Sugarland leads pack with 5 CMT award nods

Brad Paisley and Taylor Swift nipping on heels of country music duo

Ethan Miller / Getty Images file

Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush garnered five Country Music Television award nominations Tuesday.

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updated 2:19 p.m. ET May 19, 2009

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Sugarland leads all the nominees announced Tuesday for Country Music Television's awards show next month with five nominations.

Brad Paisley and Taylor Swift are next with four each, followed by Rascal Flatts and newcomers Lady Antebellum with three fan-voted nominations apiece.

Kelly Pickler and CMT personality Lance Smith announced the finalists on air Tuesday morning.

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Sugarland is nominated twice for duo video of the year — for "All I Want to Do" and "Already Gone." They also received two for "Life in a Northern Town" with Little Big Town and Jake Owen — collaborative video and performance of the year.

Their final nod is video of the year for "All I Want to Do."

Paisley's "Waitin' On a Woman" is nominated for video of the year and male video of the year. He's also up for collaborative video for his duet with Keith Urban, "Start a Band," and for performance of the year for "Country Boy" with Alan Jackson, George Strait and Dierks Bentley.

Swift's "Love Story" is nominated for video of the year and female video of the year, and her performance of "Photograph" with British rockers Def Leppard is nominated for performance of the year and wide open country video of the year.

Viewers cast more than 2.5 million votes to decide four finalists in most categories. Fans can vote online at CMT.com through June 15 to determine the winners.

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The video of the year competition is being handled a little differently. CMT has identified 10 nominees so far, and it will announce the finalists at the beginning of the June 16 awards show in Nashville. Fans can vote for their favorites throughout the show.

The cable network will air the awards live at 8 p.m. Eastern, and the show will feature musical performances by Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban and Def Leppard.