How do you prepare to host one of the biggest nights of the year in Country Music? Country singer and co-host of the CMA Awards, Brad Paisley, seems to have found the answer. Paisley has been giving himself a little history lesson by watching tapes of old award shows, even the Oscars. He’s also talked with awards show host veteran Vince Gill to get some advice.“I’ve watched some tapes of some old awards shows, watched a couple Oscars actually with Steve Martin and Billy Crystal,” Paisley told The Tennessean. “It’s not that I could ever do what those guys do, but seeing how they handle stuff, because that’s the part that you can’t plan for. I mean, we can have a great script, but inevitably something is going to happen that we don’t really expect.”Interesting things always seem to happen during the CMA Awards show. Controversial events have popped up in the past, like Charlie Rich burning the envelope announcing John Denver as Entertainer of the Year in 1975 and Mary Chapin Carpenter performing an impromptu song denouncing that year’s opening act. Alan Jackson even crossed a few lines by including a verse of a George Jones’ song to express his discontent with CMA for a struggle with Jones that led to his not performing.“In every year that there’s been a CMA Awards, something happens that is memorable that you don’t expect,” said Paisley. “The great thing about having full-time hosts again with myself and Carrie is that you have that common thread there that’s the tour guide for the night and we can react.” The CMA Awards are set to air Nov. 12 on ABC. Check out a list of nominees and awards at our CMA Awards preview page: CMA Awards 2008
