GETTING THE NOD
Brandy McDonnell takes a look at some of the Academy of Country Music Awards nominees.
Oklahoma native and Country Music Hall of Famer Reba McEntire announced Wednesday the nominees for the 54th Academy of Country Music Awards.
Nominees with Oklahoma ties include Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert and Maddie & Tae.
Underwood, a Checotah native, and Lambert, a former Tishomingo resident, are both nominated in the Female Artist of the Year category. Lambert also shares a nod with Jason Aldean in the Music Event of the Year contest for their duet “Drowns the Whiskey.”
Oklahoma-Texas pair Maddie & Tae — Maddie Marlow, of Sugar Land, Texas, and Tae Dye, of Ada — are nominated for Duo of the Year.
In addition, several Oklahoma concert hotspots are vying for ACM industry honors: Choctaw Casino & Resort – in Durant and The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa are nominated for Casino of the Year — Small Capacity. WinStar Global Event Center in Thackerville is nominated for Casino of the Year — Large Capacity. Tulsa's BOK Center earned a nomination for Venue of the Year — Large Capacity.
As previously reported, Reba will return to host the ACM Awards when the show airs live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas at 7 p.m. April 7 on the CBS Television Network.
She appeared live Wednesday on “CBS This Morning” to announce this year's ACM Award nominees for Entertainer of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Duo of the Year, Group of the Year and Song of the Year. Reba also revealed nominees for Song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year on Facebook Live on her Facebook page. Additional nominees were announced on ETonline.com.
This year will mark the return of the ACM Artist of the Decade Honor, which will be announced in the coming weeks. Only five other honorees have received this award, including Marty Robbins in 1969, Loretta Lynn in 1979, Alabama in 1988, Oklahoma native Garth Brooks in 1998 and George Strait in 2009.
For more on the nominations, go to BAM's blog at NewsOK.com/ blogs/bams-blog.