There's Young Hollywood, and then there's Young Nashville - bright, beautiful young music stars like Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum and Jake Owen. But at the "57th Annual BMI Country Awards," the buzz was all about Kris Kristofferson, who was named the songwriting organization's 2009 Icon.

At 73, Kristofferson still has "It" - the charismatic swagger, the blue eyes that see the world with unflinching truth, the ability to tell gritty, haunting stories set to song, like "Sunday Mornin' Coming Down, " "Help Me Make it Through the Night" and "Me and Bobby McGee."

"You just look at him, and it's the lines on his face that tell stories. It's his hair. I know it sounds odd, but the guy's revered in a way that's usually in the same sentence with people like Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson," said Owen, who'd just introduced himself to "Mr. Kristofferson" a couple of minutes earlier.

Heidi Newfield added, "When he did 'A Star is Born,' he had women taking cold showers all over the world. He had a charisma, and sexy just oozes all over him. But you add this with the fact that he's a Rhodes scholar, and he chose this path rather than becoming a professor (Kristofferson turned down a teaching post at West Point to become a janitor in Nashville) - I think we're all the better for it."

Kristofferson broke down and sobbed for a moment, as Vince Gill, Patti Griffin and longtime pal Willie Nelson sang a touching trio of some of his best-loved songs. "The great thing about being a songwriter is you can hear your baby interpreted by so many people that have creative talents vocally that I don't have," he confided to us earlier on the red carpet. He laughed when reminded of how he came to Nashville in 1965, and gave up a promising career in academia for an uncertain future in the music biz. "My mother thought I was crazy," he admits. "I never doubted once that I was in the right place."

Nashville rolled out the welcome mat with a big twang, as Brooks and Dunn turned up their amps for a rockin' rendition of their latest hit, "Honky Tonk Stomp."

The superstar country duo - who call it quits after a farewell tour in 2010 - were deep in rehearsals at the Sommet Center for Wednesday night's "43rd Annual CMA Awards."

Among those boogieing down from the audience - Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush from Sugarland, the pair who finally ended B & D's 14-year winning streak as CMA "Duo of the Year." It'll be a showdown between Sugarland and Brooks and Dunn once again, with Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn the sentimental favorites among some of the voters.

"If they come back for the reunion tour next year, there will be some you-know-what to pay," teased Nettles. Bush added, "If they come back as Dunn and Brooks - it's over! We're taking the gloves off!," he laughed.

As Jason Aldean stepped into the spotlight to rehearse his recent number one single, "Big Green Tractor," Darius Rucker admired his performance from the back of the room. "Man, listen to his voice!," he marveled. "He sounds as good live as he does on the record!"

Rucker is up for two awards - "Best New Artist" and "Male Vocalist of the Year."

We spoke backstage after last year's ceremony, just as the Hootie and the Blowfish frontman was reinventing himself as a solo country artist. Barack Obama had just been elected President of the United States, and Rucker was reflecting on how an African-American could become of the Leader of the Free World, as well as a country singer. "Just shows how far we've come," he said. "We're prime examples of how you can be whatever you want to be in this country."

Conversation turned toward the hotly-contested category of "Entertainer of the Year" - where Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, George Strait and Keith Urban will square off against 19-year-old country-pop sensation Taylor Swift. "It's up for grabs, but I think it could be Taylor's year," predicted Rucker. "She's just so big right now. I think she's transcending country music, and she'll probably take it." Aldean concurred when he got off the stage. "If you looks at numbers - nobody's had a bigger year than her. I don't know how you can discredit that," he said.

In a press release yesterday, the Country Music Association announced that Swift will be the opening performer on Wednesday's telecast. With any luck, she'll also be closing the night with a win for "Entertainer of the Year."

In between completing 1,400 hours of court-ordered community service for doing you-know-what to you-know-who, Chris Brown will be rehearsing his moves for a 19-city "Fan Appreciation" tour.  Taking place in small venues around the country, the trek is designed to thank followers for their ongoing support.  The journey kicks off November 14 in Houston, and wraps up in New York City a month later.

While on the road, Brown plans to visit participants in a program called Best Buddies International, and has opted to donate a portion of his proceeds to the foundation - which was founded in 1989 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and bills itself as the world's largest non-profit organization devoted solely to providing friendship, jobs and leadership opportunities to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Here are the tour dates:

• November 14 – Houston, TX
• November 15 – Dallas, TX
• November 18 – Los Angeles, CA
• November 19 – San Francisco, CA
• November 22 – Richmond, VA
• November 25 – Detroit, MI
• November 26 – Chicago, IL
• November 29 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL
• December 1 – Orlando, FL
• December 2 – Atlanta, GA
• December 4 – Washington, DC
• December 5 – Providence, RI
• December 6 – Boston, MA
• December 9 – Sayreville, NJ
• December 11 – Baltimore, MD
• December 12 – Wallingford, CT
• December 13 – Philadelphia, PA
• December 15 – New York, NY

Rihanna's rockin' an eyepatch on the cover of her new single ... and not much else!

