2019 ACMs: Watch Reba's Lighthearted, But Pointed Monologue

After a rousing performance from Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean, the 2019 ACM Awards kicked off from Las Vegas, Nev., on Sunday night (April 7) with a rousing and lighthearted, and sometimes pointed, monologue from Reba McEntire, who's hosting the show for the second year in a row.

Wearing a shimmery, white-silver dress with glittery details, she came onstage by welcoming the crowd to the ACM Awards--“or as I like to call it, ‘Reba Las Vegas!’” and trilled the latter phrase in the style of Elvis Presley himself.

Later in the monologue, she also unleashed another famous impressions. After joking that she would collaborate with Cardi B at the awards ceremony, McEntire then noted, “There’s no ‘you’ in Oklahoma, and that’s okuuuur with me"--and emphasizing the latter expression by doing the rapper's famous trill.

McEntire also managed to sneak in a nod to country music's lack of gender parity, by noting that it snowed in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. “It was so cold it froze us women out of Entertainer of the Year," she quipped, as the crowd murmured and buzzed at the obvious shade. "But, you know what, that didn’t bother Kacey Musgraves, because she’s been so busy carrying all her Grammys around.” The camera panned to Musgraves in the crowd, who looked a little embarrassed to be singled out.

Nevertheless, the host spent most of her speech singling out various other country stars in the audience, noting Maren Morris' youth (and impending birthday) by joking her party was going to be held at Chuck E. Cheese's, and observing that Kelly Clarkson took the lion's share of "200,000 new jobs" created in recent times. Cue the camera panning to Clarkson in the audience, embodying her busy life by knitting a scarf and sketching a picture of her stepmother.

McEntire also welcomed Chris Stapleton back to the show, and quipped that “Chris is so country he refers to George Strait as ‘that city slicker.’"

In another hilarious moment, McEntire pointed out that Jason Aldean's wife, Brittany, became pregnant twice in the last two years--which just so happened to coincide with Aldean winning Entertainer of the Year. “Honey if you win tonight, can we just cuddle?” McEntire said Brittany would suggest instead.

McEntire has hosted the ACM Awards in a number of past years: She first hosted the show in 1986, with Mac Davis and John Schneider, and then returned in 1988, that time with Hank Williams Jr. as her co-host. In 1993, McEntire co-hosted the ACM Awards with Randy Owen and George Strait, and she and Alan Jackson co-hosted the ceremony in 1995.

McEntire finally hosted the ACM Awards solo for the first time in 1999, and then every year from 2001 through 2010. She and Blake Shelton co-hosted the ceremony in 2011 and 2012. Shelton nodded to this time at the 2019 ACM Awards by pulling a mic out of his suit jacket and asking McEntire if she needed help--but, satisfied she was fine, sat down and noted he'd simply be drinking a gigantic cocktail instead.

She also acknowledged it was her sixteenth time hosting the show, noting that people sometimes asked if she was tired of hosting. “Tired of celebrating great artists in music? Tired of amazing live performances?" she said, before firmly declaring, "My name is Reba McEntire, and i haven’t been tired in 53 years. I’m a woman in the music business, and we don’t have time for tired." Without missing a beat, she then quipped, "Now let’s get this show started before I need a nap.”

2019 ACM Awards: Reba McEntire Gives a Lighthearted, Pointed Monologue [WATCH]