51st ACM Awards - Sunday, April 3, 2016

[14887fan]

51st ACM Awards
4/3/16 - 8pm/7c - CBS
Hosts: Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley
Performers: Billy Gibbons, Blake Shelton, Brett Eldredge, Cam, Carrie Underwood, Cassadee Pope, Charles Kelley, Chris Stapleton, Chris Young, Cole Swindell, Dierks Bentley, Dolly Parton, Eric Church, Florida Georgia Line, Jason Aldean, Katy Perry, Keith Urban, Kelsea Ballerini, Kenny Chesney, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Nick Jonas, Old Dominion, Sam Hunt, Tim McGraw, Thomas Rhett, Trombone Shorty
Nominees:
Entertainer: Jason Aldean, Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Miranda Lambert
Female Vocalist: Kelsea Ballerini, Jana Kramer, Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, Carrie Underwood
Male Vocalist: Jason Aldean, Eric Church, Brett Eldredge, Chris Stapleton, Dierks Bentley
Album: I'm Comin' Over (Chris Young), Montevallo (Sam Hunt), Mr. Misunderstood (Eric Church), Tangled Up (Thomas Rhett), Traveller (Chris Stapleton)
Vocal Group: Eli Young Band, Little Big Town, Old Dominion, Rascal Flatts, Zac Brown Band
Vocal Duo: Brothers Osbourne, Dan + Shay, Florida Georgia Line, Joey + Rory, Maddie & Tae
New Female Vocalist: Kelsea Ballerini, Cam, Mickey Guyton, RaeLynn
New Male Vocalist: Brett Eldredge, Chris Janson, Thomas Rhett, Chase Rice, Chris Stapleton
New Vocal Duo or Group: A Thousand Horses, Brothers Osbourne, Maddie & Tae, Old Dominion, Parmalee
Single: "Burning House" (Cam), "Buy Me A Boat" (Chris Janson), "Die A Happy Man" (Thomas Rhett), "Girl Crush" (Little Big Town), "I'm Comin' Over" (Chris Young), "Take Your Time" (Sam Hunt)
Song: "Burning House" (Cam), "Girl Crush" (Little Big Town), "Nobody To Blame" (Chris Stapleton), "Raise 'Em Up" (Keith Urban feat. Eric Church), "She Don't Love You" (Eric Paslay)
Video: "Biscuits" (Kacey Musgraves), "Burning House" (Cam), "Girl Crush" (Little Big Town), "Mr. Misunderstood" (Eric Church), "Riser" (Dierks Bentley)
Musical Event: "Hangover Tonight" (Gary Allan/Chris Stapleton), "Home Alone Tonight" (Luke Bryan/Karen Fairchild), "Raise 'Em Up" (Keith Urban/Eric Church), "Smokin' & Drinkin'" (Miranda Lambert/Little Big Town), "Wild Child" (Kenny Chesney/Grace Potter)

[14887fan]

Early predictions...
-Luke Bryan will win Entertainer.
-Chris Stapleton will win Male Vocalist, Album, and New Artist.
-Little Big Town will win Single, Song, and Group.
-Maddie & Tae will win Duo.
What else is there? Female, Video, and Collaboration? IDK about the last two. I seriously doubt Lambert will win Female Vocalist this time around; the only things she had during the eligibility period were the "Little Red Wagon" and "Smokin' & Drinkin'" messes. Methinks it'll go to Kacey Musgraves. There's been 0 indication over the last several years that the tide will ever shift back in Underwood's favor, regardless of how much more active she's been in comparison to Lambert/the rest of the females.

[.indulgecountry]

Yeah, I expect Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town to continue to clean up come the ACMs. Praying M&T also take Duo away from the FGL bros, too.

I really do hope that either Carrie or Kacey win Female Vocalist over Miranda. I find it hard to imagine her winning it at this point (though I said that at the prior CMAs... but her year-to-date activity is only diminishing as time goes on). I'm expecting her to have something out to radio by the ACMs, but that *shouldn't* affect her chances since it wouldn't be eligible. Really if anyone else can just win it though so people can stop whining about Miranda Lambert at every award show that'd be great.

