As we prepare for the 54th annual CMA Awards, singer Jimmie Allen spoke with RADIO.COM's Katie Neal about the ceremony and what he's looking forward to most.
This year's award show will be broadcasting live from Music City Center in Nashville with a limited audience -- which means it will likely be much easier to see faces in the crowd. For Jimmie, this may prove problematic.
"There's a few people I don't want to look at because I'll start laughing," he says, racking his brain about who he expects to be in the audience.
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Jimmie is nominated in the New Artist of the Year category and will be performing his hit "Best Shot" during the festivities. He's also been tapped to present the 2020 Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award to singer Charley Pride, with whom Jimmie recorded the track "Why Things Happen," along with Darius Rucker, on his new collaborative release Betty James.
"You know, four years ago I spent my last hundred dollars to go to the CMAs to see Charley Pride perform, because he was getting older and I didn't know how many more years he was gonna want to perform," Jimmie tells Katie. "So, to go and do that and then my first ever CMA performance and nomination is part of an award show that he's getting a special award for -- it's been a full circle with that guy!"
Jimmie is known for his heightened fashion sense, but for this year's ceremony he says he's keeping it chill. "I didn't want to wear anything that would distract from his moment," he admits. "So, I'm gonna be in a black tux, white shirt, black bow tie... one of my buddies was like, 'Jimmie that might be a distraction because we're waiting for you to wear something else!' But I still had fun creating it, it was a suit I designed."
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Veering south from Nashville towards the Magic Kingdom, which Jimmie seems to do on an almost weekly basis, Katie wonders if he's actually in the running to be the mayor of Walt Disney World.
"We just got back a few days ago," he says.
Even amid the pandemic, "it's still Disney, you know. How is it with the mask? The way the rest of the world is with a mask. You know how you go to a grocery store and wear a mask and spend money? That's what you do at Disney World, except it's a lot more fun when you spend money with a mask on there."
Watch the interview above as Jimmie gives Katie his top 3 must-rides at the Magic Kingdom -- and catch him on the 54th annual Country Music Association awards November 11 starting at 8PM ET on ABC.
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