McGraw-Hill Partnership Yields 18 TNN Country Weekly Music Awards Nods
BMI affiliates Faith Hill and Tim McGraw each earned nine nominations when the TNN Country Weekly Music Awards finalists were revealed on March 14.
 Faith Hill |  Tim McGraw |  John Michael Montgomery |
Husband-and-wife McGraw and Hill received four of their nominations for their duet, "Let's Make Love." The pairing puts them in the running for Collaborative Event of the Year, Single of the Year, CMT Music Video of the Year and Song of the Year. The duo will compete against each other in the Entertainer of the Year category. Hill (who was cited twice as a producer) also was tapped for Female Artist of the Year and The Impact Award. McGraw rounded out his nominations with a Male Artist of the Year pick and three mentions in the Album field: as artist and producer on his Greatest Hits and co-producer on Burn.
Toby Keith collected five mentions in three categories. In addition to his Male Vocalist peg, Keith claimed Single (as artist and producer) and Song of the Year (as artist and writer) nods for "How Do You Like Me Now?!".
BMI writers cited for Song of the Year are Keith's "How Do You Like Me Now?!" co-writer Chuck Cannon, Tia Sillers for "I Hope You Dance," Marv Green, Bill Luther and Aimee Mayo for "Let's Make Love," Larry Cordle and Larry Shell for "Murder On Music Row," and Harley Allen for "The Little Girl."
Other multiple nominees include the Dixie Chicks with four, including Entertainer of the Year; John Michael Montgomery with four (as artist and producer of "The Little Girl"); and Montgomery Gentry and SHeDAISY, with two each. For production work, Byron Gallimore earned three nominations; Tony Brown, James Stroud and Mark Wright, two each.
Winners will be announced June 13 during the awards show, carried live by TNN (8 p.m. ET/PT) from Nashville's Gaylord Entertainment Center. The event kicks off the 30th International Country Music Fan Fair (June 14-17) and is the only nationally televised country music awards show that lets the fans choose the winners. Fan Fair, which allows fans to meet and greet their favorite artists and participate in a marathon of music events, moves to downtown Nashville this year.
Fans selected this year's final nominees through mail-in ballots in issues of Country Weekly, and Internet voting on country.com, tnnonline.com and countryweekly.com. Final voting for the winners of the TNN Country Weekly Music Awards begins April 1 via 900 telephone numbers and through countryweekly.com, country.com and tnnonline.com. Ballots will also be available through Country Weekly in four issues beginning April 17 (available on newsstands April 3).
Complete List of BMI Nominees
Entertainer of the Year
- Dixie Chicks
- Faith Hill
- Tim McGraw
Male Artist of the Year
- Toby Keith
- Tim McGraw
Female Artist of the Year
- Faith Hill
- Martina McBride
The Fast Track Award
- Kenny Chesney
- Sara Evans
- SHeDAISY
The Discovery Award
- Montgomery Gentry
- SHeDAISY
Group/Duo of the Year
- Alabama
- Brooks & Dunn
- Dixie Chicks
- Lonestar
- Montgomery Gentry
The Impact Award
- Dixie Chicks
- Faith Hill
Collaborative Event of the Year
- Faith Hill & Tim McGraw -- "Let's Make Love"
- John Michael Montgomery & Alison Krauss -- "The Little Girl"
- Chely Wright -- "Hard To Be a Husband/Hard To Be a Wife"
Album of the Year
- Burn -- Producers: Byron Gallimore, Tim McGraw
- Greatest Hits -- Tim McGraw; Producers: Byron Gallimore, James Stroud, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill
- I Hope You Dance -- Producer: Mark Wright
- Latest Greatest Straitest Hits -- Producer: Tony Brown
- When Somebody Loves You -- Producer: Keith Stegall
Single of the Year
- "How Do You Like Me Now?!" -- Toby Keith; Producers: James Stroud, Toby Keith
- "I Hope You Dance" -- Producer: Mark Wright
- "Let's Make Love" -- Faith Hill & Tim McGraw; Producers: Byron Gallimore, Faith Hill
- "Murder on Music Row" -- Producer: Tony Brown
- "The Little Girl" -- John Michael Montgomery; Producers: Buddy Cannon, Norro Wilson, John Michael Montgomery
CMT Music Video of the Year
- "Goodbye Earl" - Dixie Chicks
- "Let's Make Love" -- Faith Hill & Tim McGraw
Song of the Year
- "How Do You Like Me Now?!" - Toby Keith; Songwriters: Toby Keith, Chuck Cannon
- "I Hope You Dance" - Songwriter: Tia Sillers
- "Let's Make Love" - Faith Hill & Tim McGraw; Songwriters: Marv Green, Bill Luther, Aimee Mayo
- "Murder On Music Row" - Songwriters: Larry Cordle, Larry Shell
- "The Little Girl" - John Michael Montgomery; Songwriter: Harley Allen
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