I have to admit, the first time I read Beyonce’s latest quotes about the Taylor Swift-Kanye West VMA controversy, my first thought was “Big B is a beeyotch.” Now that I’ve read them several times, I still kind of think she’s being a tad bitchy, but I also think her intention was to simply be nice to both Taylor and Kanye, it just didn’t come out the right way. Beyonce’s trying to have it both ways – she’s trying to defend both Taylor Swift and Kanye West, but she does it in a way that seems… snotty. Maybe it’s just me. Beyonce tries to explain what was going through Kanye’s drunken mess of a mind at the VMAs, and she says, “Well, I knew his intentions, and I knew he was standing up for art…When they didn’t call my name, he was, like, completely shocked.” Is she saying that she creates “art” and Taylor doesn’t?

Beyonce Knowles is finally breaking her silence about Kanye West storming the stage at the VMAs to declare that she should have won Best Female Video instead of Taylor Swift.

“Well, I knew his intentions, and I knew he was standing up for art; and he told me before, when they said the nominees, he’s like, ‘You have this award,’” Beyonce, 28, told O: The Oprah magazine editor at large Gayle King (via MTV News) at the Billboard Awards over the weekend, when she was named Woman of the Year.

“When they didn’t call my name, he was, like, completely shocked,” Knowles says. “And when he walked on the stage, I was like, ‘No, no, no!’ and then he spoke, and I was like, ‘Oh, no, no, no!’”

Knowles — who handed the mic over to Swift after winning Video of the Year later that night — continues, “But in the end, it ended up being a great night, and Taylor Swift did get her moment — and I didn’t have to make an acceptance speech.”

After his outburst, West, 32, apologized multiple times on his blog, to Jay Leno and to Swift — and declared he was taking time away from the public eye to “analyze how I’m gonna make it through the rest of this life and improve.”

It was announced last week that his Fame Kills tour with Lady Gaga had been canceled.

[From Us Weekly]

So it really sounds, to my overanalytical mind, like Beyonce is trying to defend her friend Kanye by saying that he took a stand for art, and while that’s noble, he was still rude. Am I getting that right? Because I don’t think Kanye was taking a stand for art. I think he was just drunk and dumb. And I definitely think B should stop talking.

Beyonce is shown at Billboard’s Women in Music Awards on 10/1/09. Credit: WENN.com

Taylor Swift continues to impress me with the gracious way she’s handling both her fame and those who would try to bring her down. Last fall, Taylor released a song on her first album called “Forever and Always,” which she explained was about her split with Joe Jonas. She told Ryan Seacrest that when she finds the right guy she won’t remember the superstar who broke up with by voice mail, and said “When I look at that person, I’m not even going to remember the boy who broke up with me over the phone in 25 seconds when I was 18.”

Taylor has a new interview with Star Magazine in which she’s asked if she’ll ever forget Joe Jonas, and her response made me laugh out loud. Imagine your ex constantly staring at you from various poorly-made products aimed at young girls. She also addresses the Kanye “Imma let you finish” speech, and tells a story about an old crush surprising her after he’d realized that she’d written a song about him. I think I’m becoming a fan:

How upset were you after Kanye’s rant?
I can’t say it didn’t affect me. I had to perform live five minutes later. It wasn’t easy. But all the other artists showed me a lot of love in the hours after that.

Speaking of love, you write a lot about boys. Do they worry you’re going to write a song about them?
Look, if guys don’t want me to write bad songs about them, then don’t do bad things!

“Forever & Always” is about Joe Jonas dumping you over the phone. Is it hard when an ex is famous? Can you forget him?
Not when he’s on pencil sharpeners, T-shirts and the sides of buses!

But not all your songs are about heartbreak.
I’ve named names in songs about people I’ve had crushes on. Sometimes they won’t contact me about it, but they’ll put it on their MySpace page and get a big head about it.

Like who?
The guy from “Teardrops on My Guitar,” Drew, showed up in my driveway two years after the album came out. I was like, “You’re late!”

Are you looking for a boyfriend?
Someday I’ll find the guy who’s just right for me. I’m only 19. When I find that person, it’ll be wonderful.

