Taylor Swift

Hasn’t been a couple of weeks for Taylor Swift, has it? On Nov. 9, she’s chosen Entertainer of the Year in the CMA Awards. Then on Nov. 20, she’s named Entertainer of the Year in the American Music Awards. Do we need another competition, or can we just agree that Taylor Swift is the Entertainer of the Year?

Swift is from the decidedly non-country city of Reading, Pa., but fell in love with the music of Shania Twain, Patsy Cline, and Dolly Parton. She’s done a remarkable job of walking that crossover line, staying country enough for the Nashville purists and yet becoming accessible to the mass market. It was only in 2006 that she released her first album, but her incredible sales and meteoric rise since are remarkable for a woman who, as of this writing, hasn’t reached her 21st birthday.

You can go elsewhere for a complete list of Swift’s sales feats, which are prodigious. What you have to like is that she seems real and genuine, characteristics you don’t often see in someone who’s had instant fame and wealth. Here’s hoping she remains that way.