The Front Porch Blog
CMA Awards noms full of fresh faces and comebacks
Jessica Phillips | September 10, 2009
The CMA nominations this year should make for an exciting awards show in November. CMA Awards co-host Brad Paisley leads the nominations with six nods (Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Album (American Saturday Night), Single and Song of the Year (Then), and Music Video (Start A Band with Keith Urban).
Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Jamey Johnson, George Strait, and Zac Brown (front man of The Zac Brown Band) each received four nominations.
While the show features its usual Keith/Kenny/Brad trio of nominations in the Entertainer and Male Vocalist categories, this year's awards show will have a slew of new faces-an artist makes their debut in nearly every category. Some of the highlights include:
Taylor Swift gets a nod as Entertainer of the Year (the last time a female was nominated for this award was Faith Hill's nomination in 2000; Shania Twain was the last female to receive the award, in 1999).
Newcomer Darius Rucker is up for not only New Artist of the Year, but also for Male Vocalist of the Year
"Can You Duet" contestants Joey+Rory are nominated in the Vocal Duo of the Year category.
The Raconteurs (with Ricky Skaggs and Ashley Monroe) are debuting in the Musical Event category, for "Old Enough."
Randy Houser, Darius Rucker, The Zac Brown Band, Jake Owen, and Jamey Johnson are nominated for New Artist of the Year.
Mac McAnally is nominated for Musical Event of the Year for his duet of "Down the Road," with Kenny Chesney. McAnally is also up for Musician of the Year (guitar).
The Zac Brown Band makes their debut in the Group of the Year category.
It is not just newcomers who are making an appearance on the awards show. Randy Travis is up for Musical Event of the Year for his duet with Carrie Underwood on "I Told You So"; Travis has a second nomination for Song of the Year, as the writer of the song. Travis' solo version of "I Told You So" won Single and Song of the Year in 1988. The Eagles are back with a nomination for Vocal Group of the Year. The iconic group was last nominated for this award in 1976, 1977, and 2008.
This could be a banner night for Carrie Underwood; if she wins Female Vocalist of the Year, she will tie with Reba McEntire and Martina McBride for the most wins in this category. She has some stiff competition, as both McBride and McEntire are nominated in this category. Interestingly, Underwood won Entertainer of the Year at the ACMs in May, but was not nominated in this category for the CMA awards.
The Vocal Duo of the Year award currently belongs to Sugarland, who have had solid album and ticket sales this year, but Montgomery Gentry, Brooks and Dunn, Big and Rich, and Joey + Rory are in the category as well.
For a full list of the CMA Awards, click here.
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