Carrie Underwood prepares to co-host CMA Awards for the fourth straight year tonight
From Wednesday’s Life section of The Oklahoman.
Carrie Underwood prepares to co-host CMA Awards for fourth straight year
Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Thompson Square, Rascal Flatts and Underwood will compete for prizes at the 45th annual event, airing live from 7 to 10 p.m. Wednesday (tonight) on ABC.
For the fourth straight year, Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley are getting ready to perform a three-hour duet.
No, the Checotah native and her fellow country music superstar aren’t borrowing a page from the Flaming Lips’ warped musical playbook. Instead, Underwood and Paisley are again co-hosting the Country Music Association’s yearly awards show.
“Brad’s great. Brad is the big brother I never had,” Underwood said during a recent visit to her hometown. where she helped build a playground her foundation donated to her old elementary school. “He messes with me and picks on me like a little sister, so we work well together.”
When the 45th Annual CMA Awards air live from 7 to 10 p.m. Wednesday (tonight) on ABC, Underwood won’t be the only country luminary with Oklahoma ties hoping to light up the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. , in front of their peers and a national TV audience. Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Thompson Square, Rascal Flatts and Underwood are all nominated for awards and have been invited to join the star-studded lineup of performers.
Shelton, who is in the midst of a breakout year, will compete for five trophies, including the top prize, entertainer of the year. The Ada native tied Paisley, Jason Aldean and Taylor Swift as all received five nominations each and all are nominated in the entertainer of the year category, along with Keith Urban.
Along with his entertainer nomination, Shelton, who lives in Tishomingo, will defend his title as reigning CMA male vocalist of the year and contend for album of the year for “All About Tonight” and single of the year for “Honey Bee,” both produced by Clinton native Scott Hendricks. In addition, Shelton, a celebrity coach on the hit reality TV show “The Voice,” is nominated for video of the year for “Honey Bee,” directed by Trey Fanjoy.
“To be honest, I secretly hoped that I’d get this nomination one day, but I never thought I actually would,” Shelton said on his website after he received his first entertainer of the year nomination.
Shelton will open the CMA Awards by performing “Footloose,” which he covered for the recent remake of the 1984 film, and he will be joined by ‘80s soundtrack guru Kenny Loggins, who cut the famous original version of the movie theme.
Lambert, Shelton’s wife and fellow Tishomingo country star, is trying to repeat as the CMA’s female vocalist of the year after winning the prize in 2010. The Texas native, who released her new album “Four the Record” last week, is nominated with country legend Loretta Lynn and rocker Sheryl Crow for musical event of the year for their version of Lynn’s signature song “Coal Miner’s Daughter.”
Husband-and-wife duo Thompson Square, which includes Miami, OK, native Keifer Thompson, received their first CMA Award nominations for new artist and vocal duo of the year. After the awards show, the couple will be the musical guest on the late-night talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” which begins at 11 p.m. Wednesday on ABC.
Trio Rascal Flatts, which includes Picher-bred guitarist Joe Don Rooney, earned a nomination in the vocal group of the year category. The band will play its current hit duet “Easy” with pop star Natasha Bedingfield. Also, Rascal Flatts, Little Big Town and Darius Rucker will perform duets with R&B legend Lionel Richie, who is releasing his anticipated country duets album “Tuskegee” in March.
Along with co-hosting, Underwood and Paisley will perform together their chart-topping duet “Remind Me,” and Paisley will join Oklahoma native Vince Gill and fellow singer/guitarist Urban in playing a tribute to country legend Glen Campbell, who revealed earlier this year that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
Plus, Underwood will compete for the sixth time in the female vocalist category. She won the title in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and if the “American Idol” wins again in 2011, it will tie her with fellow nominee Martina McBride and fellow Oklahoma native Reba McEntire, who will be among the show’s presenters this year, for most wins in the category.
Although presiding over the CMA Awards involves a lot of work — and typically includes several speedy wardrobe changes for Underwood — she is excited to do it all again.
“Brad and I have a lot of fun hosting,” she said. “That’s a long show and it just flies by doing that. … We kind of feel like we’re in the driver’s seat.”
Follow along on BAM’s Blog
Hosted by Checotah native Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley, the 45th annual CMA Awards will air live from Nashville, Tenn., from 7 to 10 p.m. Wednesday (tonight) on ABC. Follow along with my live posts about the show here at BAM’s Blog: blog.newsok.com/bamsblog.
-BAM
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The vocals are awful PLEASE talk to the sound guys!