Nominations for the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards were announced online via ACM's first digital press conference on their Facebook and Twitter pages. The awards will be hosted by Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton, who also paired up last season to host the event and on Shelton's hit show "The Voice." The 20-minute online event culminated in music fans announcing the nominees for the Academy’s biggest prize, Entertainer of the Year, with videos submitted naming their favorite artist. Fans from around the country announced Entertainer of the Year nominees Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton and Taylor Swift.
Entertainer of the Year and New Artist of the Year will be determined by fan voting, and the nominees for New Artist of the Year were not announced in the press conference because fan voting for those semi-finalists will close on January 30.
Kenny Chesney leads with nine nominations, including Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, twice nominated for Album of the Year for Hemingway's Whiskey, as both artist and producer, and also earned double nominations for Single Record of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year as both artist and producer for "You And Tequila" with Grace Potter. Chesney is also nominated for Song of the Year for "You And Tequila" with Grace Potter.
Jason Aldean racked up six nominations, including Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for My Kinda Party, Single Record of the Year, Vocal Event of the Year for "Don’t You Wanna Stay," featuring Kelly Clarkson and Video of the Year for "Tattoos On This Town."
Lady Antebellum leads group nominations with five, including Vocal Group of the Year, Album of the Year as artists and producers for Own The Night, Song of the Year and Video of the Year for "Just A Kiss."
Brad Paisley scored four nominations, including Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, two nominations in the Vocal Event of the Year category for "Old Alabama" with Alabama and "Remind Me" with Carrie Underwood.
Toby Keith received three nominations for "Red Solo Cup," including Video of the Year, a double nomination as artist and producer for Single Record of the Year. Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill is also nominated for Nightclub of the Year.
The top female nominee and reigning Entertainer of the Year, Taylor Swift, racked up three nominations, including Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, and for Video of the Year for "Mean."
First-time ACM nominee, Grace Potter, also received three nominations for "You And Tequila" with Kenny Chesney, in the Single Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year categories.
And the Eli Young Band was the third act with three nominations including Vocal Group of the Year, as well as Single Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Crazy Girl."
Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Kelly Clarkson, Vince Gill, Miranda Lambert, Aaron Lewis, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood and Chris Young all received two nominations each.
Radio Awards include nominations for CMT Radio Live with Cody Alan, and CMT Countdown USA with Lon Helton vying for On-Air Personality of the Year.
Fan voting for New Artist of the Year nominations began on January 16, 2012 and will close on Monday, January 30, 2012 at 12noon ET, after which nominees in that category will be announced separately. Then fan voting for New Artist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year begins on March 19, 2012 at 12noon ET at VoteACM.com. Fan voting for New Artist of the Year will close at 8 p.m. ET on April 1, 2012 and fan voting for Entertainer of the Year will close during the third hour of the live broadcast.
The complete list of major nominees:
Entertainer of the Year
- Jason Aldean
- Kenny Chesney
- Brad Paisley
- Blake Shelton
- Taylor Swift
Male Vocalist of the Year
- Jason Aldean
- Kenny Chesney
- Brad Paisley
- Blake Shelton
- Chris Young
Female Vocalist of the Year
- Sara Evans
- Miranda Lambert
- Martina McBride
- Taylor Swift
- Carrie Underwood
Vocal Duo of the Year
- Love and Theft
- Montgomery Gentry
- Steel Magnolia
- Sugarland
- Thompson Square
Vocal Group of the Year
- The Band Perry
- Eli Young Band
- Lady Antebellum
- Rascal Flatts
- Zac Brown Band
Album of the Year
- Chief – Eric Church (EMI-Nashville)
- Four The Record – Miranda Lambert (RCA)
- Hemingway's Whiskey – Kenny Chesney (BNA)
- My Kinda Party – Jason Aldean (Broken Bow Records)
- Own The Night – Lady Antebellum (Capitol Records Nashville)
Single Record of the Year
- Crazy Girl – Eli Young Band (Republic Nashville)
- Don't You Wanna Stay – Jason Aldean With Kelly Clarkson (Broken Bow Records)
- Red Solo Cup – Toby Keith (Show Dog-Universal Music)
- Tomorrow – Chris Young (RCA)
- You And Tequila – Kenny Chesney Featuring Grace Potter (BNA)
Song of the Year
- Crazy Girl – Eli Young Band
- Home – Dierks Bentley
- Just A Kiss – Lady Antebellum
- Threaten Me With Heaven – Vince Gill
- You And Tequila – Kenny Chesney Featuring Grace Potter
Songwriter of the Year
- Rhett Akins
- Dallas Davidson
- Ben Hayslip
- Luke Laird
- David Lee Murphy
Video of the Year
- Homeboy – Eric Church
- Just A Kiss – Lady Antebellum
- Mean – Taylor Swift
- Red Solo Cup – Toby Keith
- Tattoos On This Town – Jason Aldean
Vocal Event of the Year
- Country Boy – Aaron Lewis Featuring George Jones & Charlie Daniels (R&J Records)
- Don’t You Wanna Stay – Jason Aldean With Kelly Clarkson (Broken Bow Records)
- Old Alabama – Brad Paisley Featuring Alabama (Arista Nashville)
- Remind Me – Brad Paisley Duet With Carrie Underwood (Arista Nashville)
- You And Tequila – Kenny Chesney Featuring Grace Potter (BNA)
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