It was one for the record books when the final list of nominees for The 44^th Annual CMA Awards were announced today with fresh faces layered throughout the field of finalists vying for a coveted crystal trophy on what they call "Country Music's Biggest Night." 

Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood and broadcast live in Australia on CMC from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville at midday on Thurdsay November 11.  When the final nominations were tallied, Miranda Lambert led the list of finalists with nine nominations - the most for any female artist in the history of the CMA Awards. Alan Jackson received 10 nominations in 2002. Prior to that, Merle Haggard held the record with nine in 1970. 

Lambert received nominations for Entertainer; Female Vocalist; Album for Revolution; two for Single, 'The House That Built Me' and 'White Liar' Song for 'White Liar,' which she wrote with Natalie Hemby; Musical Event, for 'Bad Angel' with Dierks Bentley and Jamey Johnson; and two for Music Video of the Year for 'The House That Built Me' directed by Trey Fanjoy, and 'White Liar' directed by Chris Hicky. Lady Antebellum garnered the second highest number of CMA Awards nominations with five including Entertainer of the Year. Third on the list of nominees was Zac Brown Band and Blake Shelton with four nominations. 

In a major surprise, 2009 Entertainer of the Year and 2010 Grammy Album of the Year winner Taylor Swift was not nominated for the Entertainer of the Year award this time around.

Australia's Keith Urban received two nominations for Entertainer and Male Vocalist of the Year. Urban won Entertainer in 2005 and Male Vocalist of the Year three times (2004, 2005, and 2006).  The CMA Awards nominees and winners are determined by the 6,000 industry professional members of CMA. They include international voters. 

Click Here To See The Full List of 2010 CMA Awards Nominees

Despite awful flooding in Nashville less than a month ago, the CMA Music Festival kicked off in Music City today with over 40,000 people filling LP Field for the first night of stadium performances.

Tim McGraw gave Australian fans in attendance a sneak peak of what's to come when he tours Australia in September while Alan Jackson, Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum (pictured above), Danny Gokey and The Oakridge Boys also performed.

Carrie Underwood completed the night with a blazing stadium set which included a performance of the classic song 'Paradise City' with Aldean.

Photo provided by the Country Music Association (USA).

Lady Antebullum have shown us the extent of the devestating Nashville floods in their latest webisode. Check it out below...

Carrie Underwood was the big winner at the 2010 Academy of Country Music Awards is Las Vegas last night. She won the fan-voted Entertainer of the Year award for the second time.

Miranda Lambert also had a huge night winning Female Vocalist of the Year, Video of the Year and Album of the Year for Reveloution.

The full list of winners were...

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR - Carrie Underwood
TOP MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR - Brad Paisley
TOP FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR - Miranda Lambert
TOP VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR - Lady Antebellum
TOP VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR - Brooks & Dunn
TOP NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR - Luke Bryan
ALBUM OF THE YEAR - Revolution – Miranda Lambert SINGLE RECORD OF THE YEAR - ’Need You Now’ – Lady Antebellum
SONG OF THE YEAR - 'Need You Now’ – Lady Antebellum
VIDEO OF THE YEAR - 'White Liar’ – Miranda Lambert
VOCAL EVENT OF THE YEAR - 'Hillbilly Bone’ – Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins

Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood and Zac Brown Band have topped the nominations for the 45th annual Academy of Country Music Awards, which were announced by Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton last night.

Current CMA Vocal Group Of The Year Lady Antebellum’s sophomore album Need To Know has scored the #1 spot on the Billboard Top 200 chart this week, with over 480,000 albums sales.

Country Music has figured prominently at this year's GRAMMY Awards with Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Zac Brown Band, Lady Antebellum, Randy Travis and Australia's Keith Urban amougst the winners.

Swift won GRAMMYS for Best Country Album, Best Country Song ('White Horse') and Best Female Country Vocal Performance ('White Horse'). She then won the biggest award of the night, Album Of The Year (all genres).

"I just hope that you know how much this means to me and Nathan [Chapman], my producer, and to all these musicians you see on this stage that we get to take this back to Nashville," she said.

"Oh my God, our families are freaking out in their living rooms! My dad and my little brother are losing their minds in the living room right now. This is for my dad. Thank you for all those times you said I could do whatever I wanted in life. And my mom, you're my best friend," said Swift.  

Zac Brown Band won Best New Artist among all genres, completing a great double for country music.

And Keith Urban won his third GRAMMY in the Best Male Country Vocal Performance category for 'Sweet Thing'.

Lady Antebellum won Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for 'I Run To You' and Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis won Best Country Collaboration With Vocals for 'I Told You So'.

Visit www.grammys.com for the full list of winners.

Photos: Steve Granitz / WireImage.com