Taylor

Taylor is Nashville's diamond and tonight she became the world's favorite gem.
Tonight was HER night.
While some say it was ruined, I dare to say this night made her a much bigger star than a regular award acceptance speech ever would have.
She showed the ULTIMATE grace under pressure and looked like a star of sorts unlike we have seen in years.

Much like the heroine in her winning video's song that she writes about, "You Belong With Me", we all were rooting for her, as she was, for just a moment, the underdog and had to reclaim her prize.
Cinderella's bubble burst before our eyes. And then with Beyonce's graciousness as a VMA fairy godmother of sorts at the end of the evening, we got to see that same bubble somehow seam itself together just as quickly as it had burst.
A standing ovation was given, hearts melted, tears shed and a new fan base was born.
She is officially accepted, embraced and celebrated fully by the MTV community.

I've heard a few people complain before that Taylor Swift is "too nice" and "too thankful".
A few of my friends in the industry have said "she just acts like every little thing is the best thing she's ever had in the whole world", "that it gets tiring to be that overly gracious all the time".
Well, excuse her youthful exuberance!! Pardon her lack of jadedness and absence of blase affectation that so many young stars and musicians seem to embody.
How much sweeter would the world be if every 19 year old had the graciousness, manners, and wide-eyed excitement that Taylor has?

She's young and she's real and she's just a bit "too" eager - which gives her the edge over everyone else.
But most of all, she's relatable.
I've watched her and been so impressed and delighted since "Tim McGraw" was released as a single in 2006.
I heard it and thought, "that's pure nostalgia and magic disguised as a song".
And the minute she opened her music, her heart, and her world via myspace, twitter, etc., a star bigger than a star was born.
She's paving the way in this new social networking forum.
And while everybody sits back and thinks, "Isn't she cute?",
I look in awe and think, "Wow, what a businesswoman! What a writer! What a compassionate person! What a big heart!".
Those descriptions don't all always go together. In fact they rarely, if ever, do.

Nashville's music industry will constantly try to recreate her in various incarnations via other new artists, undoubtedly.
But you can't copy the real thing, as Coke used to say.
I can't wait to see what she does next because it's sure to be clever and I'm sure she'll be just as excited and just as appreciative as ever to be doing it.
May she keep that excited, inspired 19 year old inside her forever.
May we all. It would do our hearts some good.

Take care out there...

xoxo,
Dawn

Another great video blog from Taylor to her fans:

I guess we're all one phone call from our knees.