Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood are back at it. The duo will be hosting tonight’s 2018 CMA Awards. This evening marks the eleventh ceremony (in a row, no less!) that they will be hosting together.
By now, the two are CMA veterans and know exactly how to get the crowd going.
Together, they have created countless memorable moments for fans, and tonight, we should expect to be entertained once again. The goal this year? To have fun. Paisley recently told The Tennessean about their opening monologue, “If there’s anything that we’ve made our mantra, it’s that this year should be fun. We should be having a good time up there with our monologue. This is an escape and that’s what people need right now. You’re not up there to do anything too biting. This is about having a good time and setting a light tone.”
Of course, the pair’s goal is to be true representatives of the country music genre. “We take pride in what we do, for sure,” Underwood said. Paisley joked, “Speak for yourself.”
Tonight’s event promises an exciting lineup of performers, including Lauren Alaina, Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert, Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Garth Brooks, and more.
But if you’re expecting politics to factor into their hosting performance this year, think again. Brad and Carrie recently sat down with TV insider, where they explained, “This year, we are taking a non-political or hot button issue approach to the CMAs because we just want to celebrate. We want to give people something to smile about. So, we definitely try to gauge what is going on in the world an where we are. We try to write and act accordingly.”
Asked what they’ve learned about one another having done so many CMA hosting gigs together, Paisley said, “Carrie is, first of all, fierce when it comes to basically wanting to do things well. Talk about a work ethic and talent — then you combine the two. Here you’re talking about someone who will go to whatever lengths she has to in order to make sure something is great. She is a pro in every way.” Underwood added, ” Brad is always working on parodies and music and jokes. There is a lot of time spent outside when we should probably be spending time with our families or friends.”
They went on to joke that the many parodies of songs they’ve done over the years have replaced the actual music they’re honoring. “I can’t listen to the original songs without hearing what we did to them,” Underwood says.
And this year, Paisley won’t let slip the gender of Carrie’s baby. Why? Because this time around, he’s in the dark. “She knows better. I’ll blow it again,” Brad recently joked with The Boot. In 2014, he revealed the gender of Carrie’s first baby in the CMA opening monologue, but Carrie is intent on keeping that information secretive this go around.
Tonight’s CMA Awards will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena at 7pm Wednesday on ABC.