Entertainer of the Year:
Luke Bryan: My Pick and Will Win
Miranda Lambert: Dark Horse
Blake Shelton
George Strait
Keith Urban
This is tough to call because, while I would not put it past the CMA to award George a second year in a row, I still donât think it will happen. Blake has had another strong year, but Iâm predicting Luke to finally win it. He has everyone beat in all categories, plus he hasnât released anything polarizing or âin your faceâ bro country to radio since TMKON. Scratch that, he did sing on and co-write âThis Is How We Roll,â but hopefully that doesnât work against him. If there is any time for him to win, it would be now. As far as Miranda goes, for me she is a dark horse. She has a lot of hype surrounding her, which is nothing new, but for some reason it seems different this time around. She is also the only female nominated and with all of the complaints about women in country not getting enough credit, the CMA might want to award her to make a statement. Not saying that she would not deserve it based on her merit, but I can see this playing a role as well. As much as I hate to say this but for me Keith is the underdog here. He is still killing it out there, but I think the others have more momentum going into the awards.
I still think it was completely ridiculous how Jason Aldean was snubbed here and I donât blame him for being upset. Still you canât run your mouth like he did, but I do understand his frustration.
Male Vocalist of the Year
Dierks Bentley: Dark Horse/Will Win/Would not mind winning
Luke Bryan: My Pick
Eric Church
Blake Shelton
Keith Urban
I would say Keith is the underdog here as well for the same reasons I stated above. I think he has more of a chance in this category, but I still feel the others have more momentum. I thought last year Blakeâs reign would end, but I was wrong, so another win in this category would not surprise me. The reign has to end sometime, and if it does this year, and they decide to award someone new, I think the award should go to Luke. Will he win? I doubt it. He has yet to win in this category for both the CMAs and ACMs and, I donât think this year will be any different. I think itâs going to be a toss-up between Dierks and Eric with Dierks slightly edging him out. Eric might have more star power, but there was a lot of buzz surrounding Dierks this year. So I say they give it to the dark horse.
Female Vocalist of the Year
Miranda Lambert: Will Win
Martina McBride
Kacey Musgraves: Dark Horse
Carrie Underwood: My Pick
Taylor Swift
Well Martina and Taylor are the least likely to win here due to Taylorâs recent complete pop conversion and Martinaâs quiet year commercially. I will say, even though I have not listened to Martinaâs new album I did hear good things about it. I know vocal performance on an album plays a role in this category so you never know. I still think itâs between Carrie, Miranda, and Kacey due to the fact they have the critical acclaim and have more commercial success in country music. Carrie is my favorite to win out of all of them, but unfortunately I donât see it happening. Other than The Sound of Music, âSee You Again,â and the âSomethinâ Badâ collaboration with Miranda, she has had a pretty quiet year. âSomething In The Waterâ created some buzz, but itâs way too new to impact the voting. Kacey Musgraves is my dark horse here. I know she still doesnât have as much commercial success Carrie and Miranda, but I feel she has left an impact. Enough for the win, Iâm not sure. Lastly, I thought Mirandaâs reign would end last year too with this award, so since it didnât, Iâm guessing she will win again this year. Pretty sure she broke the record this year at the ACMs, so Iâm expecting the same thing happening here. I feel she had the most active year out of the nominees too.
Album of the Year
Crash My Party â Luke Bryan: My Pick
Fuse â Keith Urban: My Pick
Platinum â Miranda Lambert: Will Win
Riser â Dierks Bentley: Dark Horse/My Pick
The Outsiders â Eric Church
If this was based on sales alone Lukeâs album would win. I mean it has been on the charts for over a year and itâs still in the top 10 surrounded by newer releases. With that said the CMA normally puts critical acclaim over popularity, so more than likely it wonât win. This one will be a toss-up between Miranda and Eric, with Mirandaâs album winning. Eric may have sold more, but Mirandaâs album has not been out as long and it seems every time she has an album nominated it usually wins. I would love to see Dierks or Keith win, but even though they had the critical acclaim, they did not have huge sales. Between the two I think Dierks has more of a chance and could pull an upset here despite having lower sales than Miranda and Eric.
Vocal Group of the Year
Eli Young Band
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
The Band Perry: Will Win/My Pick
Zac Brown Band
This is tough because I feel no group really stood out to me this year. Eli Young Band saw some success with âDrunk Last Nightâ and âDust,â but I donât think itâs enough for them to win. Zac Brown Band seemed to be quiet after âJump Right Inâ and âSweet Annie.â Little Big Town gained some momentum back with âDay Drinkingâ but I donât think itâs enough to hold on to the title for another year. Who cares though, they are now Opry Members so that beats everything! :) Lady Antebellum has had more radio success, but recent history has shown that once the CMA moves on from an artist/band they tend not to win again, which has always frustrated me. So with all of that said I am predicting The Band Perry to win here. They have seen some radio success and headlined a world tour. On a side note I would like to know what Rascal Flatts has to do to earn a nomination in this category again⊠just saying.