[From Star Magazine, print edition, October 5, 2009]

Last November, Taylor recorded a video blog that made fun of Joe. (Linked video is an excerpt from a longer video) She held up a Joe Jonas doll and said “See, this one even comes with a phone. So he can break up with other dolls.”

I love her humor about her past and optimism about how she’ll find her match at some point. I really believe that you have to think that way if you want to find the right person, and that there’s someone out there for everyone. Whoever Tyler ends up with is going to have to stay on his toes, though, or she won’t hesitate to call him out on his bad behavior. This girl has a lot of spunk and class and we’re sure to hear much more about her.

Taylor Swift has been nothing but gracious and classy in the aftermath of Kanye West’s interruption of her “Best Female Video” speech at the VMAs a week and a half ago. Kanye issued a public and I thought pretty genuine apology to Taylor on the first night of Jay Leno’s revamped show on Monday of last week. The next day, Taylor Swift said on The View that Kanye hadn’t personally called her to apologize yet. Kanye swiftly remedied that and called Taylor to offer his heartfelt apology. According to Taylor, his apology was sincere and she says she’s heard enough apologies in her nearly 20 years to judge when someone truly means it:

When Kanye West phoned Taylor Swift Sept. 15 to apologize for interrupting her at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, it was heartfelt, the singer says.

“I’ve been alive for 19-and-a-half years, and I’ve experienced a few different kinds of apologies, and that one was sincere,” she said on SIRIUS XM’s Morning Mash Up radio show Friday.

In addition to issuing two apologies on his blog, West, 32, also told Jay Leno he was planning to “take some time off” to try to understand why he made his latest outburst.

Said the rapper, “I’m just ashamed that my hurt caused someone else’s hurt.”

[From US Weekly]

Kanye’s line “I’m very happy for you and Im’ma let you finish” has gone viral, with plenty of lol cat-style photos, videos, and Internet chatter mocking the incident. JayBird let me know about a facebook quiz “Where will Kanye interrupt you?” I just took it, and it predicted I’d get interrupted while fighting with my significant other: “Yo yo just uhh dude.. lemme let yall finish this in a minute… all I wanna say was Chris Brown and Rhianna had the best fight of all time… just sayin… the best fight of ALL TIME’” It will be a long time before Kanye lives this down, and that’s how it should be. I don’t hate the guy or anything, and after watching him on Leno I feel like we’re watching him try and figure out how to cope with his giant ego. It’s like he knows he has major issues but has no idea how to keep them in check. At least he admits he has a problem. Does the douche stop here?

Thanks to Kanyegate for the images below. The last image is a screenshot from Facebook.

Yes, the whole Kanye West-Taylor Swift story is happening. I keep waiting for it to die down, but this is a good example of how the aftermath of a scandal is as important as what actually happened during the scandal. I mean, the whole Kanye grabbing the mic from Taylor thing? Yes, it was so painful, it felt like forever, but in reality the whole incident was less than two minutes. The aftermath was key. Personally, I tend to think Kanye made the whole situation so much worse by how he acted in the aftermath with his half-hearted ALL CAPS non-apology. But people were already pissed, and there was always going to be a Kanye backlash. I think Kanye gets it. His apology on Leno seemed sincere enough, and I’m starting to agree with Russell Brand – no one died.

We can be more magnanimous to The A–hole Formerly Known As Kanye because we’ve gotten the signal from Taylor Swift to live and let live. Her immediate post-incident interviews were very classy, and she dropped by The View this morning to show off more of her gracious nature. Taylor admitted that Kanye hadn’t apologized to her personally, but she seemed to invite him to call her and say “Hi”.

Kanye West may have apologized publicly, but he still hasn’t said anything personally to Taylor Swift.

Swift, who appeared on The View Tuesday, said that while she would accept a face-to-face apology from the rapper – “Sure!” – he has made no effort to get in touch with her since disrupting her best female video award acceptance speech at Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards.

