Country music star Kelsea Ballerini talks hosting the CMT Music Awards
FORT WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) -- Ahead of cohosting the 2022 CMT Music Awards, country music star Kelsea Ballerini sat down with Brooke Katz for a Q&A — which has been edited for length and clarity — to discuss what fans can expect this year.
Ballerini will stand beside actor Anthony Mackie on stage starting at 7 p.m. CT Monday night during what will be her second time hosting the fan-voted awards show.
Brooke Katz: This is your second year hosting the awards. What can fans expect?
Kelsea Ballerini: It is my second year hosting. And you know, I've always loved hosting because it really lets me be the artist and wear that hat, but also be a fan and just be all around the music that I've grown up being inspired by. So to wear both hats for me is really fun. But this year, I mean, it's not just on CMT, it's on CBS. It's bigger and better, and the stakes are higher. And so to be able to be a part of that -- that kind of new chapter -- the CMT awards is really exciting.
Katz: And you're not just hosting. You're also performing and you're up for the video of the year nomination. How do you balance all of that?
Ballerini: I'm so excited to perform... That's where I need to really show up. Also, I'm performing my new single for the first time ever. So it's exciting. I'm nervous. Being nominated honestly, is such an honor. It's a fan-voted show, and to me, that's what country music is all about. It's about storytelling and the fans. And so to be able to have a whole show dedicated to them and what they've been listening to and what they want to celebrate, is it special.
Katz: I watched your "Half of My Hometown" video, and it made me emotional. Like it totally put me in my feelings. I think that's a good example of how you relate to people through music, because everybody's got that hometown experience. Seeing that come to life, and then having it nominated for the video of the year -- I know that's something that had to have come from your heart.
Ballerini: The song and especially that video is honoring the place that let me go. I moved away from my hometown when I was 15 to move to Nashville to do this. And so to be able to finally, you know, all this time and a little bit of success later, turn around and finally be able to say thank you... it's a big deal to me. And the video was super emotional. My goodness. I went home for three days and I filmed at my actual high school that I left and had my actual real-life friends who still live there in it. And it was this hypothetical story of what I would imagine my life to be like had I stayed, and it's a beautiful life. It's just not mine. And so it was a really delicate line to walk and a really beautiful story to tell. So I'm glad that people are relating to it.
Katz: I want to go back to something you touched on a few minutes ago. What makes this award show so unique is it is the only award show that is based on fan votes. Why is that so different and so special?
Ballerini: Just because I feel like what country music does better than anyone is the storytelling and then making sure that there is a real connection with the people that listen to our music. Country music to me, even before I was an artist, I always felt like I could reach out and touch the artists. I could hug them and they wouldn't be weird about it. And, and so yeah, I think just celebrating the people that give us the career, that give us the microphone. That's how it should be. So the show really is like kind of a snapshot of what the fans have gravitated towards in the last year and then just highlighting it all.
Katz: There are tons of performances in the show. Are there any specific ones that you're most excited about?
Ballerini: The Judds are performing together for the first time on TV in 20 years, so that will be major. I'm performing my new single, which I'm very excited about. It was just announced that Little Big Town, Monica, and Jimmie Allen are performing which is going to be amazing. Carrie [Underwood] is performing from her Vegas residency, so there's gonna be a lot and there's also a lot of stages. So it's not just inside the room. It's kind of kind of all over Nashville, celebrating the city.
