Nominees Announced for Third Annual “American Country Awards” Airing Live Monday, December 10, on FOX

The third annual AMERICAN COUNTRY AWARDS will air live from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas Monday, Dec. 10 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX. Luke Bryan leads the AMERICAN COUNTRY AWARDS nominees with seven nominations; Lady Antebellum and Zac Brown Band each earned six nods; and Eric Church and Taylor Swift garnered five nominations.

A “Song of the Year” category also has been added to this year’s event, in an effort to pay tribute not only to country music’s top performers, but to its top songwriters, as well. The nominees are determined by the Professional Songwriting Division of the Nashville Songwriters Association International.

Starting today, fans can vote once each day for their favorite AMERICAN COUNTRY AWARDS nominees at www.theacas.com. Voting is open until Monday, Nov. 12 for all categories, except for Artist of the Year, which closes on Friday, Dec. 7. The nominees for each award category have been determined by four media measurement companies: BigChampagne (record sales and media consumption); Great American Country (video airplay); Mediabase (radio airplay); Pollstar (touring data); and Nashville Songwriters Association International.

Hosted by multi-platinum recording artist Trace Adkins and Emmy and Tony Award winner Kristin Chenoweth, the two-hour live music spectacular is the only country music awards show that gives fans the opportunity to vote for their favorite artists not only in traditional categories but also in a previously unrecognized area – touring – encompassing the entire spectrum of country music and bestowing honors that no other awards show has.

The AMERICAN COUNTRY AWARDS will feature performances and appearances by the year’s chart-topping country artists. Performers and presenters will be announced soon.

Following is the list of categories and nominees for the AMERICAN COUNTRY AWARDS:

Brantley Gilbert, “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do”

Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw

AMERICAN COUNTRY AWARDS is executive-produced by Bob Bain (TEEN CHOICE 2012, “Kids’ Choice Awards”). Fletcher Foster, Paul Flattery and Tisha Fein serve as producers. Greg Sills is supervising producer. Michael Dempsey will direct the live special.

Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino is a unique destination resort set on 120 lush acres on the Las Vegas Strip. The resort offers three distinct hotel experiences: Mandalay Bay, a AAA Four Diamond award-winning hotel, with 3,211 luxurious rooms and suites reflecting a modern tropical ambiance; Four Seasons Hotel, a AAA Five Diamond hotel-within-a-hotel, offering 424 rooms and suites; and the stand-alone all-suite THEhotel, which will be redesigned and rebranded as Delano Las Vegas in early 2014. Mandalay Bay boasts an 11-acre tropical pool paradise, featuring real sand, a wave pool and the only climate-controlled, poolside gaming in the city. Other property highlights include world-class entertainment at the 12,000-seat Mandalay Bay Events Center, award-winning dining by celebrity chefs and restaurateurs, Shark Reef Aquarium and the 1.7-million-square-foot Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Mandalay Bay’s offerings also include BATHHOUSE Spa, House of Blues Concert Hall and restaurant, and The Shoppes at Mandalay Place, a collection of unique boutiques and restaurants. In 2013, Mandalay Bay will become home to a resident Cirque du Soleil production based on the music and choreography of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Mandalay Bay is a wholly owned subsidiary of MGM Resorts International™ (NYSE: MGM). For more information and reservations, visit mandalaybay.com or call toll free at (877) 632-7800 or find us on Facebook and Twitter.

BigChampagne integrates, analyzes and reports information about the sale, broadcast and consumption of popular entertainment media. Our partners and sources for data include retailers, online and traditional (radio and television) broadcasters, major content companies, subscription services, social networks and other venues where entertainment is enjoyed.

Great American Country is the leader in country music entertainment, and delivers to viewers the widest variety of country music, its artists and the lifestyles they influence. GAC broadcasts original country music programming, music performance specials, live concerts and music videos. GAC is available in more than 60 million households and online at www.GACTV.com. GAC is owned by Scripps Networks Interactive, the leading developer of lifestyle-oriented content for television and the Internet, including HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel andTravel Channel. Scripps Networks is based in Knoxville, TN, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Chevy Chase, MD and Nashville, and is a unit of Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE:SNI).

Mediabase monitors the airplay of over 1,800 radio stations, updated continuously 24 hours daily. Mediabase produces historic and current airplay data for U.S. and Canadian radio stations, satellite radio, and music television. Formats monitored include Mainstream Top 40, Rhythmic, Mainstream Rock, Active Rock, Modern Rock, Classic Rock, Triple A, Country, Oldies, AC, Hot AC, Urban, Urban AC, Smooth AC, Christian AC, Gospel and Latin.  In addition to providing vital airplay information to radio stations in the U.S. and Canada, Mediabase provides information to every major record label and distributor, as well as concert promoters, artists, managers, music publishers, movie studios, video game developers and more.
Mediabase charts are published weekly in USA Today, and are used on nearly all radio countdown shows and dozens of websites and magazines.

Pollstar is the only trade publication covering the worldwide concert industry. It has been supplying in-depth information to every professional concert promoter, booking agent, artist manager, facility executive and every other entity involved in the live entertainment business for more than 25 years. Pollstar gets its information primarily from the agents, managers and promoters who are producing concerts. It employs a staff of more than 25 full-time professionals who do nothing except research and build their tour database.

The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) is the world’s largest not-for-profit songwriters trade association. Established in 1967, the membership of more than 5,000 active and pro members spans the United States and six other countries. NSAI is dedicated to protecting the rights of and serving aspiring and professional songwriters in all genres of music.