Dolly Parton to host annual ACM Awards

Air time

ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS SHOW awards show will be broadcast live from 7 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, May 3, on the CBS Television Network, including WIBW, Channel 13, in Topeka, and KCTV, Channel 5, in Kansas City, Mo. Web site for Academy of Country Music Awards is http://www.acmcountry.com. The major nominees are:

Nominees

ENTERTAINER: Dixie Chicks, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Sawyer Brown, Shania Twain.

MALE VOCALIST: Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Collin Raye, George Strait.

FEMALE VOCALIST: Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Jo Dee Messina, Shania Twain, Chely Wright.

DUET OR GROUP: Asleep at the Wheel, Brooks & Dunn, Dixie Chicks, Lonestar, Sawyer Brown.

NEW MALE VOCALIST: Gary Allan, Chad Brock, Brad Paisley.

NEW FEMALE VOCALIST: Jessica Andrews, Julie Reeves, Chalee Tennison.

NEW GROUP OR DUET: Montgomery Gentry, SHeDaisy, Yankee Grey.

ALBUM: "A Place in the Sun," Tim McGraw; "Breathe," Faith Hill; "Cold Hard Truth," George Jones; "Fly," Dixie Chicks; "Ride With Bob," Asleep at the Wheel.

SONG: "Amazed," Lonestar; "Breathe," Faith Hill; "Choices," George Jones; "He Didn't Have to Be," Brad Paisley; "Please Remember Me," Tim McGraw.

SINGLE RECORD: "Amazed," Lonestar; "He Didn't Have to Be," Brad Paisley; "Please Remember Me," Tim McGraw; "Ready to Run," Dixie Chicks; "Write This Down," George Strait.

VOCAL EVENT OF THE YEAR: "A Country Boy Can Survive," Chad Brock with Hank Williams Jr. and George Jones; "After the Gold Rush," Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt; "God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You," Alabama and 'N Sync; "My Kind of Woman/ My Kind of Man," Vince Gill and Patty Loveless; "When I Said I Do," Clint Black with Lisa Hartman Black.

VIDEO: "Breathe," Faith Hill; "He Didn't Have to Be," Brad Paisley; "How Do You Like Me Now," Toby Keith; "Ready to Run," Dixie Chicks; "Single White Female," Chely Wright.

The ACM Awards:

at a glance

In the Faith Hill- Tim McGraw household, everyone is a winner.

By JIM PATTERSON

The Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--- It's business-as-usual in the Faith Hill-Tim McGraw household for mom and dad to win honors at awards shows.

"Gracie gets up and pretends like she's making an acceptance speech," said McGraw, describing his daughter, almost 3. "Maggie (19 months) claps for her.

"So, they're sort of getting the idea."

McGraw has seven nominations, including the top award of best entertainer, at this year's Academy of Country Music Awards, which will be presented Wednesday night in Universal City, Calif. He is up against his wife, the Dixie Chicks, Sawyer Brown and Shania Twain. Garth Brooks won it last year.

He says his competition with Hill is very friendly.

"If either one of us wins, we get to bring the trophy home to our house," McGraw said. "It doesn't really matter."

McGraw is also nominated for best male vocalist. Hill is nominated for best female vocalist. The Dixie Chicks have also been nominated for best duet or group, best album for "Fly," and best single and best video for "Ready to Run."

The Academy of Country Music Awards show will feature more than 20 performers, including Hill, McGraw, Lonestar, George Jones, Asleep at the Wheel and Reba McEntire.

Dolly Parton will host, and CBS will broadcast the show live (7 to 10 p.m.) from the Universal Amphitheatre. It is the only one of the three major annual country music awards shows to take place outside of Nashville.

"We take pride in bringing a little bit of Hollywood to country music," said producer RAC Clark, son of "American Bandstand" legend Dick Clark. "And Dolly has that connection to Hollywood."

Accordingly, presenters will include Billy Bob Thornton and Marie Osmond.

"I'll just try to keep things moving," Parton said. "And if I've got something fun to say, something clever or something meaningful, hopefully I'll be able to do that and make it all seem like it's going faster."

Country music fans shouldn't miss the opening of the show. Alan Jackson and George Strait will perform their duet "Murder on Music Row," a sharp critique of Nashville's recent pop-leaning musical direction. Jackson will also sing with Hank Williams Jr. on Williams' "Blues Man," which Jackson recorded on his latest album.

The Judds will perform their reunion single "Stuck in Love."

Parton, who will perform her bluegrass version of Billy Joel's "Travelin' Prayer," promises to bring spontaneity to a show that has done without a host for the past two years.

"I have to stick to the cards as far as knowing who the guests are and what they're going to do," she said. "But you know me well enough to know that I can't stick to nothing."

McGraw, Jackson, Strait, Toby Keith and Collin Raye are nominated for best male vocalist. Hill, Twain, Martina McBride, Jo Dee Messina and Chely Wright are nominated for best female vocalist. The Dixie Chicks, Asleep at the Wheel, Brooks & Dunn, Lonestar and Sawyer Brown are nominated for best duet or group.

Jones, who survived a near-fatal automobile crash a year ago, capped a comeback year with three nominations: best album for "Cold Hard Truth," best song for "Choices" and best vocal event, collaborating with Chad Brock and Hank Williams Jr. on Williams' "A Country Boy Can Survive."

acm awards

Copyright 2000
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.