Plus Pages

Monday, April 7, 2014

ACM Awards: And the Winners Are...

By now, Miranda Lambert is certainly accustomed to being the belle of the country ball, but she tries not to show it. The country queen took home three trophies at Sunday's Academy of Country Music Awards, including a record fifth straight win as Female Vocalist of the Year, according to rollingstone.com.

"I cannot believe this; I really didn't expect it," said the denim-clad singer upon besting Sheryl Crow, Kacey Musgraves, Taylor Swift and Carrie UnACderwood for the Female Vocalist honor. "I was just hanging out with Trisha Yearwood back there – holy crap! And I was standing next to Sheryl Crow, a complete and utter rock star. Kacey Musgraves, she wrote the Single of the Year. Carrie Underwood's my buddy; she's a phenomenon."

That Musgraves-penned, Lambert-delivered Single of the Year is the musical spitfire, "Mama's Broken Heart." Keith Urban shares the country queen's third win of the evening, Vocal Event of the Year, for their duet, "We Were Us." He also shares bragging rights as the night's top winner, as he collects two trophies for "We Were Us," as artist and producer of the song, along with Video of the Year for "Highway Don't Care," his catchy collaboration with Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift.

While Urban and Lambert led in numbers, it was George Strait who took home the night's top trophy, Entertainer of the Year. This follows the King of Country's victory in the same category at CMAs last November – both sweetly sentimental wins in that the 61-year-old music icon is retiring from touring after his current Cowboy Rides Away trek.


"I've always said I have the best fans in the world, and I heard this was a fan-voted thing, so I rest my case," quipped the legendary singer from the ACM's Las Vegas stage.

The only other fan-voted award of the night was perhaps the night's only controversial moment. The 2014 ACM New Artist of the Year is Justin Moore, a singer who first hit the country airwaves in 2008. With three albums now under his belt, including two gold-sellers, the Arkansas native actually does not qualify for the New Artist title under the ACM's rules that "any solo artist that has sold 500,000 copies of a previously released album … [is] not eligible for this category." The Academy explained that, in some cases, there are exceptions to the rule.


A grateful Moore, who stands about 5'6", made light of the situation in his acceptance speech, joking, "I was beginning to think there might be a height requirement for this award."

And the Winners Are:

Entertainer of the Year
George Strait

Male Vocalist of the Year
Jason Aldean

Female Vocalist of the Year
Miranda Lambert

Vocal Duo of the Year
Florida Georgia Line

New Artist of the Year
Justin Moore

Vocal Group of the Year
The Band Perry

Album of the Year
Same Trailer Different Park – Kacey Musgraves
Producers: Luke Laird, Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves
Record Label: Mercury Records

Single Record of the Year 
Mama's Broken Heart – Miranda Lambert
Producers: Chuck Ainlay, Frank Liddell, Glenn Worf
Record Label: RCA Nashville

Song of the Year
I Drive Your Truck – Lee Brice
Songwriters: Jessi Alexander, Connie Harrington, Jimmy Yeary
Publishers: Beattyville Music (BMI), EMI Blackwood Music, Inc. (BMI), Great Day At This Music (BMI), Happy Tears Music (ASCAP), Vistaville Music (ASCAP), Watch This Girl Publishing (BMI)

Video of the Year 
Highway Don't Care – Tim McGraw Featuring Taylor Swift & Keith Urban
Producers: Tameron Hedge, Chandra LaPlume
Director: Shane Drake

Vocal Event of the Year
We Were Us – Keith Urban And Miranda Lambert
Producers: Nathan Chapman, Keith Urban
Record Labels: Capitol Records Nashville, Hit Red Records, RCA Nashville

No comments:

Post a Comment