Not that this is a surprise, but “Bachelor” producers are pretty involved in getting contestants to kiss. During an interview with Us Weekly, Peter Weber was asked about being the guy that kissed the most women on night one. He said they encourage kissing by using hand gestures or displaying “kiss” on their phones.
If you didn’t see last night’s ACM Awards, awards shows need the energy of an audience and things won’t be the same until we’re back at full strength. The good news is LUKE BRYAN has recovered from COVID-19. He won Entertainer of the Year and accepted the award from the “American Idol” set in L.A. Other big winners were MAREN MORRIS, who won Top Female Vocalist, plus Song of the Year for “The Bones”. THOMAS RHETT was named Top Male Vocalist. And CARLY PEARCE and LEE BRICE took home Single of the Year and Musical Event of the Year for “I Hope You’re Happy Now”. KEITH URBAN and MICKEY GUYTON co-hosted, but with COVID-19 restrictions and performers in so many different venues it was impossible to get any rhythm going. (Maybe next year?) MIRANDA LAMBERT and ELLE KING opened the show with “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)”. Miranda came back later to help CHRIS STAPLETON perform “Maggie’s Song”, because his wife Morgane couldn’t be there. She’s a Doula, which means somebody’s baby was on the way and she had to be there. DIERKS BENTLEY and THE WAR AND TREATY did a bluegrass cover of U2’s “Pride (In The Name of Love)” at Nashville’s Station Inn. They dedicated it to the club’s owner, J.T. Gray, who passed away last month. CARRIE UNDERWOOD did a medley from her Gospel album “My Savior” . . . and got some help from CECE WINANS. ERIC CHURCH followed that. Some people think DAN + SHAY were lip-syncing during their performance of “Glad You Exist”. They say it was a technical glitch. MICKEY GUYTON took center stage to sing “Hold On” . . . her song from the 2019 faith-based movie “Breakthrough”. The ACMs like to close it out with energy, and BROTHERS OSBORNE were up to the challenge with “Dead Man’s Curve”.
This Year’s ACM Award Winners:
Entertainer of the Year: Luke Bryan
Top Male Vocalist: Thomas Rhett
Top Female Vocalist: Maren Morris
Top Vocal Group: Old Dominion
Top Vocal Duo: Dan + Shay
Album of the Year: “Starting Over”, Chris Stapleton
Song of the Year: “The Bones”, Maren Morris
Single Record of the Year: “I Hope You’re Happy Now”, Carly Pearce & Lee Brice
New Male Vocalist of the Year: Jimmie Allen
New Female Vocalist of the Year: Gabby Barrett
Video of the Year: Kane Brown, “Worldwide Beautiful””
Music Event of the Year: “I Hope You’re Happy Now”, Carly Pearce and Lee Brice
The re-recorded version of Taylor Swif’ts 2008 album “Fearless” not only debuts at the top of the Billboard 200, it also had the biggest sales week of any album so far this year. It sold 291,000 copies. It’s Taylor’s NINTH #1 album. The new version is the only re-recording of a previously released album to hit #1. It also makes Taylor the first woman with three new #1 albums in less than a year . . . and she has three of the top 5-selling albums of 2021. The original “Fearless” also debuted at #1 on November 29th of 2008 . . . and it spent 11 nonconsecutive weeks there.
LUKE BRYAN would like to see you at the next Crash My Playa next January. JASON ALDEAN will be one of the headliners. It’s going down January 19th to the 22nd at Moon Palace Cancun in Riviera Cancun, Mexico. All the information you’ll need is at CrashMyPlaya.com.
Sam Hunt is feeling nostalgic as he celebrates his four-year wedding anniversary with wife Hannah Lee Fowler. On Friday the 36, posted a throwback photo of Fowler — who inspired much of Hunt’s debut album, Montevallo — giving him a kiss from the inside of a car in honor of their marriage milestone. “How it started,” he wrote in the caption, before sharing a black-and-white picture of the couple smiling backstage. “How its going.” “Happy Anniversary!”
Danica Patrick is showing off her new boyfriend on Instagram. The 39-year-old racecar driver shared a slideshow of images from her recent trip to the beach and one of them included her new boyfriend, Carter Comstock! “Beach workouts are fun for one, but better with you,” she captioned the slew of pics, and the one with Carter sees him giving her a kiss to the head while she smiles at the camera. While it’s not clear just when Danica and Carter met, the two are both investors in Beam, which is a direct-to-consumer wellness brand that sells CBD-based products and “hydration solution” beverages. Carter also happens to be the co-founder of Freshly, a meal-prep company that promises fresh meals that are ready to eat in three minutes.
MATTHEW MORRISON and his wife are expecting their second child.
THOMAS RHETT has announced the details of his 2021 Center Point Road Tour. A lot of these are rescheduled shows that were canceled because of COVID-19. He also added new dates. COLE SWINDELL and GABBY BARRETT will open select shows. Head over to ThomasRhett.com for details.
TIM MCGRAW is a huge fan of THE EAGLES. He says they’re his “favorite music of all time” . . . and puts them at the top of the list of artists he’d like to cover.
DEMI LOVATO is upset at a fro-yo shop, because they feature sugar-free options. She claims that makes people with eating disorders feel guilty about indulging. The shop says they’re just trying to cater to everyone.
Actor FELIX SILLA lost his battle with cancer. He was 84. Felix was a little person, and he was best known for playing Cousin Itt on the “Addams Family” TV series in the ’60s, and the robot Twiki in “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century”.
The Academy hopes they can boost this year’s Oscar ratings by having LONGER acceptance speeches. They also say that masks will “play a very important role” in the ceremony
Amazon is reportedly spending $465 MILLION on just the first season of their upcoming “Lord of the Rings” show. By comparison, “Game of Thrones” cost roughly $100 million per season to produce.
Maria Sharapova is 34. Russian tennis star.
Kate Hudson is 42.
Ashley Judd is 53.
