Julianne Hough by Amy Graves/WireImage.com
Julianne Hough's taking a brief break from the dance floor to cohost this year's CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock. The newly minted singer is sharing duties with country stars Taylor Swift and Kellie Pickler.Along with the three lovely cohosts, the four-day festival in Nashville is a nonstop parade of music and parties, featuring concerts by Billy Ray Cyrus, Faith Hill, Trace Adkins and Dwight Yoakam, among others. Night to Rock is taping during the festival, June 5-8, and is set to air Monday, September 8 at 9 pm/ET on ABC. Julianne's already got us glued to her moves during Dancing — will she get right into step with the girls of country music? — Anna DimondUse our Online Video Guide to spend some time with Julianne.
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Martina McBride
In 2006 Martina McBride stole the show at the CMA Music Festival. Despite performances from the likes of Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Brooks & Dunn, and Wynonna, it was the straight-up, plant-your-feet-and-sing set from Kansas-born McBride that took the prize. In its festival wrap-up, the Nashville Tennessean pronounced hers the "best performance — hands down, for sure, no question."
Except that McBride herself doesn't quite agree. "My memory is of that show completely sucking — I thought it was a mess!" she says now. "They used smoke for the TV filming that I have an allergy to, so while I was waiting to go on, I started to get this reaction, like I had a wool sweater in my throat. I was coughing between lines, and it took five songs to get to where it felt like it had passed."
This year, though, there was every reason to expect an even better show from McBride: She has a new album, Waking Up Laughing, which has already spawned a couple of hi
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