[Deleted]

Dec 23, 2015 19:28:53 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Yeah, I expect Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town to continue to clean up come the ACMs. Praying M&T also take Duo away from the FGL bros, too.

I really do hope that either Carrie or Kacey win Female Vocalist over Miranda. I find it hard to imagine her winning it at this point (though I said that at the prior CMAs... but her year-to-date activity is only diminishing as time goes on). I'm expecting her to have something out to radio by the ACMs, but that *shouldn't* affect her chances since it wouldn't be eligible. Really if anyone else can just win it though so people can stop whining about Miranda Lambert at every award show that'd be great.

To be fair though, isn't the complaining about Miranda winning perfectly justified? She, especially this past year was awarded for basically no reason. It, the award, at this point doesn't even have to go to Carrie, even though that is the most logical choice. She's being awarded when there are others more deserving. The ranking for me this year would be 1. Carrie, 2. Kelsea, 3. Cam, 4. Jana, and then 5. Miranda.

[14887fan]

Dec 23, 2015 19:56:10 GMT -5 @adam1995 said:

Dec 23, 2015 19:28:53 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Yeah, I expect Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town to continue to clean up come the ACMs. Praying M&T also take Duo away from the FGL bros, too.

I really do hope that either Carrie or Kacey win Female Vocalist over Miranda. I find it hard to imagine her winning it at this point (though I said that at the prior CMAs... but her year-to-date activity is only diminishing as time goes on). I'm expecting her to have something out to radio by the ACMs, but that *shouldn't* affect her chances since it wouldn't be eligible. Really if anyone else can just win it though so people can stop whining about Miranda Lambert at every award show that'd be great.

To be fair though, isn't the complaining about Miranda winning perfectly justified? She, especially this past year was awarded for basically no reason. It, the award, at this point doesn't even have to go to Carrie, even though that is the most logical choice. She's being awarded when there are others more deserving. The ranking for me this year would be 1. Carrie, 2. Kelsea, 3. Cam, 4. Jana, and then 5. Miranda.

Kacey begs to differ.

But, I agree with you. The whining about Lambert is more than justifiable.

[kml567]

Sam Hunt is still eligible for Best New Artist for both 2016 ACM's and 2016 CMA's. Plus, ACM Best New Artist award is fan voted. Since Chris Stapleton is expected to sweep all the industry voted awards (Male, Album, Song, Collaboration, etc), UMG may want to spread the wealth a little.

[Deleted]

Love me some Miranda but my Lord, it is past time for the torch to be passed. It (arguably) should have been Carrie's award to lose several times since Lambert has dominated, but at this point I'll take literally anyone else winning over her.

I haven't been into these awards shows in years (with the exception of the CMA's because of Brad/Carrie), but I'm pulling so hard for Maddie and Tae to seize victory from the rightful stain on music that is FGL.  Please, someone put us out of our misery.

[Deleted]

Dec 23, 2015 20:02:43 GMT -5 14887fan said:

Dec 23, 2015 19:56:10 GMT -5 @adam1995 said:

To be fair though, isn't the complaining about Miranda winning perfectly justified? She, especially this past year was awarded for basically no reason. It, the award, at this point doesn't even have to go to Carrie, even though that is the most logical choice. She's being awarded when there are others more deserving. The ranking for me this year would be 1. Carrie, 2. Kelsea, 3. Cam, 4. Jana, and then 5. Miranda.

Kacey begs to differ.

But, I agree with you. The whining about Lambert is more than justifiable.

The only thing about Kacey, for me is, she had less radio success than Miranda, but her album was well received, so she ranks just below Miranda.

[The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷]

Dec 24, 2015 11:04:47 GMT -5 @adam1995 said:

Dec 23, 2015 20:02:43 GMT -5 14887fan said:

Kacey begs to differ.

But, I agree with you. The whining about Lambert is more than justifiable.

The only thing about Kacey, for me is, she had less radio success than Miranda, but her album was well received, so she ranks just below Miranda.

