Alan Jackson favored for Entertainer of the Year:

The 36th Annual CMA Awards show will be televised Nov. 6 from the Grand Ole Opry. Hosting will be Vince Gill, who is the all-time leading CMA award winner with 18 trophies.

When Alan Jackson, the lanky pride of Newnan, Georgia, first sang his "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" at last year's awards show, the song shot to No. 1 on the charts quicker than any other country single in the past four years.

In addition to that blockbuster song, Jackson set a record this year with 10 nominations, beating Merle Haggard's previous record of nine in 1970 and making him the favorite to capture the entertainer of the year prize.

Jackson broke into the country music scene in 1989, won his first CMA nomination the following year and has sold more than 39 million albums.

Jackson's chief rival for the award, Oklahoman Toby Keith, turned out "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue," his angry rendition of how America responded to the Sept. 11 attacks. The song tore up the charts and earned six nominations in various categories.

Though Keith, 40, a former oil field worker and rodeo hand, recorded for Mercury Records for almost a decade, he did not win his first CMA award until last year when he was named "Male Vocalist of the Year."

Viewers of the show will enjoy a smorgasbord of performers, including the return of Shania Twain in her first TV appearance since 1999. Another favorite, Faith Hill, who has sold more than 25 million records in her eight-year career, is back in the spotlight after time out to give birth to her third daughter.

The show will also feature the customary tribute to the most recent Country Music Hall of Fame inductees, whose names were announced last summer.

Test your knowledge of this year's nominees with a quiz:

2002 Entertainer of the Year Nominees

Brooks & Dunn
Kenny Chesney
Alan Jackson
Toby Keith
George Strait

Kix Brooks has been nominated with partner Ronnie Dunn for the CMA Entertainer of the Year Award eight times, and the duo won the Award in 1996. Do you know Kix Brooks real first name?

A) Bill
B) Leon
C) Roy
D) Harold

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