Entertaining Facts About ACM Awards Host Blake Shelton
Blake Shelton fans, (also known as BS-ers), should be looking forward to the 49th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards show on April 6. Not only is the “Boys ‘Round Here” singer co-hosting the ceremony with Luke Bryan and is nominated for five ACM awards himself, he is scheduled to perform one (or more) of his hit singles.
BS-ers can tune in to watch the singer-songwriter’s live performance from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Sunday, April 6 at 8/7c on CBS. Before Shelton hits the ACMs stage, enjoy these entertaining facts. (And if you're a bona fide BS-er, test your Shelton knowledge by checking off the fun facts you already know):
5. Shelton still defends his ol’ mullet
Shelton tells Great American Country, “Nobody else in the world seems to think it was as awesome as I still think it was.” Shelton sported the mullet for most of the ’90s. Shelton argues that he wore his hair this way to rebel against all of the mullet-haters. People were often trying to convince him to cut it. “Basically, it has gotten to the point where it is just a matter of pride,” Shelton admits to CMT. ”I know it looks like crap, but it is just more fun to me to irritate people than cut my hair to satisfy them.”
4. Pet Peeves: People who are under-dressed, bare feet, and questions about his hair
Shelton has some strict opinions about proper attire to wear to the Grand Ole Opry, which he’s been a member of since 2010 when he was invited via Twitter. According to Taste of Country, Shelton’s biggest pet peeves are when he sees “somebody standing on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry or some other formal place, and they’re wearing a T-shirt and baseball cap.”
Shelton also hates bare feet, even if he can't smell them. He states artists should “cover [their] stinkin’, nasty feet [in music videos]… flip-flops aren’t even acceptable.”
Additionally, when Shelton was asked about his pet peeves in an interview with CMT, he was quick to respond, “questions about my hair!” Note: He said that after being asked a series of hair questions. Another note: Shelton mentioned that once a week he will soak his hair in ketchup mixed with eggs from the chickens he owns.
3. Shelton was a pageant boy. Which he claims was “the worst experience of my life”
“My mom entered me into a pageant. I still don’t know why, and it’s still the worst experience of my life, being in a pageant,” Blake tells CMT, “I remember singing ‘Cat Scratch Fever’ by Ted Nugent, and ‘Old Time Rock ‘N’ Roll’ by Bob Seger. [They] were probably my two signature songs.”
Shelton’s mother entered him in multiple pageants. Though they may have played a role in becoming a performer, Shelton complained about how he suffered decades of embarrassment due to his pageantry experience. Yet, he had always been honest and open about it to the public.
In an interview with Gayle King on "CBS This Morning," Shelton explained, “because I wanted to be a singer, that was a chance for me to be in the talent portion and sing. There was a spotlight hitting me and it was just this thing that happened when I was a kid and never got over it.” According to Taste of Country, Blake admitted on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" that the pageants his mom entered him into were for girls.
2. Shelton had a pet turkey… named Turkey
Shelton was a dedicated and responsible owner with Turkey. He told CMT that he intended to bring Turkey to country award shows so he can “expose him to some different things in the world… I feel like, without me, he doesn’t get to do things.”
Of course if anyone would want to tour the world with a turkey, it would be the infamous goofball Blake Shelton. He mentioned one of his favorite memories with his unconventional pet was during Thanksgiving. He caught Turkey eating some of the leftover turkey dinner scraps. “I got a big kick out of that,” Shelton said.
Sadly, Turkey passed away of a heat stroke in June 2003, and never attended an award show.
1. What do a flask and a shotgun have in common?
They were Shelton’s two favorite engagement gifts! Shelton and his wife, Miranda Lambert, received a pair of matching his-and-hers flasks and shotguns. This was perfect for the hunting and drinking power-couple — (their drink of choice: Sprite Zero and Bacardi).
Lambert tells People, “We were outside the city limits, so we went right out of the tent and tried them out – it’s a real shotgun wedding!” One of their star guests at the party, Trace Adkins, added, “When they started shooting their new shotguns, that’s when it became a Blake and Miranda party!”
Get more Academy of Country Music Awards news at www.acmawards.com!
