Rimes, Brooks & Dunn Top Country Nominees
Teen wunderkind LeAnn Rimes garnered five Academy of Country Music Award nominations Monday, while best-selling duo Brooks & Dunn led the field with six nominations.
Rimes is also up for ACM’s best new female vocalist, best female vocalist, best album for her Curb debut, “Blue,” and best song and single record of the year for the hit title track.
Brooks & Dunn, who co-hosted last year’s awards, were nominated for entertainer of the year, top vocal duet, best album for “Borderline,” and three potential ACM “Hats” for their remake of B.W. Stevenson’s 1973 pop hit “My Maria” - song, single record and best video.
Also picking up multiple mentions were Tracy Lawrence (four) and veteran George Strait (five). Strait will co-host the three-hour show with sitcom stars Jeff Foxworthy (“The Jeff Foxworthy Show”) and Crystal Bernard (“Wings”). The awards will air on NBC at 8 p.m. April 23 from the Universal Amphitheatre.
Song and single record of the year nominees are identical and were all massive hits the past year: “Blue,” “My Maria,” Strait’s “Carried Away,” “Time Marches On” by Tracy Lawrence and “Strawberry Wine” by Deana Carter, who’s also up for best new female vocalist.
Album of the year contenders are “Blue,” “Borderline,” Strait’s “Blue Clear Sky,” Lawrence’s “Time Marches On” and “The Trouble With the Truth” by Patty Loveless, also a best female vocalist nominee. Also competing in the hot female vocalist category are Rimes, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain and Trisha Yearwood. Top male vocalist contenders are Strait, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Colin Raye and Bryan White.
Squaring off for entertainer of the year are Strait, Brooks & Dunn, Jackson, Tim McGraw and Garth Brooks, also earning a video nod for his social commentary, “The Change.”
As the Mavericks go for their third score as top vocal group, they face BlackHawk, Lonestar, Ricochet and Sawyer Brown.
ACM top new artist nominees reflect success stories of the past year, with Rimes pitted against Carter and Mindy McCready among women, while the men are Trace Adkins, James Bonamy and Kevin Sharp. Arista’s quirky, retro BR5-49 take on the more mainstream Burnin’ Daylight and Ricochet.