Nashville, TN (November 11, 2014) – The AMERICAN COUNTRY COUNTDOWN AWARDS, based on country music’s longest-running radio countdown show, “American Country Countdown with Kix Brooks,” which has recognized the best in country radio for more than 40 years, today announced the inaugural event’s finalists. Country megastar Luke Bryan dominates the list with seven nods, followed closely by superstar duo Florida Georgia Line, with six. Florida Georgia Line and Kix Brooks made the announcement on Cumulus radio’s nationally syndicated show, “America’s Morning Show with Blair Garner.”

The American Country Countdown Awards will air live from Nashville’s Music City Center Monday, Dec. 15 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX and feature performances by finalists Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line and Miranda Lambert. Florida Georgia Line’s Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard will host the live music celebration. Additional performers and presenters will be announced.

Additional multiple category finalists include Jason Aldean, with four nods, and Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert, who are tied with three. Brett Eldredge, Brantley Gilbert, Lady Antebellum, Justin Moore, Thomas Rhett and Cole Swindell each were named finalists in two categories.

AMERICAN COUNTRY COUNTDOWN AWARDS finalists are determined based on statistics and radio airplay charts from November 1, 2013-October 31, 2014. The Finalists for Album of the Year were based on album sales from SoundScan and the finalists for Artist of the Year were based on a combination of Mediabase airplay, digital data provided by Big Champagne and tour information from Pollstar. All other award categories were made up of those with the largest audience reach, according to Mediabase.  

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The Breakthrough Artist of the Year category is the only fan-voted category. Fan voting begins on November 24 and continues through December 10. Fans will vote for their favorite Breakthrough finalist by including the following in a tweet: the artist’s Twitter handle, “Breakthrough Artist” and the hashtag #ACCAwards. For more information, please visit TheACCAwards.com.

The AMERICAN COUNTRY COUNTDOWN AWARDS is produced by dick clark productions.  Allen Shapiro (CEO, dick clark productions), Mike Mahan (President, dick clark productions), Mark Bracco (Executive Vice President, Programing and Development, dick clark productions), John Dickey (Executive Vice President of Content and Programming, Cumulus), Richard Godfrey (“MTV Europe Music Awards”) and Tom Forrest (“CMT Crossroads”) are executive producers. Baz Halpin is co-executive producer.

Tickets are now on sale at www.TheACCAwards.com/tickets.

Below are the finalists for the 2014 AMERICAN COUNTRY COUNTDOWN AWARDS:

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

·         Jason Aldean

·         Luke Bryan

·         Florida Georgia Line

·         Lady Antebellum

·         Blake Shelton

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

·         Jason Aldean

·         Dierks Bentley

·         Luke Bryan

·         Randy Houser

·         Blake Shelton

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

·         Danielle Bradbery

·         Miranda Lambert

·         Cassadee Pope

·         Taylor Swift

·         Carrie Underwood

GROUP/DUO OF THE YEAR

·         The Band Perry

·         Eli Young Band

·         Florida Georgia Line

·         Lady Antebellum

·         Zac Brown Band

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SONG OF THE YEAR

·         “When She Says Baby” – Jason Aldean

·         “Beat Of The Music” – Brett Eldredge

·         “Lettin’ The Night Roll” – Justin Moore

·         “Drink To That All Night” – Jerrod Niemann

·         “Chillin’ It” – Cole Swindell

COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR

·         “This Is How We Roll” – Florida Georgia Line featuring Luke Bryan

·         “Small Town Throwdown” – Brantley Gilbert featuring Justin Moore and Thomas Rhett

·         “Meanwhile Back At Mama’s” – Tim McGraw featuring Faith Hill

·         “My Eyes” – Blake Shelton featuring Gwen Sebastian

·         “We Were Us” – Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

·         “Crash My Party” – Luke Bryan

·         “The Outsiders” – Eric Church

·         “Here’s To The Good Times” – Florida Georgia Line

·         “Just As I Am” – Brantley Gilbert

·         “Platinum” – Miranda Lambert

DIGITAL SONG OF THE YEAR

·         “Burnin’ It Down” – Jason Aldean

·         “Drink A Beer” – Luke Bryan

·         “Play It Again” – Luke Bryan

·         “Dirt” – Florida Georgia Line

·         “This Is How We Roll” – Florida Georgia Line featuring Luke Bryan

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST OF THE YEAR (Fan-voted award via Twitter, beginning Nov. 24)

·         Brett Eldredge

·         Tyler Farr

·         Kip Moore

·         Thomas Rhett

·         Cole Swindell

SOCIAL INFO

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/americancountrycountdownawards

Instagram: @theaccas          

Tumblr: http://theaccawards.tumblr.com/     

About AMERICAN COUNTRY COUNTDOWN AWARDS

The AMERICAN COUNTRY COUNTDOWN AWARDS are based on country music’s longest-running radio countdown show, “American Country Countdown with Kix Brooks," which has recognized the best in country radio for over 40 years. Airing live Monday, Dec. 15 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX, from Music City Center in Nashville, the two-hour show will honor the year’s best country music with awards, performances, special moments and additional surprises.

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About dick clark productions

dick clark productions (dcp) is among the world's largest producers and proprietors of televised live event programming. dcp produces perennial hits such as the “American Music Awards,” “Golden Globe Awards,” “Academy of Country Music Awards,” “Billboard Music Awards” and “Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.” Weekly television programming includes SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, from 19 Entertainment, a division of CORE Media Group, and dick clark productions; as well as “Rising Star” and FOX’s upcoming game show, BOOM!, from Keshet DCP, the joint venture between Keshet International (KI), the global distribution and production arm of Keshet Media Group, and DC Media, the parent company of dick clark productions (dcp). In 2014, dcp will debut the AMERICAN COUNTRY COUNTDOWN AWARDS (FOX), “Hollywood Film Awards” (CBS) and “The People Magazine Awards” (NBC). dcp also owns one of the world's most  unique and extensive entertainment archive libraries with more than 55 years of dcp's award-winning shows, historic programs, specials, performances and legendary programming. For additional information, visit www.dickclark.com.

About Cumulus

Cumulus Media (NASDAQ: CMLS) combines high-quality local programming with iconic, nationally syndicated media, sports and entertainment brands in order to deliver premium choices for listeners, provide substantial reach for advertisers and create opportunities for shareholders. Cumulus provides exclusive content that is fully distributed through approximately 460 owned-and-operated stations in 90 U.S. media markets (including eight of the top 10), more than 10,000 broadcast radio affiliates and numerous digital channels. Cumulus is well-positioned in the widening digital audio space through a significant stake in the radio digital music service, featuring 25 million songs on demand, in addition to custom playlists and exclusive curated channels. Cumulus is also the leading provider of country music and lifestyle content through its NASH brand, which will serve country fans through radio programming, NASH magazine, concerts, licensed products and television/video. For more information, visit www.cumulus.com.