LAUREN ALAINA
The Rossville native has a chance to pick up a trophy at Wednesday’s CMA Awards. This is the second year she has been nominated for New Artist of the Year by the Country Music Association — she lost to Jon Pardi last year. Amber N. Williams, CMA vice president for communications and talent relations, says an artist cannot win New Artist two years in a row, but there’s no rule against being twice nominated.
“The 52nd Annual CMA Awards” will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.
Last week, Alaina previewed the awards show with an appearance on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.” The themed
“Country Night” also featured Chris Janson, Lanco, Carly Pearce and Cole Swindell. Alaina performed her new song, “Ladies in the ’90s,” as contestants Alexis Ren and Alan Bersten danced the samba.
“Ladies in the ’90s,” which she co-wrote with Amy Victoria Wadge and Jesse Frasure, name-checks a bevy of idols from Alaina’s formative years, from Deana Carter to Britney Spears to TLC.
For Halloween, she and some friends mimicked the clothes and hair of ’90s icons the Spice Girls, with Alaina as Scary Spice and fiance Alex Hopkins “the Posh of my dreams,” she tweeted.
She’s also helping the Coca-Cola Co. market its drinks, including Diet Coke and Dasani water, through short posts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, based on research that suggests a country music fan is 125 percent more likely to visit a Walmart store compared to the rest of the general population.
“For the Diet Coke relaunch, because the sleek new packaging is so important to see and because our Millennial target is so active on social media, the approach was to create short, snackable pieces of content with Lauren being herself, goofing off with the new cans, trying all the flavors and having fun,” said CocaCola’s Amanda Whitaker, director of shopper marketing for the Walmart team, in a statement.
Up next for Alaina, who turned 24 on Nov. 8, is Blake Shelton’s Friends and Heroes Tour, along with The Bellamy Brothers and Trace Adkins. The 18-city tour starts in February.
However, recent successes have been tempered by the death of her stepfather in October. “He was the purest example of how to love and live life fully,” she tweeted.