Answers to CMA Trivia Questions

11/6/2007 Stephen L. Betts 1. Which 2007 Entertainer of the Year nominee will be performing with a Nashville-area high school band at this year’s CMA Awards? Answer:  Brad Paisley will be joined by members of the Brentwood High School band to perform his hit single, “Online,” on this year’s broadcast of the CMA Awards. This is the band’s second time to work with Brad, as the students recorded “Online” for his 2007 album 5th Gear. “Online” is Brad’s No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot Country chart. 2. Which two nominees for 2007 Entertainer of the Year each helped contribute a song to each other’s albums? Answer:  Kenny Chesney and Rascal Flatts. Kenny co-penned Rascal Flatts’ first single “Take Me There” from their current album, Still Feels Good. The song was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot Country chart. Joe Don Rooney of Rascal Flatts also co-wrote a song on Kenny’s latest album Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates entitled “Scare Me.” 3. This legendary 2007 Entertainer of the Year nominee is releasing a new compilation on Nov. 13 which features 22 of his hit songs that did not reach No. 1. Who is it? Answer: George Strait is releasing 22 More Hits on Nov. 13. He previously released 50 Number Ones containing just that – his 50 singles that reached No. 1. 22 More Hits includes the singles that did not quite make it to the No. 1 position, but were favorites of many fans. 4. Which nominee for 2007 Entertainer of the Year recently delivered an impromptu performance for the audience on The Ellen DeGeneres Show? Answer: Keith Urban. He was on his way to the Ellen studio in Los Angeles for a rehearsal when he received word that filming had been abruptly canceled for two days. Not wanting to disappoint the audience, he stopped by the studio anyway and performed “Everybody,” which aired Oct. 22. His performance of “Once in a Lifetime,” is scheduled to air around Nov. 20. After his two taped songs, Keith kept playing for the audience. 5. Who was the first female ever to be nominated in the Entertainer of the Year category? Answer:  Loretta Lynn. She was first nominated in 1971, four years after the category debuted in 1967. Nominated again in 1972, Loretta won the award and became the first female to win Entertainer of the Year. Several other noteworthy females have also come away with the sought-after award, including Dolly Parton in 1978, Barbara Mandrell in 1980 and 1981, Reba McEntire in 1986, Shania Twain in 1999, and the Dixie Chicks in 2000. 6. Which 2007 Female Vocalist of the Year nominee will perform alongside artists from a variety of musical genres in the first-ever Movies Rock concert? Answer: Carrie Underwood will be performing at the premiere Movies Rock concert at Los Angeles’ Kodak Theatre on Dec. 2. Carrie will sing the title song from “The Sound of Music.” Other artists slated to perform include Elton John, Beyonce, Fergie, John Legend and Mary J. Blige. 7. This 2007 Female Vocalist of the Year nominee has won more Grammy Awards than any other female artist in history. Who is it? Answer: Alison Krauss has accumulated 20 Grammy Awards, making her the leader among female Grammy winners. She is at No. 7 on the list of top Grammy winners overall. Alison has also won seven CMA Awards as a solo artist and an additional award for her group Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas. 8. Which 2007 Female Vocalist of the Year nominee recently held a rummage sale to benefit her local humane society? Answer: Miranda Lambert hosted a rummage sale Oct. 13 in her hometown of Lindale, Texas, to benefit the Humane Society of Smith County. Miranda received her beloved dog and travel partner, Delilah, from the organization and wanted to reciprocate. The sale was held in conjunction with the town’s annual Octoberfest at the Miranda Lambert Store. 9. This nominee for 2007 Female Vocalist of the Year went on tour with Garth Brooks as a T-shirt salesperson. Who is it? Answer: After moving to Nashville with her husband in 1990, Martina McBride took a job on Garth Brooks’ tour selling T-shirts. Two years and a record deal with RCA Records later, she had been promoted from merchandise sales to the opening act on Garth’s tour. 10. Which nominee for 2007 Female Vocalist of the Year recently released an album that went Platinum in only one month? Answer: Reba McEntire’s latest album Reba Duets was recently certified Platinum by the RIAA only one month after its Sept. 18 release. Reba was joined by a star-studded roster, including Kelly Clarkson, Kenny Chesney, LeAnn Rimes and Justin Timberlake for Duets. Her latest album brings her to a total of over 50 million albums sold worldwide in her 30-year music career. She will perform her duet with LeAnn on this year’s CMA Awards.   11. Which 2007 Male Vocalist of the Year nominee is a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA)?  Answer: George Strait and his son George Strait, Jr. (“Bubba”) are members of the PRCA, an organization whose members compete in rodeos throughout the United States. Bubba is pursuing a career as a PRCA team roping competitor. Each year George and his older brother Buddy host the George Strait Team Roping Classic, where some of the best team ropers in the world congregate and compete against one another. 