Kelleigh Bannen discusses some of her favorite Christmas decoration traditions.

Keith Urban‘s “For You” has been nominated for a Critic’s Choice Award!

He wrote the song especially for the film, Act of Valor, which was released earlier this year. Act of Valor is inspired by real life events and stars a group of active-duty Navy SEALs in a powerful story of contemporary global anti-terrorism.

The winners will be announced January 10th, with the ceremony airing live on the CW.

BEST SONG
“For You,” Keith Urban, Act of Valor
“Learn Me Right,” Mumford & Sons, Brave
“Skyfall,” Adele, Skyfall
“Still Alive,” Paul Williams, Paul Williams Still Alive
“Suddenly,” Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables

AUDIO: Keith Urban talks about writing for the film, Act of Valor.

Keith Urban (writing for Act of Valor) OC: …do it. :35
“I’ve never written for a particular thing before, and I was really nervous about it. I was about to do vocal surgery, and I just felt like I can’t do this. But one of the guys from Relativity [Films] flew down and showed us the film, and I was really moved by the film. And I wanted to write something, [but] I couldn’t think of an angle and a place and so on. I have to really thank [my wife] Nic for really saying to me, ‘You should do this. You really should. I think you’ll really be able to do this, if you just commit to it.’ And she really kind of gently suggested that I do it.”

Luke Bryan went into Monday night’s (December 10th) ACA Awards as the leader with seven nominations, including the overall Artist of the Year…and he walked away with ALL of them! He won Artist of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Single of the Year, Male Single of the Year, Music Video of the Year, Male Music Video of the Year.

Lady A, Little Big Town and Lauren Alaina also enjoyed a very big night!

Artist of the Year
Jason Aldean
Lady Antebellum
Zac Brown Band
Luke Bryan — WINNER
Taylor Swift

Artist of the Year: Male
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan — WINNER
Kenny Chesney
Eric Church
Toby Keith

Artist of the Year: Group
Lady Antebellum — WINNER
Zac Brown Band
Rascal Flatts
The Band Perry
Eli Young Band

Artist of the Year: New Artist
Lauren Alaina – WINNER
Pistol Annies
Hunter Hayes
Jana Kramer
Kip Moore

Album of the Year
Lady Antebellum, ‘Own The Night’
Dierks Bentley, ‘Home’
Luke Bryan, ‘Tailgates and Tanlines’ — WINNER
Eric Church, ‘Chief’
Blake Shelton, ‘Red River Blue’

Single of the Year
Jason Aldean, ‘Tattoos On This Town’
Zac Brown Band, ‘Keep Me In Mind’
Luke Bryan, ‘I Dont Want This Night To End’ — WINNER
Eric Church, ‘Drink In My Hand’
Chris Young, ‘You’

Single of the Year: Male
Jason Aldean, ‘Tattoos On This Town’
Luke Bryan, ‘I Dont Want This Night To End’ — WINNER
Kenny Chesney, ‘Reality’
Eric Church, ‘Drink In My Hand’
Chris Young, ‘You’

Single of the Year: Female
Sara Evans, ‘My Heart Can’t Tell You No’
Miranda Lambert, ‘Over You’ – WINNER
Martina McBride, ‘I’m Gonna Love You Through It’
Taylor Swift, ‘Ours’
Carrie Underwood, ‘Good Girl’

Single of the Year: Group
Lady Antebellum, ‘We Owned the Night’ — WINNER
Zac Brown Band, ‘Keep Me in Mind’
Rascal Flatts, ‘Banjo’
The Band Perry, ‘All Your Life’
Eli Young Band, ‘Even if It Breaks Your Heart’

Music Video of the Year
Luke Bryan, ‘I Don’t Want This Night To End’ — WINNER
Jake Owen, ‘Alone With You’
Blake Shelton, ‘God Gave Me You’
Keith Urban, ‘For You’
Chris Young, ‘You’

Music Video of the Year: Male
Luke Bryan, ‘I Don’t Want This Night To End’ — WINNER
Jake Owen, ‘Alone With You’
Blake Shelton, ‘God Gave Me You’
Keith Urban, ‘For You’
Chris Young, ‘You’

Music Video of the Year: Group or Collaboration
Lady Antebellum, ‘Dancin’ Away With My Heart’
The Band Perry, ‘All Your Life’
Glorianna, ‘(Kissed You) Good Night’
Little Big Town, ‘Pontoon’ – WINNER
Love And Theft, ‘Angel Eyes’

AUDIO: Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley talks about the band’s ACA Award win for Group of the Year, and the fact that it is fan-voted.

