Carrie Underwood & Taylor Swift Among CMA Nominees

Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney and Alan Jackson are among the nominees for the 42nd Country Music Association Awards.

Other nominees include Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts, who were on hand to reveal the some of nominees during a live announcement on Thursday’s ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Underwood’s nominations included nods for album of the year and female vocalist of the year. Kenny Chesney, nominated for male vocalist of the year, is also nominated for entertainer of the year, along with Brad Paisley, George Strait, and Sugarland. Jackson is also nominated for album of the year.

“Country Music thrives on the talent and creativity of an outstanding group of artists and they are well represented with our nominees,” said CMA Chief Executive Officer Tammy Genovese. “These talented performers, musicians, songwriters, producers, and directors demonstrate the artistic depth and creativity of our format and the 2008 CMA Awards will definitely reflect that in November.”

“We look forward to this exciting time of the year when ABC spotlights the best and brightest of today’s Country Music artists and their achievements,” said Vicki Dummer, Senior Vice President, Alternative Series, Specials, and Late-Night, ABC Entertainment. “Today’s announcement of these exceptional nominees begins our celebration of one of our biggest nights in programming, the CMA Awards.”

“The 42nd Annual CMA Awards” will be broadcast live from the Sommet Center in Nashville, Wednesday, Nov.12 at 8 p.m. on ABC.

For the third year, the announcement of the final nominees in five of the 12 CMA Awards categories was made on ABC News’ “Good Morning America.” Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift delivered the news from the “Good Morning America” studios in the heart of New York City’s Times Square. The remaining categories were announced by Lady Antebellum and James Otto on a special edition of CMT’s “CMT Insider” live from the CMA Awards Nominees Press Conference at the Sommet Center in Nashville.

“Having both ‘Good Morning America’ and ‘CMT Insider’ broadcast our CMA Awards final nominees live brings an immediate national spotlight to these highly-anticipated announcements and allows fans across the country to experience the same thrill our artists and the industry feel as the names are read,” Genovese said.

At the conclusion of the announcements, Kenny Chesney led the list of nominees with seven nominations. Chesney, the reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year, was nominated in that category again, as well as Male Vocalist; Album for Just Who I Am:Poets & Pirates; Single for “Don’t Blink;” two Musical Event nominations, one with Reba McEntire for “Every Other Weekend” and one with George Strait for “Shiftwork”; and Music Video of the Year for “Don’t Blink,” which was directed by Shaun Silva. Chesney could receive two additional trophies for producing his Album and Single with Buddy Cannon.

Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland collected six nominations – five for Sugarland and a solo nod for writing “Stay,” which was nominated for Song of the Year. The duo’s five nominations include Entertainer, their first nomination in this coveted category; Single for “Stay;” Vocal Duo, which they won for the first time in 2007; Musical Event for “Life in a Northern Town” with Little Big Town and Jake Owen; and Music Video of the Year for “Stay,” also directed by Silva. Nettles and Kristian Bush may also receive a second trophy for producing “Stay” with Byron Gallimore.

Strait also received five nominations including Entertainer; Male Vocalist; Album for Troubadour; Single for “I Saw God Today;” and Musical Event of the Year with Chesney on “Shiftwork.” Strait could also receive two additional trophies for producing his Single and Album with Tony Brown. Other nominees benefiting from Strait’s windfall are songwriters Rodney Clawson, Monty Criswell and Wade Kirby who were nominated for Song of the Year for “I Saw God Today.”

Strait now has 75 career CMA Awards nominations, trailing only Alan Jackson, who has 79 with this year’s nominations for Male Vocalist; Album for Good Time, which was produced by Keith Stegall; Song for “Good Time,” written by Jackson; and Music Video of the Year for “Good Time,” directed by Trey Fanjoy.

Brad Paisley also received four nominations this year including Entertainer; Male Vocalist, which he won in 2007; Song for “Letter To Me,” written by Paisley; and Music Video of the Year for “Waitin’ On A Woman,” directed by Jim Shea.

Keith Urban rounds out the list of Entertainer of the Year nominees. Urban is also nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year. He won the category in 2005.

After winning CMA Female Vocalist of the Year in 2006 and 2007, Carrie Underwood is back in 2008 with two nominations for Female Vocalist, and Album of the Year for Carnival Ride, produced by Mark Bright.

Alison Krauss is also nominated for Female Vocalist, as well as Musical Event for her performance with first-time CMA Awards nominee Robert Plant on “Gone, Gone, Gone.” Miranda Lambert is nominated for Female Vocalist for the second year and is also nominated for Single of the Year for “Gunpowder & Lead,” produced by Frank Liddell and Mike Wrucke.

Completing the Female Vocalist of the Year category are reigning Horizon Award winner Taylor Swift, making her debut in the category, and Martina McBride. McBride has won the category four times (1999, 2002-2004). She is currently tied with Reba McEntire (1984-1987) for the most Female Vocalist wins in CMA Awards history – even surpassing Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette’s previous records.

With McEntire’s nomination for Musical Event of the Year with Chesney she retains her position as the female artist with the highest number of nominations in the 42-year history of the CMA Awards with 46.

