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NASVHILLE – Winners in two of the 12 CMA Awards categories
were announced live on “Good Morning America” this morning from the Bridgestone
Arena in Nashville, which is the site of “The 47th Annual CMA Awards.”
The news
was delivered by GMA anchor Robin Roberts and welcomed with cheers from thousands
of fans gathered on the plaza at the Bridgestone Arena waiting to watch three-time
CMA Awards nominee Luke Bryan perform.
“We got a jump
start on ‘Country Music’s Biggest Night™’ by announcing our winners on
‘Good Morning America’ and sharing the news with the GMA viewers and the enthusiastic
fans here in Nashville,” said Ed Hardy, President of
the CMA Board of Directors.
Hosted for the sixth time by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, “The 47th Annual CMA Awards”
airs tonight (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on the ABC Television Network.
Winning
CMA Musical Event of the Year was Tim McGraw with Taylor Swift and Keith Urban for “Highway Don’t Care.”
“Highway
Don’t Care,” which was directed by Shane Drake, also won CMA
Music Video of the Year for McGraw, Swift and Urban.
One of the top
CMA Awards winners of all time, McGraw has now won 14 trophies throughout his
career, including two for Male Vocalist of the Year and one for Entertainer of
the Year. He is nominated for one more Award tonight for Single of the Year for
“Highway Don’t Care.” McGraw will perform during the broadcast.
Swift,
is now a nine-time CMA Awards winner and is a top nominee this year with six nominations
including Entertainer and Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for RED, and Single of
the Year for “Highway Don’t Care” with McGraw and Urban. Swift will perform
on “The 47th Annual CMA Awards” with Alison Krauss and Vince Gill. Swift is also
scheduled to receive the CMA Pinnacle Award during the broadcast.
Male Vocalist
of the Year nominee Urban is also nominated for Single of the Year for “Highway
Don’t Care.” Urban has been named Male Vocalist of the Year three times (2004-2006)
and is now an eight-time CMA Awards winner with 29 career CMA Awards nominations.
He will perform on the CMA Awards with five-time nominee this year Miranda Lambert.
This marked
the second year the categories were announced on “Good Morning America.” In
previous years, the winners were announced in pre-televised activities and acknowledged
during the CMA Awards broadcast. CMA Vocal Duo of the Year nominees Thompson Square will host pre-tel
ceremonies tonight and will present the trophies to the winners as well as Musician
of the Year and CMA Broadcast Awards winners for Radio Station and Radio Personality
of the Year. The recipients will be acknowledged during the broadcast and participate
in backstage media interviews.
CMA Awards nominees and winners are
determined by more than 7,000 professional members of CMA, which was the first
trade organization formed to promote an individual genre of music in 1958. The
first “CMA Awards Banquet and Show” was held in 1967. The following year,
the CMA Awards was broadcast for the first time – making it the longest running,
annual music awards program on network television. The Awards have aired on ABC
since 2006. ABC will be the network home of the CMA Awards and CMA’s other two
television properties, “CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock” and
“CMA Country Christmas,” through 2021. |
