Blake Shelton to Co-Host ACM's With Reba

After two years as a solo act, Reba has invited Blake Shelton to form a duo to co-host the upcoming 46th Annual Academy Of Country Music Awards. "This is an incredibly special moment for me," Shelton says. "I am humbled that Reba invited me to co-host with her. She is not only a mentor to me, but a true friend." Although Shelton promises a lot of onstage shenanigans, the pair's first hosting gig does not make them eligible for the Top Vocal Duo category. "[But] with the two of us together on live TV, you never know what we might say!" Voting for the 2011 ACM Top New Artists kicks off Jan. 27 at noon ET and the ACMs air live April 3 at 8pm ET on CBS-TV.

CMA "Country Christmas" Special COMING SOON!

The day after the 44th Annual CMA Awards, the CMA taped their latest television event. For the taping of this special, Nashville's Bridgestone Arena was transformed into a winter wonderland which included snow, Christmas trees, garland and more . The 14-song special will feature many of todays biggest country music stars performing their favorite Christmas classics:

Brad Paisley- "What Child is This?"
Kellie Pickler- "Santa, Baby"
Sugarland- "Winter Wonderland, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"
Rascal Flatts- "I'll Be Home For Christmas", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
LeAnn Rimes- "White Christmas", "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"
Martina McBride- "O Holy Night", "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"
Darius Rucker- "Candy Cane Christmas"
Little Big Town- "Go Tell It On the Mountain"
Reba- 'Santa Claus is Comin' to Town"
Sheryl Crow W/ Brad Paisley- "Run, Run Rudolph"

Be sure to set your DVR's or mark down the date! The CMA "Country Christmas" special will air at 9:30pm ET Nov. 29 on ABC.

45th Annual ACM Awards Nominees

The Nominees are in!! This morning, Blake and Reba did a great job of announcing the nominees for the 45th annual ACM Awards, and it looks like its going to be a great show! Lady Antebellum leads with seven nominations, including Album of the Year for "Lady Antebellum" and Top Vocal Group. Miranda Lambert is nominated for six awards, including Album of the Year for "Revolution" and Top Female Vocalist. Carrie Underwood also has six nominations, including Entertainer of the Year. Taylor Swift is up for five awards, Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown Band and Brad Paisley are tied with four nominations. Here is a rundown of the complete list!

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
• Kenny Chesney
• Toby Keith
• Brad Paisley
• George Strait
• Taylor Swift
• Carrie Underwood
• Keith Urban
• Zac Brown Band

TOP MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
• Kenny Chesney
• Brad Paisley
• Darius Rucker
• George Strait
• Keith Urban

TOP FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
• Miranda Lambert
• Reba McEntire
• Taylor Swift
• Carrie Underwood
• Lee Ann Womack

TOP VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
• Lady Antebellum
• Little Big Town
• Randy Rogers Band
• Rascal Flatts
• Zac Brown Band

TOP VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR
• Brooks & Dunn
• Joey + Rory
• Montgomery Gentry
• Steel Magnolia
• Sugarland

TOP NEW SOLO VOCALIST OF THE YEAR *
• Luke Bryan
• Jamey Johnson
• Chris Young

TOP NEW VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR *
• Bomshel
• Joey + Rory
• Steel Magnolia

ALBUM OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company(s)]

• American Saturday Night - Brad Paisley (Arista Nashville)
Produced by: Chris DuBois, Frank Rogers

• Lady Antebellum - Lady Antebellum (Capitol Records Nashville)
Produced by: Victoria Shaw, Paul Worley

• Play On - Carrie Underwood (19/Arista Nashville)
Produced by: Mark Bright
"Quitter" Produced by Max Martin & Shellback for Maratone Productions and Mark Bright

• Revolution - Miranda Lambert (Columbia Nashville)
Produced by: Frank Liddell, Mike Wrucke

• The Foundation - Zac Brown Band (Southern Ground / Bigger Picture / Atlantic)
Produced by: Keith Stegall, Zac Brown

SINGLE RECORD OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company(s)]

• Need You Now - Lady Antebellum (Capitol Records Nashville)
Produced by: Lady Antebellum, Paul Worley

• People Are Crazy - Billy Currington (Mercury)
Produced by: Carson Chamberlain, Billy Currington

