Nominations Announced for the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music® Awards

ENCINO, Calif., Jan. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Nominations were announced today for the 47th 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 1, 2012 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.

Nominees were announced online via the first-ever ACM digital press conference this morning on the Academy's Facebook and Twitter pages.  Awards co-host Reba participated with a video message to kick things off and entertainment superstars Lionel Richie, who will be honored during a special taping of ACM Presents: Lionel Richie and Friends In Concert in April (to air at a later date on CBS), Beth Behrs (2 Broke Girls), Nancy O'Dell (Entertainment Tonight), Michael Ausiello (TVLine.com) announced batches of nominations in video postings during the approximately 20 minute online event which culminated in music fans announcing the nominees for the Academy's biggest prize, Entertainer of the Year, a privilege fans embraced for the first time ever by submitting videos naming their favorite artist.   Fans from around the country announced Entertainer of the Year nominees Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton and Taylor Swift.

As previously announced, Blake Shelton will join forces with country music star Reba to host the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards for the second consecutive year.

For the fifth year, fans will select the winner of the Academy's most prestigious honor, Entertainer of the Year, and for the fourth year, the New Artist of the Year category will also be opened up to fan voting. Nominees for New Artist of the Year were not announced in the press conference today because fan voting for those semi-finalists will close on January 30 (see page 2 below). The winners of Entertainer of the Year and New Artist of the Year will be announced live during the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.  

Kenny Chesney leads with nine nominations, including Entertainer of the Year, a category he has won four times since 2004.  He is nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year, a category he has been nominated in nine times previously.  He is twice nominated for Album of the Year for Hemingway's Whiskey, as both artist and producer, and also earned double nominations for Single Record of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year as both artist and producer for "You And Tequila" with Grace Potter.  Chesney is also nominated for Song of the Year for "You And Tequila" with Grace Potter.

Jason Aldean is nominated for six awards, including his second consecutive nods for Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year.  He is nominated for Album of the Year for My Kinda Party, and has nominations for Single Record of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year for "Don't You Wanna Stay," featuring Kelly Clarkson.  He is nominated for Video of the Year for "Tattoos On This Town."

Lady Antebellum leads group nominations with five nods, including Vocal Group of the Year, which they have won for two consecutive years.  They are also nominated for Album of the Year as artists and producers for Own The Night, and for Song of the Year and Video of the Year for "Just A Kiss."

Reigning Male Vocalist of the Year, Brad Paisley, is nominated for four awards, including his fifth consecutive nomination for Entertainer of the Year and eighth nomination for Male Vocalist of the Year, which he has won five times consecutively between 2006-2010.  He received two nominations in the Vocal Event of the Year category for "Old Alabama" with Alabama and "Remind Me" with Carrie Underwood.

Toby Keith received three nominations for "Red Solo Cup," including Video of the Year, which he last won in 2003 for "Beer For My Horses."  He also received a double nomination as artist and producer for Single Record of the Year for "Red Solo Cup."   Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill is also nominated for Nightclub of the Year in Minneapolis, MN (a nod that is not among Keith's total nominations count, because it is awarded to the venue itself not its owners).

Reigning Entertainer of the Year, Taylor Swift, leads solo female nominees with three nominations, including her third consecutive nod for Entertainer of the Year.  If Swift wins Entertainer of the Year, this will be her second consecutive win in that category. Swift is nominated for the fifth time for Female Vocalist of the Year, and for the third time for Video of the Year for "Mean."

First-time ACM nominee, Grace Potter, received three nominations for "You And Tequila" with Kenny Chesney, in the Single Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year categories.  

Eli Young Band has three nominations including Vocal Group of the Year, as well as Single Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Crazy Girl."  

Dierks Bentley, Kelly Clarkson, Vince Gill, Miranda Lambert, Aaron Lewis, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood and Chris Young all received two nominations each.  

The Academy of Country Music's professional membership select the nominees and winners of the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, and select the final top five nominees of the Entertainer of the Year category and the eight semi-finalists in the New Artist of the Year category.  Presenters and performers who will appear at the ceremony will be announced at a later date.

Fan voting for New Artist of the Year began at VoteACM.com and GACtv.com/ACM on January 16, 2012 and will close on Monday, January 30, 2012 at 12noon ET/9:00AM PT, after which nominees in that category will be announced separately.  Fan voting for New Artist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year begins on March 19, 2012 at 12noon ET/9:00AM PT at VoteACM.com. Fan voting for New Artist of the Year will close at 5 p.m. PT on April 1, 2012 (before the LIVE show starts) and fan voting for Entertainer of the Year will close during the third hour of the LIVE broadcast.

