With a performance-heavy show in the offing, the Academy of Country Music Awards got three awards out of the way two nights early Tuesday evening, giving out the awards in three separate categories the show has delineated for best new artists to Megan Moroney, Nate Smith and the duo Tigerlily.
Perhaps the least surprising honoree the ACM Awards will have this year is the winner for new female artist of the year: Moroney. It’s fair to say that her four competitors didn’t stand a chance. Because as a favorite this year not just among freshmen but the entire class of artists, Moroney came into this year’s awards with six nominations. That tied her with country superstar Morgan Wallen for the second-highest number of noms overall, trailing only Luke Combs’ leading eight nominations.
If anyone would have given the acclaimed Moroney a run for her money, it likely would have been Ashley Cooke, who just won the favorite new female artist trophy at the CMT Music Awards last month. The other competitors in the division were Kassi Ashton, Hannah Ellis and Kylie Morgan.
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Smith was also a frontrunner to win best new male artist. In a sign of his popularity, he has been booked on Thursday night’s show in a duet with pop star Avril Lavigne. His competition in the category consisted of Ernest, Kameron Marlowe, Dylan Scott and Conner Smith.
Picking a winner for new duo or group of the year might have been a little tougher, if only because none of the three nominated acts has broken through in a big way. The category returned for 2024 after being edged out of the ACMs for several years because not enough new groups qualified for nominations under the Academy’s rules. Even this year, with a loosening of chart eligibility requirements, only three of the five possible slots were filled, with Tigerlily Gold prevailing in the vote over Restless Road and Neon Union.
Many music awards give out some of their trophies ahead of the big night, but the ACMs may have more of a mandate to do so. The show was cut down to two hours instead of the customary three when it made the move from broadcast networks to being a Prime Video streaming exclusive. It makes up for some of that brevity by running few commercials during those two hours, but the show still has 15 scheduled performances to squeeze into those 120 minutes.
Moroney will perform Thursday as part of the red-carpet hour at 7 p.m. ET/4 PT, preceding the official kickoff for the awards livestream at 8 p.m. ET/5 PT.
The show Thursday will be free for all viewers, not just Prime members, on Prime Video and Amazon’s Twitch channel.
