The field of nominees for this year’s CMT Music Awards was announced Wednesday morning (May 12th), and Carrie Underwood leads the pack with five nominations in three categories — meaning she’ll be up against herself twice.
Underwood scores two nods in the Video of the Year category (“Something in the Water” and “Somethin’ Bad” with Miranda Lambert), two in the Female Video category (“Little Toy Guns” and “Something in the Water”) and one more in the Collaborative Video list (“Somethin’ Bad”). The Oklahoma native took home the night’s top honor, Video of the Year, in 2014 for “See You Again.”
Lady Antebellum revealed the Male and Female Video nominees on NBC’s Today show, and join Kenny Chesney with an impressive four nominations each. Later they performed their new single, “Long Stretch of Love,” for Today‘s early-morning audience.
“This is my favorite category,” Lady A’s Charles Kelley quipped before reading off the Female Video contenders.
Luke Bryan and Underwood unveiled the Group and Breakthrough Video nominees on their social media pages, and country fans were enlisted to do the same for the Duo, Collaborative and Performance Video of the Year nominees on CMT’s social sites. Meanwhile, the 12 first-round contenders in the coveted video of the year category were revealed on the Today show’s website.
Florida Georgia Line, Jason Aldean and Lambert each landed three nods, as did fresh-faced duo Maddie & Tae. Their bro-country bashing debut “Girl in a Country Song” led to nominations in the Video of the Year, Duo Video and Breakout Video categories.
Other surprises include the virtual snubbing of Blake Shelton, Eric Church and Little Big Town, who only received one paltry nomination each despite massively successful years, and some unusual names for a country awards show. Pop princess Katy Perry, R&B heavyweight John Legend, classic-rock royalty Bob Seger and rapper-singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc all earned nominations stemming from CMT special events.
The 2015 CMT Music Awards air live on June 10th at 8 p.m. ET/PT and are completely fan voted. Voting begins now at CMT.com and runs through June 8th at 10 a.m. ET, when the final nominees in the Video of the Year category will be announced. Fans can then cast their final votes during the show to determine the night’s big winner.
2015 CMT Music Awards Nominees:
Video of the Year
Carrie Underwood, “Something in the Water”
Darius Rucker, “Homegrown Honey”
Dierks Bentley, “Drunk on a Plane”
Florida Georgia Line, “Dirt”
Jason Aldean, “Burnin’ It Down”
Kenny Chesney, “American Kids”
Lady Antebellum, “Bartender”
Lee Brice, “I Don’t Dance”
Luke Bryan, “Play It Again”
Maddie & Tae, “Girl in a Country Song”
Miranda Lambert with Carrie Underwood, “Somethin’ Bad”
Sam Hunt, “Leave the Night On”
Male Video of the Year
Dierks Bentley, “Drunk on a Plane”
Eric Church, “Talladega”
Jason Aldean, “Burnin’ It Down”
Keith Urban, “Somewhere in My Car”
Kenny Chesney, “American Kids”
Luke Bryan, “Play It Again”
Female Video of the Year
Carrie Underwood, “Little Toy Guns”
Carrie Underwood, “Something in the Water”
Lee Ann Womack, “The Way I’m Livin'”
Miranda Lambert, “Little Red Wagon”
RaeLynn, “God Made Girls”
Reba, “Going Out Like That”
Group Video of the Year
A Thousand Horses, “Smoke”
Eli Young Band, “Dust”
Lady Antebellum, “Bartender”
Little Big Town, “Day Drinking”
The Band Perry, “Chainsaw”
Zac Brown Band, “All Alright”
Duo Video of the Year
Big & Rich, “Look at You”
Brothers Osborne, “Rum”
Florida Georgia Line, “Dirt”
Florida Georgia Line, “Sun Daze”
Maddie & Tae, “Girl in a Country Song”
The Swon Brothers, “Later On”
Collaborative Video of the Year
Blake Shelton feat. Ashley Monroe, “Lonely Tonight”
Brantley Gilbert feat. Justin Moore and Thomas Rhett, “Small Town Throwdown”
Jennifer Nettles feat. Brandy Clark, “His Hands”
Kenny Chesney with Grace Potter, “Wild Child”
Miranda Lambert with Carrie Underwood, “Somethin’ Bad”
Tim McGraw feat. Faith Hill, “Meanwhile Back at Mamas”
CMT Performance of the Year
Bob Seger and Jason Aldean, “Turn the Page” from CMT Crossroads
Brett Eldredge, “Beat of the Music” from CMT’s Ultimate Kickoff Party
John Legend and Lee Ann Womack, “You & I (Nobody in the World)” from CMT Crossroads
Katy Perry and Kacey Musgraves, “Roar” from CMT Crossroads
Keith Urban, “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World” from 2014 CMT Artists of the Year
Kenny Chesney, “American Kids” from Instant Jam
Lady Antebellum and Aloe Blacc, “Wake Me Up” from CMT’s Ultimate Kickoff Party
Lady Antebellum and Chris Stapleton, “Drink a Beer” from 2014 CMT Artists of the Year
Breakthrough Video of the Year
Chase Rice, “Gonna Wanna Tonight”
Frankie Ballard, “Sunshine & Whiskey”
Kelsea Ballerini, “Love Me Like You Mean It”
Maddie & Tae, “Girl in a Country Song”
RaeLynn, “God Made Girls”
Sam Hunt, “Leave the Night On”
