Miranda Lambert Way Ahead of Blake Shelton on 44th Annual CMA Awards Nominations

Miranda Lambert

It was one for the record books when the final list of nominees for The 44th Annual CMA Awards was announced today with fresh faces layered throughout the field of finalists vying for a coveted crystal trophy on "Country Music's Biggest Night."
 
When the final nominations were tallied, Miranda Lambert led the list of finalists with nine nominations - the most for any female artist in the history of the CMA Awards. Alan Jackson received 10 nominations in 2002. Prior to that, Merle Haggard held the record with nine in 1970.
 
Lambert received nominations for Entertainer; Female Vocalist; Album for Revolution, produced by Frank Liddell and Mike Wrucke; two for Single, "The House That Built Me" and "White Liar;" Song for "White Liar," which she co-wrote with Natalie Hemby; Musical Event, for "Bad Angel" with Dierks Bentley and Jamey Johnson; and two for Music Video of the Year for "The House That Built Me," directed by Trey Fanjoy, and "White Liar," directed by Chris Hicky.
 
Lady Antebellum garnered the second highest number of CMA Awards nominations with five, including Entertainer; Album for Need You Now; Vocal Group; Single for "Need You Now"; and Music Video of the Year for "Need You Now," which was directed by David McClister. Group members Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott each received individual nominations for Song of the Year for "Need You Now," which they penned with songwriter Josh Kear. The group can receive two additional trophies as producers for Single and Album of the Year with Paul Worley.
 
Third on the list of nominees was Zac Brown Band with four nominations for Entertainer; Vocal Group; Musical Event for "Can't You See" featuring Kid Rock; and New Artist of the Year. The last time an act was nominated for New Artist and Entertainer of the Year in the same year was Ricky Skaggs in 1982. Bandmates Zac Brown and John Driskell Hopkins each picked up an additional individual nomination for Song of the Year for "Toes," which they wrote with Wyatt Durrette and Shawn Mullins.
 
Tying with Zac Brown Band was Blake Shelton, who also received four nominations, including Male Vocalist, and Single (produced by Scott Hendricks); Musical Event; and Music Video (director Roman White) for "Hillbilly Bone," which featured Trace Adkins. As a result, Adkins picked up three nominations of his own for his contribution to the raucous duet.
 
Dierks Bentley was also the recipient of three nominations. Bentley's nods include Male Vocalist; Album for Up On The Ridge, which was produced by Jon Randall Stewart; and Musical Event of the Year for "Bad Angel" with Lambert and Johnson.
 
Sharing the three-spot was CMA Awards co-host Brad Paisley, who received nominations for Entertainer; Male Vocalist; and Music Video of the Year for "Water," which was directed by Jim Shea. Paisley's nominations this year push him from No. 5 to No. 3 for the artist with the most career nominations. He has been nominated every year since 2000 and has amassed an incredible 52 career nominations to date. Only George Strait (81) and Alan Jackson (79) have more.
 
A perennial favorite of CMA voters, George Strait received two nominations this year for Male Vocalist and Album of the Year for Twang, which Strait produced with Tony Brown. Brown leads the list of nominees among non-performers with 38 career nominations. In 27 years, Strait has only been shut out of CMA Awards nominations two times in 1992 and 2006.
 
Co-host Carrie Underwood also received two nominations, including Female Vocalist and Album of the Year for Play On, which was produced by Mark Bright and Max Martin.
 
Underwood won Female Vocalist of the Year in 2006, 2007 and 2008. If Underwood wins the Female Vocalist of the Year trophy again, it will tie her with Martina McBride (1999, 2002-2004) and Reba McEntire (1984-1987) for most wins in this category. All three are nominated again in 2010 with Lambert and Taylor Swift, who won the trophy in 2009.
 
McEntire's 2010 nomination keeps her in first place as the female artist with the most career CMA Awards nominations (49). Her first was for the Horizon Award in 1983.
 
Keith Urban received two nominations for Entertainer and Male Vocalist of the Year. Urban won Entertainer in 2005 and Male Vocalist of the Year three times (2004, 2005 and 2006). Urban and Paisley are the senior members of the Entertainer class. The last time three acts debuted in the category was 1981 with Alabama, George Jones, and the Oak Ridge Boys.
 
A new name with multiple nominations was Easton Corbin. He was nominated for New Artist (formerly the Horizon Award) and Single of the Year for "A Little More Country Than That," which was produced by Carson Chamberlain. Songwriters Rory Lee Feek, Don Poythress and Wynn Varble were also nominated for Song of the Year for the No. 1 song.
 
Feek is also half of the duo Joey + Rory, who received a nomination for Vocal Duo of the Year. Rounding out the Vocal Duo category were Brooks & Dunn, Montgomery Gentry, newcomers Steel Magnolia and Sugarland, who won the Award in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Nearing the end of their farewell tour, Brooks & Dunn have been nominated in the category every year since 1992 and have won a record 14 times.
 
Last year, Zac Brown Band made its debut in the Vocal Group of the Year category and this year The Band Perry are on the list for the first time. Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town and Rascal Flatts complete the nominees for Vocal Group of the Year.
 
