Roots, Toots n' Hoots Blog

Kudos to Lambert, Lady A, but CMA perplexes

Jeffrey Remz  |  August 31, 2010

After round one, Miranda Lambert and Lady Antebellum are getting the attention for capturing the most nominations from the Country Music Association awards.

The CMA broke the announcements of the nominations into two days with the second on Wednesday morning.

But life is good thus far for Lambert, who gets to announce the nominees for day two with Dierks Bentley. On the strength of two songs - White Liar and The House That Built Me - Lambert had two nominations each for song of the year and single of the year and one for music video.

Lady A scored for music video, single, song and vocal group.

After day one, no nominations for folks like Taylor Swift, George Strait, Alan Jackson or Carrie Underwood. We shall see if day two gets better for them - if it doesn't for Swift, well, that ain't going to happen.

A few surprises - Luke Bryan gets a nomination for best new artist even though he has released two CDs, and his debut didn't do too shabby. I never understand this category very well because this type of situation has occurred in the past. Not so sure about Chris Young getting nominated either. Just because his debut didn't set the world on fire commercially doesn't mean he should be nominated - no slight on Young, but it's all perplexing.

Can anyone explain how The Band Perry was nominated for the vocal group award? Fortunately, every other band nominated deserves it way more. I mean, the Perrys released two singles that did something (barely making the top 20) and an EP that was okay. The full length CD isn't out until October. It's always disappointing when these awards are stretching it trying to get enough nominees.

Along the same line of thinking, I should not leave out Steel Magnolia getting nominated for vocal duo. They have had a grand total of two singles chart (Keep on Lovin' You went top five) and a debut disc coming out in September. An EP came out a few months ago. This sort of situation only serves to cheapen the awards. Let's hope for none of this on Wednesday.

But kudos to Lambert and Lady A, who are both having big big years. Getting these nominations only underscores that.

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