Twain named Entertainer of the Year at the ACM Awards

Dolly Parton, host of the 2000 Academy of Country Music Awards. AP Photo. (CBS) Shania Twain was named entertainer of the year and the Dixie Chicks won group and album prizes

Thursday, May 4th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Dolly Parton, host of the 2000 Academy of Country Music Awards. AP Photo.

(CBS) Shania Twain was named entertainer of the year and the Dixie Chicks won group and album prizes for Fly at the 35th annual Academy of Country Music Awards Wednesday night.

Country's power couple-- Faith Hill and Tim McGraw -- stole the show at the 35th annual Academy of Country Music Awards, reports CBS News Correspondent Terisa Estacio.

McGraw won male vocalist of the year, and Hill won female vocalist of the year and top video.

Lonestar's riveting "Amazed" was picked best song and single.

Twain did not attend the show.

The 3,000-member academy also voted the duet "When I Said I Do" by Clint Black and actress-wife Lisa Hartman Black as the vocal event of the year. Black hadn't won an ACM trophy since 1990.

"I've been telling her for a month it's not going to be us so don't worry," Black said, adding it "was a true awards show moment" for him to see his wife's face when their name was called.

It was the second consecutive album award for the Dixie Chicks Martie Seidel, Natalie Maines and Emily Robison. The trio's Wide Open Spaces won last year.

Fly also won the country album Grammy earlier this year.

Dolly Parton, host of the three-hour CBS-TV show, arrived on stage at the Universal Amphitheatre with a hearty, "Howdy!" It was her first outing as show host a role she filled with self-described "tacky" remarks.

"We're both 35 years old. Well, parts of me are anyway," said Parton, decked out in a sequined gown.

Taking a major country music controversy head on, George Strait and Alan Jackson led off the night's performances with "Murder on Music Row," the "someone killed country music" ditty that asserts traditional country sound has been drowned out by money-grubbing pop leanings.

The show's performances had a traditionalist flair that included songs by George Jones, Asleep at the Wheel and a banjo-picking blue grass tune by Parton.

The new male vocalist winner was Brad Paisley and top new female was Jessica Andrews. The new duo or group trophy went to Montgomery Gentry.

The fast-paced West Coast salute to Nashville is traditionally one of the entertainment industry's most performance-filled awards shows. Producer Dick Clark rehearsed 30 acts for the broadcast.

For the first time in recent memory, the show was Garth-less. Garth Brooks, declared the country music artist of the decade last year, didn't get any nominations this year and didn't attend the show.

The show featured presentation of the Pioneer Award to Tammy Wynette, the first time the academy has given the award posthumously. Trisha Yearwood introduced the tribute to Wynette, who she called "the original country music diva."

Parton, Patty Loveless, Martina McBride and Naomi Judd and daughter Wynonna sang Wynette's signature song "Stand By Your Man."