It’s been more than 30 years since their last CMA Awards nomination for Vocal Group of the Year (1976, 1977), but the Eagles are back in the category in 2008. A new addition to the category this year is Lady Antebellum, who are also nominated for New Artist of the Year. Rascal Flatts has swept the Vocal Group of the Year category the past five years and is nominated in that category again in 2008. Rounding out the groups are Emerson Drive, their second year in the category, and Little Big Town, who are also nominated for Musical Event of the Year with Sugarland and Jake Owen.

An artist may only be nominated for the New Artist of the Year Award (formerly Horizon Award) two times and this year there are a mix of new hopefuls with Lady Antebellum and James Otto, joining two-time nominees Jason Aldean, Rodney Atkins, and Kellie Pickler.

Brooks & Dunn hold the title of most career CMA Awards wins with 19. They may increase that total by two this year with nominations for Vocal Duo, which they have won a record-setting 14 times, and Album of the Year for Cowboy Town, produced by Tony Brown, Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks.

Trace Adkins also received two nominations this year for the poignant “You’re Gonna Miss This,” which was nominated for Single and Music Video of the Year. The No. 1 hit was also nominated for Song of the Year for songwriters Lee Thomas Miller and Ashley Gorley.

The 2007 CMA Awards, held in Nashville during November Sweeps (Nov. 7), ranked behind only the Academy Awards and Grammy Awards during the 2007-2008 season for awards shows among total viewers. With “The 41st Annual CMA Awards,” ABC won Monday evening in both total viewers (16 million) and adults 18-49 (5.4/13). According to Nielsen, research estimates that 34.6 million viewers watched all or part of the ceremony.

The CMA Awards nominees and winners are determined by the 6,000 industry professional members of CMA, which was the first trade organization formed to promote an individual genre of music in 1958.

The first “CMA Awards Banquet and Show” was held in 1967. The following year, the CMA Awards was broadcast on NBC Television for the first time – making it the longest running, annual music awards program on network television. The show aired on NBC through 1971, and on the CBS Television Network from 1972 through 2005.

Winners of “The 42nd Annual CMA Awards” will be determined in a final round of voting by eligible voting members of the Country Music Association. CMA Awards balloting is officiated by the international accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche LLP.

The final nominees for the 2008 CMA Awards are:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEARKenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
George Strait
Sugarland
Keith Urban

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Alison Krauss
Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEARKenny Chesney
Alan Jackson
Brad Paisley
George Strait
Keith Urban

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Jason Aldean
Rodney Atkins
Lady Antebellum
James Otto
Kellie Pickler

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Eagles
Emerson Drive
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Rascal Flatts

VOCAL DUO OF THE YEARBig & Rich
Brooks & Dunn
Montgomery Gentry
Sugarland
The Wreckers

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist and Producer)
“Don’t Blink”
Kenny Chesney
Produced by Buddy Cannon and Kenny Chesney
BNA Records

“Gunpowder & Lead”
Miranda Lambert
Produced by Frank Liddell and Mike Wrucke
Columbia Records

“I Saw God Today”
George Strait
Produced by Tony Brown and George Strait
MCA Nashville

“Stay”
Sugarland
Produced by Byron Gallimore, Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles
Mercury Nashville

“You’re Gonna Miss This”
Trace Adkins
Produced by Frank Rogers
Capitol Records Nashville

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist and Producer)
Carnival RideCarrie Underwood
Produced by Mark Bright
19 Recordings Limited/Arista/Arista Nashville

Cowboy TownBrooks & Dunn
Produced by Tony Brown, Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks
Arista Nashville

Good TimeAlan Jackson
Produced by Keith Stegall
Arista Nashville

Just Who I Am: Poets & PiratesKenny Chesney
Produced by Buddy Cannon and Kenny Chesney
BNA Records

TroubadourGeorge Strait
Produced by Tony Brown and George Strait
MCA Nashville

SONG OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Songwriter and Primary Publisher)
“Good Time”
Alan Jackson
EMI-April Music/Tri-Angels Music

“I Saw God Today”
Rodney Clawson/Monty Criswell/Wade Kirby
Big Red Toe/Extremely Loud Music/Steel Wheels Music/Blind Mule Music

“Letter To Me”
Brad Paisley
EMI-April Music/New Sea Gayle Music

“Stay”
Jennifer Nettles
Jennifer Nettles Publishing

“You’re Gonna Miss This”
Lee Thomas Miller/Ashley Gorley
EMI Blackwood Music/New Songs of Sea Gayle/Noah’s Little Boat Music/Songs of Combustion Music

MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
(Award to each Artist)
Josh Turner featuring Trisha Yearwood
“Another Try”
MCA Nashville

Reba McEntire and Kenny Chesney
“Every Other Weekend”
MCA Nashville

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
“Gone, Gone, Gone”
Rounder Records

Sugarland featuring Little Big Town and Jake Owen
“Life In A Northern Town”
Mercury Nashville

Kenny Chesney (duet with George Strait)
“Shiftwork”
BNA Records

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist and Director)“Don’t Blink”
Kenny Chesney
Directed by Shaun Silva

“Good Time”
Alan Jackson
Directed by Trey Fanjoy

“Stay”
Sugarland
Directed by Shaun Silva

“Waitin’ On A Woman”
Brad Paisley
Directed by Jim Shea

“You’re Gonna Miss This”
Trace Adkins
Directed by Peter Zavadil
MUSICIAN OF THE YEARJerry Douglas – Dobro
Paul Franklin – Steel Guitar
Dann Huff – Guitar
Brent Mason – Guitar
Mac McAnally – Guitar