The banter between country mega-stars Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan is hardly manufactured. Even when the cameras aren’t rolling, the hosts of the upcoming Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards are a two-man comedy tour.
For anyone watching, the two lip-synched Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” and Meghan Trainor’s “Lips Are Moving” while crews fussed with their microphones and fixed their hair during a promo shoot Monday at AT&T Stadium. Later, Shelton line-danced for the group.
They’re hams, basically.
“People expect Luke and I to make complete jackasses of ourselves,” Shelton said later.
But they also know when to reel it in, like when Shelton called Dallas-Fort Worth “the heart — the mecca — of country music.”
“The country, cowboy, western lifestyle: It still exists here,” he said.
The dynamic duo will again host the ACM Awards, which moves from Las Vegas to Arlington for a sold-out, one-time gig to celebrate the Academy’s 50th birthday in April. Shelton hopes the show is “electric,” he said.
“People expect Luke and I to make complete jackasses of ourselves,” Blake Shelton said.
After shooting promo videos with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders at AT&T Stadium, Shelton and Bryan shared their three favorite things about North Texas.
1. Whataburger. Bryan was quick to pick it as his favorite. (Smart: It was our readers' favorite fast-food joint, too, in a recent online poll.) Shelton likes Pappadeaux and the related Pappas restaurants.
2. The Stockyards. Bryan likes the western stores in Fort Worth. "I've had the opportunity to play Billy Bob's … and it's always fun just walking around there in the Stockyards," Bryan said. In addition to performing several times in Fort Worth, Bryan has sold out Gexa Energy Pavilion in Dallas twice since 2012.
3. The dance halls. "This is the only place left that has country dance floors," Shelton said. And Shelton loves to dance, he said. He offered a quick "freestyle line dance" to prove his skill and called it "the pelvic push." You've got to watch the video above to see his moves.
Just imagine what this line-dancing, lip-synching twosome has hiding in their cowboy boots when the ACM Awards air on CBS on April 19.
