For some reason the CMA's nominations are always released in two parts, I guess it builds suspense. Anyway, in the blog below I posted the noms that Justin Moore and Chris Young announced yesterday. This morning Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley announced the rest live on Good Morning America.

It must have been a surreal day for Miranda because she got to announce her own name several times. She leads this year's noms with 9 total. You gotta love Miranda's humbelness, she said, "I didn't even know I was eligible for nine awards!"

Dierks got in on the action too with three nominations for himself.

Here's the list they announced this morning.

Entertainer of the Year

• Lady Antebellum
• Miranda Lambert
• Brad Paisley
• Keith Urban
• Zac Brown Band

Male Vocalist of the Year

• Brad Paisley
• Blake Shelton
• George Strait
• Keith Urban
• Dierks Bentley

Female Vocalist of the Year

• Miranda Lambert
• Martina McBride
• Reba McEntire
• Taylor Swift
• Carrie Underwood

Album of the Year - (Goes To Artist & Producer)

• Need You Now- Lady Antebellum
• Play On- Carrie Underwood
• Revolution- Miranda Lambert
• Twang- George Strait
• Up On The Ridge- Dierks Bentley

Vocal Event of the Year

• "Bad Angel"- Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert, Jamey Johnson
• "Can't See You" Zac Brown Band and Kid Rock
• "Hillbilly Bone" Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins
• "I'm Alive"- Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews
• "Till the End"- Alan Jackson and LeAnn Womack

This morning Justin Moore and Chris Young announced some of the 2010 CMA nominations; 7 categories to be exact. Tomorrow morning they break out the big guns when Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley hit ABC's Good Morning American around 8:30a to announce the rest.

The CMA's air Wednesday, November 11th on ABC. Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley will co-host again.

Here's a list of the nominations that Justin and Chris announced this morning.

New Artist of the Year
Luke Bryan
Easton Corbin
Jerrod Niemann
Chris Young
Zac Brown Band

Vocal Group of the Year
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Rascal Flatts
The Band Perry
Zac Brown Band

Vocal Duo of the Year
Brooks & Dunn
Joey & Rory
Montgomery Gentry
Steel Magnolia
Sugarland

Single of the Year
(Award goes to artist and producer.)
"A Little More Country Than That" - Easton Corbin

"Hillbilly Bone" - Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins

"Need You Now" - Lady Antebellum

"The House That Built Me" - Miranda Lambert

"White Liar" - Miranda Lambert

Song of the Year
(Award goes to songwriter.)
"A Little More Country Than That"
Songwriters: Rory Lee Feek, Don Poythress and Wynn Varble

"Need You Now"
Songwriters: Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Josh Kear

"The House That Built Me"
Songwriters: Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin

"Toes"
Songwriters: Zac Brown, Wyatt Durrette, John Driskell Hopkins and Shawn Mullins

"White Liar"
Songwriters: Miranda Lambert and Natalie Hemby

Music Video of the Year
(Award goes to artist and director.)

"Hillbilly Bone"
Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins
"Need You Now"
Lady Antebellum

"The House That Built Me"
Miranda Lambert

"Water"
Brad Paisley

"White Liar"
Miranda Lambert

(BIG sniff!!!) Do you smell that?? Smells like funnel cakes and farm animals! Yep, it's state fair time.

The first Kentucky State Fair was held in 1902 at Churchill Downs. It drew 75,000 people over the five day period. Not bad! The first fair had a total budget of $15,000.

Today's fair at the KFEC covers over 520 acres and will draw over 600,000!! Dang, that's huge! They'll be concerts from Sugarland, Tim McGraw, Jeff Dunham and Rascal Flatts. And those are just the paid shows; there's a whole laundry list of FREE shows, including Jake Owen and Billy Currington. And how can you forget the cows, pigs, goats AND all the rides on the midway. Plus, world championship horse show.

The 106th Kentucky State Fair kicks off tomorrow.

Get the full details, including admission prices, hours and concert info. --
Click HERE.

We're under a Heat Advisory from now through tomorrow evening. According to the National Weather Service, we'll see heat indexes between 100 and 115!! ...bottom line - it's going to be disgustingly hot.

