Get ready to get country with the 50th Annual Country Music Association Awards Wednesday night.
The show will pay tribute to the last five decades of country music with some of the most famous names in the industry lined up to perform. Here are five reasons to watch.
Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley will take the stage again to host the show for their ninth consecutive year. The duo is known for their opening monologue where they poke fun at their fellow country music stars and also take on topical subjects. With the presidential election just six days away, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton jokes are sure to abound.
Underwood has set a precedent of multiple wardrobe changes during the show. This year, the Grammy winner has been giving fans a sneak peek with pictures of her many beaded and sequined gowns on Instagram. Underwood recently told reporters that she plans to wear outfits representing the 50 year history of the show. “I’m gonna kinda start and end the night as me, but throughout the evening, it’ll be like sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, like early 2000s.” It sounds like Paisley might get in on the fun too. “She can show the best of the decade, and I can show the low point,” he said.
The show’s slate of performers is impressive: Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Miranda Lambert, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire and many more. One that will surely have you reaching for your Kleenex box will be when Randy Travis takes the stage. The singer suffered a debilitating stroke three years ago — impacting his mobility and speech — but he’s making a comeback.
The battle for Entertainer of the Year is the most coveted award of the night. Underwood is the lone female in the category up against Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, and Keith Urban. Other big competitions include Album of the Year — for which Underwood is nominated for “Storyteller” — Male Vocalist of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year.
Country music’s most epic performance could take place tonight. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the CMA Awards, 30 of country music’s biggest stars got together to make the “Forever Country” music video. The video first debuted in September and features a medley of country music’s greatest hits: “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” “On The Road Again,” and “I Will Always Love You.”
The 50th Annual CMA Awards air November 2 at 8pm ET on ABC.