Former Mr Renee Zellweger, Kenny Chesney, has won a third consecutive Entertainer Of The Year award at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Receiving the gong, he paid tribute to fellow musician Keith Whitley, telling the crowd assembled in Las Vegas: "When I first started playing music, I was in college and I would go rent all my equipment and put it in the back of a pick-up truck. The only thing I wanted to do was cut a record as good as Keith Whitley did, and I listened to that music over and over again".
Elsewhere, former American Idol Carrie Underwood was awarded the top Female Vocalist, whilst Rascal Flatts got Best Vocal Group, whilst veteran duo Brooks & Dunn won Best Vocal Duo for the fourteenth time.