“He has not personally reached out or anything,” she said, “but if he wanted to say hi…”

The singer explained what was going through her mind Sunday night as she watched West grab the microphone and announce that her award should have gone to Beyoncé.

“My overall thought process went something like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I won. This is awesome. Don’t trip and fall. I’m going to get to thank the fans, this is so cool … Oh, Kanye West is here! Cool haircut! What are you doing there? And then, ouch. And then, I guess I’m not going to thank the fans.’ ”

West apologized on his blog later that night, and on Monday, he told Jay Leno that he’d like to apologize to Swift in person.

“I’m not going to say that I wasn’t rattled by it,” said Swift on The View, “but I had to perform live five minutes later so I had get myself back to the place where I could perform.”

Swift said she was touched about the outpouring of support from fans and fellow singers like Kelly Clarkson, who blogged that West was “a sad human being.”

“All the artists came and showed me love and all the people Tweeting about it … all the fans … I just never imagined that there were that many people out there looking out for me, so it was really wonderful to see that people were out there defending me so I didn’t have to.”

[From People]

So, that’s the kicker. Taylor got so much more exposure and goodwill, and won more fans because of this incident than she ever would have if Kanye had just kept his drunk ass in his seat. I think it would be a nice touch for Kanye to personally call Taylor and offer his apologizes – this young woman is so classy, you know she’s already forgiven him, and they could probably have a nice conversation. If he called, she would probably ask him to send her an autograph – I get the feeling that’s the kind of sweet kid she is.

In one more related note, Us Weekly has an “exclusive” statement from Beyonce manager-father Matthew Knowles. He praises his daughter to high heaven, as if the night was all about Beyonce. It kind of sucks when Beyonce did this great, classy thing, and now her father’s out there trying to sell it, but whatever. Daddy Knowles says, “It wasn’t my decision to bring Taylor out. It was all Beyonce’s decision. I want to be clear about that. My job is to execute and come up with some ideas, but ultimately that was Beyonce’s decision. I can only say it was a proud night for me as a manager, but more importantly as a father. I’ve always said the thing that makes me most proud about Beyonce is not how many records she sold or how many plaques she has or how many awards; it’s that she’s a genuine good person. I know it’s hard for people to believe that she can really be that nice of a person, but she really is.” I believed Beyonce was a nice person until you tried to force me to think it.

UPDATE: According to sources at The View to Us Weekly, Kanye West called Taylor and personally apologized for his actions at the VMAs. Word is that she accepted his apology. Is it over now?

Here’s Taylor Swift spotted leaving her New York City hotel and shaking a fan’s hand while passing through Broadway after appearing on ABC’s ‘The View’ this morning. Images thanks to WENN.com and Mavrix.

CB already covered last night’s incident between Kanye West and Taylor Swift at the VMAs. It really was terrible, and my heart just went out to Taylor. She seems like a sweet girl, and after Kanye’s outburst, the rest of her night played out publicly – and flawlessly. She didn’t scream any abuses or anything, she didn’t pull a diva act, she just did what she came to do, namely perform and give interviews, and generally be a very classy young woman. There were some rumors that after the Kanye incident, Taylor was crying backstage – Russell Brand and others have confirmed that. Poor kid.

When Taylor spoke to Us Weekly at one of the after-parties, she still avoided calling Kanye an a–hole, which shows that she’s a lot more mature and self-contained than me. She said, “Well, I was standing on stage because I was really excited because I had just won the award. And then I was really excited because Kanye West was on stage. And then I wasn’t so excited anymore after that… I’ve been getting so many text messages and everybody’s been really nice. So I’ve had a really, really fun night. It’s been interesting definitely. It’s definitely been an interesting night.”

When pressed further, Taylor still didn’t disrespect Kanye, only saying, “I don’t know him, and I’ve never met him, so… I don’t want to start anything because I had a great night tonight.” Taylor also had nothing but love for Beyonce, saying “They told me to stand by the side of the stage, and I didn’t really know what was going to go down. But I thought it was so wonderful and gracious of her to do what she’s always done. She’s always been a great person before anything else. Before the talented artist, the superstar, she’s always been a great person and I just, I thought I couldn’t love Beyonce more tonight, than tonight.”

