Off-Camera Award Winners Announced for the 41st ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC(R) AWARDS, COUNTRY'S NIGHT TO SHINE(TM)

Off-Camera Award Winners Announced for the 41st ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC(R) AWARDS, COUNTRY'S NIGHT TO SHINE(TM)

Telecast to Air Live From MGM GRAND in Las Vegas Tuesday, May 23rd at 8:00 PM ET/PT on CBS Television Network

BURBANK, Calif., May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the Academy of Country Music is announcing the winners of awards that will be presented before the live telecast of the 41st ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS. The ceremony, which honors country music's top talent as well as the industry's hottest emerging talent, will be broadcast LIVE from MGM GRAND in Las Vegas on Tuesday, May 23rd, 2006 at 8:00 PM ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.

The Academy will present awards from the 41st ANNUAL ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS to winners in the following categories:

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Buddy Cannon

AUDIO ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
Justin Niebank

CASINO OF THE YEAR
Mohegan Sun Casino -- Uncasville, CT

DON ROMEO TALENT BUYER OF THE YEAR
Suzanne Wilson -- Wilson Events, Inc.

DON ROMEO PROMOTER OF THE YEAR
Louis Messina -- The Messina Group

NIGHTCLUB OF THE YEAR
Billy Bob's -- Fort Worth, TX

ON-AIR PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR -- NATIONAL
Blair Garner -- After MidNite with Blair Garner (CA)

ON-AIR PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR -- MAJOR MARKET
Gerry House & The House Foundation -- WSIX-FM (TN)

ON-AIR PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR -- MEDIUM MARKET
Scott Innes -- WYNK-FM (LA)

ON-AIR PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR -- SMALL MARKET
Becky Austin & Brad Austin -- KLUR-FM (TX)

RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR -- MAJOR MARKET
WFMS-FM (IN)

RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR -- MEDIUM MARKET
WUSY-FM (TN)

RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR -- SMALL MARKET (TIE)
WGSQ-FM (TN)
WYCT-FM (FL)

BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Michael Rhodes

FIDDLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jonathan Yudkin

GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Pat Buchanan

PERCUSSIONIST / DRUM PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Shannon Forrest

PIANO / KEYBOARD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Mike Rojas

SPECIALTY INSTRUMENT PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Bryan Sutton

STEEL GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Paul Franklin

The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 with a mission to support, promote, and enhance the advancement of the country music industry worldwide. The Academy, which is comprised of more than 4,000 professional members and a newly established Associate Membership, is headquartered in Burbank, Calif. For more information on the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS and the Academy of Country Music, please visit www.acmcountry.com.

The ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS is produced for television by dick clark productions. The show is executive produced by Allen Shapiro and R.A. Clark, and produced by Barry Adelman. The executive in charge of production is Bob Bardo, and the executive in charge is Fran LaMaina.

The ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS will be broadcast LIVE from MGM GRAND in Las Vegas on Tuesday, May 23rd, 2006 at 8:00 PM ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.

Source: Academy of Country Music

CONTACT: Brooke Primero of BNC, +1-310-854-4800, for Academy of Country
Music

Web site: http://www.acmcountry.com/

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