Lady A (ACAs 2012) OC: …they can enjoy it. :30
“I think this year was one of those years that we got to get out there and get really close to our fans on the road. And so, it was kind of one of those years where we actually got to see face-to-face all our fans on a really big scale, and so we felt even closer to them this year. So, anytime you see them coming to the table and voting and getting online and voting for us and kinda taking time out of their day, it definitely means a lot. That’s what we make music for. We’re not sitting there making music so we can enjoy it. We make music so they can enjoy it.”

Lauren Alaina (ACAs 2012) OC: …I won in every angle tonight. :17
“My daddy’s here tonight, and daddy doesn’t get to go to anything ever, ever! He works really hard. My dad’s a hardworker.  When I see that look on my daddy’s face when he’s just so proud, him just being able to sit there and watch everybody perform. So, I won in every angle tonight.”

LBT (ACAs 2012) OC: (Jimi) …Wow! What a year. [laughs]  :31
PHILLIP: “It means so much, and we are so grateful. Every day we’re so thankful, and it just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter. We’ve been thankful all through this whole journey, but it just gets better and better, and they’re just the most loyal fans in the world.” JIMI: “The fans are the reason that these shows can go on here tonight and the reason we’re on the road and we can have songs on the radio. It’s all about them, and we’re just so grateful. It’s been such an amazing year, and it’s because of the fans. Wow! What a year!”

Mercury Records’ singer/songwriter Kacey Musgraves has been tapped by VEVO to be their next “LIFT” artist starting today. This addition makes Kacey the first country artist selected by VEVO for LIFT, which supports emerging acts. Past LIFT artists include Jessie J, Dev, One Direction and Rita Ora.

Over the next eight weeks fans will have the opportunity to get to know Kacey through exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, video premieres and intimate live performances, all exclusive to the VEVO platform. Access Kacey Musgraves on VEVO at http://vevo.com/lift

VEVO’s Doug McVehil (SVP, Music Programming, Talent & Operations): “VEVO is THE home for premium music videos from every genre. While we have focused primarily on pop, hip hop and rock artists for LIFT, we’ve always wanted to throw our support behind country artists. Kacey is a remarkable young artist and was an obvious first choice. We’re excited to work with our partners at Universal Nashville to provide her with a LIFT.”

Along with the insight into all things Kacey Musgraves online, you can also catch her out on tour. With the continued success of Kacey’s debut single “Merry Go ‘Round” (this week No. 22 on the Billboard country charts) Kacey was asked to join Little Big Town on their Tornado Tour starting January 31, 2013 with stops in Birmingham, New York, Atlantic City and Washington, DC to name a few. 

Furthermore, Musgraves was asked to join the Kenny Chesney No Shoes Nation stadium tour for the summer of 2013. The No Shoes Nation tour begins March 16, 2013 in Tampa and ends August 24, 2013 in Foxboro, MA. 

For a full list of Kacey Musgraves tour dates visit www.kaceymusgraves.com

Download ‘Merry Go Round’ on iTunes: http://smarturl.it/KMMerryGoRound

Follow @KaceyMusgraves on Twitter: http://twitter.com/KACEYMUSGRAVES

Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KaceyMusgravesOfficial 

Prior to his show at the Nashville Symphony where he received the 2012 Harmony Award, Keith Urban was in Brussels, Belgium where his wife is filming a new movie. He checks in from the backseat of his car on his way to a guitar store. The clip stars his driver, Frank, who LOVES listening to bluegrass, which quite tickles Keith.

AUDIO: Alan Jackson talks about the meaning of Christmas and getting together with family over the holidays.

AJ (meaning of Christmas) OC: …lovely Christmas. :21
“Always try to remember Jesus’ birthday, and just the whole thing and have a wonderful big meal, almost like Thanksgiving four weeks later. We have the same, pretty much, turkey, dressing, all the same kind of things. Sometimes we have family members in Tennessee and sometimes just us or friends. We always go home to Georgia prior to that, so pretty standard, lovely Christmas.

