McGraw And Hill Defend Swift Over Cmas Success Backlash

Country music's king and queen Tim McGraw and Faith Hill have come to Taylor Swift's defence in the wake of negative comments made about the youngsinger's big night at the Country Music Association Awards on Wednesday night (11Nov09).

Swift, 19, became the youngest winner of country music's top award whenshe claimed the night's Entertainer of the Year prize - and she also picked up another three big honours.

The wins prompted some to criticise Cma bosses for handing out top accolades to a teenager - and Wynonna Judd told the Usa Today newspaper the success was "too much... too soon".

Another country music veteran, Randy Travis, also felt Swift's big night was too big, stating, "As a writer, she is a phenomenal talent and when you look at the body of work that she has written at the age when she came into this business, it's remarkable. It really is. But do I think that Entertainer of the Year might have been a little early".

Judd was quick to apologise for her remarks and now Hill and her husband McGraw - the subject of Swift's first hit - have stepped up to defend the teenager.

Hill says, "I think she worked her tail off... and she deserves to win".

And McGraw tells People.com, "I've been doing this a long time and she's got a better head on her shoulders than I do, so I don't know how anybody could complain about that".