‘Nashville’s Big Bash’ Taps Country Stars to Rival Ryan Seacrest’s New Year’s Broadcast
Trae Patton, NBC Reading Time: 3 minutes
CBS is giving you the chance to ring in 2022 with some of the biggest names in country music. The New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash special will air on CBS and also stream on Paramount+. The Dec. 31 broadcast will air at the same time as ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, hosted by Ryan Seacrest.
The lineup for New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash is absolutely stacked. The Voice coach Blake Shelton will be performing. His ex-wife Miranda Lambert will also take the stage. American Idol judge Luke Bryan will also perform on the rival network.
‘New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash‘ Boasts Big Country Music Artists
Dancing with the Stars contestant Jimmie Allen, American Idol’s Gabby Barrett, and Kelsea Ballerini, fresh off of the Jonas Brothers tour, will be performing. The New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash lineup so far features Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn, Dan + Shay, Elle King, Darius Rucker, Cole Swindell, and Zac Brown Band.
This five-hour broadcast will be coming to fans across several time zones and will include a countdown to midnight. It will follow a similar format to Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve where some performers play sets in California and New Orleans during the broadcast. New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash will see some performers playing on different stages, and not all at the same venue.
The main stage will be located in Nashville’s Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park. Fans can attend the performances at this location for free, which is an added bonus. Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test will be required upon entry.
CBS has not broadcasted a New Year’s Eve special since 1999. The network usually just plays repeats of past New Year’s Eve specials and shows. It looks like CBS is trying to keep up with all of the other big networks like ABC, NBC, and Fox this time around. Country lovers will obviously favor this broadcast, so it’s definitely a smart move.
Who Will Perform on ABC?
Seacrest is going to have to bring in some dynamite performers to his broadcast if he wants people to tune in. CBS pretty much locked down the biggest country music superstars. At least one country star needs to be featured on the broadcast to get country lovers even a little bit interested.
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve usually brings in a big pop star each year to perform. Past performers include Nick Jonas, Christina Aguilera, Miley Cyrus, and Taylor Swift. To ring in 2021, Allen was actually one of the headliners on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. The American Idol alum will be swapping networks this year just like Bryan. Cyndi Lauper, Machine Gun Kelly, and Jennifer Lopez also headlined last year’s celebration.
There are a handful of artists that we could think of that would bring in some major ratings to ABC. Olivia Rodrigo, Ariana Grande, Drake, and Bruno Mars have all had a huge year. At least one of them will most likely join Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve if not in New York City, then live from Hollywood or New Orleans.
