Watch out for this big grrrl, Tennessee lawmakers.
03.04.2023 - 12:21 / etcanada.com
Kelsea Ballerini made her feelings about the Tennessee drag ban known during her performance at the 2023 CMT Music Awards Sunday.
Ballerini, who also served as the night’s co-host, transported the audience backyard barbecue in the ’60s, where she was surrounded by a bevy of drag queens while belting out her hit, “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too)”.
The group served as Ballerini’s backup dancers, while the singer sang and strummed along on a pink guitar. After throwing her long, green coat to the side, Ballerini showed off a yellow two-piece, which she strutted her stuff in while the drag queens followed behind — all dressed in their best ’60s-inspired wears.
The performance ended with a flutter of confetti that was illuminated with rainbow stage lights, which made Ballerini’s stance loud and clear.
ET spoke to the drag queens — Kennedy Davenport, Manila Luzon, Jan Sport and Oliva Lux — that performed alongside the “Penthouse” singer, who shared the importance of taking the stage with Ballerini.
“Just like all these amazing country music artists, we drag queens are also artists. And we deserve a space to be ourselves, express ourselves, and create something wonderful for everyone to enjoy,” Luzon said.
“It means so much,” Sport added, of getting to perform alongside Ballerini. “Because any opportunity for us to share our gifts with the world is a blessing. So, it’s more of us having a message to bless other people. It’s not bad. It’s all good. It’s all love. It’s all total liberation — that’s what the arts are all about.”
Lux, meanwhile, praised Ballerini, for her positive message and for promoting the community that she not only fostered with their performance, but with her upbeat track.
“Kelsea made it really clear
Watch out for this big grrrl, Tennessee lawmakers.
slain at the Nashville Covenant School shooting last Monday and recounted her own experience of being in a school shooting in Knoxville, Tennessee.“The community of sorrow over this and the 130 mass shootings in the U.S. this year alone stretches from coast to coast,” the 29-year-old singer said.“I wanted to personally stand up here and share this moment because on Aug.
Making a statement — or two. Kelsea Ballerini did more than just host the 2023 CMT Music Awards on Sunday, April 2.
Chase Stokes was one proud boyfriend during Sunday night’s 2023 CMT Music Awards.
Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic During the opening monolog at Sunday night’s CMT Music Awards, broadcast from Austin on CBS, there was a comedic bit in which Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown exchanged anniversary presents to celebrate their cohosting of the show for the third consecutive time. Brown gave Ballerini a cowboy hat, and she reciprocated by giving him a pink hat to put on in return. At least a few audience members shared a joke about the exchange: By wearing pink, would Brown be breaking Tennessee’s recently passed law that some believe would ban most drag performances in the state, if they were back home? Viewers whose minds went there during that silly opening were just kidding — but Ballerini really went there later in the three-hour telecast, when she chose four “RuPaul’s Drag Race” queens to perform with her as she sang “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too).” That song, off her 2022 album “Subject to Change,” is Ballerini’s anthem of female friendship — and, with the way the CMT Awards routine played out, she very much seemed to be counting drag performers as among those friends. The performance was playful and ostensibly non-political, and in a different year might not have raised very many shaved or unshaved eyebrows. In spring 2023, it was hard to read it as anything other than a statement of: If drag queens are brought down, the rest of us will be dragged down with them.
Chase Stokes couldn't help but fanboy during girlfriend Kelsea Ballerini's CMT Music Awards performance. The 30-year-old star was spotted dancing and singing along to Ballerini's «If You Go Down (I'm Goin' Down Too)» during Sunday's awards ceremony. In a video shared on Instagram by CMT, Stokes was all smiles while lip syncing and shaking his hips to the beat.