• Red Light - David Nail (MCA Nashville)
Produced by: Frank Liddell, Mike Wrucke

• Toes - Zac Brown Band (Southern Ground / Bigger Picture / Atlantic)
Produced by: Keith Stegall, Zac Brown

• White Liar - Miranda Lambert (Columbia Nashville)
Produced by: Frank Liddell, Mike Wrucke

SONG OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Composer(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]

• Cowboy Casanova - Carrie Underwood
Composers: Mike Elizondo, Brett James, Carrie Underwood
Publishers: Brett James Cornelius Music (ASCAP), Carrie Okie Music (BMI), Rincon Ave Music
(ASCAP), Stage Three Songs (ASCAP)

• Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
Composers: Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott
Publishers: EMI Foray Music (BMI), Darth Buddha (ASCAP), Dwhaywood Music (BMI), Hillary
Dawn Publishing (SESAC), Radiobullets Publishing (BMI), Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
(BMI), Year Of The Dog Music (ASCAP)

• People Are Crazy - Billy Currington
Composers: Bobby Braddock, Troy Jones
Publishers: Crozier Music Enterprises LLC (BMI), Mighty Nice Music (BMI), Sony/ATV Tree
Publishing (BMI), Tiltawhirl Music (BMI)

• White Liar - Miranda Lambert
Composers: Natalie Hemby, Miranda Lambert
Publishers: Pink Dog Publishing (BMI), Sony/ATV Tree Publishing (BMI), Tiltawhirl Music
(BMI)

• You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift
Composers: Liz Rose, Taylor Swift
Publishers: Sony/ATV Tree Publishing (BMI), Taylor Swift Music (BMI)

VIDEO OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)] (Off Camera Award)

• Boots On – Randy Houser
Producer: Eric Welch
Director: Eric Welch (Drake footage: Vickie Vaughn)

• Need You Now – Lady Antebellum
Producer: Clarke Gallican
Director: David McClister

• Welcome To The Future – Brad Paisley
Producers: Mark Kalbfeld, Jim Shea, Peter Tilden
Director: Jim Shea

• White Liar – Miranda Lambert
Producer: Tameron Hedge
Director: Chris Hicky

• You Belong With Me – Taylor Swift
Producer: Randy Brewer
Director: Roman White

VOCAL EVENT OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company] (Off Camera
Award)

• Hillbilly Bone - Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins (Reprise Records / Warner Music
Nashville)
Producer: Scott Hendricks

• Honky Tonk Stomp - Brooks & Dunn featuring Billy Gibbons (Arista Nashville)
Producer: Ronnie Dunn, Terry McBride

• I Told You So - Carrie Underwood featuring Randy Travis (19/Arista Nashville)
Producer: Mark Bright

• I’m Alive - Kenny Chesney with Dave Matthews (Blue Chair/BNA)
Produced by: Buddy Cannon, Kenny Chesney

• Seeing Stars - Jack Ingram featuring Patty Griffin (Big Machine Records)
Produced by: Jack Ingram, Jeremy Stover

Be sure to tune in to the 45th annual ACM Awards on Sunday, April 18th to find our if your favorites won.

ACM Nominee Announcements Tomorrow Morning!

Be sure to tune in to CBS' "Early Show" tomorrow morning. At about 8:15ET, Blake Shelton and Reba McEntire will be in the studio to announce the nominees for the 2010 Academy of Country Music Awards! Also, don't forget to vote on VoteACM.com for the nominees in these three categories:

TOP NEW SOLO VOCALIST
• Luke Bryan
• Jamey Johnson
• Chris Young

TOP NEW VOCAL DUO
• Bomshel
• Joey + Rory
• Steel Magnolia

TOP NEW VOCAL GROUP
• Eli Young Band
• Gloriana
• The Lost Trailers

Fan voting for these three categories will begin at VoteACM.com on Friday, February 26, and will close
on Friday, March 12. The winner in each category will be announced in mid-March and will move on to
compete for Top New Artist. Voting for the Top New Artist category will begin at VoteACM.com on
Thursday, April 1, and will close on April 18, with the winner being announced live during the 45th
Annual Academy of Country Music Awards broadcast on the CBS Television Network. Go to VoteACM.com now to cast your vote!