Country music superstar Blake Shelton was surprisingly left out of the list of nominees for the 2017 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards. His former flame Miranda Lambert, meanwhile, received an impressive five nominations to dominate the field.
Shelton is a five-time winner of the Male Vocalist of the Year, and his absence from the list of this year’s nominees has surprised many. Billboard reported that Shelton has been dominating the charts , which makes it intriguing that Blake was not nominated for any of the categories for the 51st CMA Awards. The five who were nominated for the award are Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Thomas Rhett, Chris Stapleton, and Keith Urban.
Shelton is not the only big name in country music who failed to garner a nomination. Jason Aldean is another surprising snub considering that he won Entertainer of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards early in April.
Kenny Chesney is a candidate for Vocal Event of the Year for his astounding two-night performance in August in which he performed for a total of 121,624 fans. Despite this and the fact that he won Entertainer of the Year eight previous times, Hesney was held out of the nominees for other CMA Awards.
Another surprising snub is the song “The Fighter” by the duo of Carrie Underwood and Urban. The song has been among the top charters since its release yet it failed to get the nod for Song of the Year. The two should’ve also been nominated for their impressive performances, particularly those at the CMT Music Awards and the Grammy Awards. As a consolation, Underwood is in the fight for Female Vocalist of the Year while Urban was nominated in four categories, the second most for this year’s CMA Awards.
Florida Georgia Line was expected to get more than one nomination after their brilliant collaborations with Tim McGraw and the Backstreet Boys along with their two highly successful tours.
Despite receiving a total of five nominations, Lambert was interestingly not among the possible winners of the much coveted Entertainer of the Year Award. Some are already pointing out the lack of a female artist among the nominees for the category. Lambert, who used to be married to Shelton, was the best female bet to be named one of the candidates for the award. Instead, Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Church, Stapleton, and Urban will duke it out for the association’s top prize.
Celebrating the @cma nominations over coffee with 7 of my furry friends. Thank you fans,friends, family & Nashville for supporting me.? pic.twitter.com/sJjDNjLehL
— Miranda Lambert (@mirandalambert) September 4, 2017
Lambert will vie for the Single of the Year and Song of the Year for “Tin Man,” “Music Video of the Year,” and “Female Vocalist of the Year.” Her new album, The Weight of These Wings , was nominated for Album of the Year, which marks the fourth time Lambert has been nominated for the award.
The CMA Awards snub is the latest controversy involving Shelton. In the past few weeks, there was a rumor that Blake and his girlfriend of two years, Gwen Stefani, called it quits. This rumor has since been debunked as Shelton and his fellow The Voice coach are still happy together . In fact, there’s a rumor that Shelton and Stefani are planning to get married. The loudest rumor perhaps is that there may be a baby in the very near future for Blake and Gwen.
The nominees for the 51st annual CMA Awards were announced on Monday by country music artists Lauren Alaina, Dustin Lynch, and Brothers Osborne during a guest appearance on Good Morning America . The awards night will be held on Nov. 8 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
Watch all #CMAawards nominees being announced on @GMA ‘s Facebook page here: https://t.co/b9LIwrqnaE pic.twitter.com/QwPkSSbtxY
— CMA Country Music (@CountryMusic) September 4, 2017
[Featured Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]