Naman Ramachandran The Royal Shakespeare Company’s theater adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s “My Neighbor Totoro” swept the Olivier Awards on Sunday, taking home six out of the nine categories it was nominated in, including the Sir Peter Hall Award for best director, awarded to Phelim McDermott and the Noël Coward Award for best entertainment or comedy play. The Almeida Theatre also had a successful night, with three of its productions taking home awards. Will Keen won best supporting actor for his performance in “Patriots” and “Tammy Faye” garnered two acting awards – Katie Brayben for best actress in a musical and Zubin Varla for best actor in a supporting role in a musical. Rebecca Frecknall’s revival of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” won best actor for Paul Mescal’s portrayal of Stanley Kowalski and best actress in a supporting role for Anjana Vasan’s performance as Stella. The play also won the best revival award.
The CMT Music Awards 2023 proved to be a big night for Jelly Roll who topped the night as the most-awarded artist taking home three trophies.
Kelsea Ballerini made her feelings about the Tennessee drag ban known during her performance at the 2023 CMT Music Awards Sunday.Ballerini, who also served as the night's co-host, transported the audience backyard barbecue in the '60s, where she was surrounded by a bevy of drag queens while belting out her hit, «If You Go Down (I'm Goin' Down Too).»The group served as Ballerini's backup dancers, while the singer sang and strummed along on a pink guitar. After throwing her long, green coat to the side, Ballerini showed off a yellow two-piece, which she strutted her stuff in while the drag queens followed behind — all dressed in their best '60s-inspired wears.The performance ended with a flutter of confetti that was illuminated with rainbow stage lights, which made Ballerini's stance loud and clear.ET spoke to the drag queens — Kennedy Davenport, Manila Luzon, Jan Sport and Oliva Lux — that performed alongside the «Penthouse» singer, who shared the importance of taking the stage with Ballerini.«Just like all these amazing country music artists, we drag queens are also artists.
She’s all that! Kelsea Ballerini didn’t only slay as cohost of the 2023 CMT Music Awards, but she served stellar looks too.
Everything is bigger in Texas! Kane Brown and Katelyn Brown took home the top honor of Video of the Year at the 2023 CMT Music Awards on Sunday, April 2.
The winners have been announced at the 2023 CMT Music Awards. The show – which was co-hosted by Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown – was held at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
Date night at the CMT Music Awards! Several stars brought dates to the red carpet in Austin on Sunday, April 2, including both cohosts, Kane Brown and Kelsea Ballerini.
the mass school shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville at the 2023 CMT Music Awards.On Sunday, several stars in attendance at the awards show wore black ribbons to honor the victims from Monday's mass shooting at the Nashville, Tennessee private school. The shooting, which marked Tennessee's deadliest mass shooting in history, left three children and three adults dead, in addition to the shooter.«You know why it is important? Today is Psalm Sunday and I'm a very religious person and what better way to honor them and support them,» Lynyrd Skynyrd's Johnny Van Zant tells ET about the band's decision to wear ribbons on the red carpet. «Everybody say prayers for the family.
Kelsea Ballerini opened the 2023 CMT Music Awards with a call to action regarding last week's shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, also telling audiences she is the survivor of a 2008 school shooting in the same state. «On March 27, 2023, three 9-year-olds -- Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney and Hallie Scruggs -- along with Dr. Katherine Koonce, Cynthia Peak and Mike Hill walked into Covenant School and didn't walk out,» Ballerini began the CMT broadcast.«The community of sorrow over this and the 130 mass shootings in the U.S.
Country music’s biggest stars are honouring those affected by the mass school shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville at the 2023 CMT Music Awards.
Paying tribute. Kelsea Ballerini honored victims of the Nashville, Tennessee, Covenant School shooting at the start of the 2023 CMT Awards on Sunday, April 2.
A major milestone! Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes were all smiles during their red carpet debut at the 2023 CMT Music Awards on Sunday, April 2.
CMT Music Awards!This year, Lainey Wilson leads the charge with four noms, including Performance of the Year and Female Video of the Year, with three nominees tied for second place -- Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, and CMT Music Awards co-host Kane Brown.Across all categories, CMT is recognizing 21 first-time nominees, with Carrie Underwood, the most awarded artist in CMT history, also earning another nod this year. Hosted by Brown and Kelsea Ballerini -- also a nominee this year — the CMT Music Awards air at 8:00 p.m. ET on CBS Sunday from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.