AUDIO: Even though his three daughters are growing up, Alan Jackson and his wife, Denise, stick to their Christmas traditions to this day.

AJ (Christmas traditions) OC: …and everything. :30
“Christmas is pretty traditional. We don’t let anybody open any presents until Christmas morning, after Santa Claus comes. We don’t let them get up on their own and take off, you know, everybody has to wait and kind of get situated, and maybe have a cup of coffee, and then we start all of the regular Christmas morning activities, opening presents, taking pictures and video. We have music going, you know, I try to keep Christmas music going in the background. I like to turn that on before I let them come down to the tree and everything.”

Luke Bryan sends a message to his fans to thank them for making him one of CMT’s Artists of the Year. Check back on Thursday (December 13th) to get all the behind-the-scenes action of the show.

Luke Bryan goes into Monday night’s (December 10th) ACA Awards as the leader with seven nominations, including the overall Artist of the Year. Lady A and Zac Brown Band are tied with six each.

Performers include Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Little Big Town, Kip Moore, Jason Aldean and Rascal Flatts, as well as show hosts Trace Adkins and Kristen Chenoweth. The two-hour special also will feature appearances by Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina, Miranda Lambert, Natasha Bedingfield, Ron White, Casey James, LeAnn Rimes, Lee Brice, Jana Kramer, Dustin Lynch and Chris Young, among others.

Keith Urban will also perform with a group of young musicians from the Grammy Foundation’s Grammy Camp, to help highlight the need to support music education for young people through this performance. To further that end, the American Country Awards will present $25,000 to the Grammy Foundation’s Grammy in the Schools programs.

Here is the entire list of NOMINEES:

Artist of the Year
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Lady Antebellum
Taylor Swift
Zac Brown Band

Artist of the Year: Male
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Kenny Chesney
Eric Church
Toby Keith

Artist of the Year: Female
Sara Evans
Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Artist of the Year: Group
The Band Perry
Eli Young Band
Lady Antebellum
Rascal Flatts
Zac Brown Band

Artist of the Year: Breakthrough Artist
Lee Brice
Colt Ford
Gloriana
Justin Moore
Jake Owen

Artist of the Year: New Artist
Lauren Alaina
Hunter Hayes
Jana Kramer
Kip Moore
Pistol Annies

Album of the Year
Dierks Bentley, “Home”
Luke Bryan, “tailgates & tanlines”
Eric Church, “Chief”
Lady Antebellum, “Own the Night”
Blake Shelton, “Red River Blue”

Single of the Year
Jason Aldean, “Tattoos On This Town”
Luke Bryan, “I Don’t Want This Night To End”
Eric Church, “Drink In My Hand”
Chris Young, “You”
Zac Brown Band, “Keep Me In Mind”

Single of the Year: Male
Jason Aldean, “Tattoos On This Town”
Luke Bryan, “I Don’t Want This Night To End”
Kenny Chesney, “Reality”
Eric Church, “Drink In My Hand”
Chris Young, “You”

Single of the Year: Female
Sara Evans, “My Heart Can’t Tell You No”
Miranda Lambert, “Over You”
Martina McBride, “I’m Gonna Love You Through It”
Taylor Swift, “Ours”
Carrie Underwood, “Good Girl”

Single of the Year: Group
Eli Young Band, “Even If It Breaks Your Heart”
Lady Antebellum, “We Owned The Night”
Rascal Flatts, “Banjo”
The Band Perry, “All Your Life”
Zac Brown Band, “Keep Me In Mind”

Single of the Year: New Artist
Hunter Hayes, “Wanted”
Jana Kramer, “Why Ya Wanna”
Dustin Lynch, “Cowboys and Angels”
Kip Moore, “Somethin’ ’Bout A Truck”
The Farm, “Home Sweet Home”

Single of the Year: Breakthrough Artist
Lee Brice, “A Woman Like You”
Brantley Gilbert, “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do”
Gloriana, “(Kissed You) Good Night”
David Nail, “Let It Rain”
Jake Owen, “Alone With You”

