Reba McEntire teases "big production" for her ACM Awards performance

When Reba McEntire steps onto the stage as host of the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards on May 16, she looks forward to hearing the "roar of the crowd."

The country music superstar isn't just emceeing the awards show for the 17th time — more than any other artist — she's doing so nearly 30 years after she took home the top prize of Entertainer of the Year in 1995.

"It was a wonderful night," Reba reminisced in a new interview with Good Morning America ahead of her hosting gig at the 59th ACM Awards. "I was shocked. Thrilled."

"You work so hard to put on the best show possible, and when I won that, it just gave [me] the enthusiasm and the [positivity to say], 'They like what I'm doing, so let's continue on and do more,'" she added.

The crowd will certainly be on its feet when the Grammy winner takes to the ACM Awards stage to perform her new single, "I Can't," which she teased as "a big production."

"I just saw my outfit yesterday. It's absolutely gorgeous. I can't wait to [wear] it," she said. "So, I'm really excited about it."

Reba described "I Can't" as "a very strong woman song" that has a lot of the "swampy-type minors" she loves to sing.

"It's a little different from anything I've done in a while," she said. "So I hope everybody enjoys it."

As for what she looks for when releasing new music, Reba said it's always "something different that will grab my heart, because if I love it and it touches my heart when I sing it and I do my job right, it'll touch your heart."

The 59th ACM Awards will stream live on Prime Video Thursday, May 16, at 8 p.m. ET.

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