The Thrill Of Victory ... And You Know The Rest

There is a certain excitement about reading the nominations for an award show. Luke Bryan says they're still butterflies in his stomach as he waits to see if they're going to read his name. At some point they do stop reading your name, but in some cases they will come back and read again.

Garth Brooks is back in the Entertainer of the year Category for the Academy of Country Music. Garth is a previous winter but it was really important to get him back in the present-day award category. They need to get Garth back on the radio and they will in 2015 in a much bigger way.

Miranda got the most nominations for the ACM us that was no surprise. Not seeing Kenny Chesney or Keith Urban in there all the time was a little bit surprising. Brad Paisley was back in the Male Vocalist category. Chesney and Urban did show up in the Music Videos of the Year.

Award shows by their nature, if they are industry voted, are very political. Just wait till the Oscars come out in late February! It's going to be Selma vs. American Sniper; who's going to win in that one?

The Academy of Country Music Awards show is going to be the biggest one in award show history. The shows have gone from being in a theater to a football stadium.

Actually they're using the baseball stadium next door for some of the lead-up to the show ... then the big show on Sunday night at Cowboy Stadium.

Tim McGraw learned that he's going to be singing at the Academy Awards. That show has the biggest audience for any entertainment show in the world; hundreds of millions of people around the world watch the Oscars. Glen Campbell is nominated; he can't do it, so Kim chose Tim. Mrs. Tim McGraw played the Oscars when Whitney Houston got sick; she filled in and did a great job.

Blake Shelton sure got a lot of buzz, water cooler and otherwise, from his appearance on Saturday Night Live. It was good; I don't think they gave him many great lines, but he showed up and didn't stumble. Her didn't read those cue cards and look like he was paralyzed and tell me the stuff was weird, but overall I enjoyed it. One man's trash is another man's treasure. I'm still trying to figure out that Wisin' boot, whatever that was. Blake is doing an Adam Sandler movie next. He supposed to play Wyatt Earp ... that should be interesting.

With all the talk of Blake Shelton this week, there has also been a lot of talk about Blake Shelton this week. It's even more odd that he doesn't show up in the Entertainer of the Year category in the Academy of Country Music. It just goes to show you there are no sure things in the entertainment business. The Washington Post last week declared Blake as the current face of country music, replacing the pop wunderkind Taylor Swift. With Florida Georgia Line making it to the Entertainer of the Year category, you've got to say they've come a long way in a short period of time.

One of the big questions about 2015 is the "Bro Country" sound ... will the Bro Country movement continue past this Spring? That will be very, very interesting. Will those artists change their sound? Will the subjects of Country music change as the year rolls on? Somehow I think it will.

The comeback of Garth Brooks has to be the story right now. Look at how many tickets sold ... look at where he is in the award nomination category ... and you know he's going to have some music that is going to knock it out of the park! Never bet against Brooks!