Season 10's “American Idol” winner Scotty McCreery has earned New Artist of the Year at last night’s American Country Music Awards.

Country music singers Trace Adkins and Kristin Chenoweth hosted second anniversary of the ACA’s Monday night, and the event opened with a sing-off between the two artists.

Singer Carrie Underwood, who also got her start on “American Idol,” took the stage during the ACA’s. Underwood took home the award for Best Female Artist of the Year. Complimenting the crowd she said, “I would like to thank God for giving country music the best fans in the world!”

Upon McCreery’s acceptance of the coveted ACA award, he thanked Jesus as well as “American Idol.” Prior to his speech, he had taken the stage to perform “The Trouble with Girls” off of his new album, Clear As Day.

The night saw several performances by today’s top country music artists. In addition, awards went out to artists for songs, videos, albums, and over-all accomplishments in the country music genre. Notably, Artist of the Year went to Jason Aldean, while Male Artist of the Year went to Brad Paisley.

Also, Lady Antebellum received a big honor with Group of the Year, and Breakthrough Artist of the year went to Chris Young.

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For a full list of winners, visit theacas.com.

During last week’s Country Christmas special on ABC, New Artist of the Year award-winner McCreery shared his most prized Christmas carol with viewers. He described his love for the song “The First Noel” as having started when he was young attending church.

The 17-year-old singer added that Christmas for him growing up was a “faith-based holiday, not so much just about Santa for us.”

“There’s nothing wrong with Santa, but its more about the true meaning of the holiday, Christ’s birth, and ‘The First Noel’ speaks of that,” said McCreery, who performed during the Christmas special telecast.