As such, the genre is as healthy as it has ever been, and Wednesday’s impressive guest list illustrated the ways in which country has exploded in popularity in recent years. Attendees included Nicole Kidman, who was on the arm of hubby Keith Urban; Kid Rock, there with drinking buddy Gretchen Wilson; Jamie Foxx, who performed with Rascal Flatts; and even Jessica Simpson (though she did look kind of lost).

The country stars on hand were no slouches either, and included five of the top 10 artists on the current Billboard albums chart. They included chart-toppers the Eagles, whose performance of “How Long” marked their first awards show performance ever; Underwood; Josh Turner, nominated for the Horizon Award; Alison Krauss, who performed “Simple Love”; and Rascal Flatts.

The show featured seemingly three times as many performances as awards, and Sugarland, winners of the Vocal Duo of the Year award, nearly stole the show with an emotionally wrought “Stay.” Other performance highlights included Krauss, Underwood, Urban and the extremely likable Brad Paisley, who performed in part with the Brentwood, Tenn. High School Marching Band. The lowlight belonged to Big & Rich, whose bling-country shtick is painfully outmoded.

Taylor Swift, 17, won the Horizon Award, given to the year’s hottest newcomer. “This is definitely the highlight of my senior year!” Swift exclaimed. You can reach Adam Graham at (313) 222-2284 or agraham@detnews.com .