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Taylor Swift opened the show with a winning performance – but the 19-year-old singer had to wait until the end of the Country Music Assocation Awards telecast Wednesday night to collect the biggest honor: entertainer of the year.

Sobbing as she took the stage of Nashville’s Sommet Center, Swift – the youngest-ever winner of the CMA’s top trophy – called her band to join her onstage. “I will never forget this moment because in this moment everything I have ever wanted has just happened to me,” she said.

It was a monumental night for Swift, who took home four awards in total, including album of the year for her smash hit Fearless and, in an upset, female vocalist of the year, beating out the night’s co-host, Carrie Underwood.

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The driver of a Miley Cyrus tour bus was killed Friday when the bus overturned, but the 16-year-old “Hannah Montana” star wasn’t on board, Virginia State Police said.

Sgt. Thomas Molnar said the bus ran off the left side of Interstate 85, struck an embankment and overturned. The accident occurred around 8:15 a.m. in Dinwiddie County, about 40 miles south of Richmond. Speed and weather weren’t considered factors.

The driver, William G. Douglas, 53, of Austin, Texas, died at the scene, police said.

Marty Zilio, 48, of Canada, was injured in the crash and treated at a local hospital. He was one of nine members of Cyrus’ production crew who were riding in the bus. They escaped the crashed bus through the front windshield.

The Cyrus family said on her Web site that they were “deeply saddened by the loss of Bill ’Uncle Bill’ Douglas” and that he would be missed.

“Members of our tour are like members of our family,” the statement said.

A wrecker arrived late Friday morning to haul away the black and maroon luxury tour bus, which was on its side in a ditch off the highway where it had apparently skidded for several hundred feet.

The bus was hauled by the wrecker up to the next exit off I-85, where two other tour buses and members of the tour were waiting. About two dozen members of the tour, some still wearing pajama bottoms, began transferring backpacks and laptops from the wrecked bus into two other buses parked outside a restaurant. They declined to speak to reporters.

Molnar said the bus was one of four traveling together after the singer’s two-show stint Wednesday and Thursday in Long Island, N.Y. The group was heading to Greensboro, N.C., where she is scheduled to perform Sunday. Cyrus was not traveling with the group at the time of the crash, authorities said.

Miley Cyrus is the daughter of country star Billy Ray Cyrus, who also appears on the family friendly Disney sitcom “Hannah Montana.”

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

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From the annals of absurdity in consumerism, let us know turn our attention to the forthcoming super deluxe edition of Lady Gaga's The Fame: Monster.

What's super about it? Well, there are eight new jams included, including the new single, "Bad Romance." That would go under the definition of super, I suppose. But what's deluxe?

Oh Gaga -- who just tapped Semi Precious Weapons to open for her Monster Ball Tour,  handed Adam Lambert a song for his new album, For Your Entertainment, and who'll appear on an upcoming episode of Gossip Girl -- Gaga's got deluxe. Included in the $100 package is a book (of Gaga), a Gaga paper doll, some photos, 3D glasses, and a lock of Lady Gaga's hair. Hmm. I will be super-deluxe interested to know how that works out. Gaga's got a lot of fans who are probably willing to shell out $100 for her hair. If there are enough Gaga fans out there unscathed by the credit crunch, Lady could find herself going all Cassie/ Britney soon. The Fame: Monster drops November 23rd.

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BUCHAREST, Romania - At first, fans politely applauded the Roma performers sharing a stage with Madonna. Then the pop star condemned widespread discrimination against Roma, or Gypsies — and the cheers gave way to jeers.

The sharp mood change that swept the crowd of 60,000, who had packed a park for Wednesday night's concert, underscores how prejudice against Gypsies remains deeply entrenched across Eastern Europe.

Despite long-standing efforts to stamp out rampant bias, human rights advocates say Roma probably suffer more humiliation and endure more discrimination than any other people group on the continent.



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