Entertainment

Will Chesney Maintain Reign At ACMs?

April 1, 2009 / 5:20 PM EDT / CBS/AP

If Kenny Chesney wins Entertainer of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards Sunday, it will be his fifth consecutive win, which will tie him with Alabama for the most consecutive wins in the category.

He's up against Brad Paisley, George Strait, Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood. If Underwood wins, she will be only the seventh female ever to take home the award. She and Strait are also up for album of the year, along with Montgomery Gentry, Taylor Swift and Jamey Johnson.

This will be the second year the ACM Entertainer of the Year is chosen by the fans. And even though Chesney won it last year, he made it clear that he thinks the award should remain industry-voted.

But Jake Owen and Zac Brown of the Zac Brown Band both agree that fans should pick the winner. Owen says when it's industry-voted, labels can make deals for their artists to win, but no one can control how the public votes. Owen and Brown are both up for top new artist, the only other fan-voted award.

Chesney is nominated for four awards, along with Entertainer of the Year other nominations include for Top Male Vocalist and as an artist and producer for Vocal Event of the Year for "Down the Road" with Mac McAnally.

Chesney will also star in a new Corona Extra TV commercial, which will debut during the ACMs.

The commercial, called "Encore," will kick off his second tour sponsored by Corona Extra, also the official sponsor of Chesney's 2009 "Sun City Carnival National Sweepstakes", which begins on April 17 and runs through mid-September.

The ACMs, which will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, will be hosted by country favorite and TV star, Reba McEntire. McEntire has won 11 ACM awards and has been nominated 41 times.

Top country stars and celebrities will be on hand to turn up the heat on the Las Vegas strip.

The ACM presenters include: ACM Award winners Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Jack Ingram, actor/country artist Billy Ray Cyrus, five-time ACM Award winner Martina McBride, country artist Kellie Pickler, nine-time ACM Award winner Rascal Flatts, musician Darius Rucker and country artist Blake Shelton.

Matthew McConaughey, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Love Hewitt and supermodel Marisa Miller will also light up the stage as presenters.

The stellar line-up of performers include: Lady Antebellum, Miley Cyrus, Jamey Johnson, McEntire, John Rich, Lee Ann Womack, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Heidi Newfield, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland and Swift.

Trace Adkins, will sing "Til the Last Shot's Fired," with the West Point Glee Club, in support of The Wounded Warriors Project (WWP), which is the charity chosen by ACM Lifting Lives.

There have been some unexpected surprises on the road to the ACMs.

"Dancing with the Stars" champ Julianne Hough is nominated for top new female vocalist, an honor, she told The Early Show, caps "an amazing year and a half" in which she's toured with Paisley and Strait and had a hit song with "That Song in My Head."

LeAnn Rimes is the recipient of the Home Depot Humanitarian Award in recognition of all the time and effort and passion she devotes to many charitable organizations.

The Artist of the Decade goes to Strait, "The King of Country," who celebrates 25 years in the country music industry.

The ACM Special Awards, voted on by the ACM Board of Directors, will honor significant contributions made by country artists.

Some of them include:

Dolly Parton, who has been chosen to receive the Jim Reeves International Award, which is presented to an individual for outstanding contributions to the acceptance of country music throughout the world.

Jerry Reed, Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis, and Hank Williams Jr. have been been chosen to receive the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award honoring individuals who are pioneers in the country music genre, among others.

The Academy of Country Music Awards airs on Sunday, April 5, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, on CBS.