But she sold a lot more records than all those ladies (apart for Carrie) this past year... She's also headlining her own tour in the Us, Canada and Europe. Even though radio is important, it's definitely not the only (fair) way to measure success. I would put her right after Carrie on that ranking for Country Females this past year.

[.indulgecountry]

I think this is part of why Miranda Lambert wins so much is because she's a critical acclaimed darling in the country world who now also has mainstream appeal with radio, so she's like a perfect middle ground between someone like Carrie Underwood (huge star but not quite as critically acclaimed in country music) and Kacey Musgraves (critically acclaimed but her presence at radio has only continued to decline since her debut). I guarantee that Kacey would take over FVOTY from Miranda if she would get to that next level (Miranda was viewed in the industry basically the same way Kacey Musgraves currently is prior to her Revolution breakthrough in 2010).

[Deleted]

Dec 24, 2015 19:52:17 GMT -5 The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 said:

Dec 24, 2015 11:04:47 GMT -5 @adam1995 said:

The only thing about Kacey, for me is, she had less radio success than Miranda, but her album was well received, so she ranks just below Miranda.

But she sold a lot more records than all those ladies (apart for Carrie) this past year... She's also headlining her own tour in the Us, Canada and Europe. Even though radio is important, it's definitely not the only (fair) way to measure success. I would put her right after Carrie on that ranking for Country Females this past year.

This is true, yes, but I don't know, either way it seems we agree that Carrie is on top here and rightfully deserves the title, but that that probably won't happen.

And to the Miranda being middle ground point by indulge, that's all well and good...for Miranda, but awards shouldn't be based on who is the perfect mix of critical and commercial succession they are not the true best that year. Plus, "Something in the Water" was a rather big critical and commercial success, as opposed to say, "Little Red Wagon". So this year especially, I think Carrie beat Miranda on both accounts. Awards should be won by a true winner, not who people think is the best alternative, unfortunately I seems that's not what they do.

[.indulgecountry]

Dec 25, 2015 8:47:44 GMT -5 @adam1995 said:

And to the Miranda being middle ground point by indulge, that's all well and good...for Miranda, but awards shouldn't be based on who is the perfect mix of critical and commercial succession they are not the true best that year. Plus, "Something in the Water" was a rather big critical and commercial success, as opposed to say, "Little Red Wagon". So this year especially, I think Carrie beat Miranda on both accounts. Awards should be won by a true winner, not who people think is the best alternative, unfortunately I seems that's not what they do.

I agree, but I'm just trying to put some thought into why she continues to win. I do think this is probably the first time where if she does win I'll be truly disappointed because most of the other times she's won, it's been deserved because even if Carrie had a big year, so did Miranda. I would love to see Carrie prevail this time while Miranda's having an off year/downtime, because I'm expecting Miranda's next era to be a big return to form and be far more successful than Platinum was.

And another problem with this is that there's no formula for who "should" win the award (i.e. one with the biggest year at radio or one with the best music critically-speaking), either. If someone thinks both Carrie Underwood AND Kacey Musgraves are more deserving then Miranda Lambert, then they're clearly using two very different criteria for each. That's why I think the industry enjoys awarding Miranda Lambert because they can give it to someone critically acclaimed who is also a big mainstream star.

[Deleted]

Dec 25, 2015 12:30:00 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Dec 25, 2015 8:47:44 GMT -5 @adam1995 said:

And to the Miranda being middle ground point by indulge, that's all well and good...for Miranda, but awards shouldn't be based on who is the perfect mix of critical and commercial succession they are not the true best that year. Plus, "Something in the Water" was a rather big critical and commercial success, as opposed to say, "Little Red Wagon". So this year especially, I think Carrie beat Miranda on both accounts. Awards should be won by a true winner, not who people think is the best alternative, unfortunately I seems that's not what they do.

