Luke Bryan, Gloriana & Joey + Rory Chosen by Country Fans at GACTV.com as Winners of the ACM New Artist Awards

Luke Bryan, Gloriana & Joey + Rory Chosen by Country Fans at GACTV.com as Winners of the ACM New Artist Awards

ALL THREE TO COMPETE FOR FAN-VOTED TOP NEW ARTIST AWARD DURING THE LIVE TELECAST OF THE 45th ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC(R) AWARDS GAC TV SPECIAL WITH TOP NEW WINNERS TO BE TAPED IN FRONT OF LIVE AUDIENCE ON MARCH 23rd AT THE GRAND OLE OPRY IN NASHVILLE, TN Fans Can Vote at VOTEACM.com, Powered by CBS.COM, Starting April 1st

ENCINO, Calif., March 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The Academy of Country Music and Great American Country (GAC) announced today that Luke Bryan, Gloriana and Joey + Rory have been named Top New Solo Vocalist, Top New Vocal Group and Top New Vocal Duo, respectively. The three winners are now considered nominees for the Top New Artist award, which will be given out on the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.

Luke Bryan released his sophomore album, Doin' My Thing, on Capitol Records Nashville in October 2009, debuting at #2 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. The CD includes his #1 gold single "Do I" and new smash hit "Rain Is A Good Thing." Bryan is currently headlining his own dates as well as opening for Jason Aldean on the "Wide Open Tour" and will be a featured act on Miranda Lambert's upcoming spring tour. This is Bryan's first win for an Academy of Country Music Award.

Gloriana's self-titled album debuted at #2 on the Billboard Country Album Chart and #3 on Billboard's Top 200 and was the best selling debut by a country group in 2009. It includes hit singles "Wild At Heart," "How Far Do You Wanna Go?" and their current single "The World Is Ours Tonight". The group, who won the fan-voted Breakthrough Artist Award at the American Music Awards, is currently on tour with Taylor Swift. Gloriana is a four-member vocal group featuring brothers Tom and Mike Gossin along with Rachel Reinert and Cheyenne Kimball. This is Gloriana's first nomination and first win for an Academy of Country Music Award.

Winner of Top New Vocal Duo, Joey + Rory, have a huge year ahead of them. They already have started on a U.S. arena tour and will release their sophomore album simply titled Album #2 in the summer. Husband and wife duo Joey + Rory started performing as a duo for the audition of the CMT series, "Can You Duet," in early 2008. This is their first win for an Academy of Country Music Award.

Each winner will perform and receive their trophy on the Trace Adkins-hosted GAC special "ACM Top New Artists," premiering Thursday, April 1 at 10:00 PM ET and airing multiple times before the Academy of Country Music Awards. For the first time ever, the special will be taped during the regularly-scheduled Tuesday Night Opry at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, TN on the Grand Ole Opry stage. Opry performances are held every weekend of the year and on Tuesdays through December 14. To plan an Opry visit or to buy tickets to the March 23rd special Grand Ole Opry and GAC Special TV taping, call (800) SEE-OPRY or log on to opry.com.

Voting for Top New Artist will take place at www.VoteACM.com powered by CBS.com beginning Thursday, April 1st and will end at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 18th.

The winner of the new Top New Artist category will be awarded on the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.

About the Academy of Country Music Awards

The 45th Academy of Country Music Awards is dedicated to honoring and showcasing the biggest names and emerging talent in the country music industry. The show is produced for television by dick clark productions and will be broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network. Orly Adelson and R.A. Clark are executive producers, Barry Adelman is producer and Bob Bardo is executive in charge of production. For more information, please visit www.acmcountry.com.

About Great American Country (GAC)

Great American Country is the leader in country music entertainment, and delivers to viewers the widest variety of country music, its artists and the lifestyles they influence. GAC broadcasts original country music programming, music performance specials, live concerts and music videos. GAC is available in more than 58 million households and online at http://www.gactv.com/.

GAC is owned by Scripps Networks, the leading developer of lifestyle-oriented content for television and the Internet, including HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Travel Channel and Fine Living Network. Scripps Networks is based in Knoxville, Tenn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta and Nashville, and is a unit of Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE:SNI).

Source: Academy of Country Music

CONTACT: Julie Smith of PMK-BNC, +1-310-854-4800,
Julie.smith@pmkbnc.com, for Academy of Country Music; or Lee Hall,
+1-865-560-3853, LHall@scrippsnetworks.com, Ronna Rubin of Rubin Media,
+1-615-298-4400, ronna@rubinmedia.biz, both for Great American Country (GAC)

Web Site: http://www.acmcountry.com/
http://www.gactv.com/
http://www.voteacm.com/

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