Will Brad Paisley or Blake Shelton win CMA Award? [poll]

Up until recently, it looked like Brad Paisley was unbeatable in the Country Music Assn. Award contest for best male vocalist. He won it three years in a row (2007-2009) and he's such a darling of the organization that he's become the annual cohost of the kudo fest. This year he MCs with Carrie Underwood on Nov. 9 (8 p.m. PT/ET on ABC).

However, last year Paisely got upset by Blake Shelton. Now they return for a rematch, pitted against Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban. Two of the contenders are up for best single of the year: Aldean ("Don't You Wanna Stay" with Kelly Clarkson) and Shelton ("Honey Bee"). Three are up for best album: Aldean ("My Kinda Party"), Shelton ("All About Tonight") and Paisley ("This Is Country Music"). To win best male vocalist, it usually helps to have corresponding nominations in those other top races. Who'll win?

RELATED:

CMA Awards: Who'll win entertainer of the year? [Poll]

CMA Awards: Will Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood reign? [Poll]

— Tom O'Neil

Left photo: Brad Paisley. Credit: Sony Nashville.

Photo: Blake Shelton. Credit: Warner Bros.

CMA Awards: Will Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood reign? [Poll]

In the Country Music Assn. Award race for best female vocalist of the year, winners tend to reign for a while, holding on to the crown for a few consecutive years, then suddenly get dethroned.

For example, there were winning streaks by Reba McEntire (1984-86), Kathy Mattea (1989-90), Mary Chapin Carpenter (1992-93), Trisha Yearwood (1997-98) and Martina McBride (2003-04). Recently, Carrie Underwood won three in a row (2006-08), then got usurped by Taylor Swift, who couldn't hold on to the category when Miranda Lambert toppled her last year. So now what?

Below are the contenders. You predict. Winners will be unveiled on Nov. 9 (CBS, 8 p.m. Pacific/Eastern).

-- Tom O'Neil

Photos: Female vocalist of the year candidates Taylor Swift, left, and Carrie Underwood. Credits: Big Machine Records; Sony Music

Awards tracking: CMAs score lowest TV ratings | Denzel wants his Oscars to chat | Tina Fey wins Mark Twain Prize

? The Country Music Assn. Awards drew 16.5 million viewers and a 4.7 preliminary rating among adults 18-49. "That was easily enough to give ABC a ratings victory, but also represents the annual telecast's weakest delivery (guess Gwyneth Paltrow making her country singing debut wasn't quite the draw)," reports James Hibberd. HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

? "Brad Paisley doing country versions of Lady Gaga songs in the opening monologue" of the Country Music Assn. Awards scored an "A" from L.A. Times' Pop & Hiss scribe Todd Martens. However, Paisley got slapped with a "D" for his rendition of "Back to December" later in the show. Martens grades all of the kudofest's big numbers, including Taylor Swift ("B+) and Kenny Chesney (F). POP & HISS

? What were they wearing as the country stars arrived on the CMA red carpet? Check out The Envelope's photo gallery.

? "I sell them! No, the Oscars I keep next to each other, so they can chat!" says two-time Academy Award champ Denzel Washington ("Training Day," "Glory"). HOLLYWOOD.COM

? Us Weekly film critic Thelma Adams sends us this updated Oscar assessment: "Now that I've seen 'Rabbit Hole,' sorry, Nicole Kidman. You will not be nominated for that downward-spiral bummer. This one's disappearing down the proverbial rabbit hole. So, who in her place? My guess is Lesley Manville ('Another Year') on the rise. There will be more movement on the best supporting actress race, but best actress is solidifying. On the open question Annette Bening or Natalie Portman, it’s still too close to call. The real jockeying from here on out will be in the competitive best supporting actress race." THELMADAMS.COM

? When Tim Appelo worked as an editor at Amazon, he observed what a huge impact an e-mail blast from the company had when it did promos for books and DVDs. Now that Amazon.com is hyping its list of editors' picks for best films and TV shows of 2010, he wonders "could those innumerably huge e-mails and page views affect the Oscar race?" HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

