Berks County native Taylor Swift won Entertainer of the Year for the second year in a row at the 47th annual Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday night, in a year in which she had no new album and had only two other nominations -- both of which she lost.
"Thank you so much to the fans that voted for this," Swift said. "I'm so happy for this. I want to say to my fellow nominees: I respect you so much."
Swift also gave a shout-out to Kevin McGuire, a Somerdale, N.J., cancer patient who was supposed to be her date to the awards show but, according to his Facebook page, was admitted to the hospital Friday night.
"Kevin, and all of your family and friends, thank you for wanting to take me to the ACMs."
Entertainer of the Year has gone to a female just nine times -- including Swift's two wins -- in the award's 41 years.
Miranda Lambert won both Album of the Year for "Four The Record" and Female Vocalist of the Year for the third year in a row. Also winning two awards was Jason Aldean for Single Record of the Year and Event of the Year -- both for "Don't You Wanna Stay" with Kelly Clarkson.
It was the second year in a row that Swift, 22, won the top honor after losing on all of her other nominations. She lost female vocalist honors to Lambert for the third year in a row, and lost video of the year for her song "Mean" to Toby Keith's "Red Solo Cup."
Last year, in addition to losing to Lambert, Swift's chart-topping "Speak Now" lost Album of the Year to Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now."
But unlike the other awards, Entertainer of the Year is chosen by online fan voting, and Swift has a young, technically savvy fan base. She also won the fan-chosen Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year in November.
Despite not having released an album in 2011, Swift enjoyed continued success from her album "Speak Now," released in 2010. Two of its songs -- "Sparks Fly" and "Ours" -- hit No. 1 on the country charts in 2011, and a third song, "Mean," peaked at No. 2. The first two went gold, and "Mean" went platinum.
In all, that gave her five Top 3 singles from the album. She also had one of the year's biggest and most profitable tours.
Among those Swift beat out for Entertainer of the Year was Blake Shelton, who was a co-host for the ceremony and who is scheduled to headline the Allentown Fair on Aug. 29.
Shelton won Male Vocalist of the Year and performed his new single, "Drink On It."
The Band Perry, which won that award last year and which is scheduled to headline the Allentown Fair's grandstand on Aug. 31, lost Vocal Group of the Year to Lady Antebellum, which played the Allentown Fair in 2010. The Band Perry performed its new single, "Postcard from Paris," which is in the Top 40.
Last year's "American Idol" winner, Scotty McCreery, won Best New Artist.
A message on McGuire's Facebook page said, "Please continue to pray for Kevin and his health, because that is the most important thing. As for Taylor, she is just as depressed as all of us to miss out on this date, and we are so thankful for the opportunity she has given us."
Swift replied in a message on Twitter, saying, "Just talked to Kevin McGuire. He's not well enough to join me at the ACMs. Please keep him in your thoughts. I'll make it up to you, Kevin!"
