The 2020 ACM Awards are finally just days away after being postponed from April to September due to the coronavirus pandemic. This year’s show will be fully virtual for the first time and will take place in Nashville for the first time after having been hosted in Las Vegas for years.
Many of country music’s biggest names are nominated this year, and the long list of performers also features many of the genre’s stars including Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Tim McGraw, Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Maren Morris, Luke Combs, Florida Georgia Line, show host Keith Urban and more. Taylor Swift will also be making a return to the ACMs stage with her single “Betty,” giving her first performance at the awards show in seven years.
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Keep reading for everything you need to know ahead of Wednesday night’s show.
Where are they?
For the first time ever, the ACM Awards will take place in Nashville, a decision made due to the coronavirus pandemic. The show will be broadcast from three iconic music venues — the Ryman Auditorium, The Bluebird Café and the Grand Ole Opry. Select artists will perform at each venue and only essential personnel will be in attendance.
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Who’s hosting?
Reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year Keith Urban will be serving as host this year, appearing at all three venues during the course of the evening.
“I love the fact that we’re going to do it in Nashville; I love that it’s going ahead,” Urban recently told Taste of Country Nights. “Here we are in September — ACMs in September is a first. I love that we’re going to be doing it in a few amazing places.”
“I’m going to be hosting from Grand Ole Opry House and crossing over to some performances in the Bluebird Cafe and also Ryman Auditorium,” he continued. “So what’s great about this is, even though a lot of people won’t be able to come — and obviously we can’t have people in the audience — there’s going to be a lot of people around the world that get to see these places that have never seen them before.”
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Who’s presenting?
Presenters include Lauren Alaina, Lily Aldridge, Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black, Bobby Bones, Cam, Darius Rucker, Runaway June and CeCe Winans.
Who’s performing?
Kelsea Ballerini, Gabby Barrett, Riley Green, Maren Morris, Old Dominion, Thomas Rhett featuring Jon Pardi, and Tenille Townes will perform at the Ryman, Jimmie Allen, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert featuring songwriters Natalie Hemby and Luke Dick, and Tim McGraw will perform at The Bluebird and Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Dan + Shay, Florida Georgia Line, Mickey Guyton, Taylor Swift and Morgan Wallen will perform from the Opry.
Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani and Keith Urban and Pink will also perform, Trisha Yearwood will honor members of the country music community who have died this year and Carrie Underwood will celebrate the 95th anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry with a medley honoring trailblazing female Opry members.
Underwood will also be part of the show’s opening along with her fellow Entertainer of the Year nominees Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs and Thomas Rhett, who will all perform medleys of their greatest hits.
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Who’s nominated?
Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett and producer Dan Huff lead the nominations with five each. Rhett earned his first nomination for Entertainer of the Year alongside Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs, who is also a first-timer in the category, and Carrie Underwood. Should Underwood win, she will become the only woman to be named ACM Entertainer of the Year three times, having previously won the award in 2009 and 2010. Taylor Swift has also won the honor twice, and she and Underwood are the only women to have won more than once.
Dan + Shay, Blake Shelton and Old Dominion all have four nominations and Miranda Lambert, Combs, Ashley McBryde and Kacey Musgraves are each up for three awards.
Who’s won so far?
A number of winners have already been announced, including New Female Artist of the Year and New Male Artist of the Year, which went to Tenille Townes and Riley Green, respectively. Thomas Rhett has been awarded Music Video of the Year for “Remember You Young” and Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, Caylee Hammack and Elle King won Music Event of the Year for their rendition of “Fooled Around and Fell in Love.”
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How to watch
The show will air on CBS at 8 p.m. ET and can also be viewed on CBS All Access. CBS All Access is available online at CBS.com, on mobile devices via the CBS app for iOS and Android, and on Roku Players, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Fire TV, Samsung Smart TVs, Comcast Flex, Facebook Portal, Vizio Smartcast TVs, LG Smart TVs, Amazon Prime Video Channels and Apple TV channels.
