Show Dog-Universal Artist Trace Adkins recently became a comic book action hero with the release of Luke McBain, an original, four-issue comic book mini-series, inspired by Adkins’ persona and Southern roots. Previously available only at comic book stores across North America, Luke McBain comics are now being offered as their own app through the ComicStore digital comics platform designed specifically for the new Apple iPad.

Since the launch of the premiere issue in November 2009, the adventures of Luke McBain have been a hot-selling item. The merging of country and comics has been well received, and now the series has the opportunity to reach a brand new audience via Apple’s iPad. The Luke McBain iTunes apps will expand to the iPhone and iPod Touch in the coming months, with advanced features that will deliver the finest and most elegant digital comics available.

The iPad editions of Luke McBain #1-4 are currently available for download from the iTunes App Store for $2.99 each.

Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum and Sugarland scored four first-round nominations each to lead the pack for the 2010 CMT Music Awards. Garnering three each were Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Zac Brown Band.

Beginning today, Monday, April 5 at 11:00 a.m., ET, fans can vote on CMT.com for their favorite artists to determine the final nominees for CMT’s ninth annual awards show. The 2010 CMT Music Awards premiere live on Wednesday, June 9 on CMT and CMT.com.

The first round of voting runs from Monday, April 5 through Monday, May 3, only at CMT.com, where fans will select from the top nominees in each category. On Tuesday, May 11, CMT will announce the four finalists in each of the categories, except VIDEO OF THE YEAR.  Fans can then vote online at CMT.com through June 8 to determine the winners. The final nominees for VIDEO OF THE YEAR will be announced at the beginning of the live show and fans can vote at CMT.com and via text message throughout the live broadcast (ET/CT only) to determine the night’s big winner.

Nominees are below. Awards go to the artists, except where noted.

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video of the year; awarded to the artist (male, female, group/duo or collaboration) and the video director.  Final nominees announced during live telecast, with final voting held online at CMT.com during the show.

Jason Aldean – “The Truth”
Kenny Chesney – “Out Last Night”
Toby Keith – “American Ride”
Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”
Miranda Lambert – “White Liar”
Brad Paisley – “Welcome to the Future”
Taylor Swift – “You Belong With Me”
Carrie Underwood – “Cowboy Casanova”
Keith Urban – “‘Til Summer Comes Around”
Zac Brown Band – “Toes”

MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Jason Aldean – “The Truth”
Kenny Chesney – “Out Last Night”
Billy Currington – “People Are Crazy”
Toby Keith – “American Ride”
Tim McGraw – “Southern Voice”
Brad Paisley – “Welcome to the Future”
Darius Rucker – “Alright”
Keith Urban – “‘Til Summer Comes Around”

FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Laura Bell Bundy – “Giddy On Up”
Miranda Lambert – “White Liar”
Martina McBride – “I Just Call You Mine”
Reba McEntire – “Consider Me Gone”
Kellie Pickler – “Didn’t You Know How Much I Loved You”
Taylor Swift – “You Belong With Me”
Carrie Underwood – “Cowboy Casanova”
Lee Ann Womack – “Solitary Thinkin’”

GROUP VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Gloriana – “How Far Do You Wanna Go?”
Lady Antebellum – “American Honey”
Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”
Rascal Flatts – “Here Comes Goodbye”
Rascal Flatts – “Summer Nights”
Trailer Choir – “Rockin’ the Beer Gut”
Zac Brown Band – “Highway 20 Ride”
Zac Brown Band – “Toes”

DUO VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Bomshel – “Fight Like a Girl”
Brooks & Dunn – “Indian Summer”
Brooks & Dunn – “My Maria” from INVITATION ONLY: BROOKS & DUNN
Caitlin & Will – “Address in the Stars”
Joey + Rory – “Play the Song”
Steel Magnolia – “Keep On Lovin’ You”
Sugarland – “Keep You”
Sugarland – “Nightswimming/Joey”

USA WEEKEND BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Ryan Bingham – “The Weary Kind”
Luke Bryan – “Do I”
Laura Bell Bundy – “Giddy On Up”
Easton Corbin – “A Little More Country Than That”
Randy Houser – “Boots On”
Justin Moore – “Small Town USA”
Steel Magnolia – “Keep On Lovin’ You”
Chris Young – “Gettin’ You Home”

COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Jason Aldean and Bryan Adams – “Heaven” from CMT CROSSROADS: BRYAN ADAMS AND JASON ALDEAN
Brooks & Dunn featuring Billy Gibbons – “Honky Tonk Stomp”
Kenny Chesney with Dave Matthews – “I’m Alive”
Jamey Johnson and Shooter Jennings – “Somewhere Between Jennings and Jones” from CMT CROSSROADS: SHOOTER JENNINGS AND JAMEY JOHNSON
John Mellencamp featuring Karen Fairchild – “A Ride Back Home”
Kellie Pickler featuring Taylor Swift – “Best Days of Your Life”
Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins – “Hillbilly Bone”
Sugarland featuring The B-52s – “Love Shack” from the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS

