• CMT and CBS announced that the fan-voted awards show will take place on April 2, 2023, and for the first time ever, the show will air live from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas!
• In addition, Kelsea Ballerini will return as CMT co-host for her third consecutive year, she revealed during a surprise appearance at Carrie Underwood’s show at the Moody Center on Wednesday.
• Meanwhile, Underwood, 39, was announced as the event’s first performer.

Get excited, country music fans! A date has been set for the 2023 CMT Music Awards — and a few exciting announcements have come with it. CMT and CBS announced that the fan-voted awards show will take place on April 2, 2023, and for the first time ever, the show will air live from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas!

In addition, Kelsea Ballerini will return as co-host for her third consecutive year, she revealed during a surprise appearance at Carrie Underwood’s show at the Moody Center on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Underwood, 39, was announced as the event’s first performer.

“Austin and Nashville are two of the best music cities in the world, and we couldn’t be more excited to announce the return of the Music Awards with co-host Kelsea Ballerini surprising Carrie Underwood, our most awarded artist, in the middle of her incredible live performance at Moody Center – the exact venue where we’ll all be back in exactly five months!” According to a press statement from the CMT Awards’ executive producers, Margaret Comeaux, John Hamlin, Leslie Fram, and Jason Owen.

In what will be a genuine country music spectacular, the Live Music Capital and Music City will meet for the first time ever on a national scale, the statement said, “Our fans are in for an incredible night of music with plenty of surprises.”

Austin President and CEO Tom Noonan added: “The CMT Music Awards will be held at Moody Center in 2023, and we could not be more excited! This event will not only have a significant economic impact on Austin and its tourism sector, but it will also highlight two of the top music brands in the world: Country Music Television and Austin as The Live Music Capital of the World.”

Ballerini tested positive for COVID at this year’s show in April, so she took over hosting responsibilities from home while co-hosts Kane Brown and Anthony Mackie were present.

In a video announcing the news, Ballerini said, “All right guys, I have some bad news, and I have some wonderful news.” The bad news is that I recently tested positive for COVID, and since the CMT Awards are tonight, I’m afraid I will no longer be able to attend in person.

The “Peter Pan” singer continued by saying that while she was “devastated” by her diagnosis, the “good news” is that she was “feeling a lot better.”

In order for me to continue hosting and performing, Ballerini said, “The wonderful crew and my team have bought part of the CMT set to my house, to my tiny bubble, and set it up. “Although it is undoubtedly not what we had anticipated or planned, we are making every effort. Let’s use these extremely bitter lemons to make some lemonade together.”

Ballerini just finished a ten-night tour called Heart first, which ended on October 14. Underwood is now performing in 43 cities as part of her Denim & Rhinestones tour, which is scheduled to go on until the spring of 2023.

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