Single of the Year: Vocal Collaboration
Kix Brooks featuring Joe Walsh, “New To This Town”
Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw, “Feel Like A Rock Star”
Brad Paisley featuring Carrie Underwood, “Remind Me”
Rascal Flatts featuring Natasha Bedingfield, “Easy”
Zac Brown Band featuring Jimmy Buffett, “Knee Deep”

Touring Artist of the Year
Jason Aldean
Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw
Eric Church
Toby Keith
Lady Antebellum
Miranda Lambert
Brad Paisley
Rascal Flatts
Taylor Swift
Zac Brown Band

Music Video of the Year
Luke Bryan, “I Don’t Want This Night To End”
Jake Owen, “Alone With You”
Blake Shelton, “God Gave Me You”
Keith Urban, “For You”
Chris Young, “You”

Music Video of the Year: Male
Luke Bryan, “I Don’t Want This Night to End”
Jake Owen, “Alone With You”
Blake Shelton, “God Gave Me You”
Keith Urban, “For You”
Chris Young, “You”

Music Video of the Year: Female
Sara Evans, “My Heart Can’t Tell You No”
Miranda Lambert, “Over You”
Martina McBride, “I’m Gonna Love You Through It”
Taylor Swift, “Ours”
Carrie Underwood, “Good Girl”

Music Video of the Year: Group or Collaboration
Gloriana, “(Kissed You) Good Night”
Lady Antebellum, “Dancin’ Away With My Heart”
Little Big Town, “Pontoon”
Love and Theft, “Angel Eyes”
The Band Perry, “All Your Life”

Music Video of the Year: New Artist
Hunter Hayes, “Wanted”
Casey James, “Let’s Don’t Call It A Night”
Jana Kramer, “Why You Wanna”
Dustin Lynch, “Cowboys and Angels”
Kip Moore, “Somethin’ ’Bout A Truck”

Song of the Year:
Trace Adkins, “Just Fishin’” (Casey Beathard, Monty Criswell and Ed Hill)
Jason Aldean, “Fly Over States,” (Michael Dulaney and Neil Thrasher)
Jason Aldean, “Tattoos On This Town” (Michael Dulaney, Wendell Mobley and Neil Thrasher)
Lee Brice, “A Woman Like You” (Phil Barton, Johnny Bulford and Jon Stone)
Kenny Chesney featuring Grace Potter, “You And Tequila” (Matraca Berg and Deana Carter)
Eric Church, “Springsteen” (Eric Church, Jeff Hyde and Ryan Tyndell)
Ronnie Dunn, “Cost of Livin’” (Phillip Coleman and Ronnie Dunn)
Eli Young Band, “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” (Will Hoge and Eric Paslay)
Toby Keith, “Red Solo Cup” (Brett Beavers, Jim Beavers, Brad Warren and Brett Warren)
Tim McGraw, “Better Than I Used to Be” (Ashley Gorley and Bryan Simpson)

AUDIO: Keith Urban explains what he will be doing on the ACA Awards 2012 on Monday night (December 10th).

Keith Urban (ACAs 2012) OC: …all about. :22
“We did a show a few years back and brought some of the Grammy kids who do the Grammy camp to sing with us, and we had such a good time with ‘em, I thought we’d do it again on the ACAs. So, they’re going to be giving, I think, about 25,000-dollars to the Grammy Foundation, which I’m involved in, so it was sort of a perfect opportunity to bring them onstage and let ‘em play, because that’s what it’s all about.”

AUDIO: Luke Bryan, who leads the list of ACA nominees with 7, talks about his success over the past year.

Luke Bryan (success 2012) OC: …to do,’ you know? :41
“It’s really, really amazing to be where I’m at. I feel very blessed in that. I’m just thankful that the music has made that happen and the fans have made that happen and people coming out to live shows have made it happen. So, my main thing is to never get too caught up in what you are and what you’re not. I think just trying to stay the same and continue to give music that people are wanting that’s new and fresh, but also it’s something they can count on. I mean, you never want to refer to yourself in the third person, but you want people to know what a Luke Bryan song is gonna be when they hear it, and go, ‘Man, that sounds like something he ought to do,’ you know?” 

AUDIO: Kip Moore talks about performing AND having a handful of nominations at this year’s ACA Awards.

