Dierks Bentley Is ‘a Little Uneasy’ About Hosting the 2016 ACM Awards
Dierks Bentley will join Luke Bryan for the first time as a co-host of the 2016 ACM Awards in early April. The "Somewhere on a Beach" singer admits that he is anxious about his new role -- which is exactly why he decided to do it.
"I’m excited about it," Bentley told The Boot and other reporters at a recent media event. "... I’m always looking for a new challenge, and that opportunity came up, and it was like, ‘Yeah, that’s something that makes me feel pretty uncomfortable, so I should do it!'
"I’m always looking for those things that make me feel a little uneasy," Bentley adds. "Certainly being a host -- which I’ve never done before, [and] with Luke, you never know what he’s going to say -- will be a good challenge, so we’ll see how it turns out."
Bryan, who has hosted the ACM Awards for three years, had previously been joined by Blake Shelton. Shelton retired from his hosting duties this year, after hosting for the past five years, first with Reba McEntire, then with Bryan.
"The way I’m looking at it, Blake got edged out," Bentley quipped. "He’s done this thing, it just wasn’t working, people were getting tired of it. They had to go a little top-notch, so I’m in there."
All kidding aside, Bentley is taking plenty of notes on how to make the evening a success.
"I’ve got a lot of respect for people who are good hosts," he says. "I've got a lot of respect for Blake. I’ve got a lot of respect for Reba, the years that she did it. Brooks & Dunn, Vince [Gill] was such a good host; he was the pillar ...
"Hosting an awards show, there’s people that are really good at that," Bentley continues. "I’m taking it seriously. I want to have fun with it and, at the same time, be loose. I have a lot of respect for people who have done it in the past."
Bentley has tried to get advice from his co-host, but he has yet to gain any words of wisdom from Bryan.
"I can’t get anything off Luke on how to do it," Bentley says. "He’s like, ‘Buddy, you’ll do fine. Just have a few drinks. We’ll get through the monologue.' No real pointers on anything so far. I’m a little nervous about it, but I think it’s a good thing ... Hopefully it will go good. We’ll see. Either way, it’s going to be a fun time in Vegas."
The Arizona native hopes that, at the very least, Bryan will take some of the pressure off of him.
"I should be more scared, I think," Bentley concedes. "... I’m with Luke, so he’s a parachute for me. He’s going to do something way worse, or say something off the cuff. He’s going to take all of the fire for me, I think."
Bentley is also nominated for two ACM Awards, for Male Vocalist of the Year and Video of the Year, the latter for "Riser." He will also be performing during the ceremony.
The 2016 ACM Awards will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 3, beginning at 8PM ET on CBS.
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