Jimmie Allen is the 2021 ACM New Male Artist of the Year. The Academy of Country Music announced the news on Thursday morning (April 8), at which time they also handed out the New Female Artist of the Year trophy.

Allen was up against Travis Denning, Hardy, Cody Johnson and Parker McCollum for the 2021 ACM New Male Artist of the Year honor. Keith Urban, co-host of the 2021 ACM Awards, delivered the big news via a video message.

"Stop playin'!" Allen shouted, tossing the video message player onto his studio soundboard. He was so surprised, in fact, that he had to go back and watch it again.

"Do I give my acceptance speech now?" Allen asked with a laugh. "Like, what do I do?"

Both the 2021 ACM New Male and New Female Artist of the Year winners announcements came 10 days ahead of the 2021 ACM Awards, which Urban and Mickey Guyton will co-host on April 18. The two performed together during the 2020 ACM Awards, and producers and executives say it was that performance that inspired them to ask Guyton to co-host this year's show with 2020 ACMs host Urban.

Maren Morris and Chris Stapleton are the most-nominated artists at the 2021 ACM Awards, each earning six nominations. Miranda Lambert has five nominations, and Ashley McBryde and Thomas Rhett have four each.

The 2021 ACM Awards will feature more than two dozen already announced performers. Allen and 2021 ACM New Female Artist of the Year Gabby Barrett have now been added to the performance lineup.

The 2021 ACM Awards will air live from Nashville at 8PM ET on CBS. The show will take place, as it did in 2020, at the Grand Ole Opry House, the Ryman Auditorium and the Bluebird Cafe. The event usually happens in Las Vegas, Nev., but was moved to Music City last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021 ACM Nomination Snubs and Surprises

Carrie Underwood is a snub, while Kane Brown is a surprise. An argument could be made for an overhaul to Song or Single of the Year categories, while one country male must have woken up on Friday morning (Feb. 26) and thought, "Well, isn't that something?"

Here is a list of nine ACM snubs and surprises, based on fan response and Taste of Country staff opinion.

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