The award show circuit needs more couples like Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley running events. While not romantically involved, the two are old friends and have been hosting the 2014 CMA Awards for the past six years, with a seventh straight appearance due Nov. 5.
Along with head writer David Wild and executive producer Robert Deaton, the pair have made the show — which celebrates the year's best in country music — more or less a rousing success over the past half decade.
"Brad and Carrie are their own entity," Deaton told The Tennessean. "That [combination] makes it unique. It's Sonny and Cher."
Paisley and Underwood said they avoid Internet reviews following the show.
"There's a lot of difference between hearing from your fans and hearing from people who didn't like you in the first place," Underwood said.
Meanwhile, Paisley uses the live audience as a barometer.
"Did we tear the room apart?" he asked. "Did they go nuts? I know that we really want that to be something that at the end of the year you point to as something that was something done right. It's good for country music. I love it when somebody says, 'You guys did as well as anyone on TV as far as that kind of role.'"
Rolling Stone recently reported that Eric Church, Florida Georgia Line and Kacey Musgraves would be joining the long list of performing artists which already includes Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Tim McGraw, Paisley, Blake Shelton, Underwood and Keith Urban.
It is tough to find another awards show with that much star power on stage, and the trio of recently announced artists piled up an impressive trove of awards in the past couple years. Here is their recent haul:
Eric Church
- Nominated for four awards, including Male Vocalist, Album of the Year (The Outsiders), Single/Song of the Year ("Give Me Back My Hometown")
- 2012 Album of the Year winner (Chief)
Florida Georgia Line
- Nominated for Vocal Duo of the Year
- 2013 Vocal Duo of the Year
Kacey Musgraves
- Nominated for three awards, including Female Vocalist of the Year, Song/Video of the Year ("Follow Your Arrow")
- 2013 New Artist of the Year
The ceremony will be televised live from the Bridgestone Arena Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. on ABC.
