SONG OF THE YEAR
- "8th of November" Kenny Alphin, John Rich
- "Believe" Craig Wiseman, Ronnie Dunn
- "Jesus, Take The Wheel" Hillary Lindsey, Brett James, Gordie Sampson
- "Tonight I Wanna Cry" Keith Urban, Monty Powell
- "When I Get Where I'm Going" Rivers Rutherford, George Teren
As I said above, the Single and Song categories are tough. I think I'm going to go with "Believe" here. But, I would not be surprised to see Big & Rich take this. Their song has a very strong message that touches many people. Plus, John Rich just won the ASCAP Songwriter / Artist of the Year award.
VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
- Big & Rich
- Brooks & Dunn
- Montgomery Gentry
- Van Zant
- The Wreckers
They need to rename this award... seriously. Montgomery Gentry are steadily growing in popularity, and record sales, but I really don't see them overtaking Brooks & Dunn here. If anyone did, it would be a jaw dropper.
MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR
- "Building Bridges" Brooks & Dunn (Guest vocals by Sheryl Crow and Vince Gill)
- "Like We Never Loved At All" Faith Hill Featuring Tim McGraw
- "Politically Uncorrect" Gretchen Wilson Featuring Merle Haggard
- "When I Get Where I'm Going" Brad Paisley Featuring Dolly Parton
- "Who Says You Can't Go Home" Bon Jovi (Duet with Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland)
My personal favorite is Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton's "When I Get Where I'm Going." That's who I think will win as well.
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
- Eddie Bayers - Drums
- Jerry Douglas - Dobro
- Paul Franklin - Steel Guitar
- Dann Huff - Guitar
- Brent Mason - Guitar/Electric Guitar
- Randy Scruggs - Guitar
I'm no good at predicting Musician. How about Jerry Douglas? He won it last year.
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
(award goes to artist and director)
- "When I Get Where I'm Going," Brad Paisley Featuring Dolly Parton, Directed by Jim Shea
- "8th of November," Big & Rich, Directed by Robert Deaton/George J. Flanigen IV/Marc Oswald
- "Believe," Brooks & Dunn, Directed by Robert Deaton/George J. Flanigen IV
- "Jesus Take The Wheel," Carrie Underwood, Directed by Roman White
- "Kerosene," Miranda Lambert, Directed by Trey Fanjoy
All five of these are really great videos. Man... I'm gonna go with Big & Rich's "8th of November." Any one of them could take this and I wouldn't be too surprised, though.
HORIZON AWARD
- Miranda Lambert
- Little Big Town
- Sugarland
- Josh Turner
- Carrie Underwood
This is easy. Although Miranda has done well with her album, and Little Big Town just went gold, Sugarland double Platinum and Josh Turner a second Platinum record. Miss Underwood will take this home, for sure. Over three million reasons back me up. Uh huh.
Well, let's see how I do on November 6th. These are some tough categories.