I agree, but I'm just trying to put some thought into why she continues to win. I do think this is probably the first time where if she does win I'll be truly disappointed because most of the other times she's won, it's been deserved because even if Carrie had a big year, so did Miranda. I would love to see Carrie prevail this time while Miranda's having an off year/downtime, because I'm expecting Miranda's next era to be a big return to form and be far more successful than Platinum was.

And another problem with this is that there's no formula for who "should" win the award (i.e. one with the biggest year at radio or one with the best music critically-speaking), either. If someone thinks both Carrie Underwood AND Kacey Musgraves are more deserving then Miranda Lambert, then they're clearly using two very different criteria for each. That's why I think the industry enjoys awarding Miranda Lambert because they can give it to someone critically acclaimed who is also a big mainstream star.

I agree with your thought process, it's just a really crappy thing these awards do, with no real clear motive or process to who they choose. It's weird and very annoying.

[.indulgecountry]

Dec 25, 2015 17:40:22 GMT -5 @adam1995 said:

Dec 25, 2015 12:30:00 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

I agree, but I'm just trying to put some thought into why she continues to win. I do think this is probably the first time where if she does win I'll be truly disappointed because most of the other times she's won, it's been deserved because even if Carrie had a big year, so did Miranda. I would love to see Carrie prevail this time while Miranda's having an off year/downtime, because I'm expecting Miranda's next era to be a big return to form and be far more successful than Platinum was.

And another problem with this is that there's no formula for who "should" win the award (i.e. one with the biggest year at radio or one with the best music critically-speaking), either. If someone thinks both Carrie Underwood AND Kacey Musgraves are more deserving then Miranda Lambert, then they're clearly using two very different criteria for each. That's why I think the industry enjoys awarding Miranda Lambert because they can give it to someone critically acclaimed who is also a big mainstream star.

I agree with your thought process, it's just a really crappy thing these awards do, with no real clear motive or process to who they choose. It's weird and very annoying.

Well to be fair, I think it's only viewed as "crappy" in the sense that Miranda Lambert keeps winning year after year. The reason Chris Stapleton won Male Vocalist at the CMAs this year was not the same reason that Blake Shelton won the year prior (i.e.), so I don't think there needs to be a clear motive or process that they stick to. I do wish though (and hope for this coming awards show) that they would spread the wealth a little more in this category, the same way radio needs to start opening up to more females... which seems to be happening, if ever so slightly (Kelsea Ballerini, Cam).

[Deleted]

It was crappy that Blake kept winning too, Luke and Jason were clearly very deserving some years, giving it to Chris would be like giving it to Kacey, I would be fine with it, but it would also be a shock. They need to nail down a criteria that they actually follow when awarding. They should give all deserving people their rightful awards.

[.indulgecountry]

Dec 25, 2015 19:03:39 GMT -5 @adam1995 said:

It was crappy that Blake kept winning too, Luke and Jason were clearly very deserving some years, giving it to Chris would be like giving it to Kacey, I would be fine with it, but it would also be a shock. They need to nail down a criteria that they actually follow when awarding. They should give all deserving people their rightful awards.

But I don't see how they could? If the award just goes to whoever had the biggest year by measurable numerical data (like radio airplay and sales totals) without any element of considering the quality of the artist/music, then what's the point? There's obviously no defined criteria because there really can't be, or else it would render giving awards out pretty useless.

[Deleted]

Dec 25, 2015 19:29:58 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Dec 25, 2015 19:03:39 GMT -5 @adam1995 said:

It was crappy that Blake kept winning too, Luke and Jason were clearly very deserving some years, giving it to Chris would be like giving it to Kacey, I would be fine with it, but it would also be a shock. They need to nail down a criteria that they actually follow when awarding. They should give all deserving people their rightful awards.

But I don't see how they could? If the award just goes to whoever had the biggest year by measurable numerical data (like radio airplay and sales totals) without any element of considering the quality of the artist/music, then what's the point? There's obviously no defined criteria because there really can't be, or else it would render giving awards out pretty useless.

I don't see that it would be useless. They should grade on radio, digital, critical, live, etc. All that, it may not always be the same winner. It would have to be points based, or something. Voters just shouldn't be voting for who they are told to. That should be banned.

