Kelsea Ballerini's Dog Steals The Show At The CMT Awards As She Hosts From Her Backyard

Image Courtesy: CMT

The CMT Awards, one of Nashville’s biggest nights in country music, were last week. The award show was hosted by Kelsea Ballerini, Kane Brown, and Anthony Mackie. Stars who appeared at the award show included Taylor Lautner, Tan France, Karamo Brown, Bobby Berk, Antoni Porowski, Maren Morris, Mickey Guyton, and many more. Kelsea Ballerini also performed her new country-pop anthem, HEARTFIRST, which will surely be the summer’s hit on country radio.

However, an unlikely figure stole the show at 2022’s CMT Awards– Kelsea Ballerini’s dog Dibs, named after her 2015 hit song. After testing positive for COVID-19 just days before the show, CMT Awards scrambled to accommodate Kelsea. In the new normal, it became evident that Kelsea would host the show from home, something that had never been done before in the show’s history. Ballerini posted a series of videos of her preparation for the night, including FaceTime with her makeup artist for glam instruction. Throughout the night, Kelsea debuted many killer looks, including purple and turquoise eye shadow.

Image Courtesy: CMT

Ballerini’s husband, fellow country star Morgan Evans, documented Kelsea’s changing outfits each time she appeared on the screen. She showed up on the red carpet (set up in her driveway) in a Michael Kors suit with a glitter bandeau top. She also wore a purple dress, a neon yellow dress with matching shoes, a St. Jude’s t-shirt and blue pants, a turquoise cutout dress for her backyard performance, and she ended the night in her pajamas with matching eye patches. Despite the obstacle of COVID-19, Kelsea did a fantastic job of hosting from home.

Notably, the person to have won the most CMT Music Awards ever, Carrie Underwood, performed her new song Ghost Story in an aerial performance. She performed from her Las Vegas residency and stated that she was inspired by P!NK’s similar performances. 

Taylor Swift also won a CMT Award for her song Love Story (Taylor’s Version), the award went primarily ignored by swifties and Swift herself, who was not in attendance. It seems Fearless (Taylor’s Version) has been forgotten by Taylor as fans hold their breath while waiting for the next rerecord. 

Image Courtesy: Pitchfork

Miranda Lambert also performed If I Was A Cowboy while studded in a pink cowboy hat, red guitar, and pink embellishments. She performed the song outdoors on Nashville’s infamous Broadway Street. This song is from her album Palomino, which is set to be released on April 29.

Image Courtesy: Taste of Country

Despite it being one of Nashville’s biggest nights in country music, Kelsea Ballerini’s dog Dibs was ultimately unamused by the entire charade. He slept through each outfit change and made it on the CBS broadcast when he plopped on the couch for his mom’s final soundbite. He didn’t care about the awards show or that the Queer Eye guys made an appearance. Like any other average Zoom call on a Monday night, he also slept on the floor while she was on TV and was utterly indifferent to the entire night. Indeed, it’s Dibs’ world, and we’re all just living in it.

Strike Out,

Writer: Hannah Musiak

Editor: Karina McCarthy

Tallahassee

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