Meanwhile, Ryan Seacrest interviewed Russell Brand this morning on Ryan’s KIIS-FM radio show. At first, Brand talked about how Kanye was wrong to do what he did, saying “Taylor Swift’s a young kid, isn’t she? She’s a young girl. You can’t make a pretty girl cry.” Russell went on to half-heartedly defend Kanye, saying, “In the past I’ve made mistakes and done things a little bit daft… I know Kanye, and I know he’s a nice bloke. We all make mistakes in life. We’re just people; we all do things that are a bit silly sometimes. Calm down; no one died.” Yeah… no one died, but Kanye is getting the kind of backlash deserving of the incident. Most of knew he was a jerk, but last night’s incident took it to a new level.

Kanye West has topped himself in this, his third instance storming the stage and protesting at an awards ceremony. Last night at the VMAs Kanye went on stage while Taylor Swift, 19, was accepting her award for best female video for You Belong With Me. Usually Kanye is bitching about how he was robbed of an award, like in 2004 when he complained at the AMAs that he should have won best new artist or at the MTV Europe VMAs in 2006 when he interrupted Justice and Simians’ acceptance speech to protest that he should have won the award for best video for Touch The Sky because it “cost a million dollars” to make. This time, he really topped himself by interrupting a 19 year old girl to speak out for a surprised-looking Beyonce. Kanye said to Taylor “I’m really happy for you, I’m going to let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.” Taylor had just said it was a dream come true to win the award and that “I always dreamed about what it would be like to win one of these… I sing country music so thank you so much.” After Kanye interrupted her, Taylor just kind of looked mortified and stood there holding the mic without saying anything.

What’s more is that Kanye’s protest was premature, because Beyonce did take home a moonman that night for video of the year for Single Ladies. Beyonce graciously invited Taylor on the stage with her to apologize for Kanye so rudely interrupting her speech, and said “I remember being 17 years old, up for my first MTV award with Destiny’s Child and it was one of the most exciting moments of my life, so I would like for Taylor to come out and have her moment.”

Kanye West ruined Taylor Swift’s big moment at Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards.

As the 19-year-old singer accepted the Best Female Video award for “You Belong With Me,” the rapper, 32 — who had been drinking Hennessy on the red carpet — appeared on stage and stated that Beyonce should have won for “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).”

“Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, and I’m going to let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time,” he shouted. “One of the best videos of all time!”

Swift looked stunned and speechless.

The cameras panned to Beyonce, who looked stunned as well.

The crowed then booed West off stage and the show immediately cut to commercial.

After the break, host Russell Brand praised both performers.

“What we’re celebrating tonight is love!” he said. “Mutual love for everybody. Taylor Swift. Beyonce… Love for all of you!”

Later in the show, when Diddy introduced the nominees for Best Male Video, he mentioned West’s name and the crowd booed.

Diddy looked stunned. “What happened?” he asked. “What did I say?”

“Taylor!” fans then chanted.

At the end of the show, Beyonce let Swift have her moment when Beyonce won Video of the Year. She got on stage and asked Swift to join her. “I remember being 17-years old, up for my first MTV award for Destiny’s Child and it was one of the most exciting moments of my life,” she began. “So I would like for Taylor to come out and have her moment.”

Swift walked on stage and smiled as the crowd cheered.

“Maybe we could try this again?” Swift said, before thanking her brother and fans.

The crowd continued to cheer.

[From US Weekly]

In 2007, Kanye reportedly swore up and down that he was “done with MTV” after they relegated his performance at the 2007 to a party suite instead of letting him perform Stronger on the main stage. This was after he’d had at least two instances of outbursts at award ceremonies, so you can understand why MTV was reluctant to put him in the main show. Maybe this time MTV will do the job for him and tell Kanye they’re done with him. They did kick his ass out last night after his little speech.