[Deleted]

I agree with .indulgecountry. If these awards were based on numerical data/statistics, or were points-based, then they (the awards) would be pointless. Being the most-played or having the highest sales is essentially an award in itself -- there's no need to give that artist a trophy on top of all that.

The awards are always going to be subjective and that's the way they should be. All I hope for is that the industry voters try to recognize the music/musician that they genuinely think is the best, or had the best year, and to me that involves looking at the music from a numbers standpoint (sales, airplay, etc) as well as from a critical standpoint (is the music of high quality? or is it pure fluff/entertainment rather than art?)

I do think that Miranda Lambert has been over-rewarded and I think there are a couple of female artists (Carrie included) that are very deserving this year, but we just have to accept the fact that industry-voted award shows (and fan-voted ones, for that matter) will never be able to please everybody.

[43dudleyvillas]

Dec 25, 2015 12:30:00 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

And another problem with this is that there's no formula for who "should" win the award (i.e. one with the biggest year at radio or one with the best music critically-speaking), either. If someone thinks both Carrie Underwood AND Kacey Musgraves are more deserving then Miranda Lambert, then they're clearly using two very different criteria for each. That's why I think the industry enjoys awarding Miranda Lambert because they can give it to someone critically acclaimed who is also a big mainstream star.

What's interesting about this is that Eric Church could be thought of as the male Miranda Lambert in that they're both the go-to mainstream country stars for approval from rockist critics, but he hasn't been able to rack up anywhere near the same amount of CMA/ACM love as Miranda. That speaks to differing criteria, for sure, but I also think it speaks to who is considered to be "one of us" among enough voters. I think that Eric Church is probably the most idolized male singer-songwriter among mainstream country males (Kip Moore and Thomas Rhett have been vocal in their adoration, for example), but it hasn't translated at the CMAs and ACMs because, his label notwithstanding, he doesn't really operate at the center of the industry when it comes to his team and his collaborative partners.

This is probably an under-discussed part of why Chris Stapleton was able to generate a CMA sweep that included Male Vocalist of the Year but Kacey, with comparable critical acclaim for her debut, was limited to New Artist, Song and Album awards -- Chris Stapleton has been at the center of the industry as a songwriter for ten years, where Kacey deliberately operates around its fringes. Let me be clear: as far as I am concerned, Chris Stapleton is an incredibly deserving winner -- I just think that award wins don't have as much to do with "deserving" (however defined) as we would like to think.

Look at the Vocal Group category -- Zac Brown Band is far and away the most successful group that gets a fair amount of critical acclaim, but Little Big Town has been running up quite the streak of Vocal Group wins. I personally prefer Little Big Town's music (I especially prefer Pain Killer to Jekyll & Hyde), but I think that the reason that Zac Brown Band isn't even in the conversation to win Vocal Group is that they don't really operate at the center of the country music industry, their new ties to Big Machine notwithstanding. I would argue the same is true for Carrie vis à vis Miranda at the CMAs and ACMs. Carrie has her team and collaborative partners, she gets plenty of critical respect even if it doesn't rise to Miranda/Eric/Kacey levels of adoration, but she has always operated a bit outside of the standard Music Row orbit as a songwriter and touring artist.

It should be noted that this has probably helped Carrie rack up a much stronger Grammy record than the reigning CMA/ACM winners. For that matter, Kacey has as many Grammy wins as Miranda does (two), and in much less time trying. Zac Brown Band has three Grammy wins - Little Big Town has a chance to catch them this year, but will probably still be behind. I'm certainly not suggesting that the Grammys are without their political aspects, too, and it certainly makes a difference, for better or worse, that Grammy country wins can be decided with input from people who make music but don't specifically make country music. But it probably also makes a difference that the only people who can vote for the Grammys are people with credits on albums, whereas the CMAs and ACMs are open to voting by anyone who has a career in the country industry (opening up voting to a wide range of people beyond those who work on the recorded music itself -- managers, agencies, media, promoters, etc.).

