Reba McEntire is “disappointed” that all the nominees for the Entertainer of the Year prize at the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards are male.
The 62-year-old singer will be hosting the 2018 ceremony next month, and is very much looking forward to the opportunity. However, speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Reba admitted she feels sad that gender disparity is once again such an issue, with all the artists up for the evening’s biggest prize being male – namely Jason Aldean, Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton and Keith Urban.
“It’s disappointing that there’s no female in the Entertainer of the Year category,” she mused.
But Reba added she doesn’t see things staying this way for long, explaining: “The country music business is very cyclical. It’ll go very traditional with the music or it will go very contemporary. The girls dominate or the boys dominate, so, it’s coming around. I have faith.”
Reba is no stranger to the ACM Awards, and currently holds the record for the most wins, with 16 gongs under her belt. And when it comes to taking home prizes, Reba cites her competitive nature as the reason she’s such a big fan of emerging victorious.
“Well, any time you win an award it just means kind of that everybody likes what you’re doing,” she said. “Everybody wants to be loved and accepted and I’m no exception to that. And so it’s just a good feeling to win… I mean, my daddy was a world champion rodeo cowboy and so we’re a very competitive bunch.”
And when it comes to what she’s got planned for this year’s awards, Reba added she would love to duet with Dolly Parton onstage. She’s also very much looking forward to the wardrobe changes she will be able to undertake as host.
“The last time I hosted was with Blake Shelton. I don’t think he changed clothes one time and I gave him a lot of grief about that, but I’ve gotten my clothes ready,” she laughed. “I’ve gotten six ready to go, one for the red carpet, and then for the show, and then in case something doesn’t work or malfunctions, you’ve got one, you know, ready to go again.”