Kanye has apologized for interrupting Taylor Swift’s moment, and supposedly wrote on his blog (this is edited into lower and upper case) that “Beyoncé’s video was the best of this decade!!!! I’m sorry to my fans if I let you guys down!!!! I’m sorry to my friends at MTV. I will apologize to Taylor 2mrw. Welcome to the real world!!!! Everybody wanna booooo me but I’m a fan of real pop culture!!!… I’m still happy for Taylor!!!! Boooyaaawwww!!!! You are very very talented!!! I gave my awards to Outkast when they deserved it over me … That’s what it is!!!!!!! I’m not crazy y’all, i’m just real. Sorry for that!!! I really feel bad for Taylor and I’m sincerely sorry!!! Much respect!!!!!”"

The thing is, that blog entry has since been removed.

Last night pop country singer Taylor Swift played to a sold out audience at the Staples Center. Imagine what that must feel like at 19-years-old. Taylor’s always struck me as incredibly sharp and together – especially considering what a lot of young pop starlets are like. She writes her own music, talks openly and honestly about her heartbreaks, and she’s just flat-out talented. Taylor told the audience she wasn’t a popular kid in school, but that doesn’t matter because it gave her more time to be contemplative and write and work on her music – and look where she ended up!

When it comes to finding the ultimate teen role model one can’t go past Taylor Swift – talented, beautiful, gracious and still the same grounded and sweet girl she was before she became one of the most successful and popular young country artists of the decade. But seeing the thousands of teenage girls crying with excitement at seeing the 19-year-old at the sold-out Staples Center in Los Angeles on Friday night makes it hard to comprehend that she was far from being popular in her own junior high school days.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t have friends in junior high,” Swift said as she kicked off her first ever headlining “Fearless” tour. “Being an outsider gave me time to think … But there was a time when my greatest fear was not fitting in at school; I never thought I would be here with a sold-out Staples Center.”

Swift was clearly overwhelmed by the attention — at one point the crowd drew such a long thunderous applause that the songstress couldn’t get a word in so instead she covered her mouth with her hand in utter disbelief, her eyes filling with tears. “I’ll never forget this,” she eventually said, her voice cracking with emotion.

…But despite being worth more than an estimated $18 million according to Forbes.com, Taylor’s true star-power stems from still being relatable to her young fanbase and her trademarked approach to dealing with dates who do her wrong…. “If you break my heart, hurt my feelings or mess with friends I’ll have to write a song about you,” Swift said, also adding that she’s not the “only girl that burns ex boyfriends’ pictures.”

And as much as this gorgeous girl is skilled at performing, she is even more skilled at writing. So where does her secret song-writing material pretty much all come from? “I’ve written in a diary every night since I was 13,” she admitted.

[From Fox News’s Pop Tarts]

The only less-than-wholesome event of the night happened when John Mayer joined Taylor on stage. They sang a duet of his song “Your Body is a Wonderland.” My issue isn’t with the song – just Mayer in general. He’s made a big deal about how he’s a huge Taylor Swift fan. And we all know what that really means when it comes to John Mayer: he wants to boink her. Are the kids still saying that? 19 year olds? That’s probably the only way they’re putting it that’s fit to print. And since Taylor is legal, I want Mayer kept a good hundred miles from her at all times. Hell if I had my way he’d be kept that far away from all women. But I could have done without that little cameo. The rest of the concert sounded great, and it’s awesome that there are some decent role models out there for teenagers. It’s hard to be cool, successful, and grounded, and Taylor Swift is certainly all three.

Here’s Taylor leaving her hotel after a concert in London on May 8th. Images thanks to WENN.com .

Every year, Parade reveals its list of top celebrity earners in its “What People Earn” issue. This year, the list includes everyone from Jennifer Aniston ($27 million) to Tiger Woods ($110 million) and John Grisham ($25 million). Check out the full compilation below:

Jennifer Aniston $27 million
Alex Rodriguez $34 million
Kelly Ripa $8 million
Britney Spears $2.25 million
Patrick Drempsey $3.5
Tiger Woods $110 million
John Grisham $25 million
Rod Blagojevich $177,400
Will Ferrell $31 million
Sarah Palin $125,000
Chelsey Sullenberger $100,000
Beyonce $80 million
Taylor Swift $5.5 million
Carolyn Murphy $4.5 million
Jay-Z $82 million
Barbie $3.3 million
Michael Bloomberg $1 million
Tyler Perry $125 million
Danica Patrick $7 million
Rush Limbaugh $38 million
Tina Fey $4.6 million

from [Parade]

Parade doesn’t do a good job of explaining how they came to these numbers; I assume they are 2008 figures, and take into account the salaries the celebrities were supposed to receive directly (that is, no royalties were taken into consideration).

