On Sunday, November 23rd, the 42nd American Music Awards will broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre from Los Angeles, California on ABC starting at 8PM. The awards pay tribute and recognize the best artists and albums from the year. So going into the awards, here’s what you need to know from a country music perspective.
Nominations
- Artist of the Year: Only one country artist is nominated for the top award- Luke Bryan. The country megastar is going up against some of the biggest names in the music business: Beyonce, One Direction, Katy Perry, and Iggy Izalea. With the awards being primarily decided by fan votes, it may be tough for the country star to get the win against these pop and R&B stars. But of course, Luke Bryan gets our vote.
- Favorite Male Country Artist: Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, and Jason Aldean are the three nominees up for the award. Who gets the award is a complete unknown as all three have rabid fan bases and have had enormous success in 2014. Our pick: Luke Bryan. Who we think will win: Blake Shelton
- Favorite Female Country Artist: Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, and Carrie Underwood were the top three females in country music according to the American Music Awards. But which of these extremely talented ladies win go home with the award? Our pick: Miranda Lambert. Who we think will win: Carrie Underwood.
- Favorite Country Duo, Band, or Group: Eli Young Band, Florida Georgia Line, and Lady Antebellum made the final cut for the award nominees. It’s quite the feat for the Eli Young Band to be listed in the final three with Lady A and FGL. However, as much as we love the Eli Young Band, it may be tough to pull the win over both Lady A and FGL who had a incredible and record-breaking year. Our pick: Florida Georgia Line. Who we think will win: Florida Georgia Line.
- Favorite Country Album: Garth Brooks, ‘Blame It All On My Roots: Five Decades of Influences,’ Eric Church, ‘The Outsiders,’ Brantley Gilbert, ‘Just As I Am,’ were recognized as the top three albums by the AMAs. We were shocked that Dierks’ ‘Riser,’ Luke Bryan’s ‘Crash My Party,’ Miranda Lambert’s ‘Platinum,’ or Keith Urban’s ‘Fuse‘ were not nominated. They were all nominated by the Country Music Association for Album of the Year but not by the American Music Awards!? Very interesting! Out of our three actual nominees, our pick: Eric Church, ‘The Outsiders.’ Who we think will win: Garth Brooks, ‘Blame It All On My Roots: Five Decades of Influences.‘
And that’s all for the nominations for country music. No nominations for New Artist of the Year or Single of the Year.
Performances
Only one performance by a country act and that would be Garth Brooks which will be aired live from his concert in Greensboro, NC. Garth will be performing ‘People Living People.’
And for what it’s worth, although she is going the pop route as of now, Taylor Swift will also perform. She is set to perform her new single, ‘Blank Space.’
Presenters
Luke Bryan, Lucy Hale and Julianne Hough will be the presenters associated with the country music industry.
Voting
The voting is fan based! You can vote for your favorites in each of the categories here.