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CMT Awards: Sweethearts, Singers and a Snoop

CMT Awards: Sweethearts, Singers and a Snoop

Keith and Nicole show some love at the Nashville show. Plus: LeAnn Rimes, Carrie Underwood, Snoop Dogg and more

By People Staff

Updated April 15, 2008 12:30 PM

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KEITH URBAN AND NICOLE KIDMAN

Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

The expectant parents make it a date night Monday, sticking close on the carpet before Urban took the stage to kick off the County Music Television Awards show with Brooks amp Dunn in Nashville.

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LEANN RIMES

Credit: Rick Diamond/WireImage

"I was wanting a '20s look," Rimes tells PEOPLE of her Julia Clancey layered petal flapper dress, adding that it took her four hours to get ready. "Period hair takes forever! I don't know how they did it back then!"

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LEANN RIMES

Credit: Scott Gries/Getty

Onstage, Rimes takes on another persona to perform "Nothin' Better to Do": the bad girl. "We're kind of every man's fantasy tonight," she told CMT on the purple carpet.

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CARRIE UNDERWOOD AND RASCAL FLATTS

Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Underwood (in Badgley Mischka Platinum) keeps company with the boys of Rascal Flatts, Gary LeVox and Jay DeMarcus, inside the Curb Event Center. Rascal Flatts took home the "Buckle" – as the CMT Award is known – for best group video.

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KENNY CHESNEY AND JULIANNE HOUGH

Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

The Dancing with the Stars pro – who bumped into Chesney in the audience – wasn't letting the chilly air get between her and her lavender Roberto Cavalli dress. "I was so excited that it was spring time," she says, "and then I realized that it was forty-five degrees out here, but had to wear it anyway. It's so pretty."

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SUGARLAND AND SNOOP DOGG

Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

It's nothin' but a Snoop thing: The rapper – who says country music "inspires me and it makes me feel so good hearing it" – gets a laugh out of the duo video of the year winners, Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush.

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TAYLOR SWIFT

Credit: Scott Gries/Getty

The double winner (in Balenciaga) says her "gorgeous hot pink

heels were awesome, but they really hurt so bad and I was

limping up the stairs." Her solution? To go barefoot onstage.

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FAITH HILL AND TIM MCGRAW

Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Before sharing the stage for their intimate duet "I Need You," the couple told CMT about their big post-show plans: "Maybe to get a burger or something," Hill said, while McGraw suggested going "to Waffle House."

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SARA EVANS AND JAY BARKER

Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

The singer and Dancing with the Stars alum brought a new accessory to the red carpet: fiancé Jay Barker. But it was her Nicole Miller dress that she was really gushing about Monday night. "It makes my butt look big, and I like that," she tells PEOPLE.

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BRAD PAISLEY AND KIMBERLY WILLIAMS

Credit: Evan Agostini/AP

The singer and his actress wife (in a Jenny Packham dress) keep their eyes on the fans as they make their way down the purple carpet.

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SNOOP DOGG

Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

He's the man in black backstage: The rapper, who's recorded a country song, takes some inspiration from Johnny Cash, all the way down to his boots. "These are the quarter high zip-up, the ones that Johnny used to wear," he says.

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BILLY RAY AND MILEY CYRUS

Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

The father-daughter cohosts cozy up backstage, but onstage they playfully chided each other. "This year's shaping up to be almost as good for you as 1992 was for me," the "Achy Breaky Heart" singer joked, with Miley responding: "Oh thank you, that's because that was the year I was born, right Daddy?"

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TRACE ADKINS

Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

He made it in! The Celebrity Apprentice runner-up – and CMT winner – takes his girls to see Miley Cyrus cohost the show. An opening sketch had the singer on a quest for tickets along with the presidential candidates.

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JEWEL

Credit: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

The Nashville Star host shines in a sweet white laser-cut lace dress by Gustavo Cadile.

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BLAKE SHELTON AND MIRANDA LAMBERT

Credit: Frank Micelotta/Getty

It's not a secret anymore: The country couple take to the carpet together for the first time, with Lambert wearing a Betsey Johnson dress that "my boyfriend picked out for me." She tells PEOPLE: "He picked out the dress because he told me he thought you could see through it. You can't. He was disappointed."

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BOBBY BROWN

Credit: WireImage

He's really Gone Country! In the cowboy's uniform, the reality star is all buckled up and ready to introduce Kenny Chesney's performance.

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CMT Awards: Sweethearts, Singers and a Snoop

1 of 16

KEITH URBAN AND NICOLE KIDMAN

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LEANN RIMES

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LEANN RIMES

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CARRIE UNDERWOOD AND RASCAL FLATTS

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KENNY CHESNEY AND JULIANNE HOUGH

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SUGARLAND AND SNOOP DOGG

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TAYLOR SWIFT

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FAITH HILL AND TIM MCGRAW

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SARA EVANS AND JAY BARKER

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BRAD PAISLEY AND KIMBERLY WILLIAMS

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SNOOP DOGG

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BILLY RAY AND MILEY CYRUS

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TRACE ADKINS

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JEWEL

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BLAKE SHELTON AND MIRANDA LAMBERT

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BOBBY BROWN

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