Megan Moroneys union with Country Music Association this year doesn’t end when she competes for sex CMA Awards on November 19. Two weeks after that, the star will be seen on “CMA Country Christmas,” the 16th annual holiday special, airing Dec. 2 on ABC.
Recently named to co-host the show is the crossover/Christian music star Lauren Daigle and one of the country’s leading men, Jordan Davis.
In addition to Daigle, Davis and Moroney, the lineup of performers for the Christmas special includes country favorites Riley Green, Lady A, Little Big Town and Parker McCollum, along with non-genre guests Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks and BeBe Winans.
In the old days, producers filmed the special a night or two after the CMA Awards in November, but now they’re getting a much bigger jump on things. This year’s special was filmed on October 8 at Belmont University’s Fisher Center.
After airing on ABC on December 2, the special will be available to stream the next day on Hulu and Disney+.
Robert Deaton is executive producing “CMA Country Christmas,” as always, with Milton Sneed directing and Jon Macks writing the show.
While the set list for the special has not been revealed, potential viewers can get some clues as to possible choices from a Christmas playlist that CMA posted on Spotify that features some of the special and holiday music talent they’ve released in the past. Moroney is included in that playlist with “All I Want for Christmas is a Cowboy,” and judging by the still CMA released of her on set with a series of cowpokes (see above), it seems likely she’ll reprise that number in the special.
Other songs in the Spotify playlist include Daigle’s “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s “You’re a Mean One, Mr, Grinch,” Lady A’s “Little Saint Nick,” Green’s “Christmas to Me,” Little Big Town’s “Christmas Night With You,” BeBe & CeCe Winans’ “The First Holiday on,” and “The No Holidays’el.”
For the upcoming CMA Awards, Moroney is tied for the most, with six nominations, with Ella Langley and the show’s sole host, Lainey Wilson. See the full list of nominations here.