Kip Moore (ACAs) 1 OC: …dreams, kind of. :37
“It’s come so out of the blue for me. I didn’t expect to be up for anything, and then when it’s fan-voted it means even more to me. I have never gotten to play an award show, and I’ve never been up for any nominations, and it’s kinda happened both at the same time. It means a lot.  When you’re in a room with all your peers that all do the same thing, and then have a chance to be up for something and have some kind of validation in what you’re doing and all the sacrifice that you put into this job. Unlike other jobs, you can put 10 years into this and have nothing to show for it, in the end. So, to be up for awards and to be selling records and to have a number-one record, it’s all beyond my wildest dreams, kind of.”

AUDIO: Kip Moore admits he may be a little nervous before hitting the stage for Monday night’s ACA Awards.

Kip Moore (ACAs) 2 OC: …away then. :17
“I really don’t get nervous when I perform. I get excited. This show might make me a little nervous, but I’ll calm [down] pretty quick. I think I’ll be okay once I step on stage. I’ll be nervous up until I get on stage, and then I’ll be fine. It usually goes away then.”

Eric Church is taking part in the CMT’s Artists of the Year television special, airing Saturday night (December 8th) at 10pm ET. Eric, who performed his hit “Homeboy” during the special, says he really enjoyed all of the performances. ““The thing I enjoyed about the show, I really did, was the performances. I thought everybody did a different take on stuff. I loved what Carrie [Underwood] did. I thought Miranda [Lambert] had a really cool version of ‘Over You’ with the cello and the acoustic guitar. I thought it was great,” says Eric. “It was really cool to see guys that have worked very hard this year being one of the top artists, and it made me feel good about the music too. I think the future of what’s happening musically is good, and I’m excited to see where we go.”

While the honorees are being kept secret, several other artists will appear during the show, which was taped on Monday (December 3rd), including Lady Antebellum, Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Merle Haggard, Kacey Musgraves, Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson and many more.

Eric is currently closing in on the Top 5 of the country charts with his single, “Homeboy.”

AUDIO: Eric Church talks about his performance of “Homeboy” during the CMT Artists of the Year show.

Eric Church (CMT AOY) 1 OC: …it went. :36
“I’ve always wanted to do it kind of like it was recorded. We had the strings and the glissandi harp and all these little interesting orchestral things that were going on in the song; string quartet things. And I’ve always just heard a choir on it, you know, I’ve always heard that. We talked about recording it that way. We didn’t, but we talked about it. I really wanted to go out and just be me, acoustic guitar, orchestra, choir, that’s it, and we decided to do the whole band thing just to kick it up and give a little bit of a resemblance of what the song is. I’m happy with it. I haven’t had a chance to see it or anything, but I remember as the song ended, I felt good about it. So, I hope it went as good as I think it went.”

Eric Church (CMT AOY) 2 OC: …where we go. :24
“The thing I enjoyed about the show, I really did, was the performances. I thought everybody did a different take on stuff. I loved what Carrie [Underwood] did. I thought Miranda had a really cool version of ‘Over You’ with the cello and the acoustic guitar. I thought it was great. It was really cool to see guys that have worked very hard this year being one of the top artists, and it made me feel good about the music too. I think the future of what’s happening musically is good, and I’m excited to see where we go.”

FROM PEOPLE.COM:

First comes the sound of wedding bells, and next comes the baby rattle.

Lady Antebellum‘s Hillary Scott and drummer Chris Tyrrell, who became engaged on Independence Day in 2011 and married Jan. 7 in upstate New York, are now expecting a child.

“Chris & I are excited to announce that our Christmas gift has arrived a little early this year! We are having a BABY!” she wrote on Twitter Friday. “We feel so blessed!!!”

“Everything is brighter. Everything has a deeper meaning,” Scott, 26, previously said of her new husband. “He makes me feel more comfortable in my own skin.”

Scott has certainly had kids on the brain: On Monday, the band announced they are starting a new charity called LadyAID, which will focus on children’s hospitals and as well as other charitable causes.

Scott and Tyrrell met while they were in college, though things didn’t turn romantic until later. Lady Antebellum’s song, “Just A Kiss,” was inspired by Scott and Tyrrell’s relationship when they first began dating.