Miranda Lambert, Toby Keith among Oklahomans vying for ACM Awards Sunday night
Miranda Lambert
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
ACM Awards airing live Sunday night
Tishomingo resident Miranda Lambert earned seven ACM nominations — including a berth in the fan-voted top category, entertainer of the year — the most of any solo artist.
Miranda Lambert is still amazed at the sustained orbit for the “Revolution” she started 18 months ago.
The fiery singer-songwriter, who lives in Tishomingo, will vie for seven Academy of Country Music trophies, the most of any solo artist, when the 46th Annual ACM Awards air live Sunday night.
“I was doing the announcement for the nominations with (former Tulsan) Ronnie Dunn and was very surprised that I was eligible in so many categories. Seems like it just keeps on going. Winning would be great of course, but there are a lot of great projects nominated in my categories, so we will see,” said Lambert in an e-mail interview last week while recovering from a respiratory infection.
“Awards and praise mean a lot to an artist, it’s a validation that people like what you do. For me being nominated means a lot as well, as these awards are determined by my peers, folks in the music industry. My career is very satisfying, with or without all those nominations but (I) still like getting them! I love performing and I love writing and recording music, I sure hope I get to do for a long time.”
Oklahoma nominees
Toby Keith
Oklahoma stars Toby Keith, Blake Shelton, Reba McEntire and Carrie Underwood also will contend for trophies when the 46th Annual ACM Awards are broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas at 7 p.m. Sunday on CBS. McEntire, who hails from Chockie, and Shelton, Lambert’s fiance and fellow Tishomingo resident, will co-host the show.
With her career hot streak continuing, Lambert not only earned the most nominations of any solo artist, she also is competing for the first time for ACM entertainer of the year. Keith, who lives in Norman, received his sole nomination in the academy’s top category. Others vying for the entertainer title include Jason Aldean, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban.
Along with all five entertainer nominees, former Tulsan Ronnie Dunn, Underwood, Reba, Shelton, Alabama, Dierks Bentley, Sara Evans, Martina McBride and Zac Brown Band with James Taylor have been announced as performers for Sunday’s show.
Surprisingly, Underwood did not garner an entertainer nomination, even though she earned the fan-voted award the past two years. Last year, the Checotah native became the first woman to win twice in the ACM’s top category.
Choosing winners
Fan voting for entertainer of the year and top new artist continues through Sunday at www.VoteACM.com, with top new artist voting halting before the awards show and entertainer balloting closing during the third hour of the live broadcast. The Band Perry and Eric Church are the finalists for top new artist.
Along with her entertainer nod, Lambert is nominated for single record and song of the year for her emotional hit “The House That Built Me” and received two nominations for video of the year, for “The House That Built Me” and her sassy “Only Prettier.” The Texas native is contending for vocal event of the year with Sheryl Crow and Loretta Lynn for their rendition of Lynn’s classic hit “Coal Miner’s Daughter.”
Lambert also will have the chance to defend the top female vocalist title she won last year. She will compete against McEntire and Underwood, who received their only ACM nominations in that category, along with Swift and Lee Ann Womack.
With her seven ACM nominations, Lambert maintains the career momentum she started with the fall 2009
Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton
release of her acclaimed third album “Revolution.” She won her first Grammy for best female country vocal performance for “The House That Built Me” in February. She will bring her “The Revolution Continues” tour to the University of Oklahoma’s Lloyd Noble Center Thursday, April 7 four days after the ACM Awards.
Shelton received two ACM nominations, for top male vocalist and for video of the year for the raucous mini-movie to “Hillbilly Bone,” his hit duet with Trace Adkins. The Ada native won his first ACM trophy last year for vocal event for “Hillbilly Bone.”
Hot newcomers
Following Lambert’s leading seven nods, Zac Brown Band is nominated for five awards, including top vocal group, album of the year for “You Get What You Give,” and song, single record and vocal event of the year for “As She’s Walking Away,” featuring Alan Jackson. Frontman Zac Brown received four more individual nods for producing “You Get What You Give” and producing and writing “As She’s Walking Away.”
Kenny Chesney also garnered five nods, for album of the year for “Hemingway’s Whiskey” and as producer and artist for his single record of the year contender “The Boys of Fall,” for which he also is nominated for video of the year.
For the ACM Awards, 2011 looks to be a big year for hot newcomers, with The Band Perry, Easton Corbin and Lee Brice earning multiple nominations. The upstart presence is particularly seen in the top vocal duo and vocal group categories.
With last year’s breakup of Brooks & Dunn, the duo category includes The JaneDear Girls and Steel Magnolia, two pairings that just released their debut albums in the new year, along with Joey + Rory, Montgomery Gentry and Sugarland.
In the group category, venerable trio Rascal Flatts, which includes Joe Don Rooney of Picher, was left out despite releasing a new album in 2010. The group contenders include The Band Perry, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Randy Rogers Band and Zac Brown Band.
ACM Awards
The 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas at 7 p.m. Sunday, on the CBS Television Network. Reba McEntire, who hails from Chockie, and Blake Shelton, an Ada native and Tishomingo resident, will co-host the show.
Tishomingo resident Miranda Lambert, Shelton’s fiancée, has seven Academy of Country Music Award nominations, the most of any solo artist. She and Norman resident Toby Keith are nominated along with Jason Aldean, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban for the top award, the fan-voted entertainer of the year title. Voting for entertainer of the year continues and closes during third hour of Sunday’s live broadcast. To vote, go to www.voteACM.com.
Shelton, Reba and Checotah native Carrie Underwood also will contend for ACM Awards.
Follow my live blog of the awards show here at BAM’s Blog at blog.newsok.com/bamsblog.
-BAM
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I HOPE MIRANDA WINS AN AWARD – IF KEITH WINS ETOY I WILL SAY FIXED AS HE ONLY HAS HALF THE SHOWS AS TAYLOR DOES IN 2011 AND HERS ARE ALL SOLD OUT