CMT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

Jason Aldean and Bryan Adams – “Heaven” from CMT CROSSROADS: BRYAN ADAMS AND JASON ALDEAN
Dierks Bentley – “Sideways” from the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS
Lady Antebellum – “Lookin’ For A Good Time” from the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS
Reba McEntire – “Consider Me Gone” from INVITATION ONLY: REBA
Tim McGraw – “Southern Voice” from INVITATION ONLY: TIM McGRAW
Brad Paisley – “Then” from the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS
Sugarland featuring The B-52s – “Love Shack” from the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS
Carrie Underwood – “Temporary Home” from INVITATION ONLY: CARRIE UNDERWOOD

VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

Deaton Flanigan (award eligible videos include: Jason Aldean’s “The Truth” and Carrie Underwood’s “Temporary Home”)
Darren Doane (Zac Brown Band’s “Toes” and “Highway 20 Ride”)
Trey Fanjoy (Reba McEntire’s “Consider Me Gone” and Lady Antebellum’s “American Honey”)
Chris Hicky (Miranda Lambert’s “White Liar” and Justin Moore’s “Small Town USA”)
Michael Salomon (Toby Keith’s “American Ride” and Dierks Bentley’s “Sideways”)
Shaun Silva (Kenny Chesney’s “Out Last Night” and Rascal Flatts’ “Summer Nights”)
Roman White (Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” and Kellie Pickler’s “Best Days of Your Life”)
Theresa Wingert (Carrie Underwood’s “Cowboy Casanova” and Martina McBride’s “I Just Call You Mine”)

American Idol contestants aren’t the only ones to have their performance judged. New tech toys, like the iPad, must also endure a complex series of advance reviews aimed at determining their ability to “make it.” Imagine the house lights coming back up. Randy Jackson yells above the crowd, “Yo—so listen up Dawg. I mean, for me it was dope, the rich screen colors, the convenient size, and all the cool app choices. The touch screen touched me.”

Luckily, for those of us wary of the Idol stage, we get to hear from a completely new set of judges for all things digital. Speaking of www.allthingsdigital.com, no new Apple device would be complete without a hands-on, pre-launch lowdown from personal technology guru, Walt Mossberg.

“This beautiful new touch-screen device from Apple has the potential to change portable computing profoundly, and to challenge the primacy of the laptop,” Mossberg writes in his Wall Street Journal column. “It could even help, eventually, to propel the finger-driven, multitouch user interface ahead of the mouse-driven interface that has prevailed for decades.”

Mossberg is not shy about comparing the new device with Amazon’s book reader. “The iPad is much more than an e-book or digital periodical reader, though it does those tasks brilliantly, better in my view than the Amazon Kindle,” he says. “And it’s far more than just a big iPhone, even though it uses the same easy-to-master interface, and Apple (AAPL) says it runs nearly all of the 150,000 apps that work on the iPhone.

“If you’re mainly a Web surfer, note-taker, social-networker and emailer, and a consumer of photos, videos, books, periodicals and music—this could be for you. If you need to create or edit giant spreadsheets or long documents, or you have elaborate systems for organizing email, or need to perform video chats, the iPad isn’t going to cut it as your go-to device.”
New York Times technologist David Pogue reviewed the iPad from two perspectives, that of a regular person and a “techie.” In his techie version (techies run Linux, use BitTorrent and have more e-mail addresses than pants), Pogue says it’s, “basically a gigantic iPod Touch.” He starts the second review for everyone else with the same line, but adds with obvious adoration, “The simple act of making the multitouch screen bigger changes the whole experience. Maps become real maps, like the paper ones. Scrabble shows the whole board, without your having to zoom in and out. You see your e-mail inbox and the open message simultaneously. The new iBooks e-reader app is filled with endearing grace notes. For example, when you turn a page, the animated page edge actually follows your finger’s position and speed as it curls, just like a paper page. Font, size and brightness controls appear when you tap. Tap a word to get a dictionary definition, bookmark your spot or look it up on Google or Wikipedia. There’s even a rotation-lock switch on the edge of the iPad so you can read in bed on your side without fear that the image will rotate.”

Overall, both reviewers laude high praise on the new device which streets Saturday, April 3. They also agree that battery life exceeds Apple’s 10-hour claims. “We all know you can’t trust the manufacturer,” snarks Pogue. “And sure enough, in my own test, the iPad played movies continuously from 7:30 a.m. to 7:53 p.m. — more than 12 hours.”

Both Mossberg and Pogue note the iPad’s lack of Adobe Flash, a video camera and real keyboard. “I found the iPad virtual keyboard more comfortable and accurate to use than the cramped keyboards and touchpads on many netbooks, though some fast touch typists might disagree,” says Mossberg. Pogue adds, “YouTube, Vimeo, TED.com, CBS.com and some other sites are converting their videos to iPad/iPhone/Touch-compatible formats. But all the news sites and game sites still use Flash.”
So dim the lights please. Apple’s Steve Jobs has been quoted saying, “When people see how immersive the experience is, how directly you engage with it … the only word is magical.” The judges seem pleased, but over the next few weeks America will vote—with its wallets. Will the iPad become another game changing, profit-packed, trophy on Apple’s technology mantle?