Get Ready for the Hottest Night of Country Music When ‘CMA Best of Fest’ Airs Thursday, July 9, on ABC – Calling all country music fans! The Country Music Association and ABC are set to host the hottest country music event of the summer when “CMA Best of Fest” features a retrospective of more than 25 unforgettable performances from the past 16 years of CMA Fest in Nashville. This three-hour concert experience, airing THURSDAY, JULY 9 (8:00–11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC, is hosted by country music superstar Luke Bryan and features a brand-new, not-to-be-missed performance with Bryan and special guest Darius Rucker. Artists also appearing in the special include Trace Adkins, Lauren Alaina, Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Garth Brooks, Brooks & Dunn, Brothers Osborne, Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Billy Ray Cyrus, Dan + Shay, Lzzy Hale, Sam Hunt, Joan Jett, Lady A, Miranda Lambert, Lil Nas X, Little Big Town, Tim McGraw, Maren Morris, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Thomas Rhett, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Dwight Yoakam and Zac Brown Band, with special appearances by Bobby Bones, Jim Gaffigan, Kirk Herbstreit, Peyton Manning, Lionel Richie, Rob Riggle, Gwen Stefani, Michael Strahan and Rita Wilson. – Read more at WDTVPress
Scarypoolparty & Brian McKnight Set for Billboard Live At-Home Concerts: See This Week’s Schedule – This week’s slated performances as part of the Billboard Live At-Home series come with a pair of bright artists providing much-needed release. The performances for the week of June 15 will feature at-home sets from Scarypoolparty and Brian McKnight via Billboard’s Facebook page. The American Idol alum (real name Alejandro Aranda) will kick things off on Tuesday (June 16) with a set at 1 p.m. ET, while the 16-time Grammy award-nominated artist wraps up the week on Thursday (June 18) with his set at 1 p.m. ET. – Read more at Billboard
How a Utah musician’s forgotten song became a No. 1 hit – On NBC’s “Songland,” Ryan Innes lost creative control. The Utah musician’s soulful ballad transformed into a poppier, more upbeat tune — a radio-friendly song that could potentially be cut by country trio Lady Antebellum.He wasn’t surprised. After all, the whole point of “Songland” was for undiscovered songwriters to pitch original songs to chart-topping artists and music producers. To get recorded and released worldwide by one of those artists, a song is likely going to have to change. Innes knew that going in, but that didn’t make it any easier for him. “You’re attached to your song,” he told the Deseret News. “You’re attached to the meaning, you’re attached to the way that it’s presented.” Last month, to Innes’ surprise, “Long Way Home” fell into the hands of Todd Tilghman, a Mississippi pastor with eight kids who won “The Voice.” And just like that, a 5-year-old song Innes had considered to be “lost in the shuffle” unexpectedly reached great heights, soaring to No. 1 on the iTunes country chart, and No. 1 on the iTunes overall chart. – Read more at Deseret.com
Hannah Brown Helps Pull Man Out of River After His Raft Flipped and ‘Current Took Him’ Downstream – Over the weekend, the former Bachelorette was white water rafting in Tennessee when she helped a man who fell out of his raft after it flipped in the river. On Saturday, the man’s girlfriend shared the news on Twitter, writing, “How fun Hannah Brown saved my boyfriend from drowning in the Ocoee River today.” When another user replied in disbelief, the woman explained further, adding that they didn’t know who she was at first until Brown’s brother mentioned she had starred on The Bachelorette. “She was on the river with us… our raft flipped and her and her family were on the trip with us,” the woman wrote. “She ended up pulling my bf onto their raft after the current took him. I didn’t know who she was but her mom said she had just won DWTS and that she was the bachelorette!” – Read more at People
Emmys: Television Academy Cancels Governors Balls, Creative Arts Ceremonies Go Virtual – The Television Academy has canceled this year’s three post-Emmys Governors Balls and has also announced plans to rethink the Creative Arts Emmys as a series of virtual events. The decision to scrap the trio of Governors Ball dinners (which normally take place after the two Creative Arts Emmys ceremonies, as well as the Primetime Emmys telecast) was made “as a precautionary measure to protect the health and safety of Emmy winners, nominees and guests during the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the org said. The two Creative Arts Emmys ceremonies were originally scheduled to be held Sept. 12 and 13 at the Microsoft Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. But with the COVID-19 pandemic still likely to be a concern, it became clear that the in-person events, especially with the sheer number of categories presented during the Creative Arts shows, couldn’t continue as planned. – Read more at Variety
X Factor winner Ben Haenow slams show over welfare as he talks ‘low point’ – “You can’t prepare yourself for how that affects an individual. My management at the time was a really lovely guy, it was them who helped guide me through after the show. “With regards to preparing you for it or making you ready for it, I don’t think there was much, there wasn’t massive care and attention when you were on the show. “I think that overall, there probably could be a lot more done on aspects of ‘normal people’ who go on these shows to prepare them for afterwards.” Speaking of the two-years following his appearance on the show, he went on to say: “After the two-years of riding that wave and feeling a bit low, not PTSD but the effects of something that happened a while ago that you don’t come to terms with.”A source close to the show said: “Welfare of our contestants is the shows top priority, no matter what stage of the competition. “We make sure aftercare is available to anybody who needs it.” – Read more at Daily Star
