'Fearless' picks for tonight's CMA Awards

 

If Taylor Swift doesn't win Entertainer of the Year at tonight's CMAs (ABC, 8 p.m.), I'll streak the Dallas Bull. AVERT YOUR EYES!

I Bleepin' Love This Song! George Strait 'El Rey'

George Strait
Song: El Rey
Album: Twang (MCA Nashville)
It’s good to be the kings: “King” George Strait just scored his 21st No. 1 album with the new Twang. The Nashville stud is money in the bank, his Lone Star baritone knocking down play-it-safe ballads and top-tappin’ honky-tonk for the past four decades. The late Jose Alfredo “El Rey” Jimenez was the king of modern mariachi, a master of the cancion ranchera. And now, in a downright besotted turn, the risk-averse Strait is honoring Jimenez’s classic El Rey — and he’s doing it entirely in Spanish. The closing cut on Twang, El Rey features George busting out the espanol in a voice higher than usual; as the trumpets blast and the ay-yi-yi’s cackle, you'll wanna slam a cerveza and grab a dance partner.
Reminds us of: There’s a new coffee-table book, Mariachi by Patricia Greathouse, packed with glossy art, smart writing and a nine-song CD. It’s nothing less than my current obsession.
Grade: A