cma awards

The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967. (The Entertainer of the Year award that night went to Eddy Arnold.) The second annual CMA awards were presented in October 1968; NBC broadcast the presentation a few weeks later). Beginning in 1969, the awards were televised live, usually during October or November of each year. They continued to be broadcast on NBC until switching to CBS in 1972, where they remained until 2005. Starting in November 2006, the Annual CMA Awards are televised on ABC. The CMA Awards ceremonies have almost always taken place at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry (initially at the Ryman Auditorium, and from 1974 on, at the Opry's new location in Opryland), with four exceptions: The 1967 awards were presented at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium, the 2005 ceremonies took place in New York at Madison Square Garden and the 2007 and 2008 awards were presented at the Sommet Center in downtown Nashville.

Annual awards are given in the following twelve categories: Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Female Vocalist, New Artist (previously known as the Horizon Award until 2008), Vocal Group, Vocal Duo, Single, Album, Song, Music Event, Music Video, and Musician.

The show featured performances from top country music stars as well as up-and-coming new artists who perform snippets of their hit songs before going to a commercial (the new artist bumpers were discontinued in 2002).

Major awards Year Entertainer of the Year Male Vocalist of the Year Female Vocalist of the Year Song of the Year 2008 Kenny Chesney Brad Paisley Carrie Underwood Jennifer Nettles – "Stay" 2007 Kenny Chesney Brad Paisley Carrie Underwood Bill Anderson, Jamey Johnson, Buddy Cannon – "Give It Away" 2006 Kenny Chesney Keith Urban Carrie Underwood Craig Wiseman, Ronnie Dunn – "Believe" 2005 Keith Urban Keith Urban Gretchen Wilson Bill Anderson, Jon Randall – "Whiskey Lullaby" 2004 Kenny Chesney Keith Urban Martina McBride Craig Wiseman, Tim Nichols – "Live Like You Were Dying" 2003 Alan Jackson Alan Jackson Martina McBride Doug Johnson, Kim Williams – "Three Wooden Crosses" 2002 Alan Jackson Alan Jackson Martina McBride Alan Jackson – "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" 2001 Tim McGraw Toby Keith Lee Ann Womack Larry Cordle, Larry Shell – "Murder on Music Row" 2000 Dixie Chicks Tim McGraw Faith Hill Mark D. Sanders, Tia Sillers – "I Hope You Dance" 1999 Shania Twain Tim McGraw Martina McBride Beth Neilsen Chapman, Annie Roboff, Rob Lerner – "This Kiss" 1998 Garth Brooks George Strait Trisha Yearwood Steve Wariner, Billy Kirsch