ABC/Lou RoccoIn some ways, the pressure is off for Lauren Alaina this year, as she heads into the 53rd ACM Awards, already knowing she’s taking home the trophy for New Female Vocalist of the Year. Host Reba McEntire surprised her with the news several weeks ago.
So, who better to predict the winner in the Female Vocalist category? It’s a prospect that makes the American Idol runner-up pretty uncomfortable.
“That’s a really hard question,” Lauren says, “because obviously Carrie [Underwood] and Miranda [Lambert] and Reba — they’ve probably all won it, right? So my heart would want to pull for someone who hasn’t won.”
“So, initially, I would say, like, Maren [Morris] or Kelsea [Ballerini], because they’ve haven’t won it. And I know what it feels like to win an award that you haven’t won before. It’s a very good feeling,” she smiles.
But don’t be fooled into thinking Lauren’s actually making a choice.
“Female Vocalist of the Year is like the highest respected female in our format,” Lauren says, as she begins to change her tune. “And I think that that’s really hard to pick a newer artist to win that, too. Carrie’s been killing it for x amount of years, Miranda’s been killing it, and Reba is Reba. So, it’s really hard for me to pick.”
“I pull for females. Can they all win? Can we give all of them a trophy this year? Let’s change the rules,” she laughs.
The “Doin’ Fine” hitmaker could take home one more trophy this year: She’s nominated for Vocal Event of the Year for her #1 with Kane Brown, “What Ifs.”
Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
