CMA Awards 2012: Nominees, Winners & Report

CMA Awards 2012: Nominees, Winners & Report

The Nominations and the winners of The 46th Annual CMA Awards" were:

Entertainer of the Year

Jason Aldean

Kenny Chesney

Brad Paisley

Blake Shelton ** Winner **

Taylor Swift

Single of the Year (Award goes to Artist and Producer(s))

"Dirt Road Anthem" Jason Aldean Produced by Michael Knox (Broken Bow)

"God Gave Me You", Blake Shelton, Produced by Scott Hendricks (Warner Bros.)

"Home", Dierks Bentley, Produced by Brett Beavers and Luke Wooten (Capitol)

"Pontoon", Little Big Town, Produced by Jay Joyce  (Capitol)  ** Winner **

"Springsteen", Eric Church, Produced by Jay Joyce (EMI Records Nashville)

Album of the Year (Award goes to Artist and Producer(s))

Chief, Eric Church, Produced by Jay Joyce (EMI Records) ** Winner **

Four The Record, Miranda Lambert, Produced by Frank Liddell, Chuck Ainlay, and Glenn Worf  (RCA Nashville)

Home, Dierks Bentley, Produced by Brett Beavers, Luke Wooten, and Jon Randall Stewart (Capitol Records Nashville)

Own The Night, Lady Antebellum, Produced by Paul Worley and Lady Antebellum (Capitol Records Nashville)

Tailgates & Tanlines, Luke Bryan, Produced by Jeff Stevens and Mark Bright (Capitol Records Nashville)

Song of the Year (Award goes to Songwriter(s))

"Even If It Breaks Your Heart", Will Hoge and Eric Paslay

"God Gave Me You", Dave Barnes

"Home", Dan Wilson, Brett Beavers, and Dierks Bentley

"Over You", Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton ** Winner **

"Springsteen", Eric Church, Ryan Tyndell, and Jeff Hyde

Female Vocalist of the Year

Kelly Clarkson

Miranda Lambert ** Winner **

Martina McBride

Taylor Swift

Carrie Underwood 

Male Vocalist of the Year

Jason Aldean

Luke Bryan

Eric Church

Blake Shelton ** Winner **

Keith Urban

Vocal Group of the Year

Eli Young Band

Lady Antebellum

Little Big Town ** Winner **

The Band Perry

Zac Brown Band

Vocal Duo of the Year

Big & Rich

Love and Theft

Sugarland

The Civil Wars

Thompson Square ** Winner **

Musical Event of the Year (Award goes to each Artist)

"Dixie Highway" Alan Jackson featuring Zac Brown - ACR/EMI Records Nashville

"Feel Like A Rock Star", Kenny Chesney (duet with Tim McGraw) - Blue Chair Records/Columbia Nashville ** Winner **

"Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die", Willie Nelson with Snoop Dogg, Kris Kristofferson, and Jamey Johnson (Legacy Recordings)

"Safe & Sound", Taylor Swift (featuring The Civil Wars) - Big Machine Records/Universal Republic Records

"Stuck On You", Lionel Richie (with Darius Rucker) - Mercury Records Nashville

Musician of the Year

Sam Bush – Mandolin

Paul Franklin – Steel Guitar

Dann Huff – Guitar

Brent Mason – Guitar

Mac McAnally – Guitar   ** Winner **

Music Video of the Year (Award goes to Artist and Director)

"Come Over", Kenny Chesney, Directed by Shaun Silva

"Over You", Miranda Lambert Directed by Trey Fanjoy

"Pontoon", Little Big Town  Directed by Declan Whitebloom

"Red Solo Cup", Toby Keith, Directed by Michael Salomon ** Winner **

"Springsteen", Eric Church, Directed by Peter Zavadil

New Artist of the Year

Lee Brice

Brantley Gilbert

Hunter Hayes ** Winner **

Love and Theft

Thompson Square

CMA Awards 2012: Report

In Brief:

• "The 46th Annual CMA Awards" was hosted for the fifth time on Thurs Nov 1, 2012 by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood and broadcast live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on the ABC TV Network.
• Blake Shelton received the coveted 2010 CMA Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year Awards.
• His wife Miranda Lambert was named Female Vocalist of the Year
• Eric Church, Little Big Town and Thompson Square won their first ever CMA Awards
• Willie Nelson received the first CMA Lifetime Achievement Award, which will now be known as the willie nelson lifetime achievement award 

Miranda Lambert and hubby Blake Shelton made history by winning Female and Male Vocalist of the Year for the third consecutive year.

Blake Shelton & Miranda Lambert
Win-Song of the Year

The couple also shared one of the night's most prestigious honours won Song of the Year for "Over You." Although three married couples have been previously nominated for CMA Song of the Year Awards honors – Ed and Patsy Bruce for "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" in 1978, Sanger D. "Whitey" Shafer and Darlene Shafer for "Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind" in 1985, and "All My Ex's Live in Texas," written by Whitey Shafer and his fourth wife Lydia Shafer in 1987 – Lambert and Shelton are the first to take the prize.

In accepting their awards, Shelton and Lambert each managed to show their appreciation while expressing their love of country music and, perhaps even more notably, their peers within the industry.

Perhaps the award that meant the most was the Song of the Year win for the song they co-wrote about Shelton's late brother, Richie - "I lost my brother in a car wreck when I was 14 years old," Shelton told the crowd. "Later in life, when I decided I wanted to be a country singer, my dad always told me, 'Son, you should write a song about your brother.' I lost my dad in January, and it's so amazing to me that tonight -- even after he's gone -- he's still right. I just needed the right person to write this song with and the right person to sing it."

