Shania Twain Previews a ‘Very Glamorous’ 2026 ACM Awards Tonight as First-Time Host: ‘Biggest Gig of My Life’

Get your watch party ready, country fans—tonight is going to be a big one. Shania Twain is stepping into the host’s spotlight at the 61st annual Academy of Country Music Awards, and the queen of country-pop is promising a show packed with glamour, surprises and plenty of girl power.

The 2026 ACM Awards air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas tonight, Sunday, May 17. Here’s everything you need to know before the lights go up.

How to watch the 2026 ACM Awards

Cozy up on the couch and grab the remote—this year’s show streams live on Prime Video starting at 8 p.m. ET. If you don’t have Prime, no problem. The ACMs will also be streamed on Amazon Music’s Twitch channel and the Amazon Music app, so you’ve got options no matter how you like to tune in.

Translation: You can absolutely catch every gown, every win and every surprise duet, even if you don’t have cable.

Shania is taking over hosting duties from Reba McEntire

Here’s a fun bit of country music history: This is Shania’s first time hosting the ACMs, and she’s stepping into the role previously held by fellow legend Reba McEntire. It’s a full-circle moment for the singer, too—the 2026 show marks the 30th anniversary of Shania’s very first ACM wins back in 1996.

And she’s not taking the honor lightly.

“Well, I can check this bucket list [item] now because hosting the ACMs is a very, very big deal for me,” Twain, 60, told Us Weekly and other McClatchy Media outlets ahead of the show. “And yeah, it just makes one feel quite accomplished as far as other bucket list things—boy, yeah, just spend more time with my horses. That’s what I really, really need to do. More time with horses. The hosting gig is my favorite line right now.”

Horses aside, Shania is fully focused on the night ahead. “I am representing our genre,” Twain told USA Today about her hosting role. “I am there to represent the talent, to make them feel comfortable. So I think I’m just going to have a really fun time.”

Expect serious glamour—and serious fashion

If you live for the red-carpet moments and the showstopping gowns, this is your year. Shania is teasing a night that’s pure Vegas sparkle, and she says the fashion is going to be next-level thanks to the powerhouse women dominating the nominations list.

“We are all gigging as entertainers. So, this is the biggest gig of my life,” Shania said of her hosting duties. “You can expect a lot of excitement, glamor. We’re going to be very glamorous here in Las Vegas. You can expect that this is the ACMs Vegas style. There’s going to be a lot of beauty because there’s more women on the nominees list this year.”

She added: “So that always brings up the fashion a little higher sometimes, I think. So you can see a lot of really fabulous, high fashion.”

In other words? Get your phone ready for the red-carpet scroll (which we will cover here on WomansWorld.com). The gowns are about to be everything.

Women are leading the nominations—again

For the second year in a row, women hold the most nominations heading into the ACMs. That’s a huge moment for the genre, and it’s clearly something Shania is proud to celebrate from the host’s podium. Expect speeches, performances and wins that put women center stage all night long.

Shania’s ‘mental liberation’ era

Shania’s hosting gig also comes during what she’s previously called her era of “mental liberation”—a stretch of self-acceptance after decades of hard work, personal loss and body image struggles.

“I was always like, ‘I need to be myself.’ If anything, I was in a rush to get more and more authentic,” Twain told Us for her March 2025 cover story. “Any artist’s greatest power is originality. I was insecure about lots of things, but I had conviction. I could see what was really good. I could see it in others and in myself. I had a lot of clarity with that.”

She also opened up about letting go of the pressure to be flawless onstage. “I want to be excellent at what I do, but you cannot be perfect live. No one can because it is a living, breathing thing. I had to let go of [that]. I realized that everybody’s there for the live performance. They know they’re not listening to the record. They’re not there for me to show them how perfect I am.”

That confidence is exactly what fans love about her—and exactly what’s going to make her hosting debut so much fun to watch.

Get ready to watch!

The 2026 Academy of Country Music Awards air live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas tonight, Sunday, May 17, streaming on Prime Video at 8 p.m. ET, with simulcasts on Amazon Music’s Twitch channel and the Amazon Music app. Pop the popcorn—Shania’s got this.