? Even though director Jean-Luc Godard won't attend the bash for recipients of honorary Oscars on Saturday night, "We are going to honor Monsieur Godard in the same manner that we will honor the others, with grace and style," producer Sid Ganis tells Steve Pond at The Wrap. The others to be feted in person: director/producer Francis Ford Coppola, historian/preservationist Kevin Brownlow and actor Eli Wallach. THE ODDS, THE WRAP

? "Mainstream commercial studio releases such as 'Love & Other Drugs,' 'Secretariat' and 'Morning Glory' are in some ways at a disadvantage without fest support, but that doesn’t mean they are out of the running" for the Oscars, says Anne Thompson. INDIE WIRE

? Tina Fey was in the nation's capital Wednesday to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the Kennedy Center. At age 40, she is by far the youngest recipient of this prestigious prize and just the third woman on the honor roll following Whoopi Goldberg (2001) and Lily Tomlin (2003). GOLD DERBY

-- Tom O'Neil

Photo of Taylor Swift: Larry Busacca / Getty Images

Photo of Oscar: Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences

 

Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton--and Gwyneth Paltrow--share spotlight at 44th Country Music Assn. Awards

Texas country music firebrand Miranda Lambert won big at the 44th Country Music Assn. Awards ceremony on Wednesday in Nashville, taking home trophies for best album, top female vocalist and top video in connection with her album “Revolution.” Brad Paisley took the night’s top award as entertainer of the year, and Lady Antebellum’s chart-topping hit “Need You Now” was named the year’s best single.

The entertainer award to Paisley recognizes a combination of live performance, recorded music and ambassadorship for country music. “My hero is Little Jimmy Dickens,” Paisley said in a broken voice, of the Grand Ole Opry veteran, “and he has a saying: ‘If you see a turtle on a fencepost, it had help getting up there.' I feel like a turtle on a fencepost at this point.” [For the record: A previous version of this post was edited to describe Brad Paisley as "mimicking" his hero, Little Jimmy Dickens, in his acceptance speech. In his comments, Paisley was paying tribute to Dickens, not imitating him.]

Lambert, whose awards came on the day she turned 27, said, “ ‘Revolution’ has truly caused a revolution in my life this year. ... It’s my baby, it’s what I live for. Thank you so much for loving it, too.” “The House That Built Me,” a Tom Douglas-Allen Shamblin composition that Lambert sang on the album, was named song and video of the year.

Blake Shelton, Lambert’s fianc, took two awards, including male vocalist in what may have been the evening’s biggest surprise, trumping George Strait, Keith Urban,  Paisley and Dierks Bentley. Sugarland took the vocal duo trophy.

Atlanta’s party-minded jam group the Zac Brown Band was named new artist of the year, and Lady Antebellum, a Georgia-based trio, also collected vocal group honors on a show that sought to pump up its celebrity quotient, and ratings, by showcasing actress Gwyneth Paltrow in her public debut as a country singer.

Poll: Will Miranda Lambert reign as new CMA Awards queen?

You know something weird is going on at the Country Music Assn. Awards when Miranda Lambert gets two nominations for best single of the year ("The House That Built Me," "White Liar") and Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift don't even make the list! In fact, Lambert is so popular with the music organization that she set a new record for the most CMA nominations  reaped by a female artist with nine.

Will she emerge as the new reigning queen of country Wednesday night when the prizes are bestowed on CBS? If so, those major award victories would come at a nice time — today is her 27th birthday.

Lambert can't escape showdowns with Underwood and Swift in other top races, though. Lambert is up against Underwood for best album and squares off against both in the battle to be named best female vocalist.

For live blogging of the show, check in with my music colleagues on Pop & Hiss.

For a full report of the night's events, come back to Awards Tracker later Wednesday night.

And for a quick check on the winners, click here.

-- Tom O'Neil