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
• Kenny Chesney
• Brad Paisley
• Blake Shelton
• Taylor Swift

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

• Jason Aldean
• Kenny Chesney
• Brad Paisley
• Blake Shelton
• Chris Young

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

• Sara Evans
• Miranda Lambert
• Martina McBride
• Taylor Swift
• Carrie Underwood

VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR

• Love and Theft
• Montgomery Gentry
• Steel Magnolia
• Sugarland
• Thompson Square

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

• The Band Perry
• Eli Young Band
• Lady Antebellum
• Rascal Flatts
• Zac Brown Band

OFF CAMERA AWARDS – The following off-camera awards will be presented during the annual ACM Honors event held in Nashville this fall.

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

• Rhett Akins
• Dallas Davidson
• Ben Hayslip
• Luke Laird
• David Lee Murphy

INDUSTRY AWARDS:

CASINO OF THE YEAR

• Agua Caliente Casino - Rancho Mirage, CA
• IP Casino - Biloxi, MS
• Island Resort Casino - Harris, MI
• Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino - Las Vegas, NV
• WinStar World Casino - Thackerville, OK

NIGHTCLUB OF THE YEAR

• Billy Bob's Texas - Ft. Worth, TX
• Buck Owens' Crystal Palace - Bakersfield, CA
• Grizzly Rose - Denver, CO
• Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill - Minneapolis, MN
• Wormy Dog - Oklahoma City, OK

VENUE OF THE YEAR

• BOK Center - Tulsa, OK
• Bridgestone Arena - Nashville, TN
• First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre - Chicago, IL
• Jiffy Lube Live - Bristow, VA
• Sprint Center - Kansas City, MO

DON ROMEO TALENT BUYER OF THE YEAR

• Ethan Hirsch - Wilson Events
• Jimmy Jay - Jayson Promotions, Inc.
• R.J. Kaltenbach - Klein's Attractions
• Gary Osier - Gary Osier Presents
• Huston Powell - C3 Presents

PROMOTER OF THE YEAR

• Ben Ferrell - Varnell Enterprises, Inc.
• Brad Garrett - Police Productions
• Brian O'Connell - Live Nation
• Glenn Smith - Glenn & Linda Present
• Ed Warm - Joe's Bar

MUSICIAN/BANDLEADER/INSTRUMENTALIST (MBI) AWARDS:

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

• Mark Bright
• Buddy Cannon
• Nathan Chapman
• Jay Joyce
• Frank Liddell

AUDIO ENGINEER OF THE YEAR

• Jeff Balding
• Derek Bason
• John Kelton
• Mills Logan
• Justin Niebank

BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR

• Mike Brignardello
• Kevin "Swine" Grantt
• Mark Hill
• Michael Rhodes
• Jimmy Lee Sloas

PERCUSSIONIST/DRUMMER OF THE YEAR

• Matt Chamberlain
• Chad Cromwell
• Shannon Forrest
• Chris McHugh
• Greg Morrow

FIDDLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

• Glen Duncan
• Stuart Duncan
• Larry Franklin
• Joe Spivey
• Jonathan Yudkin

GUITARIST OF THE YEAR

• J.T. Corenflos
• Kenny Greenberg
• Jay Joyce
• Brent Mason
• Adam Shoenfeld

PIANO/KEYBOARD PLAYER OF THE YEAR

• Tony Harrell
• John Hobbs
• John Jarvis
• Charlie Judge
• Michael Rojas

SPECIALTY INSTRUMENT(S) PLAYER OF THE YEAR

• Eric Darken
• Aubrey Haynie
• Ilya Toshinsky
• John Willis
• Jonathan Yudkin

STEEL GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR

• Paul Franklin
• Mike Johnson
• Greg Leisz
• Russ Pahl
• Scotty Sanders

RADIO AWARDS – The following radio awards will be presented during the annual Radio Winners event held the day prior to the ACM Awards telecast, on March 31st in Las Vegas.

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, Kenny Chesney received two nominations in the Album 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.

About the Academy of Country Music Awards

The 47th 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 1, 2012 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.  

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

SOURCE Academy of Country Music

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