Artists We Think Should Host the ACM Awards

Last week, Dierks Bentley casually told a Country Radio Seminar crowd he and Luke Bryan "got fired" from hosting the ACM Awards. "Is that not common knowledge?" Bentley joked.

Of course, Bryan is moving on to greener pastures. He's now a judge on the upcoming American Idol reboot, where his opinion on the technical talent of singing will inexplicably be as valuable as the opinions of fellow judges Katy Perry and Lionel Richie. (But hey, leave it up to network TV to put country's vocal equivalent of a "participation award" on the same playing field as an American icon and a pop powerhouse).

Bryan's judging gig is on ABC, and the ACM Awards are on CBS, which could present a bit of a conflict. Though it never stopped Blake Shelton from doing both NBC's The Voice and co-hosting the ACM Awards.

Now, whether the Academy of Country Music prefers to say they "fired" the country stars is up to them. But the point remains: Bentley and Bryan aren't hosting the awards, and that presents a real opportunity.

The ACM says they'll announce the new host(s) in the next few weeks. Let's hope it's not too late for them to get our suggestions. Without further ado, here are some artists we think should host the ACM Awards.

Kacey Musgraves

You can bet a very Kacey ACM Awards would have lots of sass, plenty of clever puns and an abundant amount of glitter and sequins. More importantly, it would give more stage time to an artist who somehow hasn't gotten as much ACM love as she should since her debut record. Kacey Musgraves hasn't won hardware from the ACMs since winning Album of the Year for Same Trailer, Different Park in 2014.

The Pistol Annies (Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe, Angaleena Presley)

Just imagine how much fun it would be watching these phenomenally talented friends hosting an awards show. They've obviously all got awesome things going on by themselves, but if the chemistry on their records is any indication, they'd totally captivate the ACM crowd. Bring up and other great collaborators like Brandy Clark and Gwen Sebastian, and that would be one heck of a fun time.

Sugarland (Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush)

Anybody whose seen Jennifer Nettles host events knows she's electric on stage. Her recent Broadway experience and her multiple gigs as the host of CMA Country Christmas make her an obvious fit (and she's not hosting that show anymore anyways). Nettles would absolutely command that stage like no other. Kristian Bush can tag along too because they're just so darn good together.

Maren Morris

Sure, she still may only have one album out, but Maren Morris is well on her way to being an international sensation. She won New Female Vocalist of the Year from the ACM in 2017 and won hearts with her CMA acceptance speech before that, when she told the crowd with teary eyes that the prior year she was watching the show from a bar across the street. But if the academy really wants to be hip with the times, they could let the powerhouse vocalist host the whole enchilada.

Cam

Despite releasing one of the decade's best songs in "Burning House," Cam has only received fringe love from the ACM Awards. And yet here she is, constantly knocking it out of the park. Her new song "Diane" is amazing and it seems like everything she does, she does with integrity. Anybody who follows her on social media knows she's an outspoken proponent of equality, and it's high time somebody like Cam got up there and spread the message to the masses.

Florida Georgia Line

Just kidding.

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