If the new Grammy rules that have just been announced were in place this past February, Miranda Lambert and Keith Urban would have competed against each other for Best Country Solo Performance.

 The Grammy people are slashing the number of categories in many genres.

 That will make it harder to win a Grammy in some categories. Country goes from seven down to four. The biggest change is they're no longer separating the sexes.

Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Male Country Vocal Performance are merging into Best Country Solo Performance.

Two other categories being dropped are Country Collaboration with Vocals and Country Instrumental. So the four categories that remain for country are Solo Performance, Duo/Group Performance, Song and Album.

Source AP

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