On the front of "Russian Roulette" – which became available on rihannanow.com this morning – the Barbados-born beauty poses with barbed wire strategically wound like a ribbon around her breasts.

The 21-year-old chart-topper is definitely not playing the demure victim, after her much-publicized beatdown at the hands of then-boyfriend Chris Brown this year. In the cover photo, she seems to be saying, "I'm a survivor, I'm strong, I'm sexy – don't mess with me!"

In a press release this morning, Def Jam also revealed the name of her new album: "Rated R." As she announced last week in a tweet, the CD will hit stores on Monday, November 23.

The video for "Russian Roulette" – which was written and produced by Ne-Yo – will "premiere in primetime on ABC." One can only surmise it'll be in conjunction with a long-form sitdown interview.

Well, the cat's out of the bag - and his name is Garth Brooks.  In the world's worst-kept secret, the country music superstar announced this morning he's officially coming out of retirement.  The 47-year-old entertainer - who famously slipped away from recording and touring nine years ago - made the proclamation at the Opry House in Nashville before whisking 40 members of the media to the airport.  They'd been told earlier to pack a small carry-on and meet at a surprise location.  Right now, those journalists are on board a private jet winging their way to Sin City.

I just arrived in Las Vegas to meet up with them for Phase 2 of Operation Comeback: a press conference at the Wynn Encore Hotel.  Kind of bummed they jumped the gun with the announcement - thought they were going to wait for everyone to convene in Vegas before divulging the big news.  Oh well.

Knowing Garth's penchant for drama, maybe there's another surprise up his sleeve.  CNN.com/Live will be carrying the presser as it goes down at 4pm EDT/1pm PDT.

Heads up, music fans!  Look for a big surprise announcement today.

We'll reveal all in due time... just keep checking this blog and cnn.com/showbiz for details, and leave your guesses in the comments.  Think of it as a musical scavenger hunt!

Paula Abdul sported a black church lady hat and Adam Lambert rocked a skinny bow tie, but it was Snoop Dogg who elicited catcalls from the media when he strolled into the Beverly Hills press conference to announce nominees for the 2009 American Music Awards. The rapper had traded in his signature football jersey and braids for a vest, a velvet blazer, a slicked-back ponytail and a pair of nerd glasses. "This is about me stepping up and becoming a bigger, better person and becoming a business," he confided after the presser. "I'm the new President/Creative Director of Priority Records." Does this mean the iconic hip-hop star has turned over a new leaf, so to speak? Well, judge for yourself. When we asked him if marijuana should be legalized, he had this to say: "You know how I stand. I stand very high on that!"

Lambert tells us he's been buried in a studio, working on his new album - which he described as "glam rock packaged in a pop sensibility." He gave a thumbs-up to the gay rights rally that took place in D.C. over the weekend, saying "I think it's great. I think it's a civil rights issue, and I think people deserve to be heard on it. I believe in equal rights for everybody." He said his Rolling Stone cover story was liberating. "To really sit down with a reporter and talk about me from the ground up was really, really great, and I feel like we got a lot of stuff out of the closet - literally cleaned out that closet - so hopefully people can focus on the music." His debut CD hits stores November 24th - two days after he performs on the AMAs.

As for Ms. Paula Abdul... she gave us this Sarah Palin-esque answer when we asked if a show in Vegas was in the cards as part of her post-"Idol" life. "I have many different opportunities in Las Vegas, which I've been offered for years, but the timing is right because I have TV projects that I'm doing - a lot of different things that are very exciting that I get to continue to live my dream now."

However, she was much more succinct when discussing frustration that the "Idol" women have been pitted against each other in the media. "No one ever said anything about the guys, and I know for a fact there was jealousy going around with the guys - bigger dressing rooms, trailers, someone buys a house for X amount of millions, and the other one says, 'Well, I bought the whole land.' And then somebody got J. Lo's interior designer. 'Well, I bought J. Lo!' That's how it would work, you know."

If there's an award for "Best Creepy, But Cool" song of 2009, it should go to Death Cab for Cutie's "Meet Me on the Equinox" - the first single off the soundtrack for "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."  The music video for the song was just completed, and it features shots of the band interspersed with sneak peeks from the movie.