[bigfan101]

Seeing a lot of these award posts and it looks like the New Artist Categories will be split this year into Male, Female and Duo/Group...sounds like a good idea to me especially since we have enough good candidates for female (Kelsea, Cam and maybe Mickey?) and Duo and Group (Brothers Osborne, Maddie & Tae, Dan &Shay)

[brinkeronline]

Jan 11, 2016 22:19:58 GMT -5 bigfan101 said:

Seeing a lot of these award posts and it looks like the New Artist Categories will be split this year into Male, Female and Duo/Group...sounds like a good idea to me especially since we have enough good candidates for female (Kelsea, Cam and maybe Mickey?) and Duo and Group (Brothers Osborne, Maddie & Tae, Dan &Shay)

If I remember correctly, in some previous years, the Male/Female/DuoGroup 'winners' have been more of a semi-final leading in to the live awards show. 

So the 'winner' of each (fan-vote?) is pre announced, but at the show, the top 3 (one male, one female, one duo/group) are the final New Artist of the Year nominees.

EDIT: Looked it up, this happened in 2012, where Jana Kramer, Brantley Gilbert, and FGL were voted as New ______ Artist of the Year leading up to the show and then FGL was voted as overall New Artist during the show/announced on the show.

So maybe it's a similar situation this year OR all three categories will be officially part of the show.

[M&TSwiftie]

The Acm's nominations are coming within the next two weeks before February 1st. They announced it on Twitter

[14887fan]

It always humors me as to how last-minute the ACMS and the CMTs are with telling people when they're announcing their nominees. The tweet says "we're angling for before Feb. 1," which is in, uh, 2 and a half weeks, lol. Better than the CMTs, where they'll just come out of the blue and say "Oh by the way here are the nominees, go vote!"

[M&TSwiftie]

Jan 14, 2016 18:01:25 GMT -5 14887fan said:

It always humors me as to how last-minute the ACMS and the CMTs are with telling people when they're announcing their nominees. The tweet says "we're angling for before Feb. 1," which is in, uh, 2 and a half weeks, lol. Better than the CMTs, where they'll just come out of the blue and say "Oh by the way here are the nominees, go vote!"

I can't stand that now I wish it was like back a few years ago on tv like it used to be :(

[14887fan]

[M&TSwiftie]

Jan 15, 2016 15:32:06 GMT -5 14887fan said:

I wonder if the newcomer categories will be like that too.

[onebuffalo]

He's the cohost afterall:

tasteofcountry.com/dierks-bentley-acm-awards-nominees/

[14887fan]

Reason #10397502871423 why The Boot/Taste of Country are the worst: they don't give the exact date of when the announcement is. The most useless clickbait sites.

Does anyone know the day that the announcement is being made?

[kml567]

Noms are out next Monday, February 1st.


CAPITOL NASHVILLE artist and ACM AWARDS co-host DIERKS BENTLEY will appear live on CBS-TV's "CBS This MORNING" on MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1st in the 8a (ET) hour to announce the nominees for the "51ST ANNUAL ACM AWARDS" in the Entertainer Of The Year, Male Vocalist Of The Year, Female Vocalist Of The Year, Vocal Duo Of The Year, Vocal Group Of The Year, and Album Of The Year categories.

"Entertainment TONIGHT" ("ET") host NANCY O'DELL will take to the show's website at 8:50a (ET) to unveil nominees in the New Male Vocalist Of The Year, New Female Vocalist Of The Year, New Vocal Duo Or Group Of The Year, Video Of The Year, and Vocal Event Of The Year categories. Additional nominees for Song Of The Year and Songwriter Of The Year will be unveiled in coming weeks with a full list of all available nominees for the "51ST ANNUAL ACM AWARDS" being made public online following BENTLEY's "CBS This MORNING" appearance. - See more at: www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/149935/nominees-for-51st-annual-acm-awards-to-be-announce#sthash.0Mvk6YwT.dpuf

[jenglisbe]

What about Single of the Year?

That is dragging the noms out way too much. Wow.