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The folks at the Chasing Rainbows museum at Dollywood should clear a couple of spaces in the trophy case, as local gal Dolly Parton extended her lead Tuesday night as the most awarded female artist in country music by racking up two additional Academy of Country Music trophies. Both wins — for Vocal Event of the Year and Video of the Year — came for her record-breaking 25th No. 1 hit, the heavenly collaboration with Brad Paisley on “When I Get Where I’m Going.”
Unfortunately, neither honor was awarded on the live CBS telecast of the awards ceremony, as they were both presented immediately prior to broadcast. The only award for which she was nominated that was announced on air, Song of the Year, went to Brooks & Dunn for “Believe” over “When I Get Where I’m Going.”
Backstage, Paisley praised Dolly’s work on the song, crediting her with its two wins. “Her part was really just a harmony vocal for most artists, but the power of Dolly is that she turned a harmony into a Vocal Event,” he told reporters.
In the Video category, the tune beat out “As Good As I Once Was” by Toby Keith, “Believe” by Brooks & Dunn, “I May Hate Myself In The Morning” by Lee Ann Womack and “Kerosene” by Miranda Lambert. For Vocal Event, it bested “I Play Chicken With The Train” by Cowboy Troy and Big & Rich, “Like We Never Loved At All” by Faith Hill with Tim McGraw and “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” by Bon Jovi with Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland.
Pasiley, the night’s most-nominated artist with six nods and its most-awarded artist with three wins, also took home Album of the Year for the CD which contained his Dolly collaboration, “Time Well Wasted.” Dolly tied with Brooks & Dunn and Carrie Underwood for the night’s second-most wins at two each.
The two victories bring Dolly’s career total ACM wins to seven out of her 39 nominations. Combined with her credited Grammy and Country Music Association honors, she has received 24 trophies from country’s “big three” associations, more than any other female artist.
Meanwhile last week, the video for the tune gained six to No. 4 on Great American Country’s countdown but slid five to No. 17 on CMT’s.
For the fourth year in a row, Dolly will attend the annual kick-off for the KidsFest celebration at Dollywood, a park spokesperson confirmed to Dollymania.net last week. She is scheduled to be on the park grounds on June 16, it was noted, and is expected to make at least one public appearance.
The fourth annual KidsFest runs through Aug. 6. The South’s largest festival aimed at children, it will be headlined this year by Big Cats & Magic starring the Fercos Brothers and their tigers. Other offerings will include the world premiere of the new VeggieTales movie, “Larry Boy and the Bad Apple” (starting July 1) as well as a showing of their “Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler” (June 16-30) and the return of several of last year’s favorites: the Clifford the Big Red Dog stage show, Penguin Group USA presents Dolly’s Imagination Playhouse (a live musical presentation of three of the books from Dolly’s Imagination Library literacy program) and the Jest In Time circus featuring Topper Todd, LiLi Zucchini and the Jack Russell terrier Ticker.
Dolly was a delightful host Tuesday on the Carter Family documentary “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” which aired on BBC Radio 2 in the U.K. Filled with new and classic interviews with the family members, music historians and other artists influenced by the country music pioneers, Dolly told their story and introduced both the family’s original recordings and excerpts from more recent covers of their classic hits, including almost at the end of the program a chorus of “I Never Will Marry” by Linda Ronstadt with Dolly herself (a top 10 single from Ronstadt’s 1977 LP “Simple Dreams”). Dolly’s narration throughout the show was relaxed and friendly, very reminiscent of the stories she told on her own “For God And Country” disc to introduce many of its songs. If you missed listening to the live broadcast via the Internet, you may hear it by clicking on the “Listen again to the documentary link” on the BBC’s website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/documentaries/#carter.
Tuesday was also a big Dolly day at the stores. Previously available online only, fans could now enjoy the video for Dolly’s Oscar-nominated tune “Travelin’ Thru” in the comfort of their living rooms, as the footage — plus a behind-the-scenes featurette on the song — was released that day in the DVD of “TransAmerica,” the Felicity Huffman film for which she composed the tune. In addition, it was also the release date for the new Rhonda Vincent CD, “All American Bluegrass Girl,” which finds Dolly providing gorgeous harmonies on the track “Heartbreaker’s Alibi.”
And, finally, the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce last weekend held its second-ever Mountain Soul Vocal Competition, the world’s only known singing contest featuring only songs written by Dolly. The show was part of the annual Bloomin’ Barbeque and Bluegrass Festival, and the winner took home a $500 prize and a recording session at a Nashville studio.
For all the latest on Miss Dolly, be sure to check out the daily news updates at Dollymania.net: The Online Dolly Parton Newsmagazine!

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