The nominees have been announced and the show date has been set! The Academy of Country Music is scheduled to air on CBS on May 23 with Reba once again hosting.

It is shaping up to be a spectacular show with the prestigious Triple Crown Award up for grabs if either Keith Urban or Rascal Flatts wins the Entertainer of the Year award. Each artist has won the award for Top New Artist and Top Artist in their category and if they walk away with the big prize, they receive the Triple Crown Award. There have only been six artists that have achieved this honor, Barbara Mandrell, The Dixie Chicks, Brooks & Dunn, Mickey Gilley, Merle Haggard and Kenny Chesney.

Brad Paisley is the top nominee with six total, Brooks & Dunn and Sugarland are right behind him with five nominations and Rascal Flatts and Carrie Underwood each came away with four nominations each. If tradition holds true, you can expect most of the nominees to appear and perform on the show. With Reba McEntire hosting the event, you can count on lots of laughs and down home humor to reign throughout the show. She has settled nicely into the host role over the eight years that she has been the front person.

Vince Gill is being honored this year with the Academy of Country Music/The Home Depot Humanitarian Award. Past winners have included Reba McEntire (2001), Martina McBride (2004) and Neal McCoy (2005). The honor allows the artist to build a playgroud in the city of his/her choosing to benefit the community.

Top Male Vocalist
Dierks Bentley
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
George Strait
Keith Urban

Top Female Vocalist
Sara Evans
Martina McBride
Carrie Underwood
Gretchen Wilson
Lee Ann Womack

Top Vocal Group
Alabama
Little Big Town
Lonestar
Rascal Flatts
Sugarland

Top Vocal Duo
Big & Rich
Brooks & Dunn
Montgomery Gentry
Van Zant
The Warren Brothers

Top New Male Vocalist
Jason Aldean
Billy Currington
Craig Morgan

Top New Female Vocalist
Miranda Lambert
Julie Roberts
Carrie Underwood

Top New Duo or Vocal Group
Big & Rich
Little Big Town
Sugarland

Album of the Year
Feels Like Today by Rascal Flatts
There’s More Where That Came From by Lee Ann Womack
Time Well Wasted by Brad Paisley
Tough All Over by Gary Allan
Twice the Speed of Life by Sugarland

Single Record of the Year
Alcohol by Brad Paisley
Baby Girl by Sugarland
Believe by Brooks & Dunn
Best I Ever Had by Gary Allan
Jesus Take the Wheel by Carrie Underwood

Song of the Year
Baby Girl by Sugarland
Believe by Brooks & Dunn
Jesus Take the Wheel by Carrie Underwood
Skin (Sarabeth) by Rascal Flatts
When I Get Where I’M Going by Brad Paisley & Dolly Parton

Video of the Year
As Good as I Once Was by Toby Keith
Believe by Brooks & Dunn
I May Hate Myself in the Morning by Lee Ann Womack
Kerosene by Miranda Lambert
When I Get Where I’M Going by Brad Paisley & Dolly Parton

Vocal Event of the Year
I Play Chicken with the Train by Cowboy Troy w/Big & Rich
Like We Never Loved At All by Faith Hill w/Tim McGraw
When I Get Where I’M Going by Brad Paisley & Dolly Parton
Who Says You Can’t Go Home by Jennifer Nettles & Bon Jovi

Entertainer of the Year
Brooks & Dunn
Kenny Chesney
Toby Keith
Rascal Flatts
Keith Urban