Blake Shelton, Shakira to Perform on ACM Awards

Blake Shelton will welcome fellow The Voice coach Shakira to the Academy of Country Music awards stage on Sunday, April 6. The CBS production will begin at 8 p.m. ET.  The pair will perform “Medicine,” a track on Shakira’s album, it was announced during a press conference earlier today.

Shakira penned “Medicine” with Hillary Lindsey and Mark Bright.

“Shakira’s folks reached out to the ACM about the performance. We, as producers, are always looking to bring artists together,” said R.A. Clark, an Executive Producer for the Academy of Country Music Awards.

Fans should also keep a close watch, as performer George Strait is set to make a major announcement during the live awards show.

Other previously announced highlights will include Miranda Lambert in a duet with Strait, to honor Merle Haggard. Garth Brooks will be on hand to present Haggard with the Crystal Milestone Award, to help celebrate Haggard’s 50 years in Country music. Lady Antebellum will perform with Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks.

Bob Romeo, CEO of the ACM says these kinds of pairings are a big boost to the ACM awards shows. “We see spikes when we do these other-genre pairings,” said Romeo. “Some of our most memorable moments have been [performances like] Zac Brown Band and James Taylor, or Carrie Underwood with Steven Tyler.”‘

Barry Adelman, Executive Producer for CBS, agrees. “All of the duets and pairings are reflective of those people being fans of each other. They invite their friends to perform with them, you see that on tours. I want to capture that in our show as well. The first thing on Lady Antebellum’s list [for the ACM performance] was to bring Stevie on the show.”

The Academy of Country Music Awards have enjoyed increasing viewership, with more than 13 million people watching in 2012, and 15.5 million in 2013.