The CMA Awards air tonight on ABC at 8ET/7CT. The awards will be hosted by Darius Rucker and Reba McEntire, marking the first time in 13 years Carrie Underwood will not be sharing in the hosting duties. The awards will mark a return to semi-normalcy in an industry that has been stalled as a result of Covid. In what is bound to be a night of stiff competition Miranada Labmbert leads the way with seven nominations while Luke Combs follows closely with six of his own.
Let’s get to some predictions of tonight’s biggest awards!!(predicted winners will be in Bold)
Song Of The Year
Bluebird (Miranda Lambert, Luke Dick, Natalie Hemby)
The Bones (Maren Morris, Laura Veltz, Jimmy Robbins)
Even Though I’m Leaving (Luke Combs, Wyatt Durrette, Ray Fulcher)
I Hope You’re Happy Now (Luke Combs, Randy Montana, Carly Pearce, Jonathan Singleton)
More Hearts Than Mine (Ingrid Andress, Sam Ellis, Derrick Southerland)
This is a category that can really go anyway. However, I give the edge to Bluebird as it is the most recent of these singles and due to the craziness of this year I expect the potential recency bias to play a role. However, there really isn’t a wrong answer in this category.
New Artist Of The Year
Jimmie Allen
Ingrid Andress
Gabby Barrett
Carly Pearce
Morgan Wallen
Another stacked category with at least three nominees deserving of the title., however due to his commercial success and ascendance to superstardom Wallen is the clear winner here.
Vocal Group Of The Year
Lady A
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion
Rascal Flatts
This is an award where I expect to happen differs from what I would do if was a voter. I expect Old Dominion to take home the award for a third consecutive year, but the groovy, neo-traditional Midland should win this award.
Vocal Duo Of They Year
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan & Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Maddie & Tae
Another category where I think should happen diverges from I think will happen. In all likelihood Dan & Shay will take home this award, the sheer amount of commercial success from 10,000 Hours alone is likely enough for the voters. However, if I were a voter my vote would go to Maddie & Tae. After a five year hiatus Maddie & Tae released what in my opinion is a top five album of the year, and their most recent number one single Die From A Broken Heart should absolutely have received a nomination for Song Of The Year.
Album Of The Year
Album Of The Year
Heart Medication- Jon Pardi
Never Will- Ashley McBryde
Old Dominion- Old Dominion
What You See Is What You Get- Luke Combs
Wildcard-Miranda Lambert
Heartache Medication is an absolutely superb album that is not matched by any of these other great albums. Pardi is also due for some award recognition given his immense commercial success in the past year.
Male Vocalist Of The Year
Eric Church
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban
Not to take anything away from the other nominees, but, Luke Combs is the obvious favorite to repeat as Male Vocalist Of The Year
Female Vocalist Of The Year
Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde
Maren Morris
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood
Miranda’s artistic output this past year is too much for any of these other incredible artists to match.
Entertainer Of The Year (The Biggest and Most Contentious Award)
Eric Church
Luke Combs
Miranda Lambert
Carrie Underwood
Keith Urban
In what is sure to be a hotly debated award, Luke Combs should take home his first of many Entertainer Of The Year awards. However, this is no slam dunk and there are four other very deserving nominees who all could easily make a case for why they deserve this award.
What will we get right? What will we get wrong? Be sure to tune in to find out!
I’ll be back tomorrow with a full recap of the night’s events and hopefully able to report that my predictions weren’t embarrassingly wrong.