New Artist of the Year
Brandy Clark
Brett Eldredge: Will Win/My Pick
Kip Moore
Thomas Rhett
Cole Swindell: Would not mind winning
This category should be interesting. Out of all the nominees, Brett is the most well rounded, critical acclaim/commercially successful nominee on the ballot. I like Kip, but I feel like he has lost a little momentum after âHey Pretty Girlâ and probably had more of a chance to win this last year or the year before. Although now that I think about it, Zac Brown Band won in 2011 and they were way beyond their years as a new artist, so who knows. If it was not for the bro country backlash I would say that Thomas Rhett would be the clear winner, but he being one of the contributors will probably kill his chances. I donât see Cole winning for the same reason, and because he is still pretty new. It will probably be between these 4 guys with Brett winning. Nothing against Brandy Clark, but she is probably the least likely to win. Honestly, if it was not for Pulse Music Board or SirusXM I would have never heard of her, so without commercial success I do not think her critical acclaim will be enough to win. I know Kacey won last year, but she at least had some commercial success with the enormous amount of critical acclaim. I still think Dan + Shay, The Swon Brothers, Cassadee Pope, or Danielle Bradbery should have been nominated.
Vocal Duo of the Year
Dan + Shay: My Pick (Imagine the shock if they won)
Florida Georgia Line: Will Win
Love and Theft
The Swon Brothers
Thompson Square
Ah the easiest prediction of them all. Dan + Shay and The Swon Brothers are too new. Love and Theft had a quiet year and were just dropped from their label :(, and it feels like Thompson Square has fallen off the face of the Earth. Florida Georgia Line will win this year and probably for the next few years until some of these duos start stepping up. I see a lot of potential in Dan + Shay and The Swon Brothers. Then thereâs Madie and Tae and if Love and Theft get singed again, and they duplicate the success they had with âAngel Eyes,â this category can become pretty competitive.
Single of the Year (Award goes to artist and producer)
"Automatic," Miranda Lambert
"Drunk on a Plane," Dierks Bentley: Will Win and My Pick
"Give Me Back My Hometown," Eric Church
"Meanwhile Back at Mamaâs," Tim McGraw featuring Faith Hill
"Mine Would Be You," Blake Shelton
Thinking about songs that have won this in the past Iâm predicting âDrunk on a Planeâ to win. Dierks has had a strong year this year and if he is not awarded anywhere else it should be here or music video. I still would not count any of the others especially Blake and Miranda.
Song of the Year (Award goes to songwriters)
"Automatic," written by Nicolle Galyon, Natalie Hemby and Miranda Lambert
"Follow Your Arrow," written by Kacey Musgraves, Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally
"Give Me Back My Hometown," written by Eric Church and Luke Laird
"I Donât Dance," written by Lee Brice, Rob Hatch, and Dallas Davidson: Will Win
"I Hold On," written by Brett James and Dierks Bentley: My Pick/Dark Horse
This one should be interesting. Kacey is known for more original lyrics, but I know some were against âFollow Your Arrowâ for being so controversial. I am not going with Eric, because I feel like Springsteen was a better song and it did not win when it was nominated, so I have my doubts for âGive Me Back My Hometown.â If Dierks wins in Single of the Year he probably wonât win here. I still would not count him out, because I have seen the same song win in both categories, so I donât see why 2 different songs by the same artist canât win in both categories too. I think it will be a toss-up between Miranda and Lee. Last year âI Drove Your Truckâ beat out âMamaâs Broken Heartâ which proves that Miranda does not win in every category she is involved in. With that said I am going to go with âI Donât Dance.â It is a solid song lyrically, it had a good chart performance, and when I saw him perform it live the reaction for it was ridiculous. I still would not count out Miranda, because she is Miranda, and I feel like if she does win something for âAutomaticâ I think it is much more appropriate to win it here than single of the year. This is also one of my favorite releases from her so I actually would not mind to see her win.
Musical Event of the Year
"Bakersfield," Vince Gill and Paul Franklin
"Meanwhile Back at Mamaâs," Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
"Something Bad," Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood
"We Were Us," Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert: Will Win/My Pick
"You Canât Make Old Friends," Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton
This category is fun this year. You have the classic duet partners Kenny and Dolly, and Tim and Faith, then Vinceâs whole album is nominated, and then you have Miranda involved in two songs. I think Miranda will win, but the question is, with which duet partner? My guess is that she will probably win with Keith Urban, because itâs a better song over all. The only reason I would want âSomething Badâ would be for Carrie to win too, but if they win for video I want Miranda and Keith for collaboration. Then thereâs part of me that would like to see Tim and Faith.
Music Video of the Year
"Automatic," Miranda Lambert
"Bartender," Lady Antebellum
"Follow Your Arrow," Kacey Musgraves
"Something Bad," Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood: My Pick/Will Win
I think this will be a toss-up between âDrunk on a Planeâ and âSomething Bad.â âDrunk on a Planeâ is hilarious, and âSomething Badâ is fierce so there is no disappointment here if one of these wins. With the star power of Carrie and Miranda Iâm predicting them to win.
Wow looks like I favored Dierks Bentley quite a bit. I hope all of my predictions or at least some of them come true and he has a big night! Everyone knows he is way overdue for this.
Overall it should be an interesting show this year and now Ariana Grande and Meghan Trainor are performing? Am I reading right? I agree with the people who are a little annoyed by this. Iâm not necessarily against pop/country collaborations, but whatâs wrong with the women we have in country music? I donât mind it during the CMT Awards, because itâs expected with the MTV affiliation, but the CMAâs⊠really? I pegged them as an award show that would be against that type of thing. I mean I guess the Ariana Grande performance isnât too bad because she is singing Little Big Townâs song with them, but Meghan Trainor is actually singing her song, and therefor gets to promote it on a country music show. How is that fair to the other ladies in country music? A lot of them are struggling to get noticed in country music as it is and they are overlooked for pop artists? I guess they want ratings and this is the way to do it. Other than that I am excited for the performances and the show in general. I know Brad and Carrie are going to kill it like they always do hosting and Brad probably has about a thousand jokes about Carrie being pregnant. :)
