Reba McEntire Disappointed in CMA Entertainer Snubs

Reba McEntire Disappointed in CMA Entertainer Snubs: The 44th annual CMA Awards are tonight (November 10) and Nashville is buzzing about who will take home trophies in top categories, especially the most coveted award, Entertainer of the Year. Now, one former recipient of the Entertainer trophy is speaking out about the arguably surprising list of nominees this year.

"The only thing that I was disappointed in was the acts that have been headlining for so many years, they were not nominated," Reba McEntire says (quote via CNBC). "In particular, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts. I would've assumed they would've been in that nomination before Zac Brown Band, Lady Antebellum and Miranda Lambert."

The Entertainer of the Year category, which also includes Brad Paisley and Keith Urban this year, is defined by the Country Music Association as being for "the act displaying the greatest competence in all aspects of the entertainment field," including "in-person performance, staging, public acceptance, attitude, leadership, and overall contribution to the Country Music image."

Reba, who won the Entertainer award in 1986, says the new crop of nominees shows a deliberate movement by CMA voters to move past tradition. "I have heard they are looking for a new regime, wanting to turn things around and to kind of mix up the shuffle," she adds. "Well, they definitely did. This has sure gotten everybody to talk about it."