toledoblade.com --

Hmm, wasn’t exactly the type of publicity that the Country Music Association was looking for, but within hours of Faith Hill apparently screaming "What!" into the camera after Carrie Underwood was named Female Vocalist of the Year, the video became a hot spot on www.youtube.com.

By Tuesday morning, all the major news services had jumped on the story and were portraying Hill as a poor loser. Whether she was joking or not, it definitely wasn’t a good idea on Hill’s part, given that a good portion of the 32 million people watching had no type of background or context to frame the reaction in.

That context is that Hill is a notorious prankster and had been joking around before the announcement was made. Although Hill, along with husband Tim McGraw, had the most-attended country tour of the year, Hill has not had a particularly memorable year by her standards.

Underwood, on the other hand, has taken country music by storm since winning "American Idol." Yesterday, it was announced that Underwood’s debut album, "Some Hearts," has been certified quadruple platinum for sales of 4 million copies.

She and Gretchen Wilson are the only debut artists to achieve that distinction in the past decade. Underwood reached that mark just shy of the one-year anniversary of the album’s release (Nov. 15, 2005).

Also, for the second week, Underwood’s third single, "Before He Cheats," is sitting atop the radio charts. Her first two singles, "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Don’t Forget to Remember Me," were also No. 1 smashes.

In other words, Underwood has had an incredible year, and everyone was predicting her to run away with the award. Obviously, Hill had no realistic expectation of winning, and her reaction was probably nothing more than a playful, sarcastic response, based on the fact that everyone was already predicting an Underwood victory.

It was another great show to top off an incredible year for the Country Music Association and country music, in general, but, unfortunately, officials had to immediately respond to the growing controversy.

"There has been a lot of public discussion about Faith Hill’s on-camera reaction during the announcement of the Female Vocalist of the Year award. Having been there, I can assure you that Faith was in no way being disrespectful of Carrie Underwood or her accomplishments. It was a playful moment caught on camera that has blown out of proportion and taken out of context," Clarence Spalding, the president of the CMA board of directors, said.

For her part, Hill immediately issued a press release saying she was kidding and has talked to Underwood, and everything is fine between them.

Hill has been one of country music’s classiest ladies for a long time. I tend to believe it was just a slip-up in judgment and not a spoiled-brat reaction to an opponent winning.

But, hey, other than that, the night was a big success for ABC and the CMA. ABC won Monday night by more than 3.4 million viewers and by 13% in the coveted demographic of 18-49 year-olds. An estimated 32.3 million viewers watched the show, ABC’s largest audience in six months.

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Kellie Pickler, another "American Idol" veteran, is following in the steps of Underwood. Pickler’s debut album, "Small Town Girl," debuts this week at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart and at No. 9 on the all-genre Billboard 200. The album sold more than 79,000 copies in its first week, making it the best-selling debut album of the year.

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I’ve always been a big fan of Ira Dean, Keith Burns, and Heidi Newfield of Trick Pony. Unfortunately, Newfield has announced she is leaving the group at the end of its tour in December to pursue a solo career.

"It’s time for me to follow my heart and take my own path. I hope you’ll support me in this decision and stick by me as I start this wonderful new chapter in my career," Newfield said in a letter she released to media and fans. "As for Ira and Keith, I wish them all the happiness and success in the world and will always consider them among my dearest friends. I’m excited to see what they’ll do next. They are both incredibly talented."

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