American Country Awards 2012: Nashville descends on Las Vegas

Nashville has essentially moved to Las Vegas, just for the night.

Over the past couple of days, country stars have been arriving in Sin City for Monday night's third annual American Country Awards, which air live from The Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino starting at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.

Kristin Chenoweth and Trace Adkins will return as hosts for the second consecutive year - and will also perform at the ceremony. Several additional artists have been tapped to play the event, including Dierks Bentley, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts, Kim Moore, Jake Owen, and Jason Aldean. Keith Urban will sing alongside seven young musicians who have participated in the Grammy Foundation's Camp music program.

Bryan tops the list of nominees this year, with seven, including artist of the year and album of the year for "Tailgates & Tanlines."

Lady Antebellum and Zac Brown Band have six nominations each, and Taylor Swift and Eric Church have five nods apiece.

The two-hour, fan-voted special will also feature appearances by Eli Young Band, Lindsey Buckingham, Carmen Electra, Florida Georgia Line, Gloriana, Love and Theft, Penn & Teller and the San Francisco Giants' Brandon Belt and Barry Zito. Also set to attend are Natasha Bedingfield, Scotty McCreery, Miranda Lambert, LeAnn Rimes, Lee Brice, Jana Kramer, Dustin Lynch, Ron White and Chris Young, among others.

The awards show will feature a new song of the year category with a whopping 10 nominees.