Sugarland has won the CMA Duo of the Year trophy for the last five years, and they could get their sixth consecutive win in that category Thursday night. Back when they picked up their first CMA Award, Sugarland's Kristian Bush kept it proudly on his desk. He had to keep an eye out when his son Tucker, who was quite young at the time, wanted to play with the bullet-shaped trophy. Kristian tells the story to ABC News Radio: "Tucker was like, 'That's a rocket dad! Can I play with your rocket?' And I saw crayon stuff on it, and I was just trying to like wipe it off, 'cause those things are kind of like plexiglass, glass-molded things." Kristian had to lay down the law with Tucker about playing with the CMA trophy, saying, "Oh geez, Tucker. Do not. If you hit a Sharpie on that thing, I'm gonna get you my little one." As Kristian's awards collection grew, he moved them to his studio to display them beside things like his favorite Chewbacca mug and his beloved Ripley's Believe It or Not book. Putting them out like that gives his friends a chance to actually pick the awards up. "They want to see what it's like, which is interesting 'cause I had no idea," Kristian says. "Those things are heavy!" Kristian will take part in the CMA Songwriters Series show with Brantley Gilbert Wednesday night in Nashville. He'll also present a trophy with his Sugarland duo partner Jennifer Nettles at Thursday night's CMA Awards. Going to the CMAs is a lot of fun for Jennifer, who looks forward to reconnecting with some of her fellow artist friends backstage. She's also excited to see how the Duo of the Year category has expanded in the last few years. Sugarland is up against Thompson Square, Big & Rich, Love and Theft and the Civil Wars Thursday night, and Jennifer says of that lineup, "It's so interesting to me because it is also very broad and eclectic, and I love that about it." Though Sugarland didn't release a new album this year, Jennifer thinks they still have a good shot at taking their sixth Duo of the Year trophy home Thursday night. She says, "The In Your Hands tour went super-well with the fans, and then I did Duets, so we've been doing a lot even though we didn't have a new album this year to promote. So, it'll be interesting to see how it all unfolds." Jennifer will also host the CMA Country Christmas special taping Saturday night, and it will air later this Christmas season on ABC. The 46th Annual CMA Awards broadcast live from Nashville Thursday night at 8 ET on ABC. Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley return for a fifth turn as hosts.(ABC Country)
The CMA New Artist of the Year category is of the biggest indicators of which country stars are going to be around for the long haul, and the nominees don't take that recognition lightly. Though he's just 21 years old, Hunter Hayes has been dreaming of getting this nomination for a long time now. It finally happened thanks in large part to his #1 hit "Wanted." "It's such an honor to be recognized by the family of musicians that I've grown up listening to and all these artists that I respect so much," Hunter says of his New Artist nomination. "This whole industry sort of looks at you and says, 'Yeah, here's your nomination for an award you've been wanting to achieve for a long time.'" Lee Brice is honored to be nominated for New Artist of the Year, but he won't be worried about winning the trophy on his way to the show Thursday night. Lee is taking his fiancé Sarah with him to the CMA Awards this year, and the day of the event is all about getting her ready and out the door. It all starts with Sarah getting her outfit on and fixing her makeup throughout the day. Lee is there every step of the way answering every time Sarah asks him how she looks. It continues as they make their way to the CMA Awards in the car. Lee says when they finally get out of the car on the carpet, "She's worried about getting out and tripping over her feet. So really, it's more about me just making sure Sarah's all right." Love and Theft will be attending Thursday night's CMA Awards as first-time nominees in two categories -- New Artist of the Year and Duo of the Year. They know the competition is pretty stiff in both categories, and the duo's Eric Gunderson says, "We're just excited to be in good company, and we'll see what happens." Love and Theft's nominations come after they scored their first #1 hit, "Angel Eyes," earlier this year. They've also been on the road opening for Brad Paisley and Jake Owen. "We've just worked as hard as we can this year," Eric says. "I know everybody else has too. So, hopefully people recognize that." Brantley Gilbert and Thompson Square round out the New Artist of the Year category.
Winning a CMA Award is a very prestigious honor, but most country stars will tell you they're more focused on their performance slot the night of the show. That's definitely true for Keith Urban, who says, "That is the absolute moment that matters most to me, is getting to play. 'Cause the other stuff is, I don't know about the other stuff. I know about playing, that's the only thing I know about." Keith joins a star-studded lineup of performers at Thursday night's CMA Awards including the show's hosts Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley, who is expected to perform his latest hit "Southern Comfort Zone." Jason Aldean has a big surprise in store for fans with his performance slot while his former duet partner Kelly Clarkson is teaming up on the show with Vince Gill to sing their new collaboration, "Don't Rush." Other performers on the show include Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown Band, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town. Tim McGraw will debut his new song, "One of Those Nights," and his wife Faith Hill will deliver her single, "American Heart." They'll also take part in a tribute to Willie Nelson on the show. The Band Perry will sing their new single, "Better Dig Two," on the CMA Awards, and New Artist of the Year nominees Hunter Hayes and Brantley Gilbert have landed performance slots too. Darius Rucker, Reba, Jake Owen, Sugarland, Martina McBride, Lisa Marie Presley and Kellie Pickler are set to present trophies during the broadcast along with ABC stars Tim Allen from Last Man Standing and Nashville's Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere.
Here's a list of winners at the 46th Annual CMA Awards, held in Nashville Thursday night. How did you do?
The nominations are out for the "2012 American Country Awards" . . . and LUKE BRYAN is your top dog with seven nominations . . . mostly thanks to his song "I Don't Want this Night to End", which picked up four nods on its own. Right behind Luke with six nominations apiece are LADY ANTEBELLUM and the ZAC BROWN BAND . . . and then ERIC CHURCH and TAYLOR SWIFT each have five nominations. This is a fan-voted awards show, so they're asking you to pick the winners. You can vote once a day from now until November 12th . . . except in the Artist of the Year category. You can vote on that one until December 7th. You can cast your vote at theacas.com. You will have to give up your email.(--Check out the nominations here.) The very tall TRACE ADKINS and very tiny KRISTIN CHENOWETH are returning as your hosts. The show airs December 10th at 8:00 P.M. on Fox.