Kelsea Ballerini is using above the 2024 CMT Awards stage — but not each portion will be reside.
Ballerini, 30, will host the Sunday, April 7, awards ceremony stay from Austin’s Moody Heart for the fourth time. She will also accomplish a person of her most important hits, albeit pre-recorded.
“I’m pre-taping my overall performance in a couple of times due to the fact I am also web hosting,” Ballerini quipped through Instagram Story on Monday, April 1, all through a enthusiast Q&A session. [Hosting] is like a fun variation of managing about like a headless hen. The rest is stay, babyyy!”
The Grammy nominee has emceed the CMT Awards given that 2021, along with the likes of Kane Brown and Anthony Mackie. Sunday is the initial time she will tackle web hosting solo.
“I could not be a lot more thrilled to be back again for my 4th 12 months with my CMT spouse and children to host this year’s CMT Music Awards in Austin, TX,” Ballerini claimed in a February assertion. “Hosting an awards demonstrate that celebrates the new music that the supporters love most has been an honor and I know this 12 months will be a further unforgettable night.”
Kelsea Ballerini attends the CMT 2024 Host Junket at Moody Centre on April 3, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Catherine Powell/Getty Pictures for CMT
She is also nominated for two trophies, Online video of the 12 months and CMT Effectiveness of the 12 months, for her song “If You Go Down (I’m Heading Down As well).”
At final year’s ceremony, Ballerini carried out “If You Go Down (I’m Likely Down Much too)” alongside a team of drag queens. The range transpired months just after Tennessee legislators — who govern Ballerini’s house state — introduced a bill that would ban community “adult cabaret performances” in entrance of kids.
“I adore efficiency and I adore self-expression and I love inclusivity,” she told Amusement Tonight in April 2023 soon after the display wrapped.
Manila Luzon, Kelsea Ballerini, Jan Activity, Olivia Lux, and Kennedy Davenport conduct onstage through the 2023 CMT Audio Awards at Moody Heart on April 2, 2023 in Austin, Texas. John Shearer/Getty Photographs for CMT
GLAAD subsequently praised Ballerini’s set.
“As LGBTQ rights are remaining questioned in Texas, Tennessee, and numerous Southern states, Kelsea Ballerini took to 1 of country music’s most significant stages to show bold allyship by proudly featuring gifted and beloved drag artists,” Anthony Allen Ramos, who is the Vice President of Communications & Talent for the nonprofit, stated in a statement. “Kelsea’s functionality at the CMT Tunes Awards reinforced that drag is not a risk, it’s an artwork. New legislation that attempts to silence drag performers in some Southern states is as unpopular as it is unwanted.”
Ramos included: “Country audio stars are utilizing their platforms to stand with the LGBTQ neighborhood and the field is developing into an explicitly welcoming area for LGBTQ enthusiasts and talent. Other country new music stars, concerts, and gatherings ought to acquire notice of CMT’s inclusion and abide by suit.”
