American Country Awards Producer Clarifies Controversial Statement

They've yet to roll out their first red carpet but the inaugural American Country Awards (ACA) has already sparked some controversy within the country music community. The nominees for the new show were announced Monday, October 18, in a news release in which the ACAs refer to their forthcoming awards ceremony as "the first and only country music awards show where fans determine all the winners by voting for their favorite nominees in music and video categories." This claim by the ACA has raised some eyebrows at Country Music Television (CMT), which since 2002 has produced the CMT Music Awards, an annual country music awards show that has always been strictly fan-voted. CMT sent out the following remarks in response to the ACA's awards show description:

"While CMT congratulates this mysterious organization on its first awards show, we are amused by their self-proclaimed title as the first and only fan-voted award show. All within the country music community know that CMT has produced country music's only fan-voted awards show for nearly a decade. The CMT Music Awards were the first of their kind, engaging tens of millions of fans in the show's outcome every year. It will continue to work hard to maintain its reputation as country music's sensational, fan-voted and over the top celebration, attracting A-list talent. While we wish this new show every success, we would like to take this opportunity to remind them that the CMT Music Awards have been entirely fan-voted since their inception."

The ACA did not have a comment directly regarding CMT's statements. However, Bob Bain, the Executive Producer of the ACAs, did exclusively tell The Boot, "The American Country Awards gives fans the opportunity to vote for their favorite artists not only in traditional categories but also in previously unrecognized areas of the business such as touring -- encompassing the entire spectrum of country music and bestowing honors that no other award show has."

The first-ever American Country Awards is scheduled to air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Monday, December 6 at 8:00 PM ET on FOX. The 2-hour live show will mark the fourth nationally televised country music awards show to air in 2010, following the ACM Awards, CMA Awards, and CMT Music Awards.