44th Annual ACM Awards: The 9513 Staff Predictions

Originally, the ACMs and the CMAs celebrated various styles of country music. The Nashville-based CMA Awards honored Nashville favorites while the ACM Awards honored artists and musicians who favored the sounds of the West. There was of course overlap, but throughout the years the Academy and the Association have favored the same artists to point where it’s difficult to distinguish one from the other. After witnessing the most recent CMA Awards, that doesn’t bode well for country music fans who plan on watching tonight’s broadcast of the ACM Awards. But watch, we will. Be sure to tune into our liveblog, too.

On to the predictions.

Entertainer of the Year
Kenny Chesney’s sole purpose in life revolves around the Entertainer trophy–and releasing Jimmy Buffet-style beach music–so it’s hard to bet against the guy. Several of the staff think Brad will break through this year to claim his first entertainer prize, but is his fan base mobilized enough to propel him to the top of the ballots? Does anyone have a more mobile fan base than Carrie Underwood? Those questions will be answered tonight, but for now, the staff is evenly split between Underwood, Paisely and Chesney with C.M. being the only one who thinks Urban has a shot.

Top Male Vocalist
George Strait is the favorite, but will voters feel like an Artist of the Decade award is sufficient for the current king of country music? Brad Paisley is the only other artist the staff feels has a real shot at the award, and with good reason, he won the past two years.

Top Female Vocalist
Based on our predictions, Carrie Underwood should easily walk away with the trophy here. Ben, who cast a couple of rogue predictions, was the lone dissenter.

Top Vocal Group, Top Vocal Duo, Top New Artist
Will the winners be as predictable as the staff seems to think? Probably so.

Album of the Year
Out of all the categories, this is the most interesting. On one end of the spectrum is Taylor Swift, an industry darling who sold a slew of albums. On the other end is Jamey Johnson, a critical favorite, who didn’t sell as many albums and barely snuck into the category after the Academy changed the criteria. Could the fact that the criteria was changed foreshadow a Johnson win here?

Feel free to chime in with your own opinions and predictions in the comments below, and be sure to come back at 8:00PM ET to join us for our liveblog.