Carrie Underwood’s 2019 ACM Awards Performance Will Get Her Up Close and Personal With the Crowd

Carrie Underwood's 2019 ACM Awards performance will get her up close and personal with the audience: As she sings her song "Southbound," the country superstar will be venturing out into the crowd -- a new style for Underwood.

“The performance is all about this party vibe and getting me into the audience, which is another thing that is a little bit new for me,” Underwood tells the Tennessean. “I watch performers like Keith Urban and Brad Paisley doing their thing going through the audience and I’m like, 'How do you do that?' It stresses me out.”

Despite the stress, however, Underwood knows it'll be worth it: “So much of awards shows is us standing onstage, and there’s this separation," she explains, "and I want to get in there."

"Southbound" comes from Underwood's newest album, 2018's Cry Pretty. She wrote the song with David Garcia and Josh Miller; it was the last song that went onto the album.

“I knew I needed something that was a little more fun because I felt like we had a lot of serious moments and a lot of emotion and I wanted that levity,” she shares. “It’s not necessarily what I do. I haven’t really done much like that in the past, which is why it’s a fun new lane to travel. We just had a fun day and by the end of it, I was like, ‘This feels good.’”

The 2019 ACM Awards are set to air live on CBS beginning at 8PM ET. The ceremony will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Underwood is nominated for Female Artist of the Year.

The Boot will be staying up late covering the most buzzed-about winners, fashion and moments at the 2019 ACM Awards. Readers can watch along with us by checking back to TheBoot.com for the latest ACMs headlines, liking The Boot on Facebook and following The Boot on Twitter.

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