American Country Awards

American Country Awards
Awards show logo
Awarded for	Achievements in the Country music industry.
Country	United States
Presented by	Nancy O'Dell (2010) Trace Adkins (2010-2013) Kristin Chenoweth (2011-12) Danica Patrick (2013)[1]
First awarded	2010
Website	http://www.theacas.com/
Television/radio coverage
Network	Fox

The American Country Awards (ACA) is an annual country music awards show, entirely voted on by fans online. Created in 2010 by the Fox Network, the awards honor country music artists for singles, albums, music videos and touring categories.^[2] In 2012, "Song of the Year" was added with the nominations coming from the Nashville Songwriters International Association. In addition to the CMA Awards, the ACM Awards, and the CMT Music Awards, it is the fourth major-awards show completely dedicated to the country music industry.^[3] The first two ceremonies took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 6, 2010 and December 5, 2011.^[2][2][3][3] The 2012 ceremony took place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, on December 10. Luke Bryan won nine awards, including artist and album of the year, while Miranda Lambert won three. Carrie Underwood won female artist of the year and Lauren Alaina won new artist of the year. The show was executive produced by Bob Bain, produced by Paul Flattery, Tisha Fein, Kelly Brock and Fletcher Foster and directed by Michael Dempsey. The ratings for ACCA dropped dramatically compared to the 2013 American Country Awards. According to TV By The Numbers, 18-49 Ratings/Share dropped from 1.4/4 to 0.9/3 and viewership dropped from 5.14 million to 3.39 million. Due to the drop in viewers, the ACA's were discontinued after its fourth show in 2013 and replaced with American Country Countdown Awards.

History

Nominees for the first inaugural awards show were announced on Monday October 18, 2010.^[4] Lady Antebellum and Easton Corbin led the field with seven nominations each, followed by Carrie Underwood with six nominations, and Miranda Lambert and Josh Turner each had five nominations.^[5] Voting continued through November 8, except for Artist of the Year; which closed on December 4.^[5] Trace Adkins was the host of the awards show.^[6] Winners in each category received a custom-made Fender guitar in lieu of trophies.^[6] In 2010, the guitar was the Stratocaster model, in 2011 it was the Telecaster. At the 2010 ceremonies, Carrie Underwood was the top winner with 6 awards, including the first-ever Artist of the Year.^[6] Rascal Flatts received the Decade Award, Toby Keith received the Visionary Artist award and Alan Jackson received the Greatest Hits Artist award.^[6] In 2011, Jason Aldean was the big winner with 6 Awards, including Artist of the year. In 2012, Luke Bryan was the big winner with 7 Awards, including Artist of the year. Alabama received the Greatest Hits Artist award and Toby Keith was Artist of the Decade. The artist who has won the most ACAs is Carrie Underwood with 12 (6 in 2010, 3 in 2011, 2 in 2012, 1 in 2013) Luke Bryan has the most for a Male artist with 10 (7 in 2012, 3 in 2013) and Lady Antebellum has the most for a group with 9 (4 in 2010, 1 in 2011, 2 in 2012, 2 in 2013).

On December 31, 2011, Fox aired a country music-themed New Year's Eve special co-branded with the awards show, known as American Country New Year's Eve Live, hosted by Rodney Carrington. The special differentiated itself from competing programs through an emphasis on country music instead of popular music, with performances by Joe Nichols and Toby Keith.^[7] The special was not reprised in subsequent years, and subsequent episodes of New Year's Eve Live have reverted to pop music.

The 2014 version will be rebranded as the American Country Countdown Awards, named after the radio series of the same name, and be hosted by Kix Brooks. Nash FM and Dick Clark Productions will join the production.^[8]

2010

2011

2012

2013

Most wins

The artist who has won the most ACAs is Carrie Underwood with 12 (6 in 2010, 3 in 2011, 2 in 2012, 1 in 2013). Luke Bryan has the most for a Male artist with 10 (7 in 2012, 3 in 2013). Lady Antebellum has the most for a group with 9 (4 in 2010, 1 in 2011, 2 in 2012, 2 in 2013). In 2012, Luke Bryan won 7 Awards, including Artist of the year, the most wins in a single ceremony. He passed Jason Aldean with 7.Taylor Swift have won 4 awards (1 in 2012 and 3 in 2013).

• Carrie Underwood (12)
• Luke Bryan (10)
• Lady Antebellum (9)
• Jason Aldean (8)
• Blake Shelton (8)
• Taylor Swift (4)
• Miranda Lambert (2)

References

External links

• theacas.com - official homepage