Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Zac Brown Lead Nominations For Third Annual American Country Awards

Nominations for the third annual American Country Awards were announced today, and leading the pack is Luke Bryan, who received nods in seven categories. Lady Antebellum and the Zac Brown Band tied for second with six nominations each, and Eric Church and Taylor Swift each received five.

The awards will be held live on Monday, Dec. 10 at the Mandalay Bay casino in Las Vegas, with the ceremony broadcast live on Fox starting at 8pm ET (delayed PT).

Trace Adkins and actress Kristin Chenoweth are once again hosting the event.

Not to be confused with the American Music Awards, whose list of nominees were announced yesterday, the American Country Awards focus specifically--as the name implies--on country music. The ACAs are based on votes from fans, who are encouraged to visit the ACA site once per day to chime in on their favorite artist in each of the categories. Voting concludes on Nov. 12 in all but the Artist of the Year category, where fans can vote through Dec. 7.

The 2012 Artist of the Year nominees include Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift, and the Zac Brown Band. Last year's Artist of the Year was Jason Aldean, while Carrie Underwood took it away during the award show's debut in 2010.

The full list of nominees can be seen on the American Country Awards website.

- Kurt Wolff, CBS Local