The 2020 ACM Awards are two days away, and along with several winners already having been announced, the show's opening number was revealed on Monday. Entertainer of the Year nominees Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett and Carrie Underwood will perform together to kick off the show, each artist sharing a medley of some of their greatest hits.
This year's show was rescheduled from April due to the coronavirus pandemic and will now take place in Nashville for the first time ever. The ceremony will be broadcast from three iconic music venues in Nashville including the Ryman Auditorium, The Bluebird Café and the Grand Ole Opry. Each Entertainer of the Year Nominee will perform twice during the show — Bryan and Church will perform from the Opry with "One Margarita" and "Stick That in Your Country Song," respectively, Combs will sing "Better Together" at The Bluebird Café, Rhett will team with Jon Pardi for "Beer Can't Fix" at the Ryman and Underwood will celebrate the 95th anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry with a medley honoring trailblazing female Opry members.
Academy of Country Music (ACM)These ACM Entertainer Of The Year Nominees have been working on something special for Country Music fans! ✨ They'll be performing a medley of their hits LIVE at the #ACMawards—WEDNESDAY at 8/7c only on @cbstv! Comment if you'll be tuning in!
Additional previously announced performers include Jimmie Allen, Kelsea Ballerini, Gabby Barrett, Kane Brown, Dan + Shay, Florida Georgia Line, Riley Green, Mickey Guyton, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Maren Morris, Old Dominion, Blake Shelton featuring Gwen Stefani, Taylor Swift, Tenille Townes, Keith Urban with P!NK, Morgan Wallen and Trisha Yearwood. Presenters include Lauren Alaina, Lily Aldridge, Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black, Bobby Bones, Cam, Darius Rucker, Runaway June and CeCe Winans.
The show will be hosted by Keith Urban, who is the reigning ACM Entertainer of the year. "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."
The 2020 ACM Awards, a Night of Heart and Hits Live from Nashville, will air live on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.