LG&E has a few pointers on how you can stay cool and minimize your energy use during the nasty, sticky, hot days of Summer. Check em out.

Tips from LG&E to reduce the demand for energy during the heat wave:

· Set air conditioners to the highest comfortable setting during the day: 78-80 degrees works for most people. Raising your air conditioner setting by one degree can save you 4-7 percent on the cooling portion of your energy bill.

· Turn off all unnecessary lights. Use fluorescent lighting, which is cooler.

· Turn off all unnecessary appliances. Run your dishwashers, dryers and washing machines during the evening hours (after 7 p.m.) when energy consumption is lower.

· Use ceiling fans to circulate the cool air. Fans can help you feel more comfortable at higher temperatures. Window fans, ceiling fans or whole-house fans use much less power and are an alternative to air conditioners. Turn the fan off when you leave the room since the fan does its job by cooling you - not the room.

· Close curtains, drapes and/or blinds to keep the hot sun's heat out of your home.

· Don't close air registers and do not close off rooms completely because it can increase system pressure and damage the compressor. Furniture or drapes should not block air registers.

· Cook outdoors on your grill; use a microwave oven or crockpot or prepare cold meals to avoid heating up the kitchen and adding moisture to the air. Microwaves use less than half the power of a conventional oven and cook food in about one-fourth the time.

· Check your air filters monthly -- even on extended filters. Change if necessary. Dirty air filters make your air conditioner work harder. Clean the filter in window units as well. It is behind the front panel.

· The outdoor unit of an air conditioner should be kept free from plants, dirt or grass clippings that will interfere with air circulation. Wash the coil periodically with a garden hose.

Shane@NewcountryQ1031.com

The arena authority gave the media their first look at the inside of the new arean this morning. I have to admit, it's pretty impressive!

Here are some pics and some bullet points.

- $238,000,000 price tag!!
- 721,762 square feet
- 14,000 square feet in the lobby alone!
- 22,090 seats for basketball
- 71 suites on two levels
- 1 1/2 acre landscaped entry plaza
- 10/10/10 the opening date

Check out some pics (click to enlarge!)

I found this video shot from someone's cell phone of Dierks on stage with Bon Jovi Friday night at HullabaLou doing "Dead or Alive".

It's pretty cool. ...although, Dierks looks a little uncomfortable without his guitar. Maybe it's just me.

Like most guys, I'm a creature of habit. I eat at the same places, fill my truck with gas at the same gas station every time and wear the same boots every day. So getting my haircut at different place was a real stretch for me. (if it ain't broke, don't fix it) But I stepped out of my comfort zone and gave it a shot. It's a place called Canary Crystal in New Albany.

Kris has been getting her hair done there for a while and it's looking really good. Plus, Emily, one of our sales people here at the station, asked me to give it a try. It was a great experience! Ashley gave me a really nice cut, that's easy to deal with AND looks good even when I wear my motorcycle helmet. They do more than haircuts though; it's a full service salon. ...complete with 1/2 price massages on Tuesday!!

Check em out - click HERE

Shane@NewcountryQ1031.com

Since Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher's wedding on Saturday everyone has been anxiously awaiting the first photos to surface ...ok, almost everyone. Anyway, like most celebs, Carrie and Mike signed an exclusive deal with a specific media outlet to publish the pics first. They picked People magazine. My guess is that People had the highest bid. Hey, I don't blame them. I mean if People mag gave them a million bucks for the pics then that probably covered all their wedding expense, and them some.

People will publish a five page Carrie and Mike photo spread in the latest issue, which hits stands this Friday. However, here's a sneak peek of the cover of the issue with Carrie in her wedding dress.

Looks like New Country friend Steve Azar has another big hit on his hands with "Sunshine." And he just released the new video for it.

Check it out!
Oh, and Steve, if you're reading this ...you STILL owe me a t-shirt!!

You've probably heard us giving away Travis Tritt tickets the last few weeks. He's playing the Iroquois Amphitheater this Friday night. I know what some of you are thinking ..."the Iroquois Amphitheater??" I know, I thought that too. But have you seen this place lately?? It's an amazing place to see a show. It's going to be a great to see Travis Tritt there Friday night.

Check out the recent piece that Fox 41 did on the Iroquois Amphitheate.
Here's the vid.