CMA Donate 14 M to Learn Music For Students

The Country Music Association is helping thousands of students learn music in school to the tune of $1.4 million.

The organization donated proceeds from the 2011 CMA Music Festival through its "Keep the Music Playing" campaign, benefiting music education programs in Nashville public schools. Country music's biggest stars perform for free at the annual summer festival in Nashville, Tenn.

Country star Chris Young played the big stage at LP Field last year. He helped announce the donation Tuesday night at a reception before the third CMA Keep the Music Playing All Stars Concert held at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

Young grew up in middle Tennessee and benefitted from a thriving school music program.

"It doesn't really matter if somebody ends up doing music for a living. I think it's more important that they have the opportunity to be exposed to it, because music is an important part of everybody's life, even if that's not how you get a paycheck," Young said. "This is a way of making sure no kid is really deprived of that opportunity."

Young hosted the all-stars concert, which featured a middle school band, a magnet school's theatre and orchestra departments, and a pop music ensemble. Young performed his fifth consecutive No. 1 hit, "You", with two students.

Singer Suzy Bogguss performed two songs from her latest project "American Folk Songbook" with an elementary school choir. She said she loved her experience working with the young students.

"It's not just about talent. What it's about is just their pure joy, the thing about children that they bring, their innocence and their desire to just do something they've never done before," she said. "This is a big deal to them tonight."

Since 2006, CMA has donated more than $6.1 million to support music education in public schools. The money has been used to build music labs and purchase more than 4,000 instruments and supplies for 80 Metro Nashville public schools through a partnership with the Nashville Public Education Foundation.

The 2012 CMA Music Festival will be held June 7-10. Performers include Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, and Zac Brown Band.

Rating: 4.5

2012 NRJ Music Awards: The Show, The Winners

Hitting the red carpet for an evening honoring the best in music, the stars converged for the 13th annual NRJ Music Awards in Cannes on Saturday (January 28).

Held at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres, top names including Justin Bieber and Shakira worked the arrivals area before heading inside to collect their NRJ Awards of Honor.

Other celebrities turning up for the annual event included Seal, Shy'm, Mika, David Guetta, Patricia Kaas and Miss France 2012 Delphine Wespiser, while Bieber, Coldplay and LMFAO were among the high-powered lineup of acts set to take the stage.

With Adele having quite the night by claiming two trophies including International Revelation of the Year and International Song of the Year, the complete list of winners from the 2012 NRJ Music Awards are as follows:

Francophone revelation of the year:
WINNER: Keen V.
Michael Miro.
Inna Modja.
Merwan Rim.

International Revelation of the year:
WINNER: Adele.
Jessie J..
LMFAO.
Bruno March.

Francophone female artist of the year:
Joyce Jonathan.
Nolwen Leroy.
WINNER: Shy’m.
Elisa Tovati.

Artist francophone male of the year:
Crow.
David Guetta.
Christophe Maé.
WINNER: M. Pokora.

Artist of women international of the year:
Beyoncé.
Katy Perry.
WINNER: Rihanna.
Britney Spears.

Artist male International of the year:
Enrique Iglesias.
WINNER: Mika.
Sean Paul.
Pitbull.

Song international of the year:
WINNER: Adele: “Someone Like You”.
LMFAO: “Party Rock Anthem”.
Bruno March: “The Lazy Song”.
Rihanna (feat.) (Calvin Harris): “We Found Love”.

Group French Duo of the year:
DJ Abdel feat. Soprano.
Elisa Tovati & Tom Dice.
Magic System.
WINNER: Simple Plan feat. Marie-Mai.

Group / Duo of the year International:
Black Eyed Peas.
Coldplay.
David Guetta feat. Usher.
WINNER: LMFAO.

Music Video of the year:
WINNER: LMFAO: “Party Rock Anthem”.
Katy Perry: “Last Friday Night”.
Lady Gaga: “Born this way”.
Mika: “she said”.

NRJ Award of Diamond: Mylène Farmer

NRJ Award of Honor: Justin Bieber

NRJ Award of Honor: Shakira

Justin Bieber Accepting the NRJ Award of Honor Rating: 4.5