The nominations for this year'sCMAswererevealedon"Good Morning America"yesterday, andMAREN MORRIScame out on top with SIX.
That includes nods for Single and Album of the Year, plus Female Vocalist of the Year . . . but she was snubbed in the Entertainer of the Year category.
But Entertainer of the Year is NOT a total boys club again this year. CARRIE UNDERWOODwas nominated. And it's the first time in three years that a woman is up for the award, and no woman has won it sinceTAYLOR SWIFTin 2011.
Carrie is up againstGarth Brooks,Eric Church,Chris Stapleton, andKeith Urban, who won last year
Some people were surprised last year whenCARLY PEARCEwasn't nominated for Best New Artist . . . but maybe she just didn't qualify, because she was nominated in that category THIS year. She's up againstAshley McBryde,Midland,Morgan Wallen, andCody Johnson.
It's strange how the CMAs handle this category . . . it's nice that Cody was nominated, since he's become a big deal over the past year. But he just released his SEVENTH album, so he's hardly "new."
Speaking of strange,"Old Town Road"byLIL NAS Xwas NOT ignored. It got a single nomination for Musical Event of the Year, but it was snubbed in the Single of the Year category. (Here's Lil Nas X'sreaction.)
The song is super divisive in country music, so one possibility is that the CMAs chose to recognizeBilly Ray Cyrus'contribution by putting it in the Musical Event of the Year category, which honors collaborations. (That's a guess on my part.)
One pleasant surprise isBROOKS & DUNNbeing nominated in the Vocal Duo of the Year. 10 years ago, they were announcing their retirement, and now that they're back, it's cool to see them recognized. (Here's theirreaction.)
10 years ago, Taylor Swift was posting alow-quality videoof herself anxiously watching the CMA nominations being announced to see if she'd be included. What a difference a decade makes.