12. Which nominee for 2007 Male Vocalist of the Year had the highest-grossing country tour in 2007? Answer: Kenny Chesney’s 2007 Flip Flop Summer Tour played to 1,215,733 fans across the country this year. With an average ticket price of just $61.82, the tour still managed to gross nearly $75 million, followed by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw’s Soul2Soul 2007 tour, which raked in $38.2 million. Kenny was joined by Sugarland, Sara Evans, and Pat Green to put on unbeatable performances from mid-April through early September. CMA Vocal Duo of the Year nominee Brooks & Dunn also made two special guest appearances on the Flip Flop Summer tour.  13. Which 2007 Male Vocalist of the Year nominee has been nominated for Billboard’s first ever Concert Marketing and Promotion Award? Answer: Brad Paisley. Billboard’s first Concert Marketing and Promotion Award will be given to a sponsorship or promotion that benefited the concert industry at large by attracting a large attendance to live events and providing genuine entertainment for fans for concerts during the period between January and September of 2007. Nominees include Jaegermeister Mobile Stage, Jeep/Soul2Soul Tour featuring Tim McGraw/Faith Hill, U.S. Cellular Stage/Milwaukeee Summerfest, Blackberry/John Mayer 2007 Tour, Hershey/Brad Paisley Bonfires & Amplifiers Tour, and the Verizon Wireless/Fergie 2007 Tour. 14. Which nominee for Male Vocalist of the Year is up for his first nomination in this category? Answer: Josh Turner is the only artist making his debut in the Male Vocalist of the Year category. CMA Awards veteran George Strait has been previously nominated for this award 21 times, including five wins. Keith Urban has won all three of his preceding nominations. Brad Paisley and Kenny Chesney have previously been nominated for the Award six and five times, respectively.   15, This 2007 Male Vocalist of the Year nominee has scheduled an acoustic performance to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association in late November. Who is it? Answer: Keith Urban and Anna Wilson will be joining Monty Powell at Monty’s “Better Start Livin’” concert in Atlanta, on Nov. 28. The concert’s “Better Start Livin’” theme is derived from the No. 1 song “Days Go By” which Monty and Keith co-wrote. The lyrics read, “We think about tomorrow and then it slips away. We talk about forever but we've only got today...so you better start livin' right now.”  Monty hopes to create a “storytelling” atmosphere to convey powerful messages through the artists’ songs, and Keith Urban and Anna Wilson will perform intimate, acoustic sets. Monty strives to spread Alzheimer’s awareness, raise funds to help defeat the disease and make Atlanta the launching pad for the fight against Alzheimer’s.  16. Only one of the nominees for the Horizon Award has been previously nominated for a CMA Award. Which nominee is it? Answer: Little Big Town has been nominated in both the Vocal Group of the Year and Horizon Award categories in 2006 and 2007. The other four candidates are first-time CMA Award nominees.  17. Which Horizon Award nominee has recently launched a statewide campaign to combat Internet crimes against children in Tennessee? Answer: Taylor Swift has teamed with Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police to create the “Delete Online Predators” campaign. The program’s purpose is to educate parents and children about the dangers of predators lurking online. One of the campaign’s goals is to get 150,000 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders to take the NetSmartz Safety Pledge, produced by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Taylor hopes to influence her many young fans by encouraging them to become assertive Internet users.  18. Which current Horizon Award nominee’s latest album features a duet with a past Horizon Award nominee? Answer: Jason Aldean released his second album, Relentless, in May 2007, featuring a duet entitled “Grown Woman” with two-time Horizon Award nominee Miranda Lambert, who was nominated for the Horizon Award in 2005 and 2006. This year, Miranda received her first Female Vocalist of the Year nomination. 19. Which nominee for the 2007 Horizon Award is the spokesperson for a national adoption campaign? Answer: Rodney Atkins was named as the 2007-2008 National Spokesperson of the Year by the National Council for Adoption. Rodney hopes to raise awareness of important adoption and foster care issues in the U.S., as there are 513,000 children in foster care and 114,000 available for adoption. Rodney was adopted into his family as an infant and sincerely believes in the benefits of adoption. He desires that other children will be able to benefit from the same kind of care he was privileged to have. 20. Which 2007 Horizon Award nominee entered a local Miss America pageant in order to win scholarship money for cosmetology school? Answer: Kellie Pickler competed in the “Miss Stanley County” pageant, a local Miss America Competition, at age 17 and won the title. She hoped that the scholarship money would pay for her education at Stanley Community College’s School of Cosmetology. Little did she know the success that “American Idol” and the her recording career would bring to her beginning in 2006!     21. Which nominee for Album of the Year helped raise $100,000 for Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital while riding motorcycles with his friends? Answer: Dierks Bentley hosted his second annual “Miles and Music for Kids” fundraiser on September 30, 2007. He led a caravan of about 1500 motorcyclists down the beautiful Natchez Trace Parkway to the Loveless Café, where he and several musical friends led a concert. Jason Aldean, Little Big Town, Shooter Jennings, and Keith Anderson were among the attendees and performers. Dierks’ motorcycle ride raised more than $100,000 to benefit the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.