ABC/Image Group LAFor Miranda Lambert, being nominated for Entertainer of the Year at the CMA Awards is a little different this year. 

The country superstar, who will be performing a stripped down rendition of her new single “Settling Down” during the show, says that an EOTY win this year is more about one’s impact on the genre and less about the spectacle of live shows in a year where the COVID-19 pandemic kept artists from touring. 

“I think it’s a well-rounded category this year, and it’s also a year where it’s less about shows,” Miranda says in an interview with Extra. “It’s about your whole image and the whole thing that you encompass and how you represent yourself in the industry and what you mean to country music,” she continues. “I think that’s a cool way to celebrate Entertainer of the Year.”

This year, Miranda is nominated alongside Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, Luke Combs and Keith Urban. She acknowledges that while she faces tough competition, she’s grateful to be nominated alongside Carrie in a category often dominated by men, remarking how she’s long been a fan of her peer.  

“Entertainer is definitely special, it’s one of those that you kind of work for your whole career,” “It’s a stiff competition this year, but there’s two women in it which makes me really happy because Carrie [Underwood] and I have kind of come up together through this the last decade. I’m always such a supporter of hers and I would love to see her take it.”

The Entertainer of the Year will be crowned tomorrow night when the CMA Awards air live from Nashville’s Music City Center at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

By Cillea Houghton
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