Making their CMA Awards debut in the New Artist of the Year category are Luke Bryan, Corbin, Jerrod Niemann and Chris Young. Zac Brown Band received its second New Artist of the Year nomination this year. Artists can only be included in this category two times.
 
Dave Matthews received his first CMA Awards nomination this year for Musical Event of the Year with Kenny Chesney for "I'm Alive." Alan Jackson and Lee Ann Womack also received a Musical Event nomination for "Till the End."
 
The Musician of the Year category included Paul Franklin, Dann Huff, Brent Mason, Mac McAnally and Randy Scruggs. Each have been nominated in the past. The Musician of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year were the only two categories out of 12 that didn't have a first-time nominee in the mix.
 
For the fifth year, the announcement of the final nominees in five of the 12 CMA Awards categories was made on ABC News' Good Morning America. Nominees Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert delivered the news from the Good Morning America studios in the heart of New York City's Times Square. Finalists in the other seven categories were announced yesterday in Nashville at the historic Ryman Auditorium by Justin Moore and first-time nominee Chris Young.
 
The 2009 CMA Awards, held in Nashville during Sweeps (Nov. 11), ranked behind only the Academy Awards and Grammy Awards during the 2009-2010 season for awards shows among total viewers. With The 43rd Annual CMA Awards, ABC won the night in both total viewers (17.2 million) and adults 18-49 (5.3/14). According to Nielsen research, 35.8 million unique viewers ages 2+ watched six minutes or more of the program.
 
The Final Nominees for The 44th Annual CMA Awards are:

 
Entertainer of the Year
Lady Antebellum
Miranda Lambert
Brad Paisley
Keith Urban
Zac Brown Band
 
Female Vocalist of the Year
Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Reba McEntire
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood
 
Male Vocalist of the Year
Dierks Bentley
Brad Paisley
Blake Shelton
George Strait
Keith Urban
 
Album of the Year
[Award goes to Artist and Producer(s)]
Need You Now
Lady Antebellum
Produced by Paul Worley and Lady Antebellum
Capitol Records Nashville
 
Play On
Carrie Underwood
Produced by Mark Bright and Max Martin
19 Recordings Limited/Arista Nashville
 
Revolution
Miranda Lambert
Produced by Frank Liddell and Mike Wrucke
Columbia Nashville
 
Twang
George Strait
Produced by Tony Brown and George Strait
MCA Nashville
 
Up On The Ridge
Dierks Bentley
Produced by Jon Randall Stewart
Capitol Records Nashville
 
Musical Event of the Year
(Award goes to each Artist)
"Bad Angel"
Dierks Bentley featuring Miranda Lambert and Jamey Johnson
Capitol Records Nashville
 
"Can't You See"
Zac Brown Band featuring Kid Rock
Southern Ground/Atlantic Records
 
"Hillbilly Bone"
Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins
Reprise Records
 
 "I'm Alive"
Kenny Chesney with Dave Matthews
BNA Records
 
"Till The End"
Alan Jackson with Lee Ann Womack
Arista Nashville

New Artist of the Year
Luke Bryan
Easton Corbin
Jerrod Niemann
Chris Young
Zac Brown Band
 
Vocal Group of the Year
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Rascal Flatts
The Band Perry
Zac Brown Band
 
Vocal Duo of the Year
Brooks & Dunn
Joey + Rory
Montgomery Gentry
Steel Magnolia
Sugarland
 
Single of the Year
(Award goes to Artist and Producer(s))
"A Little More Country Than That"
Easton Corbin
Produced by Carson Chamberlain
Mercury Nashville
 
"Hillbilly Bone"
Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins
Produced by Scott Hendricks
Reprise Records
 
"Need You Now"
Lady Antebellum
Produced by Paul Worley and Lady Antebellum
Capitol Records Nashville
 
 "The House That Built Me"
Miranda Lambert
Produced by Frank Liddell and Mike Wrucke
Columbia Nashville
 
"White Liar"
Miranda Lambert
Produced by Frank Liddell and Mike Wrucke
Columbia Nashville
 
Song of the Year
(Award goes to Songwriter(s))
"A Little More Country Than That"
Rory Lee Feek, Don Poythress, and Wynn Varble
 
"Need You Now"
Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, and Josh Kear
 
"The House That Built Me"
Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin
 
"Toes"
Zac Brown, Wyatt Durrette, John Driskell Hopkins, and Shawn Mullins
 
"White Liar"
Miranda Lambert and Natalie Hemby
 
Music Video of the Year
(Award goes to Artist and Director)
"Hillbilly Bone"
Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins
Directed by Roman White
 
"Need You Now"
Lady Antebellum
Directed by David McClister
 
"The House That Built Me"
Miranda Lambert
Directed by Trey Fanjoy
 
"Water"
Brad Paisley
Directed by Jim Shea
 
"White Liar"
Miranda Lambert
Directed by Chris Hicky
 
Musician of the Year
Paul Franklin - Steel Guitar
Dann Huff - Guitar
Brent Mason - Guitar
Mac McAnally - Guitar
Randy Scruggs - Guitar