Miranda Lambert looked shocked and surprised to make it a hat trick of wins for the Female Vocalist trophy once more, but gratefully received it, Lambert said, "Holy crap. I don't necessarily deserve this, but I'll sure take it."

Then she spoke about the emotional nature of "Over You."-  “I didn't say anything for Song of the Year because it was a huge, huge dream of mine to write the song of the year," she said. "And I never thought I'd get to, especially celebrate it with my husband”

Lambert also made it a point to lavish praise on the other four nominees in the female vocalist category -- Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson and Martina McBride.

"I've been listening to Red all week long. It's freakin' awesome, Taylor," she said. "I was at Carrie Underwood's rehearsal yesterday and she sang 'Blown Away' three times in a row -- and it blew me away. And I'm sitting here looking at Kelly Clarkson. I sang with her onstage in Colorado, and I wanted to crawl in a hole and die after that. ... I just talked to Martina, and she invited me to her house. I grew up with her records and tried to hit even one note she ever sang -- and it's impossible”

"So I can't believe I'm standing up here holding this right now. But I'm going to try to represent for all the females who want to be up-and-comers and that want to just get their country voice out there. There's room for all of us girls. ... We're going to stick together and get our country voices heard."

Keeping it in the family on the “Blake & Miranda Election Night”  the reigning King and Queen of Country music, swept the boards, taking home awards in four categories overall.

One of the nights biggest shocks included the big one: Entertainer of the Year, which went to Blake but looked destined for the home of Jason Aldean or possibly Taylor Swift.

Accepting the trophy, an incredulous Blake said, “Oh, my gosh. Taylor Swift? I know I'm not out there as much I’m not sure how this happened, but I freakin’ love it!”

He added that when he moved to Nashville in ’94, he had only two goals: to get a gold record and join the Grand Ole Opry. Entertainer of the Year, he said, never crossed his mind. Noting that he’s not been on the road as much due to his commitments to The Voice, Blake said he tries to represent country music as best he can, adding, “I love country music more than anybody in this room!”

Because of Shelton’s high profile involvement with the NBC series, THE VOICE and other TV talk shows swayed CMA voters to cast their ballots for him?

First-time CMA Awards winners included:

Eric Church for Album of the Year CHIEF

Little Big Town for Vocal Group and Single of the Year ("Pontoon")

Hunter Hayes for New Artist of the Year

Thompson Square for Vocal Duo of the Year.

As producer of both Church’s CHIEF and "Pontoon," Jay Joyce was awarded for Album and Single of the Year, also marking his debut as a CMA Award winner.

In presentations made before the broadcast, Mac McAnally earned his fifth Musician of the Year victory.

Earlier on Thursday, two CMA Awards were presented live on ABC's "Good Morning America" from Times Square in New York. Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw won Musical Event of the Year for "Feel Like a Rock Star."

CMA Music Video of the Year honours went to Toby Keith and director Michael Salomon for "Red Solo Cup."

In winning their first-ever CMA awards, Little Big Town member Kimberly Schlapman noted, "This has been a 13-year journey." "We're living proof that if you work really, really hard and you chase your dream, all the good stuff happens and it follows you," bandmate Karen Fairchild added.

Little Big Town-
Win-Single of the Year

Nobody was more excited than Little Big Town, who were the first winners of the night: Single of the Year for “Pontoon.” Referring to a bit at the opening of the show where Brad Paisley told his co-host Carrie Underwood the true meaning of a certain term used in that song, Karen Fairchild came to the podium and said, “Oh my stars, Brad Paisley! You just told my mama what ‘motorboating’ means!” When they won again, for Vocal Group of the Year, they literally jumped up and down at the podium and thanked Jesus numerous times.

Eric Church won his first CMA trophy, too, and he indicated that the Album of the Year victory means he has a place in country music.

"I've spent a lot of my career wondering where I fit in -- too country, too rock," he said. "I want to thank you guys for giving me somewhere to hang my hat tonight.”

Husband-and-wife duo Thompson Square, of Shawna and Keifer Thompson, ended Sugarland's five-year domination as duo of the year. "Ever since I was about 5 years old, I used to practice in the kitchen with one of my mawmaw's Mason jars for this moment right here," she said while onstage.

"This is one of the coolest things we've ever experienced," he noted. "Being able to do it with your best friend, it's awesome."

Hunter Hayes, a 21-year-old Louisiana native, was initially at a loss for words after hearing his name announced as the CMA's New Artist of the Year. - "I don't even know what to do right now," he said. "Oh, wow! I want to say, thank you, Lord, for letting me do what I do and what I do every day. Thank you to the amazing fans. Thank you to my family. They're here tonight. My mom and dad have done so much to get me right here. Thank you, guys. ... Amazing. This is awesome."

In a special tribute to Country Music Hall of Fame member Willie Nelson, Lady Antebellum performed "You Were Always on My Mind" and "Crazy," then Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, and Nelson's longtime harmonica player Mickey Raphael joined on "Whiskey River." Faith Hill and McGraw followed in a duet appearance, singing "Good Hearted Woman." Nelson joined them all, strapped on his trademark guitar "Trigger" and sang "On the Road Again."

Blake Shelton & Willie Nelson

Paisley then surprised Nelson with the first-ever CMA Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be renamed the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.

The CMA Awards nominees and winners are determined by the 11,000 industry professional members of CMA, which was formed in 1958 as the first trade organization to promote an individual genre of music. The first "CMA Awards Banquet and Show" was held in 1967. The following year, the CMA Awards was broadcast on NBC television for the first time – making it the longest-running annual music awards program on network television. The Awards aired on NBC through 1971 and on the CBS Television Network from 1972 through 2005. The CMA Awards moved to ABC in 2006, where it will remain through 2021.

SOURCE - www.bizjournals.com/prnewswire