hosting “Hee Haw” and his exploits on tour. “Buck ‘Em!” is in stores today.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

NASHVILLE (AP) – Eric Church’s performance at the Country Music Association Awards might be a surprise to some fans of old-school country music. Church plans to sing the title cut from his new album “The Outsiders,” and it’s a song influenced by heavy metal. Church says people may react by crowd-surfing, maybe with mosh pits, or maybe by throwing cans at him. The CMAs are tomorrow. “The Outsiders” will come out February 11.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

NEW YORK (AP) – Zac Brown is expanding his family. His representative tells People magazine Brown’s wife, Shelly, is expecting. She’s due early next year. Maybe the Browns will have a boy this time. They have four girls: Justice, Lucy, Georgia and Joni.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

TORONTO (AP) – Shania Twain, k.d. lang and Hank Snow will be stuck on snail mail in Canada. They are among the country acts who will be featured on a new series of Canadian postage stamps. The stamps will be issued next July.

 

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – You can say the Country Music Association Awards are going back to the future. One of the ways they are promoting the music and the artists who are up for awards is a combination of retro audio and current technology. To promote Blake Shelton’s work, the CMAs have mailed a virtual record player. It includes a vinyl copy of Shelton’s “Based on a True Story” album. If you scan a code with your cell phone and place the phone on the record, a digital arm appears that lets you “play” the record. You can even move the tonearm back and forth, just like on an old-school record player. (For you younger folks, that’s how your parents or grandparents used to listen to music back in the day). Other ways the CMAs are trying to draw attention to next week’s awards ceremony include a marching band and tour books sent to voters. CMAs are next Wednesday.

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry

 

 

 

NASHVILLE (AP) – Dolly Parton says the traffic accident she was involved in last week wasn’t that bad because it wasn’t at high speed. Parton tells Country Weekly her friend Judy was driving her to the studio in a Nissan SUV when a woman pulled in front of her and they hit her. Parton says, “Nobody’s air bags inflated or deflated – mine or Nissan’s!” She says she’s just a little sore and bruised where the seat belt went across.

 

 

Join fans of 99 KZ Country on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/99KZCountry