Chris Walla, Death Cab's guitarist, swears the house used as a location for the video was haunted.  "Some rich wingnut built it to very particular cosmic specifications.  Legend has it he died under some mysterious circumstances.  Of course it's all probably exaggerated, but it was really weird," he tells CNN from his home in Portland, Oregon.

Walla admits to being a huge fan of the "Twilight" franchise.  "Nick (the bass guitarist) is probably second in line - although Ben (the lead singer) has probably read the books by now."  Death Cab hails from the Pacific Northwest, which is the setting for "Twilight."  "In fact, Ben grew up on the peninsula across from Port Angeles, and my family used to vacation near Forks."  He says he's an "Edward" guy - although the character is "hard to like in the second book because he just leaves, and that's not cool."

Speaking of Ben Gibbard... the Death Cab frontman is now officially off the market.  He married actress-singer Zooey Deschanel ("Almost Famous," "(500) Days of Summer") about three weeks ago outside Seattle.  Walla reports the ceremony was beautiful, and that it took place on a dairy farm he visited as a kid on school field trips.  "We used to go there to see where milk comes from," he laughs.

The "New Moon" soundtrack also features new songs from Radiohead's Thom Yorke, the Killers and Grizzly Bear.  There's also a remix from Muse - whose "Supermassive Black Hole" provided the backdrop to the unforgettable vampire softball montage in the original "Twilight" film.

It had the charm of a community theater production put on by a group of pals - only in this case, everybody happened to be famous. Tuesday night, actor David Arquette and some of his family members and "Friends" - namely wife Courteney Cox-Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, Sheryl Crow, Christina Applegate, Ben Harper and more - staged a benefit concert to raise money for the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank and Feeding America.

It was a roughly staged event where microphones went dead, teleprompters messed up and everyone in the audience seemed to know each other. At one point, the director came over the P.A. system and asked Cox and Kudrow to stretch - so Kudrow grabbed a guitar and played a couple bars of "Smelly Cat," the tune her character made famous on an episode of "Friends."

AEG Live donated the Club Nokia in downtown L.A., while others donated their time and talent. Garry Shandling did a little stand-up comedy. Crow wrote a sing-along reggae song especially for the event called "All We Need" - which she recorded as a duet for iTunes with Jason Mraz. It'll be available in about a week or so, with all proceeds going to Feeding America.

As Crow performed, Allison Sweeney (soap star and host of "The Biggest Loser") snapped photos on her cell phone from the balcony. Harper raced over on a rare night off from his tour with Pearl Jam. Katharine McPhee, Jonny Lang and Good Charlotte's Joel and Benji Madden also performed live, as did Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine. His mom, Mary, watched from the side of the stage, dressed in sensible shoes and a grandma cardigan. Speaking of which, Morello and his new wife are expecting their first child next month. It's going to be a boy!

This wasn't some Hollywood fundraiser where the celebrities involved had no personal stake in the charity. Cox told us her husband, David, has been spending two days a week packing lunches and helping out at the neighborhood foodbank in Venice. Sometimes their daughter, Coco, joins him. Crow couldn't help giving Arquette a special shout-out during her set. "I love David Arquette so much, man!" she exclaimed. "Who else would put himself out there like this?!"

Britney, Britney, wherefore art thou Britney? 

The pop star tweeted clues to fans about where they might find a pair of front row tickets to her Thursday show in Los Angeles.  The scavenger hunt ultimately led about 200 die-hard followers to her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  It wasn't very stealth because the area was fenced off, and surrounded by security guards and police officers.  At about 6 pm, a car pulled up, and Brit Brit slid out.  She handed the contest winner his tickets, posed for a couple of photos and smacked her gum once or twice - then she ducked back into the car and disappeared.  No wave to the crowd.  Not even a "Hi, y'all, thanks for coming."  The whole act took about 30 seconds. 

Many of the fans who gathered couldn't see what was going on (including our camera) because the view was obstructed by the crowd, as well as a clown with a giant rainbow afro. A blonde woman broke down into tears.  A mother of two teenage daughters cursed the singer, saying she'd taken them out of school for this.  A girl complained loudly to someone on the other end of a cell phone, saying "Dude, she was gone in five seconds!  One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand, four-one thousand, five-one thousand.  Come on Britney, you can do better than that!" 
 
Well, they're not the only ones disappointed by Britney's disappearing act.  Jordin Sparks - who's been opening for the former Mouseketeer since August and shares the same record label - hasn't even met her yet.  Jordin says she's met Britney's parents, and hopes to meet their daughter by the end of the tour.  She'd better hurry.  Their North American "Circus" tour wraps this weekend.