Maren Morris heard her voice a lot when the nominees for the 53^rd CMA Awards were announced this week. Six times, to be exact, for a total of 8 chances at trophies, more than anyone else on the list. In fact, she’s up in every category she possibly could be except Entertainer of the Year – female vocalist, album, single, song, video, and musical event, and as producer on the album and musical event contender “All My Favorite People,” she could get two more. Entertainer of the Year finally includes a woman – Carrie Underwood, who is also competing for female vocalist and album. Dan + Shay are up for duo, album, single and song, with the pair’s Dan Smyers adding a couple of chances by writing “Tequila” and producing “Speechless” and their album.

But where is Kane Brown? He’s broken records in the past year, hits number one every time he sneezes, and has never been nominated for a CMA. Did you notice Luke Bryan is missing from this list, too? He’s won Entertainer twice and consistently sells out stadiums. And let’s look at that new artist category: Midland’s already been in it, and is Carly Pearce really new? “Every Little Thing” went to number one in 2017, and the ACMs nominated her for New Female Vocalist more than a year ago. Meanwhile, there’s no room for Jimmie Allen, who definitely belongs in that category. And this may not be a popular opinion, but just based on its performance on our stations, I think “Old Town Road” should have gotten Lil’ Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus into the single and song categories, but they’re up for Musical Event, so they weren’t totally disregarded. 

This is a surprise: Dan + Shay’s “Tequila” was nominated at last year’s CMAs for Single of the Year. And this year it’s up for Song? What? Apparently, because it was still on the chart within the eligibility period (July 2018 through June 2019), it can still be on the list. 

This year’s list of nominees shows some growth in acknowledging women, too. In the four major categories – Entertainer, Album, Single, and Song – there are eight female contenders. That’s news because last year there were only three. And check out that Musician of the Year category: Jenee Fleenor is Blake Shelton’s fiddle player, and she’s the only woman ever nominated in that category since it was added to the show in 1988. Read that again. There are thousands of female session and touring musicians in Nashville and until now none have ever been nominated for a CMA Award. I don’t know whether to applaud the CMA membership for finally getting it right, or shame them for taking so long. Progress is progress, though, so let’s go with the applause. 

See the full list of nominees below, and check out the show hosted by Carrie Underwood with a little help from Reba and Dolly, November 13^th.

 Entertainer of the Year
Garth Brooks
Eric Church
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Keith Urban

Male Vocalist of the Year
Dierks Bentley
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban

Female Vocalist of the Year
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Maren Morris
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood

Vocal Group of the Year
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band

Vocal Duo of the Year
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Maddie & Tae

New Artist of the Year
Cody Johnson
Ashley McBryde
Midland
Carly Pearce
Morgan Wallen

Album of the Year
Thomas Rhett – Center Point Road
Carrie Underwood – Cry Pretty
Dan + Shay – Dan + Shay
Eric Church – Desperate Man
Maren Morris – Girl

Single of the Year (goes to artist)
“Burning Man” – Dierks Bentley featuring Brothers Osborne
“Girl” – Maren Morris
“God’s Country” – Blake Shelton
“Millionaire” – Chris Stapleton
“Speechless” – Dan + Shay 

Song of the Year (goes to songwriter)
“Beautiful Crazy” by Luke Combs (Like Combs, Wyatt B Durrette III, Robert Williford)
“Girl” by Maren Morris (Maren Morris, Sarah Aarons, Greg Kurstin)
“God’s Country” by Blake Shelton (Devin Dawson, Jordan Schmidt, Michael Hardy)
“Rainbow” by Kacey Musgraves (Kacey Musgraves, Natalie Hemby, Shane McAnally)
“Tequila” by Dan + Shay (Dan Smyers, Nicolle Galyon, Jordan Reynolds)

Musical Event of the Year
“All My Favorite People” – Maren Morris featuring Brothers Osborne
“Brand New Man” – Brooks & Dunn with Luke Combs
“Dive Bar” – Garth Brooks & Blake Shelton
“Old Town Road (Remix)” Lil’ Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus
“What Happens In A Small Town” – Brantley Gilbert & Lindsay Ell

Music Video of the Year
“Burning Man” – Dierks Bentley featuring Brothers Osborne (Dir. Wes Edwards)
“Girl” – Maren Morris (Dir. Dave Meyers)
“God’s Country” – Blake Shelton (Dir. Sophie Muller)
“Rainbow” – Kacey Musgraves (Dir. Hannah Lux Davis)
“Some Of It” – Eric Church (Dir. Reid Long)

Musician of the Year
Jenee Fleenor – fiddle
Paul Franklin – steel guitar
Mac McAnally – guitar
Ilya Toshinsky – banjo/guitar
Derek Wells - guitar