IT’S TIME Y’ALL — THE ACM AWARDS ARE HAPPENING TODAY!
The 54th Academy of Country Music Awards are taking over Sin City, airing LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena beginning at 8PM ET/PT on CBS.
Whether you scored an invite or hosting a watch party with your friends, tonight’s show is expected to be the biggest ACM Awards yet. With a star-studded lineup of performers, exciting collaborations and talented nominees, the ceremony will be the BEST three hours not only of your week, but ALL time.
To make sure you are fully prepared tonight, CS Country put together a cheat sheet on all things ACM Awards. From a complete list of celebs walking the red carpet and winner predictions to where to watch and more, this list has got ya covered.
Give us a follow on Twitter at @CS_Country and IG at @celebsecretscountry to see behind-the-scenes footage from tonight’s ACM Awards, as our team is in Las Vegas RIGHT NOW talking to celebs on the red carpet!
CBS
When are the ACM Awards?
The 54th Academy of Country Music Awards air TONIGHT, April 7th @ 8PM ET/PT on CBS. They are taking place LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Reba McEntire, host of THE 54TH ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS®, broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 7 (8:00-11:00 PM, live ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Cliff Lipson/CBS ©2019 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Who is hosting the ceremony?
Country superstar Reba McEntire will emcee as well as executive produce the three-hour telecast. 2019 marks the sixteenth time Reba has hosted the 54th annual show, which she both hosted on her own as well as co-hosted over the years.
Sixteen seems to be McEntire’s lucky number, as she’s also WON sixteen ACM awards over the course of her career.
Florida Georgia Line
Where can you watch the show?
The show will be available for viewing on CBS for everyone watching from their televisions with cable. It will also be streaming on CBS All Access with both starting at 8PM ET (delayed for west cost).
The digital pre-show, hosted by PEOPLE Now’s Jeremy Parsons and Andrea Boehlke, PEOPLE executive editor Cynthia Sanz, and ACM Award® nominee Michael Ray, will begin at 6:30pm ET/3:30pm PT LIVE from the red carpet at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 7, 2019.
It will be available exclusively on PEOPLE’s digital platforms, including PeopleTV, the streaming network from PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly, PEOPLE.com, the leading celebrity news and entertainment website, PEOPLE’s YouTube channel, and the Facebook and Twitter accounts for PEOPLE and PeopleTV. PEOPLE will post socially throughout the evening using the hashtag #ACMawards.
Who is nominated?
As we all know, this year has been a breakthrough year for country music. With artists like Chris Stapleton and Jason Aldean continuing to dominate the charts to Kacey Musgraves and Dan + Shay finally getting the recognition they deserve, the nominee list is more talented than ever.
Last month, McEntire appeared on CBS This Morning to reveal the nominees for the 2019 ACM Awards, which included some of Music City’s biggest names.
To no surprise, reigning Male Artist of the Year Chris Stapleton received six nominations in four categories, including his second nod for Entertainer of the Year. Dan + Shay tied Stapleton with six nominations this year, as they are up for awards such as Single of the Year, Song of the Year and Video of the Year for “Tequila”; Album of the Year for their self-titled album, and Duo of the Year for the sixth time.
Country queen and recent GRAMMY Album of the Year winner Kacey Musgraves follows Stapleton and Dan + Shay with five nominations this year, which include a nod for Female Artist of the Year, Album of the Year (as both artist and producer for Golden Hour) and Song of the Year (as both artist and songwriter for “Space Cowboy).
Other notable nominees include Dierks Bentley, Brothers Osborne, Florida Georgia Line and first-ever nominee Bebe Rexha, who each received four nominations in some of this year’s biggest categories.
To view a full list of nominees along with our winner predictions, click here.
You can also listen our Spotify playlist filled with nominated artists and songs below:
https://open.spotify.com/user/celebsecrets/playlist/09ghnwEDeSbNDjsVFRCnCx?si=gzTWWpFPSbisxwqHQ3-S-Q
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
What about the performers?
The lineup of performers is what we’re looking forward to most this year.
Jason Aldean (ACM Dick Clark Artist of the Decade Award honoree), Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn, Brothers Osborne, Luke Bryan, Kane Brown, Brandi Carlile, Eric Church, Kelly Clarkson, Luke Combs (ACM New Male Artist of the Year), Dan + Shay, Florida Georgia Line, Khalid, Miranda Lambert, LANCO (ACM New Group of the Year), Little Big Town, Ashley McBryde (ACM New Female Artist of the Year), Old Dominion, Reba McEntire, Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton, Chris Stapleton, George Strait, Carrie Underwood, and Keith Urban will all be performing on the ACM Awards stage this evening.
As far as collaborations go, Lauren Alaina, Mickey Guyton, Maddie & Tae and Carrie Underwood will take the stage together for a special rendition of the song “I’m Standing With You” from Metz’s new film Breakthrough; Khalid and Kane Brown; Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson; Dierks Bentley, Brandi Carlile, Eric Church and Ashley McBryde; Dan + Shay with Kelly Clarkson; Florida Georgia Line with Aldean; and Maren Morris with Brothers Osborne are on the bill.
The ACM Awards® will once again feature “ACM Flashbacks,” a fan favorite moment honoring classic country music hits and/or the artists whose music continues to influence musicians and fans alike. This year’s “ACM Flashbacks” will feature 29-time ACM Award-winning duo Brooks & Dunn performing with Luke Combs (ACM New Male Artist of the Year), and the King of Country Music and 24-time ACM Award winner George Strait performing with Miranda Lambert. In addition, Lambert, the most-awarded artist in ACM Awards history with 32 wins, will perform a flashback medley of her greatest hits.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
And presenters?
Lauren Alaina, Beth Behrs, Clint Black, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jessie James Decker, Hunter Hayes, Jay Hernandez, Lady Antebellum, Midland, Nancy O’Dell,Danica Patrick, Carly Pearce, Dennis Quaid, Michael Ray, Cole Swindell, and Wilmer Valderrama will hit the ACM stage tonight to present awards to each winner.
LAS VEGAS, NV – APRIL 02: Recording artist Miranda Lambert, winner of the award for Album of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year, poses in the press room during the 52nd Academy Of Country Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on April 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Who has already WON awards?
Last month, the Academy of Country Music revealed that Luke Combs, Ashley McBryde and LANCO won in the New Vocalist of the Year for male, female and group categories, respectively. They also announced this afternoon that Dierks Bentley and Brothers Osborne won Music Event of the Year for their song “Burning Man.” To view a full list of winners, click here.
Jason Aldean will be honored with the ACM Dick Clark Artist of the Decade Award for dominating country music over the decade, through success at radio, digital media, sales and streaming, distinguishing events, touring, television appearances, and artistic merit.
He joins only five other honorees that have received the ACM Artist of the Decade Award, which include Marty Robbins in 1969,Loretta Lynn in 1979, Alabama in 1988, Garth Brooks in 1998 and George Strait in 2008. This Award was renamed the ACM Dick Clark Artist of the Decade Award after Clark passed away in 2012, in recognition of his many years as the ACM Awards producer and early host.