There are some surprises on the list, including Britney Spears’ lowly $2.25 million (though this may be due to her meltdown and absence from the entertainment scene last year). Even Taylor Swift was able to beat out Britney’s earnings. And I know Tyler Perry’s movies do well at the box office, but geez. $125 million is a lot of dough.

And talk about a power couple: Beyonce’s $80 million along with Jay-Z’s $82 million should make them a nice little nest egg when, and if, they decide to retire.

Say what you will about whether or not celebrities deserve the salaries they get; it’s always interesting to be able to compare the salaries of the celebrities themselves.

Photo credit: PRPhotos

Even though I have lived in the South most of my life, I’m pretty ambivalent about country music. Of course I love the classics – Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, Dolly Parton to name a few. But none of the current country music crop hasn’t done much to inspire me. I have a vague affection for Taylor Swift, but not enough to buy an album. And I really, really dislike Carrie Underwood, mostly because of her personality rather than her music.

But as it turns out, country music fans love some Carrie Underwood. She became the first woman since 2001 to win the American Country Music entertainer of the year, the highest honor at the ACMs. Since winning American Idol, Underwood has taken the country music industry by storm, even garnering a few pop-country crossover hits. I don’t get it – but I’m alone. Country music fans probably see her as the next Faith Hill, but that particular honor is still a long time away.

Carrie Underwood became the first woman since 2001 to be named ACM entertainer of the year – and only the seventh female to win the Academy of Country Music’s top honor since it was first handed out in 1970.

“I’ve had a lot of good moments in the last four years. This one takes the cake!” said a teary-eyed Underwood, her voice cracking onstage Sunday at the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards. “I don’t know what to say! I got nothing.” But she did remember one important person: Raising her trophy, she yelled, “Mike, baby, I wish you were here!” in a shout-out to her boyfriend, Ottawa Senators hockey player Mike Fisher.

Underwood also took home the award for top female vocalist, a repeat of last year’s win.

Earlier at the Las Vegas show, which aired on CBS, fellow young blonde phenom Taylor Swift beat out George Strait, Jamey Johnson, Montgomery Gentry and Underwood for album of the year for Fearless. “I think a lot of people who know me know that if I talk to you for more than five minutes, I’m probably going to write a song about you, so that being said I’d like to thank all the characters in my songs: Abigail, Hey Stephen, Tim McGraw and Romeo,” the 19-year-old said.

Brad Paisley also had something to celebrate. For the third year in a row, the singer accepted the honor of top male vocalist, this time from his home in Tennessee, where he and wife Kimberly Williams-Paisley were expecting their second child, due any day.

“As you can see, we had the baby!” Paisley joked, pointing to the pal sitting next to him, Little Jimmy Dickens – who started his career in the 1930s. “Kind of a Benjamin Button thing!” Thanking the crowd, Paisley said he wished he could be in Vegas for the show, but “I didn’t want to take the chance of missing the birth of our next child.”

Dancing with the Stars champ Julianne Hough took home her first singing award, nabbing top new artist honors – a fan-voted award this year – and earning a standing ovation from her peers. Clutching the back of her gold column gown, she took to the podium joking, “It’s a good thing my dress ripped – now I have something else to think about!” Hough, whose boyfriend and DWTS partner Chuck Wicks beamed from the audience, wiped away tears and tried to catch her breath as she spoke.

Sugarland became the first duo in 14 years to best powerhouse pair Brooks & Dunn for the top vocal duo ACM, and the band’s Jennifer Nettles thanked the crowd with a curtsey.

