Taylor Swift Reflects On ACM Entertainer of The Year Win

Taylor Swift Reflects On ACM Entertainer of The Year Win

(Photo Courtesy Academy of Country Music)

Taylor Swift was crowned ACM Entertainer of the Year for the very first time at the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards last night, making her the eighth and youngest female to take the award in the 40 year history of this category. (Previous winners include Loretta Lynn in 1975, Dolly Parton in 1977, Barbara Mandrell in 1980, Reba McEntire in 1994, Shania Twain in 1999, The Dixie Chicks in 2000 and Carrie Underwood in 2009 & 2010.)

Taylor says she felt “shock” and “overwhelming gratidute” when they announced her as the winner and for those of you wondering what she and her mom said to each other before she went on stage to accept her trophy last night, here’s your answer….

“Those aren't actual words, that's just screaming random consonants and vowels, that's not just ever actually audible thoughts,” said Swift with a laugh.

This year, nearly 600,000 fans cast votes for the Entertainer of the Year Award, making it the largest vote ever for this category.

“The fans are the ones that did that,” she told press backstage. “I feel like of all the things that have happened in my life they're the best thing that I've ever gotten to have. My relationship with them is everything to me and the fact that this was a bi-product of that, it just makes it that much more beautiful.”

Swift, who performed her latest single, “Mean” during the awards telecast, took time to reflect on the evening backstage after her big win.

“I think this year the ACMs was such an amazingly fun experience for me. Getting to perform a new song that is really fun to sing and to perform and also to have four nominations this year, it was so wonderful.”

Taylor says she’s honored to take home the night’s top award. “I think honestly for me, just the impact and significance of wining Entertainer of the Year is just the biggest thing in the world to me because my heroes won that award and to have such amazing artists take me under their wing- like Brad Paisley and like Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw and Keith Urban- these are all people I've opened up for and George Strait and then you look back to Shania Twain and Garth Brooks, the people that I'm just absolutely in awe of. I see these people when I think of entertainer so just the fact that I would even be kind of mentioned in the same breath of that word is kind of mind-blowing to me,” she said.

Fans can catch the newly crowned ACM Entertainer of the Year on her “Speak Now” tour this summer. The North American leg of the tour kicks off May 27.