Max World: Max Facts for December

Billboard, one of the music trades top magazines, and it’s companies have handed out the 2005 music awards.
Billboard.com says that Craig Morgan and his independent Broken Bow Record Company have the country Song of the Year honors for That's What I Love About Sunday. It is a “first” for an indie label.
The song spent 36 weeks on the chart, 17 weeks in the top 10 and four weeks at No. 1.

Rascal Flatts has been named the 2005 Country Artist of the Year by Billboard Monitor Magazine. This is the first time that a group has taken the title. All previous honors have gone to solo male artists.
The trio spent 5 weeks atop the chart with Bless the Broken Road, followed by three weeks at No. 1 with Fast Cars and Freedom.

Billboard Boxscore has given Kenny Chesney special honors---Top Country Tour. Kenny’s tour mad $63 million and had an audience of 1.1 million.

Capitol Nashville Records takes its first label of the year prize from Billboard Radio Monitor. The credit goes to the triple big years had by Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley and Trace Adkins.

American Idol winner, Carrie Underwood, has had quite a year.
The country girl next door sold 315,000 copies of her debut, Some Hearts, in its first week out of the box and finished No. 2 just behind Madonna's new album. That's the best week of sales for any new country artist.
Now Carrie has been named Oklahoman of the Year by Oklahoma Today magazine. In 1993, Garth Brooks was a winner of that award.
Carrie recently move to Nashville.

Dwight Yoakam is co-starring as a bad-guy sheriff in a movie called The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, now in theaters across the country.
The movie is directed by Tommy Lee Jones and tells the story of a ranch hand who transports a friend's corpse to Mexico for a proper burial.

The Lorrie Morgan/Sammy Kershaw Hot Chicken Shack near I-24 and Old Hickory Boulevard in Nashville is closing.
Apparently the location wasn’t generating enough traffic to keep the 5-year-old restaurant profitable.
The couple is looking for a new location closer to the downtown/Music Row area. They hope to open it in 2006.

Reba McEntire's Album Reba #1s has gone Platinum. That is her 19th Platinum award.
Martina McBride‘s album of classic country covers, Timeless, has hit platinum sales.

Brad Paisley and Gretchen Wilson came away with 4 nominations each at the 48th Grammy Awards announcement---that is the most for country artists.
Both artists are up for Best Country Song---Alcohol and All Jacked Up and Best Country Album---Time Well Wasted and All Jacked Up.

Wade Hayes may have some mixed feelings about seeing his ex-wife, Danni Boatwright, win Survivor: Guatemala on CBS.
Danni, now a radio sports talk show host in Kansas City, won the $1 million prize.

Cowboy Troy will indeed host the fourth season of USA Network's Nashville Star when it returns on March 7th, but it he’ll be teaming up with Wynonna.
Celebrity guests will join show veterans Anastasia Brown and Phil Vassar at the judges' table.

Shania Twain is giving back.
CTV in Canada reports that Shania is paying the salary for a full-time teacher at an unnamed school in Ontario, Canada.
The project provides needy children with good food, private tutoring and lessons in life-skills such as cooking, as well as academic assistance.

Kenny Chesney is ready to take you on a Caribbean experience with The Kenny Chesney Caribbean Cruise Getaway the end of February.
And get this, the Kenny Kruise is taking place on two sister ships---The Majesty Of The Seas sailing out of Miami, and The Sovereign Of The Seas departing from Port Canaveral. Once in the Atlantic, these two sister ships will converge, and sail in tandem thru the Caribbean.

The Shania Twain 2006 wall calendar is on top of Country Music Calendars list.
Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson, Country Music Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry wall calendars round out the top 5.

Tim McGraw, with signature black cowboy hat, is on display at Madame Tussauds Las Vegas Museum.

Shania Twain has been named and officer of the Order of Canada. The award is Canada's highest civilian honor.
Timmins, Ontaria, Canada is Shani’s home town.

Toby Keith's, first movie has wrapped up production in Atlanta.
It is called Angel From Montgomery, and Toby got to work with Kelly Preston.
The story centers around a Miami newscaster, who brings her teenage daughter home to rural Montgomery, Tennessee, after a military training accident takes the lives of several town residents, including the reporter’s younger brothers.
In Montgomery, Kelly reunites with country star Bo Porter (played by Toby), the father that her daughter, Dixie has never met.
Toby also has a soundtrack album for the film and a studio album due before year's end.

There’s a recent survey out that ranks country artists most preferred by people ages 13-25. Here‘s the Top 10 List: