Awards: Dollywood, Sierra Noble, Bonnie Garner and Amanda Baker

Dollywood received the 2010 Applause Award at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Expo in Orlando, Fla., on Nov. 16. The award honors a park whose management, operations and creative accomplishments have inspired the industry with its foresight, originality and sound business development. The award is presented every other year by Liseberg amusement park located in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Dolly Parton accepted the award for the park. “We are so honored to win this award. Our success over the last 25 years is because of the great team at Dollywood that I lovingly call my other family,” Parton said.

• • •

Moraine Music Group’s writer/artist Sierra Noble was named International Winner in New York’s “SongCircle 5th Annual Songwriter’s Contest” with her breakthrough single, “Possibility.” The song was also featured this fall in CW hit series Life Unexpected and One Tree Hill. Noble will perform “Possibility” on Nov. 19 at City Winery in New York City at SongCircle’s Live Finals where the American Grand Prize Winner will be chosen. Chris Burke-Gaffney and Keith Macpherson are co-writers on “Possibility” which appears on Noble’s debut EP available on Itunes.

• • •

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Fourth Annual Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum Presented by the Gibson Foundation honored long-time record company A&R executive Bonnie Garner Tuesday night (11/16) during a special interview in the Ford Theater.

• • •

Australian Singer/Songwriter Amanda Baker won top honors at the 2010 Show Me The Music songwriting contest for her song “The Fool.” As part of her prize Amanda is being flown to Nashville in the first week of December to record the winning song at Omni Studios with Steve Tveit and some of Nashville’s A-list musicians. Baker will be playing acoustic shows in Nashville and L.A.