Oklahomans get the chance to shine on tonight’s CMA Awards
Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley will co-host the CMA Awards tonight for the second straight year. (Associated Press photo)
From Wednesday’s Life section of The Oklahoman.
Expect Oklahoma stars to shine bright tonight
Oklahoma’s constellation of country music stars will have the chance to shine tonight at the 43rd Annual CMA Awards.
Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn, Miranda Lambert and Rascal Flatts are nominated for awards at the Country Music Association’s yearly industry honors. Several of the state’s stars also will perform on the awards show, which airs live from 7 to 10 tonight on ABC.
For the second year, Underwood and fellow star Brad Paisley will host the CMA Awards, which take place at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn. In addition, both will perform during the broadcast.
“We didn’t know what to expect the first time. We had no idea,” Underwood told the Associated Press. “Things are different from year to year, but the overall layout — we’ve got it down.”
The Checotah native goes into the show with two nominations, for female vocalist of the year, an award she has won the past three years, and for musical event of the year for her version of “I Told You So” featuring Randy Travis. Travis picked up a second nomination for song of the year, for writing “I Told You So,” which was a chart-topper for him in 1988 and a hit this year for the 2005 “American Idol” winner.
If Underwood wins the female vocalist award again, it will tie her with fellow nominees McEntire and Martina McBride for most wins in the category.
Along with her female vocalist nomination, McEntire, who was raised in Chockie, also will compete for the musical event prize for “Cowgirls Don’t Cry,” her duet with Brooks & Dunn.
With her two nominations, McEntire brings her career total to 48, continuing her reign as the female artist with the highest number of nominations in CMA Awards history.
In addition, the redheaded star is set to perform on the show.
Brooks & Dunn, which includes former Tulsan Ronnie Dunn, also is nominated for vocal duo of the year, a category they have won a record 14 times. The hitmaking team of Dunn and Kix Brooks, who will perform on the show, announced earlier this year that they are splitting up after their 2010 “The Last Rodeo Tour.”
Lambert, who lives in Tishomingo, joins Underwood and McEntire in competing for the female vocalist award and on the list of performers.
Rascal Flatts, which includes Joe Don Rooney of Picher, was nominated for vocal group of the year, an award the band has won for the past six years.
Vince Gill, who was born in Norman and raised in Oklahoma City, and rock band Daughtry will play their country-rock collaboration “Tennessee Line,” featured on the band’s new album, “Leave This Town,” during the show.
Gill, who is known for working with artists from many genres, expects some country purists will object to Daughtry’s inclusion in the show but praised the band for writing a great song.
“That’s what television is about is ratings, and I can say this with a straight face, I don’t know that the networks that their greatest concern is the validity of country music in their show,” said Gill in a phone interview “It turns into a pretty big melting pot of occasionally some neat collaborations. If you’ve got an open mind, it’s fine, but some people, they can get pretty cantankerous about it. And there will be people who will say ‘Why is Daughtry on the country music awards?’ … They’re musical people and they have a neat record and I’m a part of it. And that’s why.”
The CMA entertainer of the year nominees are Paisley, Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Keith Urban and Taylor Swift. Swift becomes the first solo female artist since Faith Hill in 2000 to be nominated for the CMA’s top award; the last solo woman to win it was Shania Twain in 1999.
Paisley goes into the show with a leading seven nominations, including entertainer, male vocalist and album of the year.
Follow along with my live-blog of the CMA Awards here on BAM’s Blog.
-BAM
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