Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood have been tapped as hosts of this year’s CMA Awards! “I don’t think I ever dreamed of hosting,” Carrie admits. “This was a totally awesome surprise.” “It’s a big deal to me, too,” Brad says. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
This is the first time in 16 years that a male-female pair have been asked to emcee “Country Music’s Biggest Night” — the last time was in 1992 when Vince Gill and Reba McEntire did the honors, kicking off a 12-year run by Vince as host or co-host.
Brad and Carrie both admit they always dreamed of performing on the CMA Awards and of one day winning a CMA trophy, but neither one ever imagined they’d be hosting the show. “It just seems like one of those things that’s out of reach,” Carrie tells us, recalling how — when she was younger — she admiringly watched Reba handle such duties. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
Brad is the reigning Male Vocalist of the Year, while Carrie is the reigning Female Vocalist (an award she’s won twice)..and they’re both nominees again this year — Brad received four nominations, while Carrie has two. Both artists were honored for the first time by the CMA as winners of the Horizon Award — Brad’s gone on to win a total of nine CMA Awards, while Carrie has taken home four. “I used to say, early in my career, it was the difference between going out and buying something at a store the next day and…being asked for ID for my credit card and not,” Brad says with a smile. “Now we’re hosting,” Carrie points out. “Hopefully nobody will ask for ID, whether we win or lose.” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
Brad and Carrie with both perform on the CMA Awards show, which takes place November 12 at the Sommet Center in Nashville. The event airs live as a three-hour music special on ABC-TV.
Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood talk — and joke — about preparing to host this year’s CMA Awards show (on November 12). (1:06)
Brad: “Is it the 12th? Is that the day of it?”
Carrie: “Yeah.”
Brad: “I thought it was the 9th. I think I’m booked on the 12th. (Carrie laughs) Oh — I’m not? Okay — good.”
Carrie: “No, the CMAs are on the 12th.”
Brad: “Oh, yeah. I am [booked] now. That’s right”
Carrie: “There you go.”
Brad: “That’s what it was. We’re going to have to work together the next — like it or not — the next couple of weeks on…on this stuff. I meant that, you know, directed right at Carrie.”
Carrie: “Right. In the nicest way possible.”
Brad: (laughing) “But…we are. We’re going to have to come up with things and…I think I want to actively take a role in making sure that what we’re saying is what we would say, and…”
Carrie: “A lot of times, you know, you see people reading stuff that’s on the teleprompter, and it’s just like…if it’s a joke, [they] may not read it right because it’s on a teleprompter. You don’t normally read jokes — you tell jokes.”
Brad: “Yeah…and I know your sense of humor a little bit, and you know mine, and there’s things that would be better suited for you to say than for me to say…”
Carrie: “Right…”
Brad: “…and vice-versa. We’ll have all that worked out by the…by the 9th.”
Carrie: “The 12th.”
Brad: (laughs) “Oh — the 12th! Sorry.”
Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley talk about being CMA Award winners, nominees and now hosts of the 42nd annual awards show. (1:24)
Carrie: “It’s definitely hard work recognized. When I was growing up, I didn’t think [about] being out on tour — you just think it’s all glamour and glitz, but there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes.”
Brad: “Yeah.”
Carrie: “I think that whenever you’re nominated and whenever you win, it’s one of those things that every single person around you that helps you be a team and helps you achieve whatever you achieve — I think that they can take a little bit of that with them, too, because they helped.”
Brad: “For me, it’s such a career boost. This is such a watched and respected show that nothing really boosts your career like this show…”
Carrie: “Performing or winning or…”
Brad: “Oh, yeah.”
Carrie: “Immediately, people see things, they hear things they want.”
Brad: “You’re right. It’s important to our format for that reason alone. I used to say it’s the difference between — especially early in my career — it was the difference between going out and buying something at a store the next day and the diffrenece between being asked for ID for my credit card and not. The years when I would win, you know — ‘Oh wait — no. You don’t need your ID.’ Then it was like, ‘Saw you on the CMAs — you lost didn’t you? Yeah, I’m going to need some ID.’ (Carrie laughs.) So it’s that sort of feeling of verification of who you are, almost.”
Carrie: “And see, now we’re hosting…”
Brad: “Yeah, I don’t know what that means.”
Carrie: “…so hopefully nobody will ask for ID.”
Brad: “Yeah — that should be it.”
Carrie: “Whether we win or lose.”
Brad: “Yeah — no kidding.”
Carrie: “We still win.”
Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley admit they both dreamt of performing on the CMA Awards and of winning CMA Awards…but they never imagined they’d ever host the show — that seemed “out of reach.” (:44)
Carrie: “I don’t think I ever dreamed of hosting…”
Brad: “No.”
Carrie: “…I mean, this was like a totally awesome surprise.”
Brad: “Yeah, [for] me too.”
Carrie: “It just seems like one of those things that’s out of reach. Reba hosted. You know, it’s like little girls that are [like] me when I was young are watching me be Reba!”
Brad: “Yeah, that’s a big deal to me, too. I didn’t think about it. I would’ve thought about it more recently, whenever Vince [Gill] said that he was stepping down, that’s when it crossed my mind a little bit, whether I would like a shot at that. For a while I thought, ‘No. He was so good at this.’ And…and now here we are. I can’t believe we’re doing this.”