American Country Awards

It's a mistake to compare the American Country Awards to the CMA Awards, or even the ACM Awards, country music's other Las Vegas-based awards show. The CMT Awards or CMA Country Christmas specials are more fair comparisons. Expectations for Fox's awards show have been too high since the beginning -- it airs in December, after television's sweeps month, against network reruns and Christmas movies.

The 2013 American Country Awards nominees (aka the ACAs) have been announced, and it's Taylor Swift who is leading the charge and reigning supreme with a whopping eight nominations this year.

The best dressed artists at any given music awards show are often as news-making as the winners themselves.

Over the past 10 years, Toby Keith has been the most-played artist on country radio. His feat as one of country music’s most influential artists was enough to garner the win for Artist of the Decade at the 2011 American Country Awards on Monday night, Dec. 5.

The nominations for the second annual American Country Awards were announced on Wednesday, with Jason Aldean and the Zac Brown Band leading the way with eight nods each. The Dec. 5 FOX broadcast honors country artists in traditional categories like Artist of the Year, but also unconventional categories like Touring Headline Act of the Year.