USA Today (April 5th 2013)
Shelton, Bryan set for fun at the ACMs
Blake Shelton is looking forward to getting Luke Bryan in front of a national television audience.
"Country music's hard-core fans know his personality, how goofy he is," says Shelton, who will host Sunday's 48th annual Academy of Country Music Awards with Bryan. "But I don't think he's had the opportunity yet for that television audience to see that Luke's not afraid to make a (fool) of himself. Which I think is always the reason he and I have been buddies. He doesn't take himself any more seriously than I do."
Shelton knows a few things about what good TV exposure can do for a country singer's career. Two years ago, he was in the same place Bryan is this year, co-hosting the show with Reba McEntire. Three weeks later, Shelton appeared as a coach on The Voice, and his career took off.
Bryan replaces McEntire, who spent 14 years as a host of the ACMs. He'll also unveil his new single, Crash My Party, during the telecast. He says he has been looking to Shelton for advice on preparing for his hosting duties.
"Blake told me that the opening is what you've got to do 90% of your prepping for, getting your ducks in a row for that," he says. "After that, all you're doing is introducing other people to introduce awards. And drinking. And running out to a strip joint during breaks."
In all seriousness, there is a learning curve for hosting an awards show, Shelton says, but "if you can get over your nerves, it's a cakewalk." That's easier said than done, of course, especially when the script calls for wisecracks at the expense of friends and fellow artists likely to be encountered later.
"I did a joke last year about Taylor Swift's 'shocked' face (when she wins)," Shelton says. "I watch that back now, and I can see my microphone shaking, because I was thinking, 'Well, this'll be the end.' You make fun of Taylor, you can pretty much pack it in.”
Shelton and Bryan will compete with each other in the male-vocalist category, which Shelton won in 2012. They're also up for entertainer of the year, along with reigning titleholder Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean and Shelton's wife, Miranda Lambert.
"I'm still just happy to be in the room," says Bryan, who received his first nomination in the top category this year. "I moved to town just wanting (to have) a No. 1 song that I had written."