Nominations Announced for the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music® Awards Country Music's Party of the Year™

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Nominations were announced today for the 46th ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, a star-studded event produced for television by dick clark productions broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 3, 2011 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.

Nominees were announced at a press conference this morning at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum in Nashville. Country superstars Miranda Lambert and Ronnie Dunn read the nominations live during CBS' The Early Show broadcast. As previously announced, Blake Shelton will join forces with country music star Reba to host the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards. 

For the third year, fans will select the winner of the Academy's most prestigious honor, Entertainer of the Year and for the third year, the two newcomer categories for the annual Academy of Country Music Awards —Top New Solo Vocalist, Top New Vocal Duo or Group— will also be opened up to fan voting. The winner in each of the two newcomer categories will then move on to compete for Top New Artist, which is also a fan voted category. Online voting for all fan voted categories will be available at www.voteACM.com.  The winners of Entertainer of the Year and Top New Artist will be announced live during the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.  

This morning Miranda Lambert led with seven nominations, including Top Female Vocalist and her first ever nomination for Entertainer of the Year. In addition, Lambert was nominated for Single Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "The House That Built Me" and received two nominations for Video of the Year for "Only Prettier" and "The House That Built Me." She is nominated for Vocal Event of the Year with Sheryl Crow and Loretta Lynn for "Coal Miner's Daughter." Lambert is the reigning ACM Top Female Vocalist.

Kenny Chesney is nominated for five awards, including Album of the Year for Hemingway's Whiskey and Single Record of the Year for "The Boys Of Fall," both of which he is nominated for as an artist and producer.   He is also nominated for Video of the Year for "The Boys Of Fall."  

Zac Brown Band is nominated for five awards including Top Vocal Group and Album of the Year.  Zac Brown Band is also nominated for Song of the Year, Single Record of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year for "As She's Walking Away" featuring Alan Jackson.

Zac Brown of Zac Brown Band also received four additional individual nominations as the producer for Album of the Year contender You Get What You Give, Single Record of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year for "As She's Walking Away" and additionally as a composer for Song of the Year for "As She's Walking Away."

The Band Perry is nominated for four awards, including Top Vocal Group and Top New Vocal Duo or Group.  They are also nominated for Single Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "If I Die Young." Kimberly Perry of The Band Perry also received an additional individual nomination as a composer for Song of the Year contender "If I Die Young."

Taylor Swift is nominated for four awards, including her second nod for Entertainer of the Year.  If Swift wins Entertainer of the Year, this will be her first Entertainer of the Year win. Swift is nominated as an artist and producer for Album of the Year for Speak Now and she also received a nomination for Top Female Vocalist.  

Lady Antebellum is nominated for three awards including Top Vocal Group.  They are also nominated for Album of the Year as artists and producers for Need You Now. They are the reigning Top Vocal Group.

Lee Brice is nominated for three awards for Song of the Year and as both an artist and producer for Single Record of the year for "Love Like Crazy."  This is Brice's first year to be nominated.

Easton Corbin is nominated for three awards for Top New Solo Vocalist and for Song of the Year and Single Record of the Year for "A Little More Country Than That." This is Corbin's first year to be nominated.

Alan Jackson is nominated for three awards for Song of the Year, Single Record of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year for "As She's Walking Away," with the Zac Brown Band.

Keith Urban is nominated for three awards including Entertainer of the Year and Top Male Vocalist.  Urban is also nominated for Vocal Event of the Year for "Blue Sky" with Emily West.

Members of the Academy of Country Music select the nominees and winners of the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, and select the final top six nominees of the Entertainer of the Year category and the top three nominees in newcomer categories, Top New Solo Vocalist and Top New Vocal Duo or Group. Presenters and performers who will appear at the ceremony will be announced at a later date.

Following is the list of final nominees. Winners in each of the following categories, except where noted, will be presented with an ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARD during the live television broadcast:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

• Jason Aldean
• Toby Keith
• Miranda Lambert
• Brad Paisley
• Taylor Swift
• Keith Urban

TOP MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

• Jason Aldean
• Brad Paisley
• Blake Shelton
• George Strait
• Keith Urban

TOP FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

• Miranda Lambert
• Reba McEntire
• Taylor Swift
• Carrie Underwood
• Lee Ann Womack

TOP VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR

• the JaneDear girls
• Joey + Rory
• Montgomery Gentry
• Steel Magnolia
• Sugarland

TOP VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

• Lady Antebellum
• Little Big Town
• Randy Rogers Band
• The Band Perry
• Zac Brown Band

TOP NEW SOLO VOCALIST OF THE YEAR (Previously Announced)

• Eric Church
• Easton Corbin
• Randy Houser

TOP NEW VOCAL DUO or GROUP OF THE YEAR (Previously Announced)

• the JaneDear girls
• Steel Magnolia
• The Band Perry

Fan voting for Top New Solo Vocalist and Top New Vocal Duo or Group began at VoteACM.com and GACtv.com/ACM on January 28, 2011 and will close on Thursday, February 24 at 12 noon EST.  The winner in each category will be announced in March, and will move on to compete for Top New Artist.  Fan voting for Top New Artist and Entertainer of the Year begins on March 11 at noon PT at VoteACM.com. Fan voting for Top New Artist will close at 5 p.m. PT on April 3 (before the LIVE show starts) and fan voting for Entertainer of the Year will close during the third hour of the LIVE broadcast.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Awards counts for artists reflect categories in which they have been recognized as individuals or as part of their duo or group. In some cases, an artist may receive more than one nomination which factors into their official count. For example, Lee Brice received two nominations in the Single Record of the Year category—one each as artist and producer—because that category recognizes both.

In addition, the Song of the Year category recognizes the artist, composer and publishing company as a nominee but does not recognize an individual as owner or partial owner of the publishing company.  

Award recipients in each category are noted above parenthetically in the Album of the Year, Single Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Video of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year.

As previously announced, country superduo Sugarland will headline the first-ever ACM Fan Jam, a fans-only live concert event taking place in Las Vegas during and after the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards broadcast. The ACM Fan Jam will take place at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, during and after the ACM Awards from the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and will give fans the ultimate opportunity to be part of the LIVE telecast. Throughout the three-hour live show from the MGM Grand Garden Arena, there will be performances from the Mandalay Bay Events Center by Sugarland and other top-tier music acts, to be announced at a later date.  Tickets for the ACM Fan Jam are available now at Ticketmaster.com priced at $35 and $55.

About the Academy of Country Music Awards

The 46th Academy of Country Music Awards is dedicated to honoring and showcasing the biggest names and emerging talent in the country music industry.  The show is produced for television by dick clark productions and will be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 3, 2011 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.  Orly Adelson and R.A. Clark are executive producers.  Barry Adelman is producer, and Bob Bardo is the executive in charge of production. Bob Romeo is executive producer for the Academy of Country Music.  For more information, please visit www.acmcountry.com.

Photos from the press conference will be available on www.gettyimages.com.

3 SELECT images from the press conference are also available for download from ACM/Getty Images on http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/gyipa_public?nav=pr146371714

Press credential applications to cover the awards in Las Vegas are available from the Media Center at www.acmcountry.com.  Questions regarding credentialing should be directed to [email protected].

SOURCE Academy of Country Music