Megan Moroney‘s association with the Country Music Association this year won’t end when she vies for six CMA Awards on Nov. 19. Two weeks after that, the star will be seen on “CMA Country Christmas,” the 16th annual edition of the holiday special, airing Dec. 2 on ABC.
Newly named as co-hosts for the show are crossover/Christian music star Lauren Daigle and one of country’s leading men, Jordan Davis.
Besides Daigle, Davis and Moroney, the lineup of performers for the yuletide special includes country favorites Riley Green, Lady A, Little Big Town and Parker McCollum, along with outside-the-genre guests stars the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks and BeBe Winans.
In olden days, producers would film the special a night or two after the CMA Awards in November, but now they get a much bigger jump on things. This year’s special was filmed Oct. 8 at Belmont University’s Fisher Center.
After airing on ABC Dec, 2, the special will become available for streaming the next day on Hulu and Disney+.
Robert Deaton is the executive producer of “CMA Country Christmas,” as always, with Milton Sneed as director and Jon Macks writing the show.
While the setlist for the special has not been revealed, potential viewers may pick up some clues for possible selections from a Christmas playlist the CMA posted to Spotify that includes some of the talent for the special and holiday music they’ve released in the past. Moroney is included in that playlist with “All I Want for Christmas is a Cowboy,” and judging from the still the CMA released of her at the taping with a lineup of cowpokes (see above), it seems likely she’ll be reprising that number in the special.
Other songs in the Spotify playlist include Daigle’s “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” the 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 Noel” and Tedeschi’s “Blues on a Holiday.”
For the upcoming CMA Awards, Moroney is tied for the most, with six noms, with Ella Langley and that show’s sole host, Lainey Wilson. See the full list of nominations here.