Blake Shelton will have help hosting the Academy of Country Music Awards on April 7.
Shelton has co-hosted the ACMs with Reba McEntire for the past two years after joining the long-time solo host in 2011. McEntire announced that she will no longer be co-hosting in the fall, leaving speculation that Shelton would go it alone until a few days ago when it was announced he would have a co-host and the guessing games began.
Now it turns out that Luke Bryan will join him to emcee the awards ceremony, which airs live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. We doubt he”ll look as lovely as McEntire in an evening gown. Bryan definitely brings a younger, boys-club vibe to the proceedings.
In other ACM news, Brad Paisley will host the Fan Jam, which runs concurrently with the ACM telecast and features acts performing live in a free show. Remote footage from the Fan Jam is cut into the television portion.
Additionally, as has been the case for the past four years, the night after the ACMs, the Academy and Dick Clark Productions will tape a themed night featuring many of country”s biggest names for a special that will air later in the Spring. Last year”s special was basically an infomercial for Lionel Richie”s “Tuskegee” album. Years past have included salutes to George Strait and Brooks & Dunn.