2016 CMA Awards Predictions — Make Yours!
The 2016 CMA Awards are set to take place on Nov. 2, and this year's broadcast is gearing up to be especially exciting, as the ceremony is celebrating 50 years!
As always, the staff of Taste of Country have made our CMA Awards predictions, and we're inviting our readers to square off against us in a friendly rivalry to predict which stars will take home the evening's top awards this year. Take a look at our guesses below, and vote as often as once per hour from now until 6PM ET on Nov. 2 to weigh in on which artists you'd like to see win. Polls will close just hours before the broadcast, during which we'll see who got closer to predicting the actual results.
This year the Entertainer of the Year award is going to be particularly interesting, with Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban all in the running, along with surprise nominee Chris Stapleton, who pulled off a stunning sweep at last year's CMAs and has had a huge year as a result.
Underwood squares off with Miranda Lambert and three younger females for Female Vocalist of the Year, while the Male Vocalist category is an all-star lineup.
Eric Church is having a record year in real life; he’s nominated in five categories, leading the pack along with Maren Morris and Stapleton, while Dierks Bentley, Urban and Underwood each scored four nods. Cam scored two nominations in total.
The 2016 CMA Awards will take place Nov. 2 in Nashville, hosted again this year by Brad Paisley and Underwood. The broadcast will air live on ABC from Nashville's Bridgestone Arena.
Entertainer of the Year
Our Pick: Keith Urban. Urban is up for the night's most important category. He couldn't be hotter right now; his Ripcord album and tour have pushed his career into new territory, and the staff of Taste of Country predicts this is his year to take home this prize for the first time since 2005.
Female Vocalist of the Year
Our Pick: Carrie Underwood. This is a category Miranda Lambert has dominated in recent years, but this year, with much less activity, it's a little harder to justify. Underwood has had a huge year with her Storyteller album and tour, and she's still out there consistently belting it out. We say this is her year again, for the first time since 2008.
Male Vocalist of the Year
Our Pick: Chris Stapleton. This was his category by surprise last year, but it won't be much of a surprise to anyone when Chris Stapleton takes home Male Vocalist of the Year at the 2016 CMA Awards.
Album of the Year
Our Pick: Ripcord, Keith Urban. Every one of the nominated albums is deserving in its own way, but Urban worked extra hard to make sure Ripcord wasn't just a collection of songs. The album is a career game-changer for the superstar, bringing in a completely new set of influences that have added genuine new musical layers to his already multi-faceted career.
New Artist of the Year
Our Pick: Maren Morris. Morris has both the vocal and songwriting chops to command respect, and she's been able to marry both on the songs from her much-acclaimed debut, Hero. This is her year to be New Artist of the Year at the CMAs.
Song of the Year (Awarded to Songwriters)
Our Pick: "Humble and Kind," Tim McGraw. This one is easy. We knew McGraw had yet another career single on his hands the first time we heard "Humble and Kind," and despite a number of other worthy songs this year, it's the hands-down pick for Song of the Year at the 2016 CMA Awards. The award will go to songwriter Lori McKenna, who wrote the song unassisted.
Single of the Year
Our Pick: "Die a Happy Man," Thomas Rhett. The nominees for Single and Song of the Year are very close this year, with a single exception. But we predict Thomas Rhett walks away with this one for the success of "Die a Happy Man," which has broken him to the next level.
Vocal Group of the Year
Our Pick: Old Dominion. We see the same old groups in this category every year, but not this time. We predict Old Dominion will take home Vocal Group of the Year on the strength of their very unique, fresh new vocal blend, despite a category stacked with worthy veterans.
Vocal Duo of the Year
Our Pick: Florida Georgia Line. They've dominated country music commercially for several years, but this is the year FGL finally lived up to their promise artistically, too. Vocal Duo of the Year is their category this year, no doubt about it.
Musical Event of the Year
Our Pick: Chris Young with Cassadee Pope, "Think of You." This is always a tough category, and it is again this year. But Young and Pope just have a certain chemistry that goes beyond just singing, and "Think of You" offered such an original angle that it gets the nod, we predict.
Music Video of the Year
Our Pick: "Humble and Kind," Tim McGraw. This is another difficult category to predict, but wow. McGraw's "Humble and Kind" clip is a step beyond anything else he's ever done with video, offering people from different walks of life all around the world coming together to share in his message of the power of humility and grace. With that kind of powerful footage — courtesy of Oprah! — he can't go wrong.
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