By this point, the Country Music Association could probably use stock footage for the Vocal Duo of the Year award. It would be about as suspenseful as the award has been for the last 15 years.

Every year since 1992, Brooks & Dunn has been nominated for the award. And except for the year 2000, the pair has won it every single time.

When the 40th CMA awards air on ABC this Monday night, the audience will be greeted by Kix and Ronnie, who are hosting for the third year in a row. And they'll get to see a lot of the two, because they'll also be performing and are nominated for six awards as a duo, including Entertainer of the Year, the CMA's top award. Brad Paisley was nominated for six awards, tying Brooks & Dunn for the most nominations, but Dunn was also nominated as a songwriter for "Believe", giving him seven nominations.

Other notable nominees are Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood, each with four nominations, and Dolly Parton and Merle Haggard, who are both back in the spotlight after being nominated for duets with Paisley and Gretchen Wilson, respectively. The 2006 Hall of Fame class is Harold Bradley, Sonny James and George Strait, who will also be performing.

UP FOR THE CHALLENGE

Once again, all eyes will be on Brooks & Dunn when the duo award rolls around. Only Montgomery Gentry can say they've taken down the legends, and they've had to suffer through five straight losses since winning it in 2000, when they shocked the country music world.

"The reaction was across the board — there was some surprise, in some quarters there was some sense that this was good for the industry, to have somebody challenge them," said David Scarlett, Senior Editor at Country Weekly Magazine.

And since losing, Brooks & Dunn has gladly accepted that challenge and jumped right back into dominating the award, even as they've faced their toughest competition the last few years. No one else has had a run like this at the CMA awards, and it doesn't look to stop anytime soon.

With smash after smash on the radio and a reputation for putting one on of the best live shows around, Brooks & Dunn has had a stranglehold on the award since they first burst on the scene with the 1991 release of "Brand New Man." Remember "Boot Scootin' Boogie?" Of course you do.

OUT OF THE SAFETY ZONE

"With them, it all starts with great songs," Scarlett said. "They have done just great, great songs across the board."

Across the board is a good way to put it — the two have had hits with just about every type of song in the country canon. Line-dance classics like "Boot-Scootin' Boogie." Rockers like "Brand New Man" and "Play Something Country." Gut-wrenching ballads like "Neon Moon" and "Believe." Pop-tinged songs like "Building Bridges," a collaboration with Sheryl Crow and Vince Gill that's nominated for Musical Event of the Year.

"They do new material that is kind of out of, maybe not their comfort zone, but out of the safety zone that you wouldn't expect someone in country music to do," Scarlett said. "They are attracted to songs that they like, even if it's an older song like 'My Maria,'" a Southwestern-flavored 1973 hit for B.W. Stevenson that Brooks & Dunn took to No. 1 in 1996.

SPARRING PARTNERS

Now, to be fair, it can be said that in some years, Brooks & Dunn beat up on lesser competition. Take 1994, for instance, when the other nominees were the Bellamy Brothers, Brother Phelps, Orrall & Wright and Sweethearts of the Rodeo.

But even lately, the competition has become far more fierce with duos like Montgomery Gentry and Big and Rich tearing up the charts, but Brooks & Dunn keep on rolling.

This year, they face what's possibly the strongest group of competitors ever. In addition to Montgomery Gentry and Big & Rich, both of whom are coming off strong years, the nominees include Van Zant — Donnie and Johnny Van Zant, the lead singers of .38 Special and Lynryd Skynyrd, who released the hit album "Get Right With the Man" last year — and The Wreckers, one-half of which happens to be multi-platinum pop star Michelle Branch.

"I would say it's one of the stronger years. In some years, you have to look high and low to find five duos," Scarlett said.

Even with such a loaded group of nominees, nobody will be shocked if Brooks & Dunn walks off with the award again. Instead of slowing down after 15 years of hit records and sellout concerts, they're still going strong, turning out hit after hit.

"They haven't lost the fire and the hunger that kind of drove them in the early years," Scarlett said.

Bad news for the rest of the nominees.

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asap contributor Casey Laughman saw Brooks & Dunn from the front row of Jamboree in the Hills one year. They rocked.

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