Rascal Flatts and Jamey Johnson took home the night’s first big prizes: Flatts for top vocal group, and Johnson for song of the year with “In Color.”

Performances by top stars included Swift (whom magician David Copperfield conjured up in a stage trick) singing “You’re Not Sorry,” Underwood performing “I Told You So” in a deep red cascade of a dress and Miley Cyrus with “Climb.”

The show broke out the big guns early with a medley led by Brooks & Dunn and featuring Swift, Sugarland, Underwood and Rascal Flatts. “What an opening!” said host Reba McEntire. “Now that’s what I call a stimulus package!”

Single of the Year winner (for “You’re Gonna Miss This”) Trace Adkins provided the most moving moment of the show, performing “Til the Last Shot’s Fired” with the West Point Glee Club, bringing many in the audience (including Nicole Kidman seated next to husband Keith Urban) to tears.

[From People]

My take is that Carrie Underwood is the placeholder for Taylor Swift, who is only going to get bigger, and have more and more pop-country crossover hits. Taylor’s album of the year victory proves that she’s got staying power within the industry.

I also think it’s pretty cool that Brad Paisley stayed at home with his pregnant wife, rather than make a big deal about going to the event and all of that stuff. Brad and his actress wife Kimberly Williams (best known as Steve Martin’s daughter in Father of the Bride) seem really happy together, and they have some great star power within the country music world. Let’s hope everything goes well with their second baby, due any day now.
Images thanks to PR Photos.com.

In a tween pop music world dominated by Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift is a revelation. She almost seems too good to be true. In every interview, the girl seems very sweet and poised, she writes her own music and she’s never flashed her privates. Give this girl a medal!

Taylor is April’s Allure cover girl, and People magazine has some of the details of the interview. Taylor doesn’t want to talk about her much-discussed virginity, saying “when you talk about virginity and sex publicly, people just automatically picture you naked. And as much as I can prevent people picturing me naked, I’m going to.” She also says that if you can get a good song out of the worst relationship, the whole ordeal was worth it. But what if we don’t write songs, Taylor? People has more:

Taylor Swift has no problems talking about dating – and boys – but don’t ask her about sex.

“It’s fine to talk about love publicly,” the 19-year-old singer tells Allure for its April issue, “but I think when you talk about virginity and sex publicly, people just automatically picture you naked. And as much as I can prevent people picturing me naked, I’m going to.”

Still, Swift thinks a lot about dating, especially its impact on her songwriting. Even a bad relationship can be a point of inspiration.

“Let’s say I date a guy who really does nothing but damage me,” she says. “And you’ve spent time, you’ve spent effort, and you’ve put everything into trying to make that work. And it didn’t. So you write a song about it. It was worth everything if you write a song about it.”

Many of Swift’s songs have romantic overtones, and she lists fairy tales as a big inspiration.

“I have always been fascinated with fairy tales, and the idea that Prince Charming is just one castle away,” she says. “And you’re gonna run across a field and meet each other in the middle, and have an amazing, perfect movie kiss. And it’s gonna be happily ever after.”

Despite her love of a happy ending, the teen star says the flip side can be more appealing.

“For some reason, I could never, ever stop writing songs about heartbreak,” she says. “Just because as human beings, what we can’t have is what we replay in our head over and over again before we go to sleep.”

From People

I’ve sort of gotten into Taylor Swift lately. On one of my local radio stations, there’s a deejay who is obsessed with Taylor’s music, so I basically know all the words to several Taylor Swift songs just from listening in the car. She’s got a great, twangy voice, and I hope her pop-country crossover is complete.

Note by Celebitchy: Taylor gave a similar comment about her virginity to Rolling Stone, saying in an interview published in the March issue, “I feel like whatever you say about whether you do or don’t, it makes people picture you naked.” If that’s about as controversial as she gets, you can understand why she’s repeating herself.

Taylor Swift is shown performing at The ‘Sound Relief’ music festival in Sydney on 3/14/09 to raise money for victims of the recent Australian bushfires. She is also shown at the premiere of ’17 